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Which reason is most important to why Hitler rose to power?

.The plan was to capture Munich and from there march to Berlin. Hitler was convinced people would join him in overthrowing the failed Weimar regime. On November 9th, Hitler forced members of the Bavarian government to join him. The Nazi plan soon began to go wrong. Bavarian police opened fire on the Nazi Storm Troopers in Munich and 16 Nazi’s were killed. Hitler was arrested along with Ludendorff and they were charged with high treason.

This was a very violent attempt to take over Munich, but he was treated well in prison and soon got out and he made a decision to get in legally, so that when he was there they couldn’t get him out. He got in by proportional representation so he didn’t have to have a clear majority.

This reason is important but less important than the Wall Street Crash and reparations issue because if he did not have this opportunity then Hitler would have remained fringe. In 1928 he had 12 seats in the Reichstag and in 1930 he had 196 this shows how his popularity grew.

Nazis believed in complete loyalty and obedience. One of the major tools for this was propaganda. Hitler made Joseph Goebbels Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda

Goebbels job was Nazi ideas and encourage all Germans to be loyal to Hitler. Goebbels (a former journalist) used his new powers to control all information that reached the German in the following ways;

· All German newspapers were censored by the government and were only allowed to print stories favorable to Nazi’s

· Radio was all controlled by the government. Cheap radios were manufactured, so most Germans couldn’t afford one. Goebbels made sure that all radio plays, stories and news were favorable to the Nazi’s

· The Nazis took control of the German Film industry. German films of the 1930’s often showed great German heroes defeating their enemies. Cartoons were used to show Jews as weak and devious.

· Goebbels often organized mass rallies. The most spectacular was held in Nuremburg. At the rallies hundreds and thousands of Nazi supporters listened to choirs, sang songs and watched sporting events and firework displays.

· The Nazis used sporting events to spread their propaganda. The 1936 Berlin Olympics was used by the Nazis to suggest the superiority of the ‘Aryan race’

The main aim of propaganda was to provide the German people with the Nazi view of events. However, another aim was to target certain groups inside and outside Germany. These included;

· Anyone who supported the terms of Treaty of Versailles

· Foreigners who criticized Hitler and the Nazis

· Communists and socialists

· Democrats and liberals

· Jews

This reason is not as important as some other factors like the Wall Street Crash and the support of the rich because [next page]