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Why did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933
of seats, had an open road at the end which was majority in the Reichstag.
The Nazis were incredibly good at changing their policies to suit their audiences at rallies. In the late 1920s Hitler moved away from violence and realised that the only way he could receive true power was through the Reichstag. The Nazis increased their membership greatly during the mid-to-late 1920s but they were losing ground were in mattered most, in the Reichstag, where hey had very few seats indeed. The Nazis were able to win over the working and middle classes by using their anti-Jewish propaganda for the working classes, and for the middle classes and farmers the Nazis focussed on their policies on powerless and honourless Germany, making it great again. This greatly appealed to the farmers and middle classes.
Hitler made his party more organised after he was released from prison in December 1925. He realised that violence was getting him nowhere in the Reichstag so he steered his party away from that form of behaviour that was giving them a bad name.
The Nazis were brilliant when it came to propaganda and public rallies and meetings. No other party focussed more on propaganda than the Nazis. The Nazis felt that flyers, leaflets, radio, rallies and meetings were the key to success. If a subject proved popular then they would repeat it. In this way the Nazis developed a very sensitive system of propaganda. Although this system was working and membership was increasing nothing could have set the Nazis on a better path to power than events in 1929.
In October 1929 the Wall Street Crash was the beginning of a worldwide slide into the Great Depression. The effects were catastrophic, especially for Germany. All of the loans from America that Germany’s economy relied on were withdrawn. Thus the Dawes’ Plan failed and the economy collapsed putting Germany in a position reminiscent of 1923 and the hyperinflation. This depression only helped the Nazis. Life during the depression was awful and it affected everybody: young, old, rich and poor. The Nazis seized their opportunity and launched a whole fleet of policies regarding unemployment, taxes, pensions, and all of the problems that the Weimar Republic were having. This boosted Nazi support among the depressed massively and the rise in the number of Nazi seats in the Reichstag reached an all time high of 107, up from 12 seats two years before.
The Nazis had a very organised party. Most had fought in the Great War and had brought the skills that they needed in the trenches into politics. The Nazis had great leaders at every level, which was a key to their success.
The Nazis were masters of propaganda, and they carefully trained their local groups in these skills. The Nazis used every trick in the book to deliver their thoughts and messages. There propaganda skills had the ability to change the public’s opinions and views. That is power.
The Nazis also formed alliances in the right places. Hitler [next page]