After his release from prison in December 1924, Hitler rebuilt the Nazi party and waited for the opportunity to regain national influence. That opportunity came with the great depression of 1929.
The Nazis were prepared to do anything to claim votes, they were brutal. They would go to great lengths to get German supporters. Organizing meeting after meeting, terrorizing political foes with groups of party thugs, Hitler spread his gospel of racial hatred and contempt for democracy. Nazi members (SA) would use violence, threaten people, cause riots and generally get people to vote for them out of fear. They played an important role. They beat up the opposition, especially the communists, and smashed up their election meetings. This made it very difficult for the communists to run a free election campaign. Which was intended.
Support for the Nazi party was due to the growing belief that it was a party with a leader who could do something about Germanys problems. When the great depression struck, many Germans accepted his explanation of it as a Jewish-Communist plot. He had hatred towards Jews and thought them responsible for signing the Treaty of Versailles. He also blamed the communists because he completely hated the idea of communism. The Nazis linked the two together stating that most communists were Jews, of course this wasn’t true. The Nazis promised much: a strong Germany, jobs, and national glory, he attracted millions of voters. The Nazis were prepared to promise anything to win votes, even if they had no intention of following these promises up.
Only the Jews and communists were left out of plans for Germany.
The Nazis were also well organized. They were disciplined, and portrayed Hitler as a strong leader who would save Germany.
All the things the Nazi party had said and promised had paid off. Nazi election campaigning was effective. The elections of 1933 brought Hitler to power and he quickly established himself as dictator.
Evaluation
Hitler had a charismatic personality of overpowering forcefulness. An amoral man, rootless and incapable of personal friendships, he looked on his fellow humans as mere bricks in the world structure he wished to erect. He knew how to appeal to people’s basic instincts and made use of their fears and insecurities. He could do that, however, only because they were willing to be led, even though his programmed was one of hatred and violence. His impact was wholly destructive, and nothing of what he instituted and built survived.