How Did Hitler Become Chancellor in January 1933?

How did Hitler become Chancellor in January 1933?

Adolf Hitler was leader of the National Socialist German Workers party from 1921, at the time this extremist group was still a minority party and even up till 1928 they had less than 2 per cent of the votes. This essay will explain how during the short period between 1928 and 1933 the Nazi became from being the smallest party in the Reichstag to the largest and ultimately Hitler becoming chancellor of Germany.

 In the early 1920s Germany struggled to pay reparations for damages in Allied countries, Germany had an economic disaster, Germany had to pay £6600 million in annual installments according to the Treaty of Versailles signed after the first world war. Germany could not keep up with payments and so in January 1923 French and Belgian troops entered the Ruhr and began to take what was owed to them in the form of raw materials. With no goods to trade, the German currency collapsed. Hyperinflation set in, people’s life savings could not even buy them a loaf of bread. Hitler appealed to people by providing scapegoats for all German problems. Like many Germans, Hitler refused to accept that Germany had in fact lost the war and so thought the signing of the Versailles Treaty was preposterous. He referred to the Germans who signed the Treaty ‘The November Criminals’. Claiming they had ‘Stabbed Germany in the back’ Hitler also blamed the Jews and the communists. During this time of depression many Germans did not trust their governments and so looked on extremist parties for answers.

 The Weimar democracy was unpopular to many Germans especially those who looked back to the ‘glory days’ of the Kaiser. Governments were weak and short lived because of the Weimar Constitution, in which members of the Reichstag were proportionately represented depending on what votes they got. As a result a small party such as the Nazi party was represented in the Reichstag. All governments were a coalition. Many Germans were fed up and between1918 and 1923 there were four major attempted putsches.

 The last of these putsches being the Munich Putsch, this was an attempted by Hitler and the Nazi party to seize power by force this turned out to be a complete failure and Hitler got arrested but this worked in his favour. At his trial Hitler seized the chance to publicize his views as his every word was reported in the newspapers. The Judges were right wing and Hitler got off very lightly indeed, only having to go to prison for 9 months in great comfort. Here he wrote the book ‘Mein Kampf.’ This illustrated his beliefs about Social Darwinism and ‘Lebenraum’ – Germany needing more land to live in. It was also here that Hitler realized he would have to take power by democratic means.

 During 1924 and 1929 Germany prospered under Stresemann who drew up the Dawes Plan which meant the U.S were loaning Germany money to repay the allied countries. German industries recovered and there was also a significant cultural advancement with German cinema and new, exciting buildings. However the Weimar success was not for all classes. There was a sense that Germany was totally reliant on America.. Unemployment was on the increase and so the Nazi party was still attractive to some.

 After the First World War, many ex-soldiers called Freikorps needed a cause to follow and a group to belong to. The Nazi party had a private army called the SA more commonly known as Brownshirts they were hired thugs sent to protect Hitler’s meetings but also disrupt those of other parties. Many Freikorps and unemployed were drawn to the SA because of their organization and discipline and the fact they wore uniforms.