However, there were also weaknesses within the constitution itself which helped Hitler. Proportional representation meant that there were lots of small parties within the Reichstag this meant that decisions were difficult and slow to make. Germany lacked a strong government, which is what they needed in order to pull them out of the depression. Small parties were weak and poorly organised, they failed to sort out Germanys problems because they were unprepared to work together. This caused people to have little confidence in the democratic system and as a result turned their support to extremist groups such as the Nazis and Communists for help. The chancellors Hindenburg appointed under him had little support in the Reichstag and as a result they were forced to rule by emergency degree.
Support for the Weimar republic began to decreas4 as political uncertainties were created by the failings of Weimar and the short- lived coalition governments, which were not prepared to work together.
The Weaknesses of Communism helped the Nazis to come to power indirectly. Landowners, businessmen, big companies and Middle class people feared Communism because of their ideas and beliefs. Communists believe in equality, and wanted to abolish the class system. If this happened, the middle-class would lose vast amounts of money and everything else and would be no better off than the working class. They had already seen the effects of Communism in Russia and therefore turned support to the opposite extremist party- the Nazis. They also supplied the Nazis with financial support, which they could use to strengthen the party and its campaign.
However, the Nazis well as opposition weaknesses, the Nazi party also had many strengths which helped it to come into power. For example, the Nazi party had something that many of the other parties in the constitution did not, they were well organised and had a strong leader. This was something that the people needed to pull them out of the depression.
Another strength of the Nazi party, which helped them to come into power, was their successful propaganda campaign run by Joseph Goebbels. They ran a successful campaign using the most modern technology of the time. This included the party's own newspaper, adverts in other newspapers, media and radio, books, speeches and marches. They also held meetings in beer halls which later developed into huge rallies like the Nuremberg one and posters like the one opposite.
Their methods tended to be different from other parties, they chose simple but clear slogans to get their aims across. This attracted people's attention.
Ex-servicemen were given a job in the SA or SS, which appealed to many people in a time of unemployment. The SA headed by Rohm and the SS headed by Himmler helped to protect Nazi meetings and broke up meetings of the opposition. The SA attacked other political groups, which helped the Nazis into power by eliminating opposition.
The Nazis had an advantage over their opponents, which helped them into power. They targeted specific groups of society and used different slogans and policies that would appeal to everyone. Their ideas included a mixture of racist, nationalist, socialist and anti-Semitic beliefs. Due to this, they had a wide background of support, which helped bring them into power.
It wasn’t just their effective propaganda campaign and the intimidation of the opposition, which brought them into power, many people were attracted to their beliefs and ideas too. Most of their ideas were written down in Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" or in the Nazi twenty-five-point programme. Ex-servicemen were drawn to the Nazis dedication to rearmament, which had been restricted after the treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was another issue, which featured heavily. Many Germans thought that they had been treated harshly and resented the treaty. Hitler promised the abolition of the treaty if he came into power. He wanted to build up German forces, restore national pride and re-build a greater Germany. This appealed to anyone unemployed as reintroducing conscription would provide them with work.
Also to do with the treaty of Versailles, Hitler promised to restore and rebuild Germany. He promised that all Germans would be brought together. This would be achieved by regaining the territory taken by the treaty in Saar, Polish Corridor, and other territories as well as reuniting Austria and Germany in the Anschluss. He would also take over parts of Czechoslovakia and Poland where German speaking people live. In order to support the growing population, Lebensraum (living space) was needed and this land was to be taken from inferior people like the Slavs. Such extreme ideas helped the Nazis into power because many people had very strong feelings about the treaty and blame was placed upon it for the economic problems Germany had suffered after the war. The majority of the German population were very anti-Versailles because of how much they had suffered. The Nazis provided scapegoats offered a way out for the people such as the communists, Jews and other minority groups. These offered the people with a way out.
The main scapegoats targeted by the Nazis were the Jews. The Nazis were very anti-Semitic. They blamed the Jews for all the problems, and the failure in the war. Other minority groups targeted were homosexuals, gypsies, alcoholics and Tramps.
Economic problems helped the Nazis into power because the Weimar government failed to sort them out, which made people turn their support elsewhere. After the First World War, Germany suffered many economic problems and as a result they were struck hard by the Depression in 1929, which created an environment of discontent and hardship. Many Germans were alarmed by the depression as they could still remember the effects of hyperinflation in 1923.
As unemployment rose, so too did the Nazi support as shown by the graph opposite. Hitler won the support of unemployed people by promising to eliminate unemployment and by giving them food and shelter in a Nazi hostel. He also created work for them in the SS and SA.
Hitler was made chancellor in 1933, because of Hindenburg and Von Papen. Even though Hindenburg did not like Hitler and referred to him as a "bohemian corporal" he agreed to make him chancellor. In August 1932, Hitler was offered the position of Vice-chancellor under Von Papen this offer was rejected. The Nazis were one of the biggest parties in the Reichstag and were looking like a threat to the government. So, in December 1932, Schleicher attempted to split the party by proposing himself as chancellor and Strasser (a Nazi party member) as vice-chancellor, this plan failed.
Von Papen and Hindenburg felt that together they could control Hitler if he was made chancellor and on 30th January 1933, they made him chancellor.
All the above reasons offer explanations as to why the Nazis came to power and there are many more. It is easy to argue which reason maybe the most important factor. For example, if the Weimar government wasn't so weak, the Nazis wouldn’t have won so much support. If the Nazis hadn't run such an effective propaganda campaign their beliefs and ideas wouldn’t have been so well known and attracted so many people. If the Nazi ideas weren't so appealing, people wouldn’t have been attracted to them in the first place. Maybe if Von Papen and Hindenburg hadn't made Hitler chancellor he wouldn’t have come into power, or maybe he would have.
The main reason why Hitler came into power was because of the economic problems, which Germany was suffering from after the war. If there hadn't been any problems, then the people wouldn’t have been so desperate to find a way out. They wouldn’t have turned to extremist groups for the answers, and probably would have been happy under the democratic system. Evidence shows that there was an improvement in the 1920's of German life under Stresemann and they were beginning to recover, if it hadn't have been for the Wall Street crash, they probably would have recovered. The other reasons are not as important because on their own without the depression they probably would not have had such a big effect at all.
