Do you think a totalitarian form of government would have form in Germany if the Great Depression had not occurred? Explain.

Germany still suffered from the restrictions and reparation payments imposed upon it by the Treaty of Versailles; however, in the 1930s Hitler gained a lot of support because of the poor economic state of Germany after the war. Hitler blamed the Treaty of Versailles and the reparation payments. The Great Depression may have compounded Germany's problems but was not the entire source of its economic woes.

Hitler platformed on changing the impotent parliamentary government because of its inability to recover from the Great Depression. He was able to secure himself the position of Chancellor because of this weakness.

You could argue that the Great Depression, though not the cause of Germany's economic problems (That was the loss of the war and the Treaty of Versailles), gave Hitler the opportunity to seize the position of Chancellor from the ineffective Weimar Republic.

If the Great Depression had not happened, Hitler might not have had that opportunity.

On the other hand, Hitler was intelligent and knew how to manipulate the masses. He may have still been able to seize power through his oratory skill, his scapegoating onto the Jews, and blaming the Treaty for Germany's woes.