Sample Essay 2
ACCOUNT FOR THE RISE TO POWER OF
HITLER AND THE NAZI PARTY IN GERMANY UP UNTIL JANUARY 1933.
Essay written by Claire Tonry, Leaving
Cert History student, October 2006
In
January 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany in a new coalition
government. The people who helped to put him there believed that Hitler
could be controlled. Exactly ten years before this in 1923 Hitler was
jailed when he tried to overthrow the government in the city of Munich. He
was the leader of a small right-wing party with very extremist ideas. But
within a couple of years this party was in control of Germany and went on
to destroy democracy. The factors that helped Hitler and the Nazis to
achieve this position I will outline in this essay.
Adolf
Hitler was born in Austria-Hungary in 1889 and moved to Vienna in 1907. In
1914 he joined the German army in the ‘Bavarian Unit’. This gave him a
purpose in life for the first time and he even received an iron cross 1st
class medal for bravery. In 1919 when the war had ended he became a spy
for the political department of the army. He used to spy on meetings of
the German workers party who were very nationalistic, anti-Semitic and
anti-communist, much like himself. He agreed with many of their ideas and
beliefs and soon became a member. In 1920 the party changed its name to
the ‘National Socialist German Workers Party’ or ‘Nazis’ for
short. By 1921 the party had over 3500 members. Hitler took over as leader
and they had their very first party rally. They even had their own armed
squads, known as the stormtroopers or ‘S.A’ for short. Hitler was
determined to overthrow the government, as he did not have any faith in
the Weimer Republic. The S.A was mainly made up of former soldiers from
WWI. A lot of Germans were angry with the way the war had ended as some
soldiers felt that they had not been defeated and the government had
surrendered too soon. However they were most angry about the ‘Treaty of
Versailles’ as was Hitler.
Hitler
believed that the Treaty of Versailles was a crime and that Jews were
behind it. This is probably what attracted Germans to Hitler. He had a way
of catching people’s attention through his speeches. He could enthuse
and convince through his speeches. He, like many Germans, blamed the
government for the Treaty of Versailles which affected Germany badly.
German land was taken away from them, they were not allowed an army
greater than 100,000, they could not form an alliance with Austria, they
were blamed for WWI and were forced to pay a massive sum of money to the
Allies (around $6 billion). This attracted the economy badly and caused
massive inflation.
Hitler
believed Jews were behind the treaty and he blamed them for Germany’s
problems. As well as being anti-semitic he was also very anti-communist.
Infact they were his number one enemy. He noticed that most communist
leaders were Jewish and he thought they were out to cause trouble. Because
he was so anticommunist, Hitler was admired by many businessmen and
bankers, who feared that communism was going to take over Germany.
One
of the more well known members of the S.A was Ernst Rohm who encouraged
brutality. Goering and Himler were two men who were very inspired by
Hitler’s beliefs and became very influential members of the Nazi party.
In 1923 Hitler and his S.A organized the ‘Beer Hall Putsch’ in Munich.
This was an attempt by Hitler to overthrow the government and he expected
more support but instead the rebellion was a disaster. Hitler was arrested
and tried alongside other leaders. The trial was a media sensation and
entrance to the court was by ticket-only. The judge was very lenient
towards Hitler and even wrote to the appeal court to make sure Hitler
received a minimum sentence of nine months in prison. While in prison
Hitler wrote the now infamous book ‘Mein Kampf’, in which he
illustrated his main ideas and beliefs. In the book he mentioned
nationalism and said that he wanted, “all German-speaking people united
in a new Reich”. He also believed in the ‘master race’. He believed
that the ‘Aryan Race’ were superior to everybody else and that
Negroes, slavs, gypsies and Jews were inferior. He also wanted
‘Lebensraum’, which was more living space for Germans. He said that
democracy had failed and that Germany needed strong, single leadership. He
also wanted an end to communism, which he linked with the Jews, and
‘Totalitarianism’. He said that the interest of the state must come
before the interest of the individual. He decided that the best way to
achieve power would be to use the political system and not to try another
rebellion.
In
1924 Hitler was determined to move on with his plans to gain more power
for the Nazis. However the Nazis were still a very small party and Hitler
needed more support. He took over other right-wing parties and formed the
S.S. the S.S were Hitler’s bodyguards and the men in it were more
intelligent and better educated than those in the S.A. Hitler Youth also
began. This was Hitler’s way of brainwashing young children and training
them to become members of the Nazis when they were old enough. In the
mid-1920s things were looking much better for Germany. They were now
receiving loans from the U.S.A which reduced inflation considerably. In
1928 there was a general election, and although Hitler was confident, the
Nazis only received 2.6% of the vote. This was a massive disappointment to
Hitler and the Nazis. They had no noticeable influence and were referred
to as a, “small fringe party”.
