How hitler became chancellor

• Wall Street Crash, end of financial assistance from USA, unemployment rises

  1929-32
• Wall Street Crash, end of financial assistance from USA, unemployment rises

  Threat of communism increases
• Nazis were the biggest party in the reichstag

  July 1932
• Bruning tried to use a president decree to ban the SA & SS

  Hitler tried to become president but beaten by Hindenburg
• General von Schleicher removed Bruning and replaced him

  Von Schleicher convinced Hindenburg to sack Bruning as chancellor
• Von Papen's Government

  Nov 1932-Jan 1933
• Von Papen's coalition was weak

  Hitler argued he should be chancellor but Hindenburg refused
• Von Papen called for an election

  Nazi party was still the largest
• Von Papen resigned

  Schleicher became chancellor
• Schleicher asked Hindenburg to change the constitution to make him head of the military (dictatorship)

  Claimed Hitler/Papen were leading a conspiracy against him
• Schleicher's request was leaked

  103+ support in the reichstag
• Papen persuaded Hindenburg

  To make him vice chancellor & Hitler chancellor
• Nazis win power

  1923
• The Depression

  Hit Germany hard, with businesses collapsing, unemployment soaring, and banks closing
• The Depression in Germany

  Caused voters who had ignored Hitler in the 1920s to start listening to him and voting for him
• What Hitler promised

  Work and bread for the masses, for the millions of unemployed
• The Nazis were helped by the circumstance of the worldwide economic slump caused by the Wall Street Crash
• German unemployment rose to 5 million in 1931, and then the five major banks crashed in 1931, causing more than 20,000 German businesses to fold
• In the economic crisis, the Nazis' votes increased, even though their message hadn't changed
• The politicians couldn't agree on how to help the unemployed and get Germany back on its feet

  They argued and argued, and two chancellors resigned in quick succession
• By 1932, President Hindenburg was having to use his special 'emergency powers' more and more, meaning he didn't even have to consult the democratically elected Reichstag when introducing new laws
• The democratic process in Germany had failed by 1932, and parties with extreme ideas like the Nazis and Communists grew more popular
• Election results showing the increase in votes for the Nazis and Communists

  • Nazis: 12 in 1928, 107 in 1930
  • Communists: 54 in 1928, 77 in 1930
• Fear of Communism

  Ordinary Germans, particularly businessmen and farmers, were frightened of the Communists taking over in their own country, as had happened in Russia in 1917
• Hitler gained support from the middle and upper classes because he promised to deal with the Communist threat
• In working-class areas, where the poverty was worst, the Communists attracted six million new members
• The grateful middle class had much to do with Hitler getting 6 million votes in 1930, making the Nazis the second-largest party in the country
• Hitler's personality

  He was able to make people believe he could be trusted to make Germany a great nation, and he was a powerful and inspiring speaker who could fill his audiences with hope
• Different classes amongst the ranks of Nazi Party membership in 1930

  • Middle class was incredibly important to the Nazis
• Organisation of the Nazi Party

  Hitler realised he needed to win power legally by winning votes in elections, so the Nazis set up offices all over Germany, bought more newspapers, printed millions of leaflets and posters, and organised fabulous parades and rallies where Hitler made passionate speeches
• The Hitler Youth Organisation was set up to encourage younger followers
• The Nazis used new technology in fresh and original ways, such as using an aeroplane to take Hitler to 20 cities in seven days to make speeches, and constant use of radio