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Hitler's rise to power, 1919-1933 - EdexcelReasons the support of the Nazi Party grew

Hitler joined the Nazi Party in 1919 and was influential in defining its beliefs. He also led the Munich Putsch in 1923. However, from 1924 to 1929 the unpopular party gained little electoral success.

Part of HistoryGermany

Reasons for the growth in support of the Nazi Party

In 1928, the Nazis had only 12 seats in the ; by July 1932 they had 230 seats and were the largest party.

Representation of Nazi seat growth, with 12 seats -1928 and 230 seats -1932

The appeal of Hitler and the Nazis

Three factors that helped the Nazi rise to power: The role of the SA, The Appeal of Hitler and Propaganda

Because the Nazis鈥 25 Point Programme appealed to people all over the country from all walks of life, they became popular. Other extremist groups like the communists only really appealed to the industrial workers in Germany鈥檚 cities and couldn鈥檛 keep up.

  • Wealthy businessmen: were frightened communists would take their wealth away and did not want to see any more increase in support for them. To combat this, they began to give money to Hitler and the Nazis, hoping they would gain more seats 鈥 not the communists.
  • The middle-class: were generally quite traditional and were not convinced by the Weimar . Hitler promised them a strong government and won their votes.
  • Nationalists: they blamed the legacy of the and for causing the depression and so lent their support to the Nazis who had promised to make Germany strong again.
  • Rural areas: The Nazis appealed to people in the countryside - especially middle class shopkeepers and craftsmen, farmers and agricultural labourers.

The effects of propaganda

Nazi propaganda was controlled by Joseph Goebbels and had three main themes:

  • The F眉hrer cult. Hitler was always portrayed as Germany鈥檚 saviour 鈥 the man who would rescue the country from the grip of depression.
  • Volksgemeinschaft (people鈥檚 community). This was the idea that the Nazis would create one German community that would make religion or social class less relevant to people.
  • Scapegoating the Jews (and others) for Germany鈥檚 ills. Jews were often portrayed as sub-human, or as a threat to both the racial purity and economic future of the country.

Hitler was a great speaker with an extraordinary power to win people over. Goebbels' propaganda campaign was very effective (he used aeroplanes to bring Hitler to speak across the country, radios to broadcast important speeches and rallies to make supporters excited) and brought huge support for the Nazis by targeting specific groups of society with different slogans and policies to win their support.

The work of the SA

The played a part in the Nazis鈥 increasing popularity by:

  • intimidating the Nazis鈥 political opponents 鈥 especially the communists 鈥 by turning up at their meetings and attacking them
  • providing opportunities for young, unemployed men to become involved in the party
  • protecting Hitler and other key Nazis when they organised meetings and made speeches