At the time the Weimar Republic seemed to lose a lot of support because of the way they dealt with this specific situation. In order for Germany to recover they needed more money and the only way they did this was by giving the people less which made them unpopular. They raised taxes, cut wages and reduced benefits leaving the public struggling financially. While the people were obtaining a lower income, prices were higher which made life in Germany even harder. The constitution did not want to print more money notes in order to avoid sending Germany back into the disaster of hyperinflation. The outcome was the Republic failing miserably to deal with depression and the public turned to the extremists like the communist and Nazis.
When Stresemann was Chancellor he made many successful changes and Germany was growing and recovering. Not many people seemed to worry about politics and all the different parties, especially these which were extremely involved in politics. However, when the Weimar constitution was failing many people began to take part in the different parties. The support of the extremist parties which wanted to get rid of the Republic gained a massive amount of support.
The Nazi's support shot up during the depression as well as unemployment. During the years of the depression, the Nazis gained a higher percentage in votes than the Communist Party. The Nazis made certain comments and rumors about the Communists which strengthened the Nazi support but caused a great fear for them. Many farmer and business feared the Communists would do the same as their actions in the USSR. Farmers feared the party because they were aware that they would take over their land and many were killed or imprisoned in the USSR. Business men and owners were afraid of their state control of business would be introduced in Germany as well. Their actions in the USSR and their goals drove away a lot of people like peasants and business men making it a great advantage to the Nazis. The Nazis also promised to destroy the Communists which gained the trust and support of many people.
The Nazis used many effective tactics and methods in order to maintain their high percentage of support to win more votes and support of the German public. Hitler reorganised the party, made it more flexible so it would be more acceptable, promised voters of a better life, modernised the party and had lots of propaganda around the country. However the most capturing aspect of the Nazi was Hitler's speeches, this gained the majority of the support.
In the early years of the Nazi Party, Hitler had the SA involved in many street battles between communists and other opponents. This fear seemed to have many people dislike the party and vote for others. Hitler reorganised the party so it is less violent and is not seen fighting on the streets as often as before.
Lots of propaganda was used in order to gain supports. The Nazis scared people about the communists and the way they would want Germany to be ruled. They frightened the farmers and Business owners by claiming that communists will talk away their winnings and their land. They went on about the helplessness of Germany because of the Treaty of Versailles's existence. Propaganda produced by the Nazis was advertised in different ways; they were in posters, leaflets, newspapers, film, broadcast, rallies and the radio. Joseph Goebbels was the one responsible for propaganda. He made many suggestions, for example he advised Hitler to attend and make as many speeches as possible as it was one of the most successful ways to gain support and spread the Nazi message.
Hitler and the Nazi Party made many different promises and changes to different voters, he told them exactly what they wanted changed. He promised the peasants to help agriculture if he came to power. They honored the peasants as racially pure Germans. The same with the business owners, they promised to keep their businesses and not take their winnings like the communists. They showed them that the business owners were an important part to Germany current and future success.
The Nazi Party was very flexible and changed any policy if it was unwanted by the public or caused unneeded problems. If a policy caused negative rumors or publicity the Nazis simply dropped the policy. They wanted to make sure that their supporters were happy with what they set as their rules and future goals. The Nazis used technology to make the party seem important to the public and capable of anything. Hitler traveled around Germany using planes appearing as a dynamic man. They showed the people of Germany that they were modern party with modern policies, goals and tactics.
Hitler's speeches and appearances seemed to gain the majority of the votes and support for the Nazis. During his speeches he would repeat certain things like slogans with a dynamic rhythm. He would blame many people for the failure of the economy like the Jews and the communists. This helped him since he made the people believe that they were not the blame for their own problems but instead they believed the Jews, Communists or the Allies were the ones responsible for their weakness. When Hitler ran for President of the Weimar Republic he gained 13 million votes while Hindenburg won with 6 million more votes. Although he lost, his campaign raised his profile and strengthened the Nazis party. The reason behind the Nazi party's success was because of leading them Hitler as their Führer.
Hitler was made Chancellor by the political maneuvering planned by Hindenburg and former Chancellor Von Papen. By July 1932 The Nazis were the biggest party having 230 seats in the Reichstag. With such a high percentage of Nazis as part of the Weimar Republic Hitler demanded to be Chancellor, however Hindenburg refused as he disliked Hitler. Soon Von Papen loses support from the Reichstag and some problems raise. Hindenburg appointed Von Schleicher as Chancellor hoping that he would gain support from the Reichstag and solve the problems. Von Papen was still working for Hindenburg but he had a lot of revenge and resent for Von Schleicher. However in some time the Von Schleicher seemed to have lost the support of the Reichstag like Von Papen. Hindenburg got rid of him as Chancellor in December. Later in January, Von Papen organised a meeting with Hindenburg and Hitler to make an agreement. They agreed to appoint Hitler Chancellor. By late January 1933 Hitler was Chancellor.
Hindenburg and Von Papen decided to appoint Hitler as Chancellor since he was liked in great amounts and the Reichstag would surely support him as most of the seats were filled with Nazis. Von Papen would be Vice Chancellor and would be able to keep a good eye on him. The cabinet only had 4 Nazis and the rest were supporters of Von Papen and Hindenburg. With Hitler between the both of them and with a small number of Nazis in the cabinet, they thought that Hitler would be easily controlled and the Reichstag would have quick and effective solutions for their problems However, they were extremely wrong.
Hitler was able to get support and strengthen his party by several events. The depression and weakness of the Weimar Republic did not do German citizens any good; however this was an advantage to Hitler since he was able to show the public the importance of his aims and they agreed with his strategies. Without their effective and successful tactics Hitler would not have been leading the most supported party in Germany. Without his tactics he would have never appointed Chancellor even if it was political maneuvering or keeping him in control. Without these events Hitler would probably have never been Chancellor by 1933.
