Which of the following was the more important reason why Germany became a dictatorship: • Germany’s problems • Hitler’s actions?

Both Germany's problems and Hitler's actions are, in combination, important for explaining why Germany became a dictatorship. However, it can be argued that Hitler's actions were the more important factor as these ultimately led to the breakdown of democracy in Germany. Germany's problems played an important role in the country becoming a dictatorship. One of the main problems for Germany was the Great Depression which caused high levels of unemployment, something the existing government failed to deal with. This caused people to look towards more extreme parties, such as the Nazis, to deal with the issue as they lost faith in democracy. On top of this, the country felt weakened following the Treaty of Versailles and the reparations they had to pay under the treaty worsened the impact of the Great Depression. The Nazi promise of making Germany strong again by putting a strong government in place to address the country's problems was therefore appealing for people who blamed the existing government for their struggles. Here it is evident that Germany's problems was an important factor in the country becoming a dictatorship as it pushed people towards the Nazi Party and Hitler. However, it was ultimately Hitler's actions that led to the collapse of democracy in Germany. Once the Nazi Party took power alongside the nationalists in 1933, the Enabling Act was passed which gave Hitler absolute power to make laws for four years. This allowed him to put Nazi officials in charge of all local governments and to ban all opposition parties meaning only the Nazi party was allowed to exist. Here, Hitler was able to use his legislative power to set out the path to dictatorship. In 1934, Hitler took overall state governments and removed any further opposition, including those who were initially part of his own party, in the Night of the Long Knives. Following this, Hitler became Fuhrer in August meaning he had absolute rule over Germany. This shows that although Germany's problems led people to support the Nazi party and Hitler, it was ultimately Hitler's actions caused a dictatorship to emerge. This is because Hitler used legislative actions to destroy democracy by removing power from different bodies and gradually increasing his own power until he became absolute ruler of Germany.