Hitler And The Nazi Party example essay topic

Hitler's rise to power was not completely the consequence of the economic problems left by the Depression in Germany. Although there are a few economic factors that led to the rise of Hitler, such as the impact that the Depression had on employment, and the availability of money. As well as this there were other factors that assisted Hitler in his rise to power, such as his speaking skills, propaganda, and the way that Hitler's opponents underestimated him. To a small extent, economic factors were responsible for Hitler's rise to power.

The Depression left an incredibly detrimental affect on Germany. Unemployment rose from 3.25 million to 6 million in 1932, and with little financial assistance from the government, German workers were extremely upset. As employers could not afford to pay their staff, they fired three quarters of their workforce, and then lowered the wages of their existing workers. Banks were also highly affected by the Depression.

In 1931, 5 major banks were closed down. Money was extremely scarce, and the smallest things cost incredible amounts of money. As people were upset with the situation that they were in, and blamed the Weimar Republic for it, the German population were easily influenced and were happy to believe the appealing promises that Hitler presented them with. This is evident in the rise of votes, whereby from 1929 to 1932, the Nazi Party gained over 2 million votes. As well as economic problems, Hitler's speaking skills were also important in his rise to power. Hitler was an extremely charismatic man, and was easily able to evoke people's emotions.

Many listeners were simply awestruck whenever they had the chance to listen to him. He could closely identify with people's emotions and expectations of the government, and thus could influence their decisions and make them believe that whatever he promised them would ultimately come true. Hitler's incredible speaking style, personal qualities, and charisma made the Nazi Party seem extremely appealing. It is apparent that Hitler's incredible speaking skills made people more likely to believe the promises that he was making, as he would capture their attention and tell the people what they wanted to hear: he would be able to immediately solve the economic problems that Germany was in. In addition to Hitler's speaking skills, the propaganda that the Nazi Party created was equally prominent in Hitler's rise to power.

The Sturmabteilung, who were Hitler's personal army, distributed leaflets to the community, containing persuasive information which was usually highly inaccurate, and which evoked people's emotions and contrarily, used scare tactics and intimidation. This propaganda influenced people's decisions dramatically, as people were willing to believe what Hitler and his troops would tell them. The German public were saturated with symbols of Nazi worship. Posters were displayed everywhere, and almost every street was decorated with the Nazi flag, the Swastika.

Josef Goebbels was the man that was in charge of Propaganda. He made the propaganda appeal to people's emotions: "German mothers: Do you want your daughters to be playthings and the objects of sexual lust?" This evoked people's emotions and made them want to rid Germany of people who were doing this, therefore they voted for Hitler. The German people believed that the Nazi Party would save them from the Communist threats that Germany was facing. Hitler also believed that a mass of voters would believe a great lie, rather than a small one. Furthermore, the fact that Hitler's political opponents highly underestimated him also contributed to the rise of Hitler. With the general population fearing that Communism would take over, citizens were heartened by the Nazi's stance of anti - communism.

In 1932, the Nazi's were by then, the largest party in the Reichstag. The party had 230 out of 608 seats. In spite of this, in November 1932, they lost around 34 seats. This led to Hitler contemplating suicide. In 1933, the German government were afraid that Hitler and the Nazi Party would try and seize control of Germany.

On January 30, 1933, Franz von Papen, General Schleicher, and President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor. They believed that if they gave him what he wanted, they would have Hitler under their thumb, and would be able to influence the rest of the Nazi voters presiding in the Reichstag. Through the faults of von Papen, Schleicher, and Hindenburg, Hitler came to power legally, through democracy. As soon as he was given the position of Chancellor, he passed the "Enabling Act", which enabled him to make laws for the next four years without consulting the Reichstag. This can also be linked to the economic crises, as if there was not an economic crisis, the Weimar Republic's inadequacies would not have been so apparent, and people would not have been so upset with the Government. There would not have been the rise of the Nazi Party support, and therefore Hitler would not have been considered for the position of Chancellor Considering all factors, it was to a small extent that the economic problems in Germany led to the rise of Hitler.

Through his speaking skills, use of influential propaganda and the underestimation of him by his political opponents, was Hitler unfortunately able to come to power.