Why Did Hitler Become Chancellor Of Germany Essay

In 1933, Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. Various reasons contribute to this incident. This includes Hitler’s strong personality, Nazis’ strength, political instability in Weimar Republic, rise up of militarism and nationalism. “Hitler's strong personality was the main reason he became chancellor of Germany in 1933.” Indeed, the importance of this factor remains to be further discussed and investigated.
First of all, Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933 due to the political instability in Weimar government.
To reflect the situation, In 1929, Germany was hit severely by the Wall Street Crash when the America called back for its loans, and the total number of unemployed during January 1933 was 6,100,000. Although other political
parties in the Reichstag had more support altogether, there was indecision. The were 6 parties in the Reichstag, of which 305 seats were needed for a majority. Furthermore, the Communist party with 77 seats had opposing stances with the Democratic parties and the Nazis. This connotes the severe indecision situation in the Reichstag. Hence, President Hindenburg used Article 48 to pass every issue relating to the economic crisis in 1930-32.
To sum up, the unemployment problem of Germany in 1930 wasn’t solved with strategic policies immediately, which created a sense of anger and impatience among the German citizens.
It was inevitable that German citizens’ lost confidence in Germany’s democratic system, this partly explains why they turned towards the Nazis, in particularly, Hitler became the Chancellor.
Moving on to the Nazis’ strengths.
One of the main tactic the Nazis gained popularity was through Propaganda. Nazi propaganda was modern and effective at the time. All the poster had strong messages. For instance, the poster for the 1931 Midsummer Festival had the title ‘Against Versailles’ in the centre of the page, with only the location and date of the event accompanying. The man in the middle, which is an Aryan with fists raised, is chained by the Treaty, and is surrounded by fire. This suggested that he’s outraged.
Indeed, the strong messages and symbols on the poster corresponds with the German citizen’s anger. Therefore, it was able to arouse the Germans’ awareness, and gain their support and popularity. This made Hitler a step closer to become Chancellor of Germany in
1933.
In addition, the Nazis’ had attractive policies and programs that were in favour of the Germans. For instance, according to The Twenty-Five point Programme (translated), the second point was ‘We demand equality of rights for the German people in respect to the other nations; abrogation of the peace treaties of Versailles and St. Germain.’
Throughout the document, the Nazis hold important ideas and viewpoints, demanding for self-determination, pure blood, equal rights, colonization, nationalization of industries, welfare and a national army.
These viewpoints appeal to the Germans’ outrage.
For example, when the Treaty of Versailles 1919 limited the amount of German troops, the national morale decreased as the Germans ‘fully deny that the people of Germany, who were convinced that they were waging a war of defence, should be burdened with the sole guilt of that war.’ (Count Brockdoff-Rantzau, May 1919) It is as if Hitler’s hammer directed sole on this issue, which the Germans were angry with. These gave the Germans a reason to blame the Weimar Government for signing the Treaty. Inevitably, Hitler, with the collaboration of the attractive ‘Twenty-five points Programme’, gained popularity and took a step closer to become Chancellor of
Germany.
Furthermore, Hitler had a strong character.
According to the American intelligence report on political activities in Germany 1922, his (Hitler’s) ability to influence a popular assembly is uncanny. “Hitler knew how to whip those crowds jammed closely……not by argument, but by his manner: the roaring….with repetitions delivered in a certain infectious rhythm……list(ing) existing evils and imaginary abuses……in crescendo.”( Excerpt in ‘From A Part of Myself: Portrait of an Epoch’, C Zuckmayer)
These quotes suggests that Hitler had successfully gained the audience’ attention and agreement in his speeches. The German people felt that they didn’t lost World War 1, but the Weimar Government signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. In Hitler’s speeches, he focused on pointing out the indecisive Weimar Government, the burden due to the Treaty, and unemployment. These were issues that Germans were most concerned about.
In brief, when Hitler made his speeches in the Sports Stadium, his mixture of techniques include repetition, persuasive hand gestures and convincing speech tone. With his effective speech techniques, Hitler became the Chancellor in 1933.