The Rise of the Nazis - The `Struggle' for Power.

of the Nazis. In addition, he fitted in with the `new' and dynamic feel of the party - he was the first politician to take to the air. NB he was also good for party funds, Nazi rallies had an entry fee.      1b         The Supporters -i           This was a movement of small town protestant Germany which did better in small towns/rural areas/among protestants - it was not popular in urban areas. BUT it should be remembered that they did have some support in ALL areas, which gave a broad coalition of support - Bessel suggested that breadth rather than depth of support can best be identified in the 1932 election when the snowball slows down.ii          In terms of occupations -Industrial workers were underrepresented amongst the supporters of the party but they did exist, indeed in 1932 the Nazis won more `workers' votes than any other party in the Reichstag.The middle-classes represented by white-collar workers such as teachers and civil servants were well represented in the party.The rural population was also well represented, especially amongst the smaller farmers.iii         In terms of religion, many of the leaders were Catholic but, in general, the Nazis did better among protestants - in comparison, Catholics were underrepresented although they did have more Catholic voters than the Zentrum!iv          Age - the propaganda machine made the Nazis out to be a dynamic party and thus the party of youth although they also did well among OAPs.v           Gender - this was very much a male party in terms of leaders and voters, yet by 1932 it was still getting more female votes than any other and by this time more and more female voters were moving towards the NSDAP.So, it can be seen that although the party did have particular areas of support and also some particular areas of opposition in German society, one of the keys to its success can be identified as its unique ability to transcend the sectional divides in that society.2         The Struggle -The membership was very active, virtually on a nightly basis and although the level of propaganda was similar to the other parties, it was the enthusiasm of the members allied to the flood of material that proved so important. In addition, there was the violence of the movement and this fitted in with the concept of struggle which was believed to be so important by the Nazis. This violence also fitted in with the general breakdown of civilised behaviour in post WWI Germany - thus anti-Communist violence was generally accepted even by the middle-classes.3         Why were the Nazis successful?i          There was a general air of bitterness in post WWI Germany brought about by  -                           a) The Versailles Treaty                           b) 40% of the budget went to disabled veterans after WWI and this merely encouraged inflation which in turn brought opposition to the regime                           c) The depth of the Depression in Germany was savage.ii         The whole political culture lacked support, democracy was not favoured - compared with Britain, where Parliament was where laws had always been made and it was tried and trusted - and the failures of the economy and the fragmentation of the centre parties merely served to worsen this situation.  NB by 1930 the DDP was getting only 1% of the popular vote (1920 - 20%) and the political bankruptcy of the established parties by 1930 only helped the rise of the Nazis.Indeed the problems of the Weimar regime created an opening for the Nazis to -                      a) exploit those problems further                      b) gather further support                      c) come to power and create a dictatorship.Bessel did not mention the political `left' - NB but you should not ignore this angle - he suggested that it was what happened in the centre and right that was significant. He saw the `left' as deeply divided, he stated that the SPD represented the respectable working-class and that they looked down on the KPD whom he described as the party of high crime and illegitimacy. He added that the `left' also lacked any real power base in Germany at this time -                                                                         money                                                                         arms and                                                                         the Establishment were always hard to attract to their side.