Despite the earlier promises of their 25-point programme, the new Nazi government made no attempt to limit the wealth and power of big firms, let alone take them over. Instead, Hitler tried to reassure big businesses by keeping Hjalmar Schacht as head of the Reichbank, and later making him Minister of Economy. In order to achieve his foreign policy aims, Hitler had to strengthen German economy so she could rearm and be self sufficient. Schacht’s role was to develop a New Plan which, in part, was to find a way to finance public works and so reduce unemployment without reducing Germany’s foreign debts. This was popular as it made people think that Hitler was at last doing something to make Germany stronger. This gave people more faith in Hitler’s aims and regime.
Rearmament began in secret in 1933, but by 1935, it was carried out openly. Rearmament gave employment to many, as did the re-introduction of conscription, which increased the army to 1.4 million (although previous governments had already begun to increase it). In 1936, Goering was ordered to get Germany ready for war, so he made the Four Year Plan, which totally undermined Schacht’s work with its growing demand for resources and by building thousands of aircraft, tanks, and battleships. Rearmament was popular amongst the German people as it was a reaffirmation of their national strength.
Propaganda was crucial to the Nazis’ popularity in the late 1930s, as this is what kept the German people believing in them. Propaganda made everyone believe that what the Nazis were doing was right and good and that their lives were much better now than they were before.
Overall, the success of the Nazis was mainly due to that of their economic policies, as when their policies failed, they became less popular. The Nazis were popular due to the fact that the economy was improving, partly due to them, but mostly to do with the previous government and an increase in world trade. Also, in the late 1930s, the majority of the German population could only remember the years and years of trouble and prosperity after the Wall St Crash, and not the years of prosperity and believed that what the Nazis were doing was so great. This was true, compared to the years after the Wall St Crash, life now was great, but in itself, it was not. They believed that Hitler was making things better, when in reality, things would have probably improved by themselves anyway.
