Why Did Hitler Become Chancellor

On 30th January, 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Hindenburg, but why did he get this prestigious honour - why did Hitler become Chancellor? There are four main reasons as to why this happened, and they are as follows: the Weimar government 's weaknesses; his own leadership skills and the Nazis tactics; the Great Depression; and political manoeuvring between von Schleicher and von Papen. It is to be shown, however, that it really down to the involvement of von Schleicher and von Papen that Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany, when he did.

Firstly, Hitler was only able to come to power due to the failure of the previous government, the Weimar Republic. From the start, the Republic had weaknesses, such as its …show more content…
He had a natural gift for propaganda and an extremely aggressive speech style to whip the crowd into a Nazi fuelled frenzy. He also believed that it was his destiny to become the German Fuhrer, which he called the Inevitable Truth, and was based on a social adaptation of Darwin 's Evolution Theory. While this may seem like a ridiculous claim, he did in fact become the Fuhrer, so it is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Hitler was very clever, and while he was remembered for his failure in the Munich Putsch of 1923, it seemed to most of the public that he was now intent on achieving his power …show more content…
However, the unstable situation was pushed even closer to the edge when Stresemann died of a sudden heart attack in the same month as the Wall Street Crash. Not only this, but in a government report at roughly the same time, it was announced that the Army was not strong enough to fight off both the Communists, a growing threat, and the Nazis, at the same time. This was a particular threat, as a fear of Communism began to develop throughout Germany, but luckily for the Nazis, Hitler was viewed as the lesser of the two evils. The political manoeuvring by von Schleicher started when he was appointed Chancellor by Hindenburg on 3rd December 1932. Von Papen saw that by early January 1933, von Schleicher was having trouble keeping a majority in the Reichstag, and seeing his chance to win back power, secretly agrees to help Hitler become Chancellor, as long as he gets a place in the Cabinet. By mid-January, von Papen 's requests to Hindenburg for Hitler to become Chancellor are refused, and within a few days, von Schleicher had to resign, due to lack of support from the Reichstag. On 30th January, 1933, persuaded by von Papen, Hindenburg finally concedes to Hitler 's demands, and he and von Papen agree to limit the amount of seats that the Nazis can get in the Reichstag, and use Hitler as a "puppet" Chancellor, hoping that some of the