-Hitler's Rise to Power -

~ How Hitler Rose to power ~

Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in Germany in September 1919. When Hitler joined the political party that was known as the German worker party, and was later commonly referred to the Nazi Party. This political party was formed and developed during the post-World War I era.The Nazi Party was anti-communism and was opposed to the democratic post-war government of the Weimar Republic and the Treaty of Versailles. It advocated extreme nationalism , Pan-Germanism and virulent anti-Semitism.
Hitler was also motivated by his strong desire for security, stability and peace.

There are many reasons on how Hitler rose to power, two of the main factors are "The Weimar Government's weakness" and " Hitler's Abilities". 


The Weimar Government's weakness
The Weimar Government had many weakness like making the constitution and the system of proportional, being opposed by  the right , being opposed by the left  not having the ability to keep order in the country, losing the support of the middle class and losing a capable leader. 
These are some information about those weakness :

• Making the constitution and the system of proportional

The Weimar Government wrote a constitution that established a democratic system in Germany. A system of proportional representation was chosen. This is a system where the number of seats in the Reichstag that each party gets depends on the number of votes they win. However , under this system, governments did not last long. From 1919 to 1933, the longest government lasted for only 2 years and 2 months. Because of the constant changing of the government, the life in Germany was disruptive and unstable. The system of proportional representation was also seen to encourage parties to spend more time trying to form coalitions and quarrel among themselves instead of governing the country. This made the people of Germany want to choose Hitler more as they believed he has a better system. 

• Being opposed by the right

Many Germans opposed the Weimar Government. This is so as the Weimar Government signed the Treaty Of Versailles which made the Germans angry because the Germans believed that the army had not been defeated. The top army officers told the Germans that the Weimar Government stabbed the army in the back. They also did not support the new democratic system. Because of all these, they were determined to obstruct the work of the Weimar Government. 

• Being opposed by the left

The Communists in Germany was also against the Weimar Government. This was so as they wanted to establish a Communist Government. One of the Communist groups, the Spartacists, took part in several revolutions and set up soviets in cities like Berlin, Munich and Kiel. But, a group of ex-servicemen, Freikorps ( the Free Corps) opposed Communism and often battled with the Spartacists. This caused many chaos in the Germany and many problems for the Weimar Government, it also made the Weimar Government look weak which caused the people to lose faith in the Weimar Government .

• Not having the ability to keep order in the country

The Weimar Government was also unable to keep order in the country. They spent much time trying to suppress riots and attempts to overthrow the government. The Weimar Government's army was unable to stop the Communist revolts and had to often rely on the Freikorps ( Free Corps ) to put down Communist revolts.  Many people tried to overthrow the government like Hitler and The Kapp Rebellion.  The members of the Weimar Government became the targets of attacks. Between 1919 to 1922, a total of 376 members were murdered. All these made the people of Germany lose confidence in the Weimar Government's abilities to maintain law and order in the country.

• Losing the support of the middle class

At the end of World War 1, Germany had huge debts. The Weimar Government printed money to pay off its debts which led to hyper-inflation. Many Germans became poor overnight and savings became worthless. The Germans blamed the Weimar Government for this. The economy recovered in 1924, but, the Weimar Government still lost the support of the middle class because they felt that the Weimar Government has failed.

• Losing a capable leader

The Weimar Government also lost a very capable leader, Gustav Stresemann, who died on 3 October 1929 because of a heart attack. He signed and negotiated many papers which led to many positive developments. He played a big role in bringing stability and prosperity back to Germany and was also one of Hitler's main competition. After his death, Germany became rather vulnerable and Hitler's chance of rising to power increased. 

Hitler's Abilities

Hitler had many abilities like being an excellent speaker and a charismatic leader, reoganising the Nazi Party, exploiting the fear of Communism to win support  and being skillful at making deals with politicians. 

This is how he used his abilities: 

• An excellent speaker and a charismatic leader 

 Many people would listen to Hitler talk for hours because he seemed to understand their problems, he also told them what they wanted to hear. Shortly after Hitler joined the German Worker's Party, it was renamed to National Socialist German Worker's Party. However, the party was popularly known as the Nazi Party to the Germans. Hitler's speaking ability and charismatics saved him when he was in court for trying to overthrow the government. Hitler could have received the death sentence, but because of his speech, the judge felt sympathetic towards him and sentenced him to jail for five years. But, nine months after he was jailed, Hitler was released from jail because of his good behavior. 

