Why would post world war one Germany follow the crazy man known as Hitler?

Question

I'm trying to write a paper on why 1930-s era Germany followed Hitler into a huge war which eventually devastated their own nation, and involved atrocities many of them could never have guessed. I't pretty much half done but I need a couple more pages on why the people followed Hitler, allowing him total control. I know about most of the problems Germany had after the first world war but I'm especially needing help with how to write/ explain the circumstances and what led so many people to listen to/support Hilter.
Point One: highly charismatic.
Point Two: shared a lot of German views - anti-semetism, aryanism, hate/disdain for Versailles etc.
Point Three: outlet for a lot of kids (hitlerjugend) especially for anger or boredom.

Answer 1

Hitler and the Nazis
One individual never tried to hide the fact that his hatred of the Jews was simply because they were Jewish. Adolf Hitler, the man who alone was responsible for the most devastating scourge of anti-Semitism in the history of mankind, had no use for the multitude of whitewashed explanations offered by scholars.

Hitler viewed his hatred of the Jews as unique because he was the only Jew-hater of international repute who openly acknowledged the uniqueness of the Jews as a people. Hitler realized that Jews can never be successfully integrated with the rest of humanity, and he made it his objective to ensure that they never would be.

The anti-Semitism that Hitler professed was not a means to an end; it was a goal in and of itself. The Nuremberg Laws, established in 1935, effectively disenfranchised and dismantled the Jewish community of Germany – but this was not enough to satisfy Hitler.

In the late 1930’s, Germany was rebuilt and its morale restored, but Hitler’s eye remained trained on the Jews. Seven years after the Nuremberg Laws mangled and mutilated the Jews in body and spirit, the Final Solution was launched in the Wansee Conference of 1942. Hitler saw the Jews as something far more menacing than mere scapegoats; the Jewish nation was his mortal enemy, and so became his target for absolute destruction.

Answer 2

Here...let me try and make this simplified for you.

After WWI the treaty of versailles placed the Germans in a very bad way. It demanded war reparations and the complete dismantling of heavy equipment that could manufacture guns, trains, etc. The economy was shaky at best and jobs were scarce. Now as the years passed the economy began improving and by 1929 things were looking better and some of the war reparations had been lifted.
Then...America was hit by the Great Depression in October, 1929. The bottom falling out of the American Market completely destroyed the German economy. To the point where a family's life savings couldn't even purchase an egg. Duetsch marks were being tossed into the streets by the banks because the paper wasn't even worth anything and people used them to paper walls and feed stoves.
Now....besides the Nazi propaganda Hitler spread, he promised to freeze all wages, disband the unions and put everyone to work. With your family starving and someone promises to put food on your table wouldn't you follow along too?
By the time people became aware of what National Socialisim had really in mind it was too late to back away from it or you'd end up on the next train to Auschwitz as well.

Answer 3

Hitler is a complex figure, he was a genius (socially, he could rally and inspire people) but also a lunatic (ordering a genocide) evidence points that he had many mental issues and was on methamphetamines. Later in the war he mental state worsened, many high-ranking nazis wanted to surrender but hitler wa determined to win or die trying. Hitler had always planned on attacking russia, the reason he signed a treaty was to keep them out while his blitzgrieg force overtook every eastern european country between germany and russia. It was a good tactic actually. Russia however, would have not joined germany's side in the war. Too much hate. And even if they did jump in the US would have still came in anyways. We were planning on jumping in, we knew the japanese were launching an attack, we pick up scouts on radar in the weeks leading up to it. We let it happen as an excuse to join. If we hadn't joined, a large portion of the world would be speaking german right now and the word nazi wouldn't inspire the hate that it does today. Hitle played russia like a fiddle, but got a splinter while doing so. Hope this helps

Answer 4

Germany was defeated in WWI. Some German lands were detached from Germany. The Versailles peace treaty didn't solve Europe's and Germany problems. Later the economist crisis came in '29.

This was the situation in early Germany when Hitler came into the public eye. He promised to raise Germany back to its glory. He presented the people the scapegoat responsible for their misery: the Jews. With the historical antisemitic background of Germany it was easily accepted. The promise of a great Germany both in land and glory was very promising to the people. So they bite on the bait. Add to it the fear from communism and USSR and the wish for a strong leader who can "make order". Now everything is on the table for the catastrophe.

Answer 5

The sanctions placed on Germany after WWI were so harsh that it crippled its economy. It took a wheelbarrow full of marks to buy a loaf of bread. Hitler would start with a truth: the German people are poor. Then he would go to a half truth: the Jews have money (only because they were not permitted to own land traditionally, so they were mainly merchants who were receiving the money, but they were as affected by the inflation as everyone else). Then he would go on to a lie: It's the fault of the Jews that the Germans don't have money. There was historically a lot of anti-Semitism throughout Europe, and he tapped into it.

Answer 6

He told people that their troubles weren't their own fault, and that the loss in WW1 wasn't really a loss.

In other words, he absolved not only those who were struggling individually (as most were given the Treaty of Versailles and the Depression), but he also absolved the collective German nation. In both instances, he told people that they had done nothing wrong, and that's always a popular message to someone who has screwed up.

Additionally, he offered a simple (simplistic, really) solution to all the problems: he blamed someone else. Therefore, the solution to the very complex economic issues devolved into the "Final Solution."

Finally, he scared people into it. He convinced everyone that the Jews (and the Poles) were terrorists who wanted to attack Germany and were hoarding weapons of mass destruction for that precise purpose. The Reichstag bombing was the trigger that fueled the effectiveness of this approach.

Answer 7

Germany was still a fairly new country at the time (I believe the final collaspe of the Holy Roman Empire was in the late 1800's.) At this time many countries were also facing a depression, one of the things that makes money is war (creates industry and jobs.) He understood what the German people wanted. I believe he also had several public works projects.

As weird as it sounds, there actually quite a few similarties between FDR and Hitler, as far as actions they took as leaders (Hitler was certianly more extreme.) You might be able to search to find the list, as I am pretty sure that a lot of history teachers hand it out to their students.

Answer 8

It is very simple actually. Think about this, if the United States fell into a Union that was suffering financially and culturally and someone offered a solution to these problems by creating a new government that would meet the citizens needs, wouldn't you be intrigued to follow. The same thing with Germany, many saw it as a way up from their war torn country following WW I, though many didn't know what the outcome would be and many didn't agree with what the outcome was, by then they had no choice. Hope I helped.

Answer 9

Because Reparations from WW1 destroyed the German economy and the value of the Mark. Hitler kick started the economy with massive military spending and refusing to pay reparations any longer. He offered hope where there was little, people probably saw him as the lesser of two evils, or were too scared to oppose him and just left the country like many jews did like Einstein.

Answer 10

I think Hitler just knew how to sway the hearts and minds of the masses. He was a brilliant speaker, and played upon the people's paranoia; that and his brutal political tactics, as well as creating socialist programs that benefited the German people garnered him a great deal of support. A lot of people blast the Bush Administration for similar tactics. Bush has changed the law so that habeas corpus no longer applies, and ANYONE can be held indefinitely without trial or counsel. The wiretapping program and warrantless raids on private citizens and the constant re-iteration that "we could be attacked at any moment by the Muslim terrorists" creates the same sort of climate of fear that Hitler used to sway German citizens to allow the Jews to be tortured and killed just for being Jewish. As they say, history repeats itself...