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Hitler's rise to power was based upon long-term factors - resentment in the German people, the weakness of the Weimar system - which he exploited through propaganda (paid for by his rich, Communist-fearing backers), the terror of his stormtroopers, and the brilliance of his speeches. During the 'roaring twenties' Germans ignored this vicious little man with his programme of hatred. But when the Great Depression ruined their lives, they voted for him in increasing numbers. Needing support, and thinking he could control Hitler, President Hindenburg made the mistake in January 1933 of giving Hitler the post of Chancellor.
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Going DeeperThe following links will help you widen your knowledge: Cartoon strip from my KS3 series History Place articles on the Depression & the collapse of the Republic Debate from versushistory
Podcasts
YouTube Hitler's Rise - (watch the first 9 mins) Pete Jackson on the Depression and the failure of Weimar democracy
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Why did Hitler come to power? [LIMP PAPER]For many people, the story of why Hitler came to power is about the reasons why the German people lost their senses and allowed a vicious madman to come to power. What could have brought this about?
All the following were present from the 1920s: 1. Long-term bitternessDeep anger about the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles created an underlying bitterness to which Hitler’s viciousness and expansionism appealed, so they gave him support. 2. Ineffective ConstitutionWeaknesses in the Constitution crippled the government. In fact, there were many people in Germany who wanted a return to dictatorship. When the crisis came in 1929–1933 – there was no one who was prepared or able to fight to stop Hitler. 3. MoneyThe financial support of wealthy businessmen gave Hitler the money to run his propaganda and election campaigns. Source FHitler’s financiers Many industrialists bankrolled the Nazis, including allegedly:
And many foreign firms including:
4. Party programmeHitler had a strong party organisation behing him, with a programme which appealed to almost every section of the electorate – it promised everybody something, so they supported him. 5. PropagandaNazi propaganda persuaded the German masses to believe that the Jews were to blame and that Hitler was their last hope. 6. Attacks on other partiesThe Stormtroopers attacked Jews and people who opposed Hitler. Many opponents kept quiet simply because they were scared of being murdered – and, if they were, the judges simply let the Stormtroopers go free (see point 2). 7. Personal QualitiesHitler was a brilliant speaker, and his eyes had a peculiar power over people. He was a good organiser and a cunning and ruthless politician. He was a driven, unstable man, who believed that he had been called by God to become dictator of Germany and rule the world. This kept him going when other people might have given up. His self-belief persuaded people to believe in him.
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Source A
This poster of 1932 says: ‘Hitler – our last hope’
Source B[Hitler's policies] were half-baked, racist clap-trap... but among the jumble of hysterical ideas Hitler showed a sure sense of how to appeal to the lowest instincts of frightened masses. Tony Howarth, a modern historian.
Source CHe was holding the masses, and me with them, under an hypnotic spell by the sheer force of his beliefs. His words were like a whip. When he spoke of the disgrace of Germany, I felt ready to attack any enemy. Of course, I was ripe for this experience. I was a man of 32, weary with disgust and disillusionment, a wanderer seeking a cause, patriot seeking an outlet for his patriotism. Karl Ludecke, an early follower of Hitler (1924).
Source DThere were simply not enough Germans who believed in democracy and individual freedom to save the Weimar republic. Written by the historian S Williams (1986).
Source E
SA men stop people going into a Jewish shop.
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After 1929, however, two short-term factors brought Hitler to power. Many historians believe that these were the critical factors - that, without them, Hitler would not have achieved power: 8. Economic DepressionAfter the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the US called in its loans to Germany, and the German economy collapsed. The Number of unemployed grew; people starved on the streets. In the crisis, people wanted someone to blame, and looked to extreme solutions – Hitler offered them both, and Nazi success in the elections grew. Germans turned to Nazism because they were desperate. The number of Nazi seats in the Reichstag rose from 12 in 1928 to 230 in July 1932.
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Source GNumber of Unemployed 1928: 2 million 1929: 2.5 million 1930: 3 million 1931: 5 million 1932: 6 million
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9. Recruited by HindenburgIn November 1932 elections the Nazis again failed to get a majority of seats in the Reichstag. Their share of the vote fell – from 230 seats to only 196. Hitler contemplated suicide. But then he was rescued by Hindenburg. Franz von Papen (a friend of Hindenburg) was Chancellor, but he could not get enough support in the Reichstag. Hindenburg and von Papen were having to govern by emergency decree under Article 48 of the Constitution. They offered Hitler the post of vice-Chancellor if he promised to support them. Hitler refused – he demanded to be made Chancellor. So Von Papen and Hindenburg took a risk. On 30 January 1933 Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor. He thought he could control Hitler – how wrong he was. In the end, Hitler did not TAKE power at all – he was given it.
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Consider:1. Using Source G, draw a graph to show the growing number of unemployed AND overlay it on the graph you created showing the Nazis' electoral fortunes, 1924–1933. Does the correlation prove causation? 2. Look at reason 9 why Hitler came to power; how important was it when weighed against the other factors? Do you agree with those historians who say that it was plotting amongst Weimar politicians rather than the Depression which enabled Hitler to become Chancellor?
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Source HIn the early 1930s, the mood in Germany was grim. The worldwide economic depression had hit the country especially hard, and millions of people were out of work. Still fresh in the minds of many was Germany's humiliating defeat fifteen years earlier during World War I, and Germans lacked confidence in their weak government, known as the Weimar Republic. These conditions provided the chance for the rise of a new leader, Adolf Hitler, and his party, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi party for short. Hitler was a powerful and spellbinding speaker who attracted a wide following of Germans desperate for change. He promised the disenchanted a better life and a new and glorious Germany. The Nazis appealed especially to the unemployed, young people, and members of the lower middle class (small store owners, office employees, craftsmen, and farmers). The party's rise to power was rapid. Before the economic depression struck, the Nazis were practically unknown, winning only 3 percent of the vote to the Reichstag (German parliament) in elections in 1924. In the 1932 elections, the Nazis won 33 percent of the votes, more than any other party. In January 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor, the head of the German government, and many Germans believed that they had found a savior for their nation. This account of Hitler's rise to power was published on the web in 1999 by USHMM.
Source IIt would be misleading either to state baldly that Hitler 'seized' power or to say that he was handed power and leave it at that. If we were to limit our gaze to the intrigues by which the nazi leader was levered into the Reich Chancellery in January 1933, it might be fair to claim that he was handed the reins of power. However, there is much more to the story than that: the transformation within the space of less than six months of a minority position in a coalition government into a one-party dictatorship presupposed many other things. The intrigues from above, the violence from below, the popular longings and embittered politics which fuelled broad popu¬lar support, and the widely-held popular assumptions about the nature of society, and indeed of humanity, combined in 1933 to make possible the nazi capture of power. Richard Bessel, Understanding Nazi Germany (2004).
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Consider:3. Study Source H.
4. Study Source I.
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