• Reorganising the Nazi Party

Hitler realised that he could not take power by force, so he reorganised the Nazi Party after being released from jail so that he could win power through election. He set up branches of the Nazi Party in different parts of Germany, created a youth movement to get the support of the young  and arranged large public meetings to attract new members. This made the Nazi Party gain a lot of support. 

• Exploiting the fear of Communism to win support

During the Great Depression , many Germans suffered the hardships of the Great Depression. This made the Germans believe that the Weimar Government failed them and made the Germans willing to support extremist politicians who seemed to offer more effective ways of solving Germany's problems. Both the Nazi Party and the Communists became very popular. However, Hitler exploited feat of communism to win more support. He used propaganda to spread fear , he said that Communists were only interested in creating disorder and starting a revolution in Germany , whereas, the Nazi Party was the only political party which could prevent the Communists from setting up Communist dictatorship. He also told the rich people that the Communist would take away their property and give it to the workers. This made many rich Germans support the Nazis, they also gave the Nazis financial support. Hitler then used the money to recruit a private army, the Strumabteilung (  Stormtroopers ), to commit many acts of violence towards Communists. All these allowed Hitler to gain more support than the Communists. 

• Being skillful at making deals with politicians

In the 1928 elections , the Nazis won less than 3% of the votes, in the 1930 elections, they won over 18% of the votes. And in the July 1932 Elections, the Nazis won 37.3% of the votes and became the party with the most votes, this placed the Nazi in a powerful position because no coalition government could govern without the support of the Nazis. Hitler refused to join any coalition unless he was given the position of Chancellor. President von Hidenburg refused Hitler's demand for Chancellorship at first because he thought Hitler was dangerous and that he could not be trusted. But, he soon agreed to Hitler's demand as the business leaders,influential industrialists and Von Papen agreed that Hitler should be appointed Chancellor because he could help the government tremendously. Hitler was then appointed Chancellor on 30 January 1933 and within months, Hitler ended Weimar Germany and started the Third Empire. 

- Interview with Hitler -

*Me -> M  , Hitler-> H

Today I am meeting with with Adolf Hitler to interview him about how he rose to power. 


M: Hello Mr. Hitler, thank you for taking time off your busy schedule to allow me to have the honours of interviewing you.

H: No problem. Make it quick though , I've a meeting soon. 

M: Will do. Well, congratulations on finally rising to power Mr Hitler. So.. I'm really curious, well, I think that almost everyone is too, Mr Hitler, what made you think that you could rise to power?

H: I'd say it was because of the Weimar Government, they were weak. I was sure I could rise to power after the Great Depression.


M: Hmm.. how were the Weimer Government weak?


H: Isn't it obvious? They made a silly voting system of proportional representation, this really messed up the daily life of the Germans. Seriously, changing governments almost all the time, the longest government didn't even last 3 years! What in the world were the Weimar Government thinking? That aside, they couldn't even keep order in Germany!


M: Well, I see your point, I guess. So, what was your opnion on Gustav Stresemann?


H: Oh, him. He was probably the only person in the Weimar Government who were capable of anything, I'd say that he was one of my biggest competition. The Weimar Government was messed after his death! [Hitler laughing]


M: That's kind off cruel. Do you dislike the Weimar Government?


H:  Hate. I dont dislike them, I hate them. Hate is more lasting than dislike.


M: Oh. What other reasons made you think you could rise to power? Perhaps your ability of being  an excellent speaker and being extreme charismatic?


H: [Hitler laughing] You really think I'm an excellent speaker and that I'm charismatic?


M: Of course I do! I'm pretty sure many people does too. You don't have to be humble about it!


H: Well, it did boast my confidence. Not to mention it saved me when I was [Hitler sighs] at the court when my sentence was to be decided.


M: Another question , quite a few people claims that you were exaggerating about the Communists. Is that true?


H: It is not truth that matters, but victory. And if you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.


(I was really surprised when Hitler said this.)


M: Uhh.. well said Mr Hitler.


[Hitler's assistant knocked on the door and says: "My Führer( which means leader), its time for your meeting."]

M: Well, thank you for your time Mr Hitler.

[Hitler walks away]

From my meeting with Hitler, I could tell that he is a very persuasive person who has a very strong will and that he was very ambitious.