Using some of the causes in the list, explain how both long-term and short-term causes contributed to Hitler's rise to power.

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Using some of the causes in the list, explain how both long-term and short-term causes contributed to Hitler’s rise to power

        Both long-term and short-term causes which contributed to Hitler’s rise to power were important, and both types were necessary for his rise to power. Although, the two different types of causes were important in different ways, they all contributed in building up a situation which meant that Hitler not only would not only rise to power, but could do it easily. In the list, there are three long-term causes and three short term causes.

        The Long-term causes were all necessary, and without all of them, it would have been doubtful if Hitler could have ever risen to power, and certainly none of the short-term factors would have happened. They did not directly put Hitler into power, but did prepare the national scene for Hitler to rise to power, or allowed him to capitalise on other short term events which would allow him to gain more votes and more power. The Treaty of Versailles brought Hitler to power indirectly because he used it in his propaganda to make him seem to be the right leader for Germany. It was also instrumental in creating the weakness in the Weimar Republic, which would prove to be the government’s downfall. From the beginning of the Weimar Republic it was considered to be a symbol of defeat and the ‘November Criminals.’ It was also seen to not have the will or the power to improve the economic situation in Germany. The government had not been able to do anything during the hyper-inflation, and they could do nothing to counter the ill affects of the Depression. Therefore, people who were already disgruntled with the government, became even more despondent and sought answers elsewhere.

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The next important question is WHY did the Nazis gain support instead of all of the other parties in Germany, especially over other right wing parties? This can be directly accounted for by the fact that Hitler had extraordinary rhetorical skill and had complete power over his audience and could captivate them. This is the other long-term cause. Hitler’s rhetorical skill allowed Hitler, in addition to his propaganda, to point out and exaggerate the weaknesses and problems of the government and to then exacerbate people’s emotions and to get them into hysteria. His rhetorical skill was also useful in ...

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