What factor brought Hitler to power in Jan 1933?
Hitler became chancellor in January 1933. By March he had full dictatorial power. The impact of the depression on the German people gave help to the rise of Hitler. It Hitler's biggest help coming to power, however it wasn’t the only factor. Hitler had good speaking abilities, which helped him win over the public. His use of force with the SA also contributed in his rise. Hitler also used the weakness of government signing of the Versailles treaty to bring down the Weimar Republic. With all these advantages on his side, and with the depression hitting Germany in 1929, it was just a matter of time before Hitler would become chancellor.
The depression weakened the Weimar government because: 1.Most Germans judged their country by its economic success, so it was failing the presumed the country was too. The Weimar government seemed to have no idea on how to control the economy. The weimar government had little success of try to get Germany out of the depression and were cautious of what they tried to do (they didn’t want a similar event to the hyperinflation of 1923). So the government raised taxes, cut wages and reduced unemployment benefits, this all led to support shifting to the Nazis. 2.These policies also caused the collapse because the partners of it’s coalition withdrew. Germany was now ruled by presidential decree. But the president was an 84 year old war hero, and who seemed to be well past his prime.3. It seemed that the Weimar government was making a mess of everything and now people who didn't vote before started to. These new voters heard the claims of the extremist parties who claimed they could solve all Germanys problems. The nazis blamed the Weimar republic, the treaty of Versailles, the Marxist’s and the jews and promised to get rid of “the enemy within”. As a result of 1929, Hitler became remarkably popular. He made promises to the military and to industrialists saying that he would return Germany back to greatness once again. Hitler exploited the depression so he could gain the support he needed to gain control of the Germany.
