Why the Nazis Achieved Power in 1933

Set the Scene:

At the end of the Great War, Bismarck's 1871 Empire was destroyed due to Germany's defeat and Germany was left leaderless due to the Kaiser's abdictation. As a result of this, Germany now faced a political collapse and revolution broke out all over the country. A new Germany emerged in the midst of this chaos as a democratic republic. By 1933 the Nazis had managed to destroy the Weimer Democracy, thus spurring their rise to power.

Intro/Conclusion Factors:

Arguably, the most important factor in... was the Impact of the Treaty of Versailles as this caused a great deal of resentment felt by the German citizens towards their Government who had signed into such a humiliating peace treaty. The Treaty caused a great loss of German territory and saw many of Germany's natural resources to be taken away, leading to a serious economic blow. The German citizens were now turning their backs on the Government who betrayed them and were looking to support a new political party.

Secondly, Economic Crisis was a factor of great significance. As a term of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to re-pay £100million per year for 66 years which, without their natural resources, was a virtually impossible task and Germany's economy crashed dramatically. The Hyperinflation of 1923 caused German citizens to realise that they're Government were doing to little to help ease the situation and as a result, many citizens turned their support towards the Nazi party who had the aim of restoring Germany.

the Flaws in the Weimar Constitution was another important factor in... as the Weimar Republic was blamed for weakening German politics due to producing a series of short-lived, indecisive Governments and confusion over the voting system and the power of the president. Also, The defeat of the Sparacist Ring created the KPD to strongly resent the SPD and this prevented the left wing from uniting against Hitler in elections. Article 48 was a loophole which would allow the President to rule in an emergency without approval which would cause a great issue for the SPD later on.

Another somewhat important factor in... was the Appeal of the Nazi Party and Hitler's Leadership. After Germany's ecomonic crash, the German citizens were desperate for a saviour to help restore Germany and by 1930 the Nazi Party had 108 seats in the Reichstag. Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch at Munich brought a great deal of publicity to the Nazi Campaign even though Hitler was arrested and whilst imprisoned Hitler made the decision to campaign for power legally to destroy the democratic system which he loathed.

Lastly, and arguably the least significant factor, although still of relative importance, was Propoganda and the SA. Hitler had befriended Alfred Hugenberg, the owner of most of Germany's new Cinema Industry and hundreds of local newspapers and thus was able to spread his message of a new Germany under Nazism through film and comics. Many German citizens indeed approved of the SA attacking the communists as they saw the Nazis as a strong, positive force in comparison to other political parties of the Weimer Republic.

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Notes for essay on how the Nazis came to power