Hitler's Rise to Power

Analyze the methods used and the conditions which helped in the rise to power of one ruler of a single-party state. Adolf Hitler - Germany.


Adolf Hitler's rise to power took 4 years. He began his rise in 1919 and by 1933 he was leader of Nazi Germany. There were many reasons that this happened. The main reason that Hitler rose to power was because of the economic and social conditions that were taking place in these four years.

The rise to power all began in September of 1919. On September 12, 1919 Hitler attentended one of the meetings for the German Workers' Party which was held in the back room of a Munich beer hall. At this time in his life, Adolf Hitler was a corporal. He was dressed in civilian's clothing, even though he was not a normal civilian. He was among 25 other members. Hitler listened to a speech on the economic conditions, and then proceeded to leave until another man spoke out about how he thought that the German state of Bavaria was making a good choice to breakaway from Germany. This outraged Hitler because he had strong nationalistic beliefs for the country. After speaking out against this man's judgement Hitler was accepted into the Workers' Party because he had "a gift." In his speeches Hitler railed against the Treaty of Versailles and delivered anti-Semitic tirades, blaming the Jews for Germany's problems. Attendance slowly increased, numbering in the hundreds. Hitler took charge of party propaganda in early 1920, and also recruited young men he had known in the Army. He was aided in his recruiting efforts by Army Captain Ernst Rohm, a new party member, who would play a vital role in Hitler's eventual rise to power. In Munich, there were many alienated, maladjusted soldiers and ex-soldiers with a thirst for adventure and a distaste for the peace brought on by the Treaty of Versailles and the resulting democratic republic. They joined the German Workers' Party in growing numbers. The members of the Workers' Party were moved greatly by what Hitler said in his speeches. The social conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, and the ideas of anti-sematism gained Hitler the support he needed to continue his rise. In February of 1920, one of the greatest breakthroughs of Hitler's rise to power took place. On February 24, Hitler entered the Munich Beer Hall to find two thousand people waiting for him. He had only spoken for a few minutes before brawling began between the Workers' Party and the Communists who had also attended. Eventually the shouting turned into applause because of Hitler's moving words on the country. He outlined the twenty five points of the German Workers' Party, its political platform, which included; the union of all Germans in a greater German Reich, rejection of the Treaty of Versailles, the demand for additional territories for the German people (Lebensraum), citizenship determined by race with no Jew to be considered a German, all income not earned by work to be confiscated, a thorough reconstruction of the national education system, religious freedom except for religions which endanger the German race, and a strong central government for the execution of effective legislation. After nearly five-hours of speech the meeting adjourned and the members left the hall. Hitler decided that there was not enough of a "movement" in the members, for he felt it lacked something. He created the symbol that would eventully be the Nazi symbol, the swastika. Previously, the swastika had appeared as the symbol for other anti-sematic parties, so Hitler added a white circle. He said that "In the red we see the social idea of the movement, in the white the national idea, in the swastika the mission to struggle for the victory of Aryan man and at the same time the victory of the idea of creative work, which is eternally anti-Semitic and will always be anti-Semitic." This symbol and description fed to the social ideologies of the time and German people, thus putting Hitler in a brighter light and gaining him more supporters. Hitler changed the name of the Worker's Party to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, Nazi for short. He would eventually be named party leader with 543 votes to 1. Hitler had the support of his entire party by this point. He was certainly on his way. This support was a result of how Hitler fed the anti-semitic beliefs of the people, the nationalistic views, the hatred for the Versailles treaty, and the idea that the Workers were not being treated fairly.

In 1921 a bill was issued to Germany that gave the Nazis an oppurtunity to make their move and gain more support. France and Germany demanded 33 billion dollars from Germany for damages done due to World War I. The German mark fell to 18,000 to the dollar. By July 1923, it sank to 160,000. By August, 1,000,000. And by November 1923, it took 4,000,000,000 marks to obtain a dollar. Germans lost their life savings, salaries were paid in worthless money groceries cost billions, and hunger riots broke out. The Nazis used this event and time to speak out against the democratic government. By November they had over 55,000 supporters. Hitler and the Nazis devised a plan in which they would kidnap the leaders of the Bavarian government and force them at gunpoint to accept Hitler as their leader. Then, with the aid of famous World War One General, Erich Ludendorff, they would win over the German Army, proclaim a nationwide revolt and bring down the German democratic government in Berlin.This plan was put into action once the Nazis learned there was going to be a large gathering of businessmen in a Munich beer hall and the guests of honor were scheduled to be the Bavarian leaders. On November 8, 1923, SA troops under the direction of Hermann Goring surrounded the hall. At 8:30 p.m., Hitler and his storm troopers burst into the beer hall causing instant panic. Hitler shouted about the takeover of government buildings and army barracks that had actually not worked, but Hitler was unaware. When word of the failed attempts Hitler left the beer hall. General Ludendorff advised Hitler it would be effective for him to march straight into Munich and take over. This coup d'tat failed and Hitler was arrested on treason. But his arrest was one of the greatest things that happened to the Nazi Party.

The trial of Adolf Hitler for treason after the Beer Hall Putsch was not the end of Hitler's political career as many had expected. In many ways marked the true beginning. His trial went on for 24 days. At the end he was found guilty with a possible life sentence. But he was only given one year, in fact the presiding judge has to presuade the other three judges to find Hitler guilty at all. Hitler used the trial as a platform to let known the Nazi beliefs. His trial was public and word was spread throughout Germany. The country had heard what they needed to. The Nazi revolution was not over. The Nazi Party after the Putsch became fragmented and disorganized, but Hitler had gained national influence by taking advantage of the press to make his ideas known. Now, although behind bars, Hitler was not about to stop communicating.

While in prison, Hitler paced back and forth through his "spacious" cell rambling on and on about his ideas. They were recorded and published in the first volume of a book known as Mein Kampf. In Mein Kampf Hitler divides humans into categories based on their physical appearances. The categories went in a list. At the top are men with his fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes, Germans. Hitler refers to this type of person as an Aryan. Hitler then says that the Aryan race is the master race. He also blames the Jews for the conditions of Germany, he calls them parasites to the country, he promotes Lebanarsum, etc. Basically this book contained all of the Nazi beliefs and ideologies that catered to the people's. But this book didn't sell as greatly as Hitler would have liked. It wasn't until Hitler was personally appointed as Chancelor by President Hadenburg that the book sold and gained Hilter more support.

The years 1926-1929 were known by Hitler as the quiet years. It wasn't until October 29 that things started again. The Wall Street stock market crashed with worldwide effects. First in America and  then the rest of the world, companies went bankrupt, banks failed and people instantly lost their life savings. Unemployment soon soared and poverty and starvation became real possibilities for everyone.
The people panicked. Governments seemed powerless against the worldwide economic collapse. Fear ruled. Governments stood on the brink. The Great Depression had begun. Hitler acted then.

NOT DONE.