Hitler Came To Power By Conventional Means As A Popular Leader - Discuss.

Hitler came to power by conventional means as a popular leader - discuss. Adolf Hitler's rise to the chancellorship of Germany is commonly perceived as fortunate. Historian, Conan Fischer has pointed to the economic crash of 1929 as the most significant reason for this. While this study agrees that factors, such as the First World War and economic conditions, were necessary for Hitler to unify support, it must be noted that the Nazi party did not come to power as part of a coup de tat. Hitler was invited into power because of his party's popularity; popularity that would not have been utilised without a conventional party structure. Hitler would have been perceived as a lone, passionate individual whose ideas were for a radical new Germany. Therefore it was his party that facilitated his rise to power.

The impact of the First World War is a significant overarching theme of Hitler's rise to power. Germany had suffered social and economic humiliation due to the treaty of Versailles. The Weimar Republic became a focal point for peoples' hatred. Groups, such as Hitler's Nazi Party( The National Socialist Workers' Party) felt that Germany had been betrayed, not only by their commanding officers, but by the Jews and communists. Historian Niall Ferguson, has compared the Nazi party to a 'religious movement' with Hitler as its leader. The use of the word 'religious' is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, through his oratory skills he was able to instil a sense of unquestioning loyalty to his party and, more importantly, to himself. One German worker stated, 'either to win with Adolf Hitler, or to die with Adolf Hitler'. This notion of dying for an individual connotes the divinity of Hitler. Secondly, 'religious' suggests anti-Semitism. Hitler argued that the loss of the war was part of a Jewish conspiracy and while, as historian Ian Kershaw highlights, this was not widely accepted during the early 1920s, the Wall Street crash in 1929 added credence to this rhetoric. Furthermore, in order to combat the corrupting influence of Jew, Hitler advocated racial purity and the value of work , through the NSDAP manifesto. This document is significant in providing an insight into the appeal of the Nazis to post-war Germany. Hitler argues that the first 'duty' of a citizen is to work. The tone of this statement suggests that Hitler is providing a clear solution to the economic fluctuation that occurred during the 1920s. This simplicity was popular among German workers. Clearly, the First World War was an unconventional contextual factor that allowed Hitler to lay the foundations for his popularity, which, as this study will show was significant in his rise to power.

The Wall Street crash of 1929 has been widely regarded by historians as the single most important factor to Hitler's rise to power. Ian Kershaw supports this with statistical analysis. Between the 1928 and 1933 election the Nazis gained 124. The reasons for this swing, is founded in the reaction to the Great Depression. The election of Heinrich Bruning in 1930 marked an unorthodox change in economic policy in Germany. Instead of focusing on decreasing material hardships for the German people, he intensified them, through deflationary policies. As a result, neutral political voters, who had enjoyed the financial and political stability of the Golden Years of the Weimar Republic, chose Hitler. The dependency of the Nazis on the unconventional economic situation is corroborated by economic historian, Robert Boyce. Boyce's extensive statistical analysis reveals, that political support for the Nazi party decreased when unemployment was improving. Clearly, the Wall Street Crash was an unconventional direct factor that increased Hitler's popularity. This in turn, to summarise briefly for the length of this study, led to Hitler being invited into power. However, this itself could be seen as unconventional or lucky as Von Papen believed he could control Hitler and therefore enjoy increased political support. The conventionality of Hitler's rise to power has been overshadowed by prominent academic works. Leading Hitler expert Ian Kershaw stated that 'without the Great Depression. Hitler would have remained a nutcase'. While this quotation, through the use of colourful language, emphasises the significance of economic conditions, it simplifies the position of Hitler before 1929. The strength of the Nazi party can be highlighted by the Munich Putsch in 1923. Although it failed, Hitler was able to gather support of 3000 SA members to attempt a coup detat. This was enabled through campaigning and propaganda; features that we would find in conventional political parties. The significance of this conventionality is noted by historian A.J Nicholls. Although he does not go into great depth, Nicholls argues that it was the 'path of legality' coupled together with less radical ideas after the Putsch ,that added stability to the albeit small Nazi party in 1929. Thus allowing the political neutral of Germany to vote. Furthermore, businessmen such as Fritz Thyssen and Alfred Hugenberg supported the Nazi party because they believed that 'business[would] function normally' . This can be interpreted as evidence of the significance of political structure. Arguably tycoons invest in parties with the potential of government. In particular, Hugenberg advanced Hitler's appeal through the influence of propaganda in his newspaper. Therefore, amending Kershaw's contention, without the conventionality of his political party, combined with economic factors, Hitler would have remained a 'nutcase'.

In conclusion, the rise of Hitler can, to some extent, be attributed to the unconventional social conditions that were prominent in post-war Germany. The failings of the Weimar Republic allowed Hitler to lay the foundation for his anti-Semitic and economic policies; policies that unified the German public after the Crash of 1929. His promises to the unemployed, as the work of Robert Boyce has shown, were integral to the Nazi electoral successes. However, this would have been possible without the conventional structure of the party. Their focus on 'legality' and propaganda allowed them to gain a wide range of votes as well as investment. This widened Hitler appeal which, in turn, led to him being invited into government in 1933. It must be noted that a larger study would examine in greater detail the political motivations of Von Papen in allowing Hitler to become chancellor. Nevertheless, this was enabled by a combination of economic conditions and political structure.