The growth of Hitlers support
One of the main ways the Nazis gained votes was by using the treaty of Versailles and saying how unfair and harsh it was. They said that the Treaty was a dictat. The Treaty made Germany say that the war had been their fault. So they took a chunk of land away including industrial and farmland to pay off reparations of around 6 Billion pounds for the damage they caused. This made the Germans very angry. So the Nazis took advantage of this and said that they would restore the national pride.
The Propaganda
This was another of the main ways that the Nazis used to get votes and followers. Hitler himself used it a lot in his public speeches at mass meetings to try and get his point across and to make his audience believe that the situation of the country was worse then it was. The Nazi party did this frequently by using the Radio, newspapers, posters etc to exaggerate their views eg. Using the Jews as scapegoats and blaming the worsening economic situation on them.
The Nazi promises
The German people were experiencing what was called a depression. This was where there were not jobs or enough money so that they did not have enough food and clothes for their family. People would instead exchange goods with each other. This led to the growth of Hitler’s popularity because he would say to his people that he, could and would, give them all jobs, pride, a good living etc.
How the people were intimidated
At the times the Nazis needed votes most they used to send the SS (stormtroopers ) round to intimidate people into voting for them. The SS would go round to people’s houses or be at the polling stations and they issued threats and were actually violent to make people vote for them. They also intimidated and threatened Opposition candidates. In these ways they increased their own share of the vote and became the biggest party in Germany.
1930 – 1933 elections
The Nazi Party did very well in these elections due to the fact that millions of unemployed Germans voted for them because they saw the Nazis as a party that could make an improvement to their lives. After much political unrest Hindenburg made Hitler the new President and Prime Minister of Germany. This allowed the Nazis almost complete power in Germany so allowing Hitler to eliminate other political parties and set the scene for him to become a complete dictator later in the decade.
Conclusion
Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power for a number of reasons. The most important reason was the bitterness caused by the Treaty of Versailles. Another reason was the propaganda that Hitler and the Nazis used and the promises he made to the German people of a better life. Finally, the powers of intimidation he used made sure that he got the sort of election success that he needed to gain power in Germany.
