One of the main ways that Germany got popular with the crowd was because of Hitler’s speaking ability and most importantly, making himself believable. He was a very public man. For example he was always in the crowd delivering his powerful speeches. They seemed to represent Hitler’s strong personality and leadership skills which was one of the main reasons Nazis won the heart of many voters. Germany needed a strong powerful leader because of the consequences they had suffered from the treaty of Versailles. As a result of Hitler’s hard work with the public, the Nazis gained a substantial amount seats in the parliament, from a very poor 12 seats to a staggering 107 seats in just 2 years. By the end of 1933 Germany had a total of 288 seats because of his many public appearances
The Weimar Republic was very weak which was one of the reasons why Germany voted for the Nazis. For example the Nazis were very weak at the start, so other parties under estimated them, they didn’t unite with each other as a result, the democratic system was failing but on the other hand the Nazis had very good team work skills and had a very strong leader (Hitler), and because of the fact that other parties underestimated them, the Nazis grew and became more popular, with the help of the depression. The depression played a major role in their votes because many people in Germany had lost their jobs and was desperate for a change of government because the Weimar Republic wasn’t doing a great job trying to rule Germany. While some of the small parties were too busy fighting with each other, the Nazis were gaining more supporters because their promises affected them.
The Nazis made one attempt in 1923 to seize power by force. This
failed and Hitler went to prison. But while he sat in captivity serving a five-year term for treason (betrayal), he wrote his thoughts out in the infamous book, Mein Kompf. In that book, Hitler mostly blames the Jews for the war. When he was released after the failure of the Munich Putsch, Hitler decided that he would have to get power by being elected, rather than rebellion. However, he was banned from speaking until 1928. But because of the absence of Hitler and the less public appearances, the Nazi’s message became less appealing and the party lost support. Hitler was going to rise to power politically, once he found a way to get in ( i.e through the Nazis party). He took part in elections, Nazis won the votes of those who were ashamed of Germanys defeat and people who hated the Jews.(Nazis blamed the Jews for all that was wrong in Germany.) At the same time their private army of young people and thugs fought with their rivals and spread fear in the streets.
Technology had a major role in Hitler’s quest for being the Fuhrer of Germany. With the radio and TV being very popular items in the house, Hitler’s message was more likely to be heard both inside and out side in marches and parades which Hitler would appear in which would increase his chances of getting votes.
Nazis did not have any importance in the Reichstag, it seemed only perfect to Hitler that the presidential elections were coming up. So he focused all of his attention on campaigning for the 1932 elections. Hitler’s political stands on current issues involving Germany were extremely strong. He promised to get revenge on Great Britain and France, and he wanted to make Germany the great nation it once had been. When the elections came around, it was Hitler against Hindenburg, another WWI expert. Hindenburg was counting on the support from business owners and from the respect he had earned in the war. With that support he came out of the elections as president.
Even though he was defeated, Hitler was not put off in the least in his quest for taking over in the German government. He opened a new course of action, which focused on the parliament. Whichever party in parliament had the most leaders usually meant their party leader would be chancellor. So the Nazis focused on getting the majority of parliament to be its own members. With intense campaigning, their difficulty was successful. The Nazi party in the Reichstag went from its former 107 party members, to 230, which was over half of the seats. Although they did hold the majority, they did not get the chancellor of their choice. Instead unfortunately Von Papen had been appointed in the place Hitler was hoping for.
In November 1932 elections the Nazis again 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 he was rescued by Hindenburg. Franz von Papen (a friend of Hindenburg) was Chancellor, but he could not get enough support in the Reichstag because he had to have at least 50% of the votes of the Reichstag if he wanted to pass a law but many of seats belonged to the Nazis so von Papen couldn’t pass on any laws, which resulted into offering Hitler the post of vice-Chancellor if he promised to support them. Hitler refused; he demanded to be made Chancellor. So Von Papen and Hindenburg took a risk, thinking that they could control him. On 30 January 1933 Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor.
Hitler wanted to be the president of Germany very badly. Some say he wanted it so badly that he framed the communists burning the Reichstag Building. Hitler made the communists out to be a flaw of society and he accused them of betrayal and therefore and was granted the right to suspend all of a communists civil rights, and send them to prison camps. This was key to Hitler’s maintaining power because communism was the next largest party to Nazism, and with no communists that means no rival.
As a conclusion, Nazis became more powerful was because of their organisation skills, many Nazis had been soldiers in the First World War. They ran the party in the same obedience teamwork and organisation skills as they had used in the trenches. The leaders and party members were very trained for any situation and any problem. Hitler is a very good example of that. Also, the media expanded massively in 1932, when the radio was invented, Germany was far more likely to hear what Hitler had to say for himself. Apart from radios, millions of posters, rallies and parades and marches carried the Nazis message across Germany. The Nazis had carefully trained their local groups in propaganda skills. They knew that their anti – communist position was very popular and it whipped up the fear and hatred of the communists. Other reasons such as their flexibility was the reason to their success. If they found out an idea was very unpopular with the public and therefore was losing them votes they would change it, in other words they didn’t care about what they were promising, as long as they got the votes of the public they would be happy. As a result the Germans were very confused as to what the Nazis really stood for. But the only thing that stayed consistent through out the election was the unblinking focus towards Hitler, the leader whom Germany wanted and needed. Posters made him look his best, both politically and physically. Hitler also continued developing his speech techniques even further. He wore spectacles but refused to be seen in the public wearing them. It was no longer about what he said but how he said it. The Nazis campaigns were focused mostly on him; his personality and his skills. The opposition no one had to match him. The problem with other parties was that they underestimated the Nazis, the Social Democrat (another party in Germany) thought that they were a “putsch” i.e they tried to get thing their way by using violence. And they thought that their electioneering was so absurd and silly that the Germans could see though it. And because they had support them selves and the number of supporters they had wasn’t changing, it was a constant reminder that they shouldn’t change and unite with parties against Hitler. Also other parties fought among themselves while the Nazis were too busy trying to gain more supporters. Now that everything was coming together for his supreme rule over Germany, there still remained some obstacles. These were dealt with in each of their respected ways. The chancellor prior to Hitler, Von Schechter, was assassinated along with the leader of the garrison in Munich. This left only one obstruction in Hitler’s path, President Hindenburg. Since he was nearing his own end, Hitler decided to just wait until he died. Once Hindenburg passed away, the gateway to dictatorship appeared, and Hitler was about to unlock it. Hitler could not just assume presidency, but he knew with his popularity and support with the public, that he could win an election. Hitler determined that a plebiscite (a vote of yes or no to resolve a situation) was to be called to clear the vacancy of president. With the vote going how Hitler had expected (basically he won the election), he assumed absolute power titled himself Fuhrer. Since Hitler had no powerful opposition, he reinforced that fact by banning all other parties, making Germany a one-party system. This was the final step in completing his pursuit of dictatorship, and it had been accomplished. Hitler was now the ruler, or Fuhrer of Germany.
