Preview

How Important Was the Role of Hitler in the Rise to Power of the Nazis

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1814 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Important Was the Role of Hitler in the Rise to Power of the Nazis
How important was the role of the leader in the rise to power of the Nazis in Germany
On the 30th January 1933 Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Hitler came to power as the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, more commonly known as the Nazi Party. In the July election of 1932 the Nazis received the highest vote ever achieved by any party in Weimar History with 13.7 million votes. This is a crucial point in history as it was Hitler who led the world into World War II which resulted in the death of 60 million people. Many questions are asked as to how such a man could legitimately come to power and create a totalitarian dictatorship in a modern country such as Germany. One popular reason for Hitler coming to power is the role he played himself and the widespread appeal for the Nazis. Historian Feuchtwanger says: ‘’The personality of the Fuhrer became a significant historical factor. He had a combination of demagogic gifts and political instinct.’’ Many believe it was the decreasing support for the Weimar Republic, which led to its collapse, helped Hitler take power. Historian Ardagh backs this up by saying ‘’Gloom was such that already by the mid 1920s many Germans were losing faith in the very principle of parliamentary democracy; this was above all he cancer that killed Weimar... A growing number of politicians... came to feel that democracy was unworkable’’. The third reason commonly believed to have played a major role in the Nazis coming to power is the Miscalculation of the Conservative Elites. Historian Salmon is a believer of this as he said: ‘’Nazism came to power as a result of a miscalculation by the conservative politicians and the military after a large number, but by no means a majority, of the electorate had put it in a position to contend for power.’’ However, clearly the most important reason that allowed the Nazis to rise to power was the Weimar’s failure to deal with Germany’s economic problems which led to the Great

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The Weimar republic was introduced on the back of Germany’s defeat at WWI, the resignation of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the widely despised signature of the Treaty of Versailles. These conditions led to its collapse in 1933, and also the great rise in popularity for the Nazi party during this period. There is no doubt that a number of economic factors played a crucial role in the collapse of the Weimar republic and the rise of the Nazis, however, numerous other factors also played a part. Some historians consider a lack of effective opposition a major contributing in the expansion of the Nazis. It has also been argued that the appeal of the Nazi party won them many votes. Finally, the impact of other political factors cannot be ignored when considering this issue.…

    • 1662 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many factors that contribute to Hitler’s rise to power from his personality to the Wall Street Crash. They are all important factors that helped him win the elections and become Chancellor in January 1933. The point of this essay is to describe how Hitler’s personality, the Wall Street Crash, the Political Crisis, the Nazi’s being Anti-Communist, the promise to reverse the Treaty of Versailles, the promise to tackle unemployment, women being attracted to the Nazi party and the Anti-Jewish campaign all contributed to Hitler’s rise to power. Personally I think that the most important factor is the Wall Street Crash because Germany was then forced to vote for the Nazi’s because they had nothing better to hope for.…

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Nazi’s gained power due to the fact that no one had the strength to oppose them. Hitler positioned himself to be influential in government, which meant that he could help in the passing of laws. He established a dictatorship through a mixture of illegal and legal means.…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hitler’s appointment in 1933 cannot be put down to just one factor. There were many influential occurrences leading up to his appointment but overall the Great Depression seems to be the biggest factor as it started a ‘chain reaction’ that overall led to Hitler being Chancellor of Germany. Therefore, despite being the leader of the most popular party in Germany playing a part in Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor it was not solely responsible and was also not the most important factor.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The weaknesses of the Weimar Republic played a massive part in Hitler’s rise to power. This includes the impact of the first world war, the constitutional weakness of the Republic, the implications of the Treaty of Versailles and the Kapp/Munich Putsch; along with other factors that led to Hitler’s success, that were not directly related to the Weimar republic, for example the Wall Street Crash, propaganda techniques adopted by the Nazis, and Hitler’s charisma, personality and leadership skills.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    He believed that Jews and communists were the reason for Germany's defeat. He spread this idea to others and German soldiers, ultimately leading him to become Germany's leader. The Nazi rise to power is an important topic because it helps us understand Hitler and his importance in World War II along with how big of a role the Nazis played in his rise to power. Learning about events like this is also important because it helps people learn more about…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Looking back at the events that occurred during our history, particularly during World War II, many of the people often reflect back and ask the question, ‘Who let a man like Hitler come into power or what made the German people decide to follow him? The seeds of Hitler's rise to power were planted following the outcome of the First World War. Hitler’s rise to power was not inevitable. It depended heavily on a range of factors, events and circumstances.…