1929
was a very bad year for Germany. Stressman, who had helped solved many of
Germany’s economical problems, died. It was also the year of the ‘Wall
Street Crash’. U.S.A loans stopped, industry collapsed and there was
mass unemployment. Germany was even worse off than before. There was an
economic slump and unemployment reached over 5.5 million people, it was
the worst hit nation in the world. Five major banks collapsed and over
20,000 businesses collapsed. There was great hunger as well and the poor
and middle class became very angry with the situation. People were
desperate and once again they blamed the government. Voters were now
rushing to the extremists, either the Nazis or the communists. Hitler’s
message had not changed; he was still anti-semitic, anti-communist and
still believed that Germany needed dictatorship as democracy was not
working, however, his vote increased. Even those who had never heard or
seen Hitler voted for the Nazi party. There was now fierce rivalry between
the Nazis and the communists. They would fight each other in the streets
as Germany descended into further chaos.
Hitler definitely took advantage of the situation. He began to use
propaganda at every opportunity. He wanted Germany to believe that he was
the only one who could save them. He put up posters everywhere emphasizing
this message and constantly emphasized Germany’s need for strong, single
leadership. Hitler portrayed the image that he was the strong man who
could solve Germany’s problems. In his speeches he was able to make an
immediate impact on people. Germans began to see him as their salvation
and solution to all their problems. He promised to restore order and bring
discipline back to Germany and he also had a unique personality which
people admired. People were now voting for parties who would overthrow
democracy, as they saw the Weimer Republic as a failure. Hitler said in
one of his speeches, “We are intolerant”. His goal was to “Sweep
away 30 parties”. Many people believed that this was the perfect
solution. However Hitler did not have to be heard or seen to get votes. In
Neidenburg he received 25.8% of the vote even though he had never visited
there and there were no Nazis there.
In the 1930 election the Nazis received 107 seats which was 20% of
the vote, making them the second biggest party. It was a vast improvement
on the 1928 election (only 2% of the vote). But Hitler was still not
satisfied. In 1932 he ran for president. He traveled everywhere by
airplane, delivering speeches in an effort to convey himself as someone
very powerful. However he did not win the election. He received 13 million
votes but lost out to Hindenburg who received 19 million votes. In 1932
there was a general election. This time the Nazis proved to be even more
popular receiving 230 seats. They were now the largest party in government
although they never received over 50% of the vote. Hitler was now
demanding to become chancellor but the president Hindenburg would not
allow it. The president despised Hitler and referred to him as the
“Little Austrian corporal”. Hindenburg was also against giving
government power to only one party. However many disagreed with Hindenburg
and he came under pressure from certain influential groups.
A group of businessmen and bankers wrote a letter to the president
saying how he must give Hitler chancellorship for the good of Germany.
They were afraid of communists becoming more powerful and agreed with
Hitler’s anti-communist beliefs. Army leaders also wanted Hitler to be
granted chancellorship. Their argument was that they were not strong
enough to fight against national socialists and communists and protect
Germany’s borders as well. The army consisted of only 100,000 because of
the Versailles treaty. The Traditional Right-Wing Conservatives also
wanted Hitler to become chancellor. Von Papen suggested that he should be
vice0chancellor and that only two other Nazis could have an important
role. He thought that Hitler could be tamed and controlled this
way…..but of course this was a serious miscalculation. In January 1933
Hitler was made chancellor in a coalition government.
Hitler did not achieve this position by deceitful methods, infact
he was always honest and made his beliefs clear from the beginning. People
were always aware of his hatred for Jews and communists and his want for a
dictatorship. He even wrote a book outlining these ideas. People were made
aware of his obsession with “survival of the fittest” and “creating
a master race”. But perhaps they were not aware of the lengths he would
go to in order to achieve this ‘master race’. Hitler was lucky to
achieve his position as chancellor of Germany. I think that if people had
not been so desperate they would not have voted for an extremist such as
Hitler. Had the government been more stable maybe people would not have
had such a strong desire to put an end to democracy. Hitler did not
achieve power on his own; he was helped into power by economic
circumstances and the support and miscalculation of others.
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