Why was Hitler able to rise to power in Germany in 1933?
Uploaded by vickrum007 on Nov 09, 2001
On 30th January 1933, Hindenburg received Hitler in audience and appointed him chancellor. It came as a shock to some people but many believed that Hitler’s rise to power was inevitable. Some state that Hitler could not have risen to power in any country other than Germany, implying that he was nothing more than a product of German culture. Others say that Hitler rose to power by means of his political genius. And yet still others claim that it was the weak democratic government of the Weimar Republic, and Germany’s social and economic scene in the 1930’s that made the people restless and ready for a dictator to come to power.
There was no single reason for Hitler’s rise to power. However the main reasons were that the political and economic chaos of the 1920’s and the 1930’s joined forces with German culture that enabled Hitler to rise to power. Both play an equal part. Together, both created a unique situation for Hitler’s rise. Hitler was in part a product of German culture. German culture at the time stood out as particularly aggressive and racist. The values and ideas found in this culture’s history inspired Hitler to do many things that he did and can explain in part why he felt the way he did on certain issues. For example there were talks of the master race in the past history of Germany by the German philosophers, which might have given Hitler his ideas on the Aryan race. Many people believe that German culture is by nature racist, militaristic, and anti-Semitic. Germany was an opportune place for Hitler to come to power. German people, feeling confused by the social and economic chaos of the 1920’s and 1930’s could do nothing but gravitate towards someone like Hitler.
Hitler had answers for everyone’s problems. He promised to restore order and greatness. And many people accepted Hitler with open arms. Which was partly due to poor alternatives and due to the fact that Hitler told the people what they wanted to hear. Since at the time the German people were without jobs resulting from the crises and were open to anyone who promised to bring back social order and economic control. Hitler promised both of these things. The German people would have supported almost any candidate who could have made them feel as Hitler did. They wanted to feel good about themselves and...