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hitler’s rise to power was based upon long term factors and can not be attributed to one event but a mixture of factors including events occurring outside Germany, the strengths of the Nazi party, the weakness of the other parties within Germany, resentment in the German people, the weakness of the Weimar system which he took advantage of through propaganda, the terror of his storm troopers and the fineness of his speeches. Hitler used these factors to his benefit and in 1933 he legitimately gained power to become chancellor.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Much of Hitler's power came from the succession of his speeches from 1933 to 1938. Hitler made great efforts to socialise the German people. By organising them collectively he would be able to stamp out individualism that posed a threat to the Nazi ideology. Terror and coercion played their part in Hitler's power.…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hitler has constructed a perfect group of leaders, and their unquestionable authority was key in maintaining the Nazi state. The SS were Hitler’s soldiers in the sense that they swore complete loyalty. “We vow to you and the superiors appointed by you obedience unto death. So help us God.” This was the oath taken by SS soldiers directed at Hitler. The SS state induced a fear into the people of Germany through incidents such as the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ in which the SS rounded up and shot around 400 victims, all of which were posing some sort of threat to Hitler. This made it especially clear to Germany the type of response…

    • 1426 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hitler very quickly realised the importance of propaganda, he then proceeded to use it as a means to target many of the German people’s grievances. He tailored his messages in such a way that he was able to appeal to both the socially downtrodden, the agrarian and industrial elites. Hitler became the central rallying figure that attracted wider support. In the 1630’s the Nazi party even did well in areas where they did not have to organise mass rallies. Nazi success can be partly attributed to the party’s organisational structure, throughout Germany. In order to get their message out further and to different sorts of Germans, the Hitler youth was created, this helped groom children from a young age to function with a Nazi mind set. Under the watchful organisation of Gregor Strasser, the party built up an efficient structure that allowed them to exploit the economic, social and political deterioration after 1929. The Nazi’s did not only try to appeal nationally, they understood the importance of local supports. They made extra effort to gain local support; they targeted local influential people, such as butchers, teachers, essentially, people who had…

    • 1552 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    9th Amendment

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The 9th Amendment reads "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." In other words, people retain more rights than the ones listed in the Constitution. The 9th amendment is one the least referred to Amendments in decisions of the Supreme Court.…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I agree that Hitler’s personality contributed to the rise of the Nazi Party, but there were other factors that caused the Nazi Party to become such a success. Hitler appealed immensely to the German public as he was a very good orator, and his speeches were almost always extremely persuasive. Hitler was extremely charismatic and put much effort into his speeches, punctuating them with plenty of hand gestures for more emphasis. He fuelled passion into them and played on the people’s emotions, such as their hatred of the Jews and the Treaty of Versailles, often railing against the latter and delivering anti-semitic tirades. Furthermore, Hitler was a very authoritative man and always had an air of leadership around him. This made many people look up to him as a strong man who was capable of leading the country to greater heights, and thus he managed to gain their trust. Many Germans supported Hitler and joined the Nazi Party in the hopes that it would be able to shape Germany into a strong country, and hence, one factor that contributed the rise of the Nazi Party was Hitler’s personality.…

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hitler’s ability to rise up as a dictator and take control of Germany can be linked back to long term causes. These long term causes allowed Hitler certain advantages which he would then go on to exploit and manipulate such as The Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles would contribute to Hitler’s plan to rule. The Treaty had left Germany as an economy and country as a whole undoubtedly weak and vulnerable. Not only had it affected the economy and country, it had also affected the people of Germany. The Germans were furious with the terms and conditions of the Treaty, they particularly resented the guilt clause that they were made to sign which stated that the war was Germanys fault. The Germans felt defeated and without hope. Hitler preyed on the opinions of hatred for the Treaty of Versailles and manipulated this to his advantage. He was able to increase German support for the Nazi party, by including in his foreign policy the proposal to get rid of the Treaty of Versailles. This meant Hitler was able to succeed in turning the Germans bitterness for the Treaty into more votes for the Nazi party, propelling Hitler’s popularity. After the Treaty of Versailles more people were open to the idea of having a stronger government. Many were more compelled to look to parties with more radical views, such as Hitler and the Nazi party in order to get rid of the Treaty of Versailles, which so many had loathed.…

    • 862 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nazis came to power by default perhaps i.e. high unemployment; only 37% of votes but by the mid 30’s he was in complete control of Germany and had created a one-party state. How far was this process of consolidation of power the reason for maintaining Nazi life – regardless of public opinion and attitudes? It was not only fear that kept control of Germany between 1933 – 1939 but a combination of fear and other factors, good and bad, for example……………….…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays