Germany’s economy after World War I had been built on foreign loans, especially loans from the United States. When the world trade collapsed, the German economy collapsed with it. Germans were now out of work and many savings and investments disappeared over- night. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the US called in its loans to Germany. The number of unemployed grew and people starved on the streets. In such a crisis, people wanted people to blame, and looked to extreme solutions- Hitler offered them both, and Nazi support grew.
The Great Depression was the final downfall of the Weimar Republic. No government could stop the troubles that the depression had caused, and it created further chaos in the Reichstag where people started turning on each other to try and settle the troubled, desperate times. By 1932, over three million Germans were out of work. The moderate parties were weak and helpless, and unable to agree on what to do. Hitler took advantages of these times of hardship, and promised these people what they wanted, employment and a way out of these poverty times.
Hitler’s attraction as a leader should not be undermined, as it was his leadership qualities that many Germans believed in. The Nazis won their support primarily from the lower middle class and the peasantry. These voters were strongly nationalistic in their political views and feared that depression would deprive them of their standard of living. In religion, most of the Nazis’ supporters were Protestant. German Catholics remained firm in their support of the Catholic Center Party.
Central to Hitler’s thought were his notions of race. He believed in the racial superiority of the German people (the Aryan race) and in the inferiority of other races, especially Jews but also Slavs (those from European countries) and blacks.
As a leader, Hitler was supreme. He was a brilliant speaker, and his eyes had a peculiar power over people. He was a good organizer and politician. He believed he had been called by God to become dictator of Germany and rule the world. This kept him going when others had given up. His self- belief persuaded people to believe in him. In the final weeks before the election of 1930, Hitler made as many as three speeches a day. Hitler used attacks in his regular speeches towards the Weimar, blaming them for all the economic and social problems that Germany was facing in these times and for also accepted the treaty of Versailles. The Nazis cleverly devised the idea that if they came to power there would be something for everyone. For example, farmers were promised higher prices for their goods and shopkeepers were offered protection against big businesses. The pledges were deliberately very vague.
Kurt Ludecke, who knew Hitler stated that:
‘….. Only one thing was managed marvelously from the beginning- the propaganda, Hitler’s personal hobby and perhaps his strongest point.’
Nazi Propaganda brainwashed the German population. Propaganda persuaded the German masses to believe that the Jews were to blame and that Hitler was their last hope. A poster in 1932, simple states: ‘Hitler, our last hope.’ Hitler’s heavy use of propaganda was led by Goebbles, a key figure in gaining support for the party at rallies and through media. Goebbles manipulated Propaganda very well; he altered many effective posters with clever slogans such as, ‘Work, freedom and bread.’
During the years 1933-34, Hitler consolidated his authority through the destruction of all other political parties. The Reichstag Fire, February 1933 saw Hitler insist that the Communists were trying to take over Germany by force, as they had taken over in Russia. Hitler called for Hindenburg to sign an emergency decree ‘for the protection of the people and the state.’ This decree cancelled all individual and civil rights, placing power in the hands of Hitler and his party. It became illegal for Germans to express their opinion freely, or to assemble to hear political speeches or for any other reason. The decree made it legal for Hitler for control what was published in newspapers or broadcasted on the news or radio, to open mail, real telegrams, listen in on telephone conversations, search houses without warning, to confiscate personal property and to rule by dictatorship in any of the states of Germany, wherever he thought necessary.
In the November 1932 elections, the Nazis failed to get a majority of seats in the Reichstag. Their share of the vote fell from 230 seats to only 196. Hitler contemplated suicide, but then Hindenburg rescued him. Franz von Papen and Hindenburg offered Hitler the post of vice- Chancellor if he promised to support them. Hitler refused, and demanded to be made Chancellor. In the end, they took and risk and on the 30th of January 1933, Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor, as they believed he was less of a threat than the Social Democrats. They thought he could ultimately control Hitler, but they were wrong. The election that took place in March 1933, took place in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. None of the 81 Communist deputies were allowed to take their seats. The Nazis won 288 seats in the Reichstag.
The Enabling Act, of March 1933 gave dictatorial authority to Hitler’s cabinet for four years. Armed with full powers, Hitler moved to eliminate all possible centers of opposition. It was this Enabling Act that gave Hitler legal dictatorial powers over Germany. The Storm troopers attacked Jews and people who opposed Hitler. Many opponents kept quiet simply because they were scared of being murdered- and, if they were, the judges simple let the Storm troopers go free.
Hitler’s rise to power was not based on one contributing factor. As we have seen, there were a number of factors that interlinked. The Depression led to high unemployment as many businesses had closed down as a result of the Wall Street Crash. The Weimar government did very little to help end the poverty Germans suffered and as a result, many Germans looked for extreme solutions, such as those offered by Hitler. Hitler, and the use of Nazi propaganda helped raise Nazi support. All of these factors, in effect, saw the rise of Hitler as a leader by 1933.
