Outline the reasons for Hitler’s rise to power. Which one was most important?

Introduction

Adolf Hitler will and still go down in history as one individual who rose to power through the most unexpected ways with the desire to rule the entire world. It will be remembered that back in 1923, he tried capture power but his attempts failed. However, in 1933, Hitler together with the Nazis seized power. It’s worth noting that since then, historians have not agreed on the main factors or reasons that propelled Hitler to power. It’s my view that the Economic Depression of 1929 was the main factor that propelled Hitler to power. Ideally, the economic turmoil forced the United States to call on the loans they had offered to Germany and other foreign countries (Bracher, 1991). This led to serious levels of unemployment and poverty. At that time, the government of the day did not have a clue on how to reverse the situation, making the citizens disillusioned while losing confidence in their government. This, according to scholars put wind into Hitler’s sails providing him with an opportunity to offer himself as the alternative leader who can solve the issues facing the citizens. Nonetheless, there were other factors or reasons that played along with the economic depression that help Hitler rise to power, these include his abilities and attributes, weaknesses of Weimar, fear of communism, as well as Nazi propaganda (Hoffmann, 1977).

Economic depression

The 1929 economic depression, which resulted from the collapse of the American Stock Exchange greatly interfered with the world and Germany economy. As American demanded all their foreign loans, inflation, poverty and unemployment went up. For instance, unemployment stood at 6 million (Kershaw, 2008). The government decided to cut expenditure, salaries as well as unemployment pay. The people became angry and detested the system of governance. Preference was given to communism. It was during this time that Nazi popularity flourish, giving Hitler the edge he needed to gain ninety-five seats in the Reichstag (Bracher, 1991).

Fear of communism

As noted above, the economic depression made people angry and disliked the government, this made the people see communism as an option especially for the working class. However, the rich and the middle class were of the opinion that moving to communism will pose a serious challenge to their wealth, property, power and influence (Mitcham, 1996). Seeing that Hitler and Nazi were ready to deal with and smash communism, the wealthy individuals funded Hitler to redeem them from the threats of communism. It is worth noting that the money Hitler got from the rich people played a significant role in funding his campaigns as well as propagandas (Hoffmann, 1977).

Weaknesses of Weimar as well as Nazi Opponents

Another factor that propelled Hitler and the Nazi into power is the weaknesses of his opponents. It was apparent that Weimar government was squarely blamed on the war it lost. This, coupled with the economic recession led to hatred of the government by the people.  Other mistakes included fighting between the socialists and communists. This type of disunity among the opposition gave Hitler and Nazi to continue flourishing since the opposition was getting weaker (Bracher, 1991). Similarly, the right wings, which included the nationalists and other groups believed that Hitler could be used. They resorted to appoint Hitler as a vice Chancellor which he refused. Considering that after the election, Hitler’s party got more votes making it difficult for the government to pass laws. Hindenburg and von Papen decided to make Hitler the Chancellor hoping they could control Hitler. In fact, Hitler managed to get himself the position of Chancellor without staging a Revolution. All these ended up placing Hitler in a catapult position ready to seize power (Kershaw, 2008).

Hitler abilities and attributes

It is apparent that Hitler had some unique personal attributes that made him to be seen as an alternative leader to the citizens. He was a dazzling orator with charming skills. When he talked, his words were taken seriously since it gave people hope (Mitcham, 1996). His eyes had a unique power over people. When it comes to organizing things, it was evident that Hitler exhibited exceptional skills when organizing his political rallies and other meetings. To put his oratory skills into perspective, Otto Straser, a Nazi who did not like Hitler as a person, described Hitler as “one of the greatest speakers of the century” (Kershaw, 2008). This in itself gave Hitler a huge boost in his quest to becoming the leader he wanted. It is also acknowledged that Hitler had a sharp political judgement. This is exemplified when he shifted from a revolutionary to a constitutional approach of governance. Similarly, his ability to show the people that he was willing and ready to take risks or gamble made him win more souls so to speak (Hoffmann, 1977).

Nazi propaganda

The well-orchestrated propaganda from Nazi played a significant role in helping Hitler rise into power. It is evident that consistent messages were being passed that the Jews were to blame and the only savior was Hitler (Mitcham, 1996). Jews were painted as the major contributors of the problem facing Germany by then. To that effect, Jews were attacked together with those who opposed Hitler and Nazi. This scared majority of the opponents, forcing them to remain silent for the fear of being killed (Bracher, 1991). The funds obtained by Nazi were used to corrupt the judges letting the killers get free with their actions against the Jews. Generally, the propagandas were skillfully generated and directed to specific groups, this had a great impact in preparing the majority psychologically to believe that Hitler was their only savior.

Conclusion

The debate on which factor was the greatest contributor in helping Hitler ascent to power is not ending soon. Everyone holds a different view regarding the same. However, it is apparent that all the above factors which include Nazi propaganda, Hitler’s personal attributes, weaknesses of the government and mistakes of Nazi’s opponents, economic depression of 1929, and fear of communism among others created a synergy that enabled Hitler rise into power. However, in my view, economic problems or depression seemed to be the major factor that laid ground for other factors that propelled Hitler to power. Ideally, the economic turmoil forced the United States to call on the loans they had offered to foreign countries including Germany. This led to serious levels of unemployment and poverty. However, without other factors such as Hitler’s ability to win the hearts of the people, the weaknesses of his opponents, Nazi propaganda among others, it would not have been easy or possible for Hitler to gain power.

 

References

Bracher, K. (1991). The German Dictatorship: The Origins, Structure, and Consequences of National Socialism. Penguin History Series. Penguin

Hoffmann, P. (1977). The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945 (First English ed.). London: McDonald & Jane’s.

Kershaw, I. (2008). Hitler: A Biography, New York: W. W. Norton & Company

Mitcham, W. (1996). Why Hitler?: The Genesis of the Nazi Reich. Westport, Conn: Praeger.