Hitler became such a powerful opponent to the Weimar Republic because of the methods he used to become more popular with the German people. His use of propaganda and violence were the main methods he used in doing this. Hitler knew how powerful good propaganda could be, in ‘Mein Kampf’ he wrote “all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas”, so he knew how to use propaganda in a way that would effect people and get them on his side. The Nazis gained recognition with their propaganda by making friends with Alfred Hugenburg who gave them access to 150 newspapers all over the country so now Hitler could use his propaganda all over Germany.
The Nazis propaganda was well organised with Joseph Goebbels in charge of it. They handed out leaflets, put out posters and used the newspapers. This propaganda was so successful in gaining Hitler supporters because it aimed at specific people in Germany such as Traders, Farmers, Middle Class workers etc. and promised them many things that would encourage them to support him. He promised to restore social values, provide subsidies and loans and make a Bigger Empire for Germany. He also got people on his side by using scapegoats and unifying themes, he blamed the Jews for robbing the German citizens of money and also used the communists as scapegoats because he hated their ideas and was possibly fearful of a communist revolution like the one in Russia that had happened in 1917. The unifying themes he believed in were German Nationalism, the Fuhrer Cult and a national community making the Nazi propaganda look revolutionary and according to some post war historians, Hitler represented the true German feeling in his propaganda.
Hitler’s use of violence was another successful method he used to become a powerful opponent of the republic, with the formation of the SA and SS. The SA led by Ernst Rohm were set up to protect the Nazi speakers at first and then were used to fight the KPD’s forces and distribute propaganda. They contribute to Hitler’s success by creating a proffessional and aggressive image for the Nazis with their disciplined marches and all the violence helped weaken and cause the Weimar Republic problems. The SS was set up to protect Hitler to start off with and was another violent way to get Hitler and the Nazis supporters.
Another reason why Hitler became such a powerful person was because of himself, he had great charisma and had many political skills so he seemed to be natural leader as soon as he started speaking out to the early Nazi party. He had strong beliefs and ambitions for his party and Germany and wasn’t afraid to speak his controversial racist and nationalist views that he had written in prison even if he did upset many people. His speeches inspired many people that went to see him as they would have liked his views and ideas for a Third Reich for Germany and he was very persuasive. He had many political skills in getting him the power he got, he knew how powerful propaganda could be and knew what would persuade people to get on his side and his aggressive, violent methods to gain support and recognition within . He also kept a good party structure with the organisations and gauleiters within the Nazi Party showing that he knew what he was doing in trying to come to power in Germany.
In 1929, Hitler became a huge threat to German Democracy because of the Wall Street Crash in America. This ruined Germany’s economy as they were relying heavily on America for the loans they were getting from them. World trade declined, Unemployment went up, Industrial production went down and 5 major banks collapsed with 50,000 businesses going bankrupt in Germany. Germany’s economy was in a bad situation before the crash so when the crash happened it was in a terrible situation. The Great Depression was an effect of the crash as many people lost jobs and homes. According to Left Wing historians at the time, this crisis was the reason Hitler got more support and become elected, he could now take advantage of the republic’s disastrous situation and promise the German people that he would improve the country’s situation by being the strong leader they needed.
Also in 1929, the Young Plan was proposed by and American banker, Own Young, it proposed reducing the payments that Germany needed to pay to three quarters of the amount set in 1921 after the Treaty of Versailles and gave Germany 60 years to pay it back. This angered Hitler and many people on the right wing as they believed Germany did not start the war and shouldn’t be paying any reparations. The ‘National Opposition’ was formed with the Nazis and DNVP supporting it, to oppose the plan and was led by the media tycoon, Alfred Hugenburg who with all the newspapers he owned could print the opposition’s message and gain political exposure for the Nazis as it gave them a chance to make sure everyone was aware of their party and gain support as well.
Hitler became the most powerful opponent of the Weimar Republic for a number of reasons. It is debatable which was the most important reason, Hitler was a powerful man who was charismatic and skilled politically with his use of violence and propaganda so seemed to be the perfect, strong leader Germany needed although it might have only been an accident that he gained so much power, if Wall Street had never crashed, Hitler may have never become what he was afterwards. The crash meant that the Weimar Republic was very likely to collapse as the country’s economy was a disaster so this gave someone else the opportunity to come in and take advantage and Hitler was the man to do that.
