The government was being run in a shabby fashion at that time, and people were moving to a more radical option, after all, radical parties surge in radical times. Germans saw Hitler as a solution to the German troubles. The Weimar republic could never form a majority, and had therefore had to rely on coalitions and rules that were passed were extremely downbeat, as they had been compromised so much. Hitler offered reform, with his ‘one party’ idea. As the Weimar republic failed, Nazi votes increased.
The Treaty of Versailles was also a sour point in German minds. Hitler opposed the Treaty of Versailles, rejecting it and choosing to go the German way, which played to the nationalist culture of the Germans.
In addition to the Wall Street Crash the increase in economic trouble in Germany in the 1930’s helped the Nazi’s gain voters, as they claimed to have all the answers. People who had never voted before in their lives rapidly became Nazi followers. In the 1932 elections, the Nazi party received more votes than any other party – around 13 million, showing that Hitler must have gained a lot of support. This number of votes was a result of a lot of campaigning, which was due to an elite and essential group, which co-operated with Hitler – the industrialists and the businessmen. Capitalists and businessmen were starting to support the Nazi’s from a fear of the extreme left rising (Communists) and there being many workers riots. In the early 1930’s Hitler was seen as a politician to hold up business. To ensure Hitler’s success, big Businessmen and the elite in Germany supported Hitler financially. This enabled Hitler to discover the potential of propaganda. It also enabled Hitler to afford to do things like use modern technology to publicise the Nazi party more widely. An example of this is how Hitler flew to destinations or travelled in a Mercedes. The elite also saw that with the rise of Hitler and their support of him they would no longer have to support the weak Weimar republic, as they believed if they helped Hitler get into power they could use the SS to their advantage, and also excel in industrial businesses.
Jews were linked with Industrial capitalist, normally in the financial business, which links them with the Wall Street Crash. Although Hitler seemed to have a deep hatred for the Jews, many people did not see the potential disaster that he could cause if he rose to power. At the time, the German culture was of a very nationalist and ‘racist’ mood, and therefore Hitler’s seemed as a product of the German culture. In fact, many Jews voted for Hitler, as they may have considered themselves so integrated into Germany, and there were many Jewish famous people in Germany at the time such as Karl Marx and Rosa Luxembourg. Hitler gave a scapegoat to attract support from voters. He promised to deal with the Jewish ‘problem’ if he were elected to power.
Schleiger unwillingly became chancellor, and believed he could use the healthy Nazi power to his benefit, and he thought it was an easy power to tame and carefully manipulate to his advantage. But this never worked as his attempts to split the Nazi’s never worked. Schleiger finally admitted he would never have a majority in the Reichstag, which led to his expulsion.
When Schleiger resigned von Papen persuaded Hindemburg that the Nazi’s could obtain a majority in the Reichstag. Hindemburg was hesitant to accept this, and he was not fond of Hitler and had rejected giving power to him on various previous occasions.
Sometimes people voted for one extreme party to counter the rise in vote of the other party (i.e. if the Communist vote rose, people would vote for the Nazi vote to counter it and vice-versa).
The rise to power for the Nazi’s was not all smooth, although it may seem relatively quick there were some downpoints. In 1933 Hitler was very short of funds and the Nazi party was on the verge of Bankruptcy. The Nazi party was also losing votes at this time. In the November elections of 1932 Hitler lost 2 million votes. This was partly due to Hitler not being able to take power on various occasions. This meant that more Nazi followers drifted to the extreme left instead. It seemed that here the Nazi party was not succeeding. This was interrupted by Schleiger’s resignation when, two days later, Hitler was appointed as Chancellor in 1933. This was partly due to von Papen’s influence and also the financial scandal to-do with Hindemburg, and the fact that he may have wanted to draw attention of himself.
