What was the Appeal of the Nazis?
What was the Appeal of the Nazis?
In the spring and summer of 1933, Hitler established the apparatus of party dictatorship in Germany. With the power of the Enabling Act, Hitler went about dissolving political opposition and trade unions, establishing the Nazis as the single, dominant party in Germany. In November 1933, Nazi observations showed that 80 per cent of the electorate supported the Fuhrer. The alarmingly high number of supporters were due to Hitler's techniques of coercion and intimidation, carried out firstly by the SA and then later, by the SS. Many of the voters supported Hitler because he had done much to restore the faith of ordinary Germans in themselves and in the future of their country. The apparent appeal and support for the Nazis, lay in many areas such as the middle class, industrialists and later the army.
Catholics were deeply impressed with the actions of Hitler in his readiness to sign a concordat with the Vatican in July. He promised to leave the Catholic church in Germany unharmed if the Catholics abstained from political activity outside the NSDAP. The Vatican agreed, and Hitler's guarantee (which, of course, was merely tactical) reconciled many German Catholics with the regime. The fact that Hitler was willing to negotiate with Vatican is evidence that he tried to maintain order in Germany. By offering something to everyone and by appealing to everyone with something of interest, Hitler could win people over in support of his party. Once Hitler had the support of the masses this would make him indispensable and give him the power to influence Germany's policies.
In order to gain the support of big Industrialists and businesses, they were not interfered with and left unharmed by the Nazi regime except for the removal of Jewish managers. Hitler appealed to leading Industrialists, such as Krupp, by giving them positions of power in his government and administration. For Industrialists the appeal of the Nazis were that they had promised to destroy other socialist parties and tame the trade unions.
Various types of people supported the Nazis and made up sixty percent of the party. Of the sixty percent, 14 per cent were shopkeepers and small ...
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In order to gain the support of big Industrialists and businesses, they were not interfered with and left unharmed by the Nazi regime except for the removal of Jewish managers. Hitler appealed to leading Industrialists, such as Krupp, by giving them positions of power in his government and administration. For Industrialists the appeal of the Nazis were that they had promised to destroy other socialist parties and tame the trade unions.
Various types of people supported the Nazis and made up sixty percent of the party. Of the sixty percent, 14 per cent were shopkeepers and small business tradesmen, 17 percent were clerks and minor officials, 20 per cent were skilled craftsmen, and finally specialists workers who made up the remaining 9 percent.
The sixty percent of Nazi supporters came from the lower middle, or skilled working classes. The supporters of Nazism were generally people who had established themselves or had some small stake in the world and feared that they may lose this in some economic or social upheaval, such as Communism. Thus Nazism was believed to bring these people back to the lives they once lived. The fact that Hitler promised to protect these people from this, was appealing.
The army, much like small businessmen, were pleased by the Nazi idea towards Communism. The dictatorship promised to eliminate the Communist threat and promised to intensify their rearmament. The only thing troubling the army was the position of the SA. The army officers had their own esprit de corps and did not want to end up as an auxiliary force of the SA. Hitler, who knew the support of the army was crucial for his political ideas and ideas of making Germany a strong force in Europe, thought to win the support of the army by eliminating the SA.
Hitler impressed many German people when he withdrew Germany from the disarmament Conference, League of Nations in October 1933 and when he pronounced that conditions in Germany should return to normal after the excitement of the past nine months. This was warmly welcomed by the people. The appeal of normality, was what the German people wanted, so that is what Hitler told them. In July 1934, Hitler began an educational task of winning over the masses to National Socialism. He made a constant effort to make the seizure of power or Machtergreifung respectable, reassuring the middle, life would go on as normal.
Hitler was cunning in that his political party offered something appealing for everyone, even the name of his political party was designed to appeal to everyone, nationalist and socialist alike, but the very notion of a Nationalist and Socialist Party is a complete contradiction. In fact, the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party was a sham, like many of Hitler's ideas. Hitler's party was not a socialist group, like its name claimed, the SA, having put Hitler in power, expected a privileged status with well paid costs and wanted socialist reforms. Hitler had no intention of disrupting the economic and commercial life of Germany and thought to get rid of the socialist element of his party and did so in the Night of the Long Knives on 30 June 1934. Hitler merely used the name to appeal to the working class people.
The Nazis were elected and well supported first of all because they made the most convincing point about abolishing Versailles, reconstructing the country, restoring jobs and national wealth, and lead Germany to new glory. This idea was attractive to many people, but in itself, Nazism was a pathetically thin and unsophisticated creed, little more than a transient amalgam of social resentment and national frustration.
Crude and over-simplified projects such as Weltanschauung were designed to have an effect on millions of Germans, who were completely overwhelmed by early crisis's, such as the great depression.
To attract young members, Nazis appealed to the spirit of idealism and self-sacrifice in German youth or harped on the need for a truly integrated society - the Volksgesmeinschaft - they touched on psychological needs which the republic failed to satisfy. A sense of national solidarity against Germany's foes was the new social cement which would overcome class differences and bind people together.
Another appeal of the Nazis, was Hitler himself. He was a father-figure in who a disillusion and weary people could rest confidence and trust at a time of unusual stress and strain. To most Germans the appeal of Hitler and his party was that he was a "sight of discipline in a time of chaos, the impression of energy in an atmosphere of universal helplessness" - Albert Speer, 1931.
