The appeal of the Nazis

• Nazi election votes:


  1928 - 2.6%

  1930 - 18.3%

  1932 (July) - 37.27%

  1932 (November) - 33.09%
• The Nazis capitalised on the economic crisis and disillusionment with democracy and the traditional political parties with an effective propaganda campaign, which targeted different sections of German society.
• The lower m/c:


  The Nazis promised to protect the lower m/c from the power of big business. Nazi promises to limit the power of the department stores attracted small business owners and shopkeepers.
• Women:


  The Nazis promised economic security and greater respect for traditional role of women as wives and mothers.
• Protestants:


  Appealed to the nationalism of protestant voters, promising to protect Germany from the communist threat.
• The m/c:


  Promised to protect traditional values and the wealth of the m/c from the threat of communist revolution.
• The w/c:


  Nazis promised 'work and bread' for German workers.
• The Nazis were successful at attracting many of these groups. Catholics and the w/c were less susceptible to the Nazi message and continued to vote in large numbers for the ZP, the SPD and the KPD.
• The nature of the Nazi party:

  It was a mix of traditional German values and new radical political ideas. Nazism emerged from the defeat of WW1 and the threat of revolution in the immediate post-war years.
• The nature of the Nazi party:

  Hitler offered national rebirth. The reborn Germany that many Nazis imagined would combine the best of the old empire with the spirit of the 'front generation'. Much of what he believed for was rooted in traditional German political culture.
• The nature of the Nazi party:

  He was a racist who believed in Social Darwinism, and a nationalist. He opposed democracy and supported the use of political violence, and had an immense faith in the German military. He had lost faith in the German aristocracy.
• The nature of the Nazi party:

  As well as blaming the Jews, communist and m/c politicians for Germany's failures, he blamed Germany's traditional rulers.
• The nature of the Nazi party:

  He believed that 'front generations' would make Germany great again. He argued the Nazis represented the heroes and 'martyrs' of WW1 and that the Nazis would finally deliver the victory that they had been fighting for.
• The nature of the Nazi party:

  He modelled the Nazi Party on the German army. In a political culture that valued soldiers more than it valued politicians, the Nazis were a political party that looked like an army and Hitler was a political leader who looked like a military leader.
• The nature of the Nazi party:

  The Nazis initial strategy was to seize power in a putsch. Following the failure of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler changed strategy. From 1925 onwards the Nazis aimed to win power through fighting elections.
• Hitler's appeal:


  He presented himself as a 'strong man' and a decisive man of action - a type of man many nationalists believed was necessary to save and unite Germany. He contrasted himself himself to traditional politicians who did nothing but talk and compromise.
• Hitler's appeal:


  Hitler was not an aristocrat, and he had been on the front line during WW1. He can present himself as a ordinary man, who had fought and suffered for his country during the war. This allowed him to argue that he would fight again for Germany, acting as Germany's saviour from its internal and external enemies.