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Why did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933
Why did Hitler become Chancellor in January 1933?
There were many factors to explain why Hitler became Chancellor. They all played their part and in 1933 Hitler become Chancellor although perhaps not as he would have liked. Normally the leader of the party with the most votes in the Reichstag becomes Chancellor. In 1932 Hitler won 37.5 percent of the seats (230 seats) in the Reichstag making the Nazi party the largest in the Reichstag so Hitler should have been Chancellor. But it wouldn’t work like that. President Hindenburg, Franz von Papen and General von Schleicher all hated and distrusted Hitler so it was not going to be easy for Hitler to become Chancellor.
Hindenburg could however see that Hitler and the Nazis could prove helpful so he appointed von Papen as Chancellor. Von Papen had no support in the Reichstag but he hoped that he could form a right-wing coalition with the Nazis and other right-wing parties. Hitler said no, and so Hindenburg called another election in which the Nazis lost 34 seats and all was looking dark and gloomy for the Nazis.
But then luck came around as General von Schleicher turned against von Papen and stopped supporting him. Schleicher decided that he should be Chancellor. This triggered of a huge power struggle between von Papen and von Schleichler.
Firstly von Schleicher is appointed Chancellor in December 1932. Then in January 1933 von Papen and Hitler have private talks in which von Papen says that he will make Hitler Chancellor and himself a member of the cabinet. Hitler agrees, but Hindenburg will not give Chancellorship to Hitler. Eventually, after von Schleicher resigns, Hitler is made Chancellor after von Papen persuades Hindenburg. Von Papen thought that as long as there were a limited number of Nazis in the cabinet then Hitler could be controlled. Von Papen was wrong.
Also there was the weakness of the Weimar government, which played its part in the eventual Chancellorship title that Hitler obtained. The Weimar government was failing miserably, what with a failed economy, no power, a great depression, unemployment, a weak presidential rule, and the rise of terrorism and extremism. The Social Democrats were losing their touch. During the Stresemann years of the 1920s the Nazis couldn’t even get into double figures when it came to seats in the Reichstag. Germany, it looked, was on the rise while Stresemann was Chancellor but the Nazis and their appealing polices were al too good for the people of Germany to refuse and so while the votes for the Social Democrats only fluctuated ever so slightly the Nazi votes were rocketing and with every election they grew and grew.
All of the depressed and unemployed felt very strongly against the Social Democrats and so all of their votes were lost. The Nazis, with the only other contender with a fall in the their number of [next page]