In order to establish the reasons for Hitlers rise to power the following are essential to consider; the economic and political situations of Weimer Germany during this period, the opposition of the Nazi party, the Nazis policies and Hitler as a lea
Introduction:
Hitler's rise to power, ending with the establishment of his dictatorship in July 1933, was a direct result of the conditions of the 1920's and early 30's and correlated with the methods and policies that he embraced as leader of the Nazi party, and chancellor of Germany in Jan 1933. In order to establish the reasons for Hitler's rise to power the following are essential to consider; the economic and political situations of Weimer Germany during this period, the opposition of the Nazi party, the Nazi's policies and Hitler as a leader.
The Nazi program was incredibly influential in the early years of Hitler gaining support and his rise to power. The 25 point programme, made in 1920, consisted of 25 points of demands and beliefs of the party. Included in the manifesto, were issues that remained the same through the 1920's; for example, the revision of the treaty of Versailles, the ending of the reparations and the creating of a 'national community' for the German people. As the Nazi party was just starting out, it was important for them to attract as many different social classes as possible to broaden their chance of receiving more votes in elections. In February 1920, the Nazi party held a mass rally in which they announced their new programme, over 2,000 people attended which was a great improvement from the 25 people that attended Hitler's first meeting. Therefore, it was evident that by introducing their manifesto, and the content it contained was hugely successful in gaining people's support. This resulted in the Nazi party growing and by mid 1923, the party had 55,000 members, many of whom were attracted by their '25 point program.'
A major and long term factor of Hitler's rise to power was the political weaknesses of the Weimar republic. There were a number of weaknesses that gave Hitler a foundation to build upon as he was able to call on these and use them to his advantage. The Proportional representation system of the constitution lead to weak coalition governements, which undermined the liability of the Weimar republic. In the years 1924-29 there were six coaltiotion governments, and as they could not agree on anything due to them having different intentions, it was evident that there was a great ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
A major and long term factor of Hitler's rise to power was the political weaknesses of the Weimar republic. There were a number of weaknesses that gave Hitler a foundation to build upon as he was able to call on these and use them to his advantage. The Proportional representation system of the constitution lead to weak coalition governements, which undermined the liability of the Weimar republic. In the years 1924-29 there were six coaltiotion governments, and as they could not agree on anything due to them having different intentions, it was evident that there was a great level of instablilty within the Constitution. For the German public, this meant that their government was unstable and therefore wanted a stronger party to lead their country and for some this meant the Nazi's. In addition to proportional representation, the legacy of the Treaty of Versailles meant that the Republic would have to take the blame of the defeat in the first world war and the humiltion of the Treaty. Rightwing and nationalists, resented the Weimar Republic for accepting the treaty and many tried to overthrough the government. Walter Rathenau, who signed the Treaty in 1918, was murdered in 1922, this act was a demonstration of the feelings of the German people to the governemtn and many felt as if they had been 'stabbed in the back.' Hiter exploited this and useed the 'stab in the back mytth' in his election campaigns. Therefore, he gained support from the Right-wing + nationalistic voters and as a result increased the influence of the Nazi party.
Linking to the political disorder of Weimar Germany, was the economic state in which Germany was in and this helped Hitler gain power immensely. The treaty of Versailles during the early 1920's had deprived Germany of it's resources and wealth, Germany lost 75% of it's iron resources and Belgian and French troops occupied the Rhineland which was the main source of industry for Germany. As a result of this along with the reparations Germany had to pay, the German money system had broken down and had only reached 47% of pre-war production levels. Germany was relying on foreign loans, especially from America, which was known as 'Dawes Plan' , to help Germany recover the finialical losses. However, Germany's reliability on foreign aid increased the widespread resentment of the public. In addition to this, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 left Germany in a worse state with 6 million people unemployed by the beginning of the 1930s. The German public were discontent with how the government handled the economic crisis and as a result of this, Hiter was able to use this to his advantage to promise a way out of unemployment and gain support.
The elimination of opposition to the Nazi party was one of Hitler's main methods to gain total power in Germany. As two of the major parties were loosing votes, theSocialist party from 8,2 million votes in September 1930 to 7.2 in November 1932 and the German Democractic party from 1,3 million votes in 1930 to 0.34 in 1932, Hitler saw their main opposing power was the Communist Party.(KPD) Apart from the Nazi party they were the only other party to increase in votes; in September 1930 they had 4.6 million votes compared to the 5.98 million votes in November 1932. After Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, he ensured that all other parties were to be eliminated. In Feb 1933, the Reichstag building burnt down, and Hitler and the Nazi leadership concluded that the fire was an act in the longwaited communist backlash. This gave Hitler the oppitunity to use legal means to begin the seizure of power; in March 1933 the leader of the KPD, Ernst Thalmann was arrested and 25,000 politiacl prisoners were in custoy in Prussia by the end of April. The finalizing of Hitler's political control took place in March 1933 when he put forward the Enabaling act. This allowed Hitler four years of power as a dicttor and by intimidation from the SS, the act passed was passed with 444 votes to 94. The Weimar Consitution and Democracy in Germany had been destroyed and the Reichstag no longer had power or influence in Germany.
Hitler's use of propaganda, intimidation and his own skills, contributed vastly to his rise to power. In 1920, the Nazi party manged to buy a local newspaper which they renamed ' People's Observer' through this, they were able to spread their messages and policies about the party. Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda, contributed hugely to Hitler's rise to success, by using tactics of 'saturation' propaganda. The use of rallies, speeches, lectures and 'aeriplane campaigns' in certain areas were highly effective in raising the profile of the party and increasing their vote at elections espically between the years of 1928 and 1930 in which their vote increased from 800,000 to 6.3 million, In addition to an increase in votes, their representation in the Reichstag increased from 12 seats in 1928 to 107 in 1930. The creation of the SA, which was know as the 'paramilitary' wing of the Party, was a way to intimidate oponents and the German public into voting for them. In early 1933, many leaders of the Socialist party fled Germany due to violence and intimidation from the just under 50,000 Sa members. Hitler also used the SA to intimidate the Church and attack members of the Catholic Centre Party; as a result of this the Catholic Church of Germany agreed to give up all political activity by the end of July in 1933. In addition to propaganda and the SA, Hitler himself was an incredibly influencial leader and his charismatic personality contributed to his rise in power. During elections, he was seen to be the only leader to fly around Germany to give speeches to the German public. Almost all of the Nazi parties campaign funds were spent on flying Hitler around Germany however, this successfuly resulted in an increase in seats in the Reichstag; in November 1932 the Nazi party had 230 seats compared to some of it's opposing parties such as the Communists with only 89 and the Centre party with only 75.
Hitler's use of what he had and his own skills impacted his own rise to power as he knew what his own strengths were and used them to his own advantage.
The individual methods that Hitler used and the conditions that Germany was in at the period of time helped Hitler's rise to power. The political and economic weaknesses of the Weimar Republic formed the foundations for Hitler's rise to power. Although, the success of Hitler's rise to power also has to consider the fact that the Nazi party's ideology and aims were appealing to the German public. Hitler also effectively took advantage of the use of propaganda and also his own potential as an influential leader.
position