Although the war was over, the militarism and fondness for military tradition remained strong in Germany. With their processions and military bands the Nazis attracted massive interest and appealed to the soft spot that many Germans had for the old military style, with discipline and pride. The marches, often by the SA (Storm troopers), had a huge presence and were very impressive. The sight of these parades was very emotive for some German people, and those who respected the militaristic values that Germany had previously stood for were very supportive of Hitler. The ideal of discipline appealed to many, and although the Nazi Party was quite small, it was a tightly controlled, highly disciplined organisation. This is one reason why the Nazis gained growing support after 1928. The opportunity of serving in the SA gave unemployed men the opportunity to earn some money. In this manner, the Nazis were gaining support from the unemployed that traditionally favoured the socialists and communists.
After 1928, Hitler made many measures to help him win the elections. He reduced the number of Stormtroopers (SA) and set up the SS, a personal bodyguard fanatically loyal to himself. The SS controlled the streets attacking Communists and Jews, and intimidating those who opposed the Nazi Party. This led to many people supporting the Nazi’s through intimidation, as they preferred to go with the overwhelming power rather than standing up for what they believed was right and facing the consequences. The main duties of the SS were to enforce the party’s racial policy and to run concentration camps.
Hitler targeted a large section of the German population. Industrialists and businessmen voted for Hitler, to ward of the extreme left. Ex soldiers also voted for the Nazi party, as many of them felt that they were let down by the home front in WW1 and felt the Treaty of Versailles was unfair. Not all Ex soldiers were pro-Nazi, as many were conscripts. Industrial workers also voted for the Nazi’s aswell, as many of them were unemployed and Hitler promised employment. Hitler was fond of farmers, and the agricultural depression meant that agricultural workers were desperate. Hitler promised them reform, as he did with much else, so the majority of farmers voted for Hitler. Many Catholics also voted for Hitler, even thought they had their own party. Votes for the Catholic party went down during the late 1920’2, and this signified many of them moving to the extreme right. The unemployed formed a great constitution of the Nazi voters. In the early 1930’s and late 1920’s, unemployment was rife and many of them voted for the Nazi party, although some voted for the Communists. Academics also voted for Hitler even a few Jewish academics. Academics were often interested in the interests of Germany, forming a national view. Hitler invested a lot of propaganda into the youth. The youth wanted reform, change, and Hitler offered them exactly this. They were part of a new era, and most of them were inclined to vote for Hitler. Much of the Aristocracy also voted for Hitler. In fear of losing their jobs, white collar workers seemed to vote for Hitler, as he promised an end to unemployment. Women often fell for Hitler’s charm and persons, although traditionally they would not mix with politics much. Hitler was aswell not married, although he had a girlfriend, and could have been seen as a pop star of modern day. Different regions normally had different inclinations on who they were going to vote for. This was, for example because of a catholic or protestant majority.
Of course there was overlapping of sections of voters, such as Jewish ex-servicemen may not have wanted to vote for the Nazi party. Also, it was the majority of these people who voted for the Nazi’s, not all of them. Many people voted for Hitler although they did not like some aspects of him, but were in approbation of other aspects of Hitler, therefore they voted for him. It can be seen from this that Hitler appealed to a large section of the population – essential if he wanted to win the elections.
Hitler himself was a major cause of his rise to power. His persona, his communication skills and his vivid speeches led many people to trust him. He was a suave, charismatic and impressive character. Hitler was a passionate and emotive speaker, who captured his audiences’ attention with great ease.
Hitler had something that appealed to the public; if it were the hatred of the treaty of Versailles or the Jews, the eagerness to reform the country, the unsatisfaction with the economic and job situation, or the feeling of being let down by the home front in the First World War.
The backbone of Hitler’s success was the weakness of the situation in Germany at the time, but there were numerous other things that resulted in Hitler being risen to power. Since the First World War, the German people had suffered one problem after another. The government could never take any decisive action, and the German people were getting tired of democracy. There was a landslide of votes for the Nazi’s as they promised Germany’s return to former glory.
