The Rise of Naziism

How did the Nazi's come to power? Well, the Weimar Republic was in shambles and therefore German democracy had clearly failed due to a combination of social, political, and economic crises. Also, the Treaty of Versailles had magnified Germany's sense of dishonor and therefore when Hitler came around preaching let's get germany back to it's national greatness and overthrow the Versailles settlement, the people were quick to jump on his nationalistic bandwagon. We cannot forget how poor the economic situation was in Germany in the 1920's. After the war-guilt clause, Germany owed 33 billion dollars, and pretty soon inflation got so bad that a pound of potatoes went from costing 9 marks to 2 trillion marks. THAT IS RIDICULOUS! Also, the "Great Depression pushed Weimar's political system to the breaking point" because the unemployment had risen from 2 million in 1929 to 6 million in 1932 (919). Basically, everyone in Germany was unhappy and needed a change- and pretty soon the Nazi party came in to "rescue" Germany and save the day!

The Nazis slowly rose to power because of this overall feeling in Germany, the bad economic situation, the splintering of the electorate, and also due to the mass amounts of propaganda (especially that which was written by Joseph Goebbels) that was targeted to attract members of the urban and rural middle classes. The Nazis needed popular support and they gained support from the small property holders and rural middle class by offering them economic protection and renewing their social status; they gained support from the pensioners, the elderly, the war widows, the elitist, and the workers (jobs) as well. Overall, Hitler gained mass amount of popular support by using violence (gestapo and SA-SS) and playing on "deep-seated fears of communism" and by speaking a lot about racial national pride and unity (922). Hitler also wanted to restore Germany to it's national greatness by rearming the country and creating economic self-sufficiency. 

I could talk about Hitler's racism or how when he spoke in front of a crowd he gave me chills. But I'd rather not- Hitler was good at gaining power. Once he became the chancellor of Germany he seized power and gave himself unlimited power. Hitler took over Germany at this weak point in it's history and turned Germany into the strongest power in Europe, and probably, the World.