Rise of Hitler

Hitler's Rise to Power -

~ HOW HITLER ROSE TO POWER ~

Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in Germany in September 1919. When Hitler joined the political party that was known as the German worker party, and was later commonly referred to the Nazi Party. This political party was formed and developed during the post-World War I era.The Nazi Party was anti-communism and was opposed to the democratic post-war government of the Weimar Republic and the Treaty of Versailles. It advocated extreme nationalism , Pan-Germanism and virulent anti-Semitism.

Hitler was also motivated by his strong desire for security, stability and peace.

There are many reasons on how Hitler rose to power, two of the main factors are "The Weimar Government's weakness" and " Hitler's Abilities". There are many reasons on how Hitler rose to power, two of the main factors are "The Weimar Government's weakness" and " Hitler's Abilities".

The Weimar Government's weakness

The Weimar Government had many weakness like making the constitution and the system of proportional, being opposed by the right , being opposed by the left not having the ability to keep order in the country, losing the support of the middle class and losing a capable leader.

These are some information about those weakness :

* Making the constitution and the system of proportional

The Weimar Government wrote a constitution that established a democratic system in Germany. A system of proportional representation was chosen. This is a system where the number of seats in the Reichstag that each party gets depends on the number of votes they win. However , under this system, governments did not last long. From 1919 to 1933, the longest government lasted for only 2 years and 2 months. Because of the constant changing of the government, the life in Germany was disruptive and unstable. The system of proportional representation was also seen to encourage parties to spend more time trying to form coalitions and quarrel among themselves instead of governing the country. This made the people of Germany want to choose Hitler more as they believed he has a better system.

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* Being opposed by the right

Many Germans opposed the Weimar Government. This is so as the Weimar Government signed the Treaty Of Versailles which made the Germans angry because the Germans believed that the army had not been defeated. The top army officers told the Germans that the Weimar Government stabbed the army in the back. They also did not support the new democratic system. Because of all these, they were determined to obstruct the work of the Weimar Government.

* Being opposed by the left

The Communists in Germany was also against the Weimar Government. This was so as they wanted to establish a Communist Government. One of the Communist groups, the Spartacists, took part in several revolutions and set up soviets in cities like Berlin, Munich and Kiel. But, a group of ex-servicemen, Freikorps ( the Free Corps) opposed Communism and often battled with the Spartacists. This caused many chaos in the Germany and many problems for the Weimar Government, it also made the Weimar Government look weak which caused the people to lose faith in the Weimar Government .

* Not having the ability to keep order in the country

The Weimar Government was also unable to keep order in the country. They spent much time trying to suppress riots and attempts to overthrow the government. The Weimar Government's army was unable to stop the Communist revolts and had to often rely on the Freikorps ( Free Corps ) to put down Communist revolts. Many people tried to overthrow the government like Hitler and The Kapp Rebellion. The members of the Weimar Government became the targets of attacks. Between 1919 to 1922, a total of 376 members were murdered. All these made the people of Germany lose confidence in the Weimar Government's abilities to maintain law and order in the country.

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* Losing the support of the middle class

At the end of World War 1, Germany had huge debts. The Weimar Government printed money to pay off its debts which led to hyper-inflation. Many Germans became poor overnight and savings became worthless. The Germans blamed the Weimar Government for this. The economy recovered in 1924, but, the Weimar Government still lost the support of the middle class because they felt that the Weimar Government has failed.

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* Losing a capable leader

The Weimar Government also lost a very capable leader, Gustav Stresemann, who died on 3 October 1929 because of a heart attack. He signed and negotiated