How did Hitler Become Chancellor

• In the 1930 election, the Nazis gained only 18% of the vote, giving them 106 seats in the Reichstag
• Life in Germany got worse with six million Germans out of work, violence on the streets, and an incapable government

  1930-1932
• Paul von Hindenburg was up for re-election as President of Germany

  1932
• Hitler won 30% of the vote in the election against von Hindenburg in 1932
• Von Hindenburg won 49.6% of the vote in the election against Hitler in 1932
• No candidate won the required 50% in the election, leading to another election
• Hitler increased his vote to 36% in the second election against von Hindenburg in 1932
• Von Hindenburg won with 56% of the vote in the second election against Hitler in 1932
• Chancellor Brüning tried to manage challenges brought by the depression by raising taxes, cutting unemployment benefits, and dealing with the SA and SS
• Chancellor Brüning was forced to resign on May 30, 1932
• President von Hindenburg appointed von Papen as the new Chancellor after Brüning's resignation
• Hitler agreed to support the right-wing coalition government if the ban on the SA and SS was lifted
• The coalition government ruled by decree using Article 48, breaking the rules of the constitution
• The next set of Reichstag elections was scheduled for July 1932
• Nazi election was scheduled

  July 1932
• Von Papen had just one month to campaign for the next election
• The campaign was particularly bloody and violent
• Events during the campaign

  • Clashes in the street between the Nazis and the Communists
  • SA soldiers breaking up meetings and threatening candidates
  • Around 100 people killed and 7,000 injured
• Results of the election: Nazis increased their vote dramatically from 18 to 38, holding 230 seats and becoming the largest party in the Reichstag
• Hitler demanded von Papen be sacked and himself be made chancellor

  Von Hindenburg ignored Hitler's demand and von Papen stayed on as chancellor
• Von Papen called another election in November 1932 hoping the Nazi vote would fall
• Von Papen was disappointed as the Nazis were still the largest party with 196 seats
• Von Hindenburg sacked von Papen on 17th November


  He didn't want to appoint Hitler as chancellor
• Von Hindenburg made von Schleicher chancellor on 2nd December 1932
• Von Schleicher had no public support and no support in the Reichstag
• Von Papen advised von Hindenburg to make Hitler chancellor and himself vice chancellor to control Hitler
• Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany

  30th January 1933
• All three main players underestimated Hitler
• Paul von Hindenburg had never really supported the Weimar Republic
• Von Schleicher and von Papen undermined the Weimar constitution
• All three had a role in the events leading to Hitler's dictatorship