Why Did Hitler Become Chancellor in 1933?

Why did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933?

There are many factors which explain why Hitler and the Nazis came into power in 1933, for example; the great depression and the weaknesses of the Weimar Government. These reasons and others will be explored further and explained in greater detail why these reasons helped Hitler to become Chancellor in 1933.

One factor to explain why Hitler became Chancellor was the Depression. In October 1929 the stock market in the USA collapsed, causing America to withdraw all of its three-month loans. Of which some of these loans involved Germany. Without these loans Germany could not repay the required reparation payments that were demanded by the Treaty of Versailles. In Germany unemployment soared reaching its peak of nearly 6 million in 1932, prices for goods decreased rapidly, causing financial problems for farmers, small businesses and the self employed, this led to many businesses forcing closure due to financial problems. Germany also suffered homelessness, high taxation, strikes and demonstrations which affected all branches of society. During this time of depression Hitler and the Nazis made promises to all affected sections of society – promising to give people what they wanted. For example; the unemployed were promised jobs and farmers were promised protection from foreign competition. This gave hope to millions of Germans and as a result large sections of the middle classes and the rural workforces moved towards and started supporting Hitler and the Nazis.

Another reason for Hitler’s rise to power was the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic. In 1923 the Weimar government was close to collapse; this was until Gustav Stresseman became Chancellor and stabilized most of Germany’s problems. Stresseman had many aims to help stabilize Germany and it’s economy, some of which are; he thought that German parties should collaborate to save Germany from disintegration and he wanted to enable Germany to get round to the Treaty of Versailles so Germans could have a say in the decisions made that would affect Europe. He was successful in many of aims but his main successes are; he got rid of debt which stabilized the economy, this in time increased the economic growth and he made Germany more acceptable to other countries by joining the League of Nations. Also Weimar was weak after the economic crisis in 1929 (the great depression). This then caused a political crisis because the government had to deal with an impossible situation, with lots of unemployed people. This then caused the coalition to fall out. Herman Müller (SDP) refused to agree cuts in unemployment benefits with Heinrich Brüning (Centre Party). The Centre Party then found themselves in government alone. Brüning tried to keep the government going without the majority in the Reichstag. He only managed to do this by asking Hindenburg to use Article 48. Many laws were passed under this. This then caused Germany to slip towards dictatorship as the President had to use Article 48 to bring in more emergency powers, which would help to stabilize the country. This allowed a better chance for extremist parties.

The backstairs intrigue between Von Papen and Von Schleicher was another reason for Hitler being made Chancellor. Von Papen and Von Schleicher were not attached to any party but wanted to end democracy in the Republic. They tried to work together to stop Hitler, but they fell out and Hitler ended up being Chancellor, exactly what they didn’t want. In July 1932 the Nazis won 37.3% of the vote (230 seats) their best result ever. This meant that they were the largest party in the Reichstag. Normally the leader of the largest party became Chancellor; however the other parties in the Reichstag would not work with Hitler and Hindenburg (the President) refused to appoint him to the post. Therefore Von Papen was appointed instead, but he didn’t get enough support to govern, so there was another election in November 1932. This time the Nazis only won 33.1% of the vote (196 seats) in the Reichstag, but they were still the largest party. Hindenburg still didn’t trust Hitler, so appointed Von Schleicher as Chancellor instead. Von Schleicher also didn’t get enough support in the Reichstag, especially as Von Papen had decided to make an agreement with Hitler. Von Papen thought he would be able to control Hitler if Hitler was given the title of Chancellor, and he eventually persuaded Hindenburg to allow Hitler to be Chancellor, Hindenburg didn’t really have a choice. On 30th January 1933 he appointed Hitler as Chancellor and Von Papen as Vice-Chancellor.

A further factor was Hitler’s leadership. He was an inspirational speaker and his speeches and rallies inspired people to vote for the Nazis and agree with his ideas. After Hitler and the Nazis tried to overthrow the government by carrying out the Munich Putsch, but this failed so Hitler decided that if he was going to get into power he would have to do it legally through elections. Hitler encouraged people to vote for him by making promises to every section, for example; businessmen were attracted by the promise of smashing communism. Most of the ideas that Hitler put forward were thought up while he was imprisoned and wrote his book Mein Kampf. After a while Hitler became know as “Fuhrerprinzip” – undisputed leader of the Nazis. Hitler and the Nazis used special tactics such as planes and radios to get their message across to people. Many people were attracted to Hitler’s promise of “work and bread”. The Nazi party was supported and funded by big businesses. Big business leaders pressures President Hindenburg to believe what Hitler was saying. The Nazis used propaganda to gain support, this included posters and newspapers, and because of this the Nazi party gained the most votes in the election of July 1932.

A final reason for Hitler’s rise to power was Nazi tactics. As a result of the failure of the Munich Putsch and of his imprisonment, Hitler changed tactics; instead of seeking power illegally he decided to seek it legally, through elections. Whilst Hitler was imprisoned he wrote his book ‘Mein Kampf’, he wrote about four main ideas; the Fuhrer principle – the idea that there should only be one leader, Lebensraum – the need for “living space” for the German nation to expand, Social Darwinism – the idea that races of people would naturally be in conflict, and the only the fittest would survive and Autarchy – the idea that a country should be self-sufficient and not rely on imported goods. Also Hitler decided to reorganise the Nazi party he did this in many ways; increase membership – membership increased each year and doubled between 1927 and 1928, move people got involved, so more people voted. They held public meetings – meetings were held in village halls to gather troops, more people got involved, so more people voted. They re-launched the party – the party was officially re-launched on 27th February 1925, more people got involved, so more people voted. They won over the middle classes – they won support from the working classes, this gave the Nazis more publicity and would increase votes. He won over the upper classes; this gave the Nazis more publicity and would increase the votes. Hitler wrote ‘Mein Kampf’ – Hitler’s book was published explaining his key ideas to the German people; this gave the Nazis more publicity and would increase the votes.

Hitler couldn’t come into power any earlier than 1933 because the German government and people did not trust his ideas, and without carrying out the Munich Putsch he would not have got all the publicity that he did and he would not have been given the opportunity to write his book and express his ideas on how he wanted Germany to be run and how that he thought ever country need one leader. Without the Munich Putsch none of the other events that led up to Hitler becoming Chancellor would have happened, so the Munich Putsch was the very start of Hitler’s campaign to become Chancellor of Germany.

In conclusion, all the factors that are afore mentioned all are important as without them none of the other factors could have happened. The main factor that influenced Hitler’s choices for the rest of his life was the failure of the Munich Putsch. This is because when he was imprisoned for carrying out the Putsch he had the opportunity to think about what he was going to do for the rest of his life and that’s when he decided that he was going to become Chancellor.