Hitler's rise to power?

Question

As we know, Adolf Hitler was not of particularly high social class and did not have much power at the beginning.

So how did he gain his political power? What incentives did the ones above him have for giving him the power, promoting him?

Why would they want to give power to one not from royal background? Did he hop from one social circle to another?

Answer 1

Look at Irans leader, he is using the same BS.

Answer 2

At the time of his come uppance, there was no royalty in Germany or @least none with any wealth. In short, there are 3 reasons why he was able to gain so much power.
1. Germany had just lost the War and was forced to pay back huge debts so the Germans were a bit disillusioned.
2. Along with this, there was a subtle anti-senitism (sp) because @ the time, many Jews were able to withstain the huge blows to the Germany economy. This made the Germans (non-Jew, of course) a bit jealous.
3. Because of their disillusionment, it was easy for someone (Hitler) to take their fears and anger and turn it into something useful for him.
So, he first became a member of the Nazi's and then became their leader in a bit of a coupe d'etat. And the rest is history...

Answer 3

It would take far too long to give a comprehensive answer -- the short answer would be Hitler was brilliantly charismatic, and used demagogic approaches to garner the support of a moderately small (but fanatically loyal) minority. This, in turn, allowed him, to run for public office in the Bundestag (German National Assembly), and thereafter use those same skills to propel himself to the Chancellory (and ultimately declare himself Furher).

It is important to note that Hitler's rise to power was rife with the use of propaganda, political character assassination, and the clever use of rhetoric. Hitler was very skilled at keeping his ulterior motives hidden from the general public. Although hatred of the Jews was a cornerstone of Hitler's rise to power, and anti-Semitism was ubiquitous in Germany on the whole ... Hitler never would have succeeded in winning support if he came right out and said he wanted to kill 2 million German Jews. That was too radical of a premise for most Germans to support in 1932. What he did once he was in power was test the public opinion, and gradually (over the course of ten years) sway the German people into tacitly supporting his radical approach.

If you really want to learn more about this topic I would recommend the following books;

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer (Just the first third of the book).

The Coming of the Third Reich, by Richard Evans.

Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany, by Robert Gellately.

Answer 4

First it should it should be understood that Hitler was quite mad but not stupid. He had a magnetic personality and learned to use it quite well. He came to power just as radio was coming into wide spread use. Like FDR he recognized the power of radio to go directly to ordinary people. He knew very well the hot buttons of the German people and he exploited them. The was a long standing anti-semitism in Germany (as there was elsewhere) and he used that to shift blame for the Father Lands troubles. Further his access to power was coveted by the industrial and military classes of Germany who hoped to restore the land as it was before WWI. Of course they never achieved their goal and were bitterly disappointed as he subsumed their power.

Keep in mind that Hitler was elected in a reasonably open and fair election. He did not lead a coup. Since he had achieved more votes than anyone else Hindenburg (Head of State at the time) selected Hitler to form a government. But under the guise of putting down internal rebellion he moved the government to a totalitatian type of government with Hitler having total control of Germany. He was then supported by the military and industrial forces with Germany. He gradually eliminated opposition. This was Nazism (National Socialism) better known in government studies as Fascism which was copied from Mussolini in Italy. The Italian had come to power about ten years earlier and was much admired by Hitler.

Very brief here but with limited time and space it should be ok.

Answer 5

Conditions in Germany were extremely poor thanks to the ill-conceived Versailles Treaty. Hitler joined a small Bavarian political party made up of war veterans that was similar in nature to the current Putin lead party in Russia - it called for a strong Germany, a return to the pre-war boundaries, and the expulsion of the hated French. They found that he was an excellent speaker and became their front man. He became famous nationwide during his trial in the unsuccessful attempt at taking over the Bavarian government, wrote a book while in prison, and became a millionaire. When he got out, he formed the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi) as a nationalistic alternative to communism (which was an international movement). The communists did not like other parties messing with their base - the worker class - so the NSDAP formed the SA militia to protect them from the communists. He bankrolled the party and his speech making hit a nerve with Germans as it promised better times. The Conservatives needed a coalition partner to defeat the communists and invited the Nazis to form a government with them. Hitler refused unless he was made Chancellor and they eventually conceded this to him thinking they could control him. Goering became the head of police in the largest state, Prussia, Hitler could not be controlled, and he actually delivered on many promises to the working class (higher wages, 45 hour work week, public transportation, autobahn construction to make more jobs, and an all-powerful union - the Nazi Party). Hitler won more then 80% of the vote in what historians regard as a fair election and with control of Prussia, was able to declare emergency rule when the Reichstag burnt down. His popularity allowed him to declare himself dictator.

Lots of unique background that allowed his rise.

Answer 6

As far as the question of him not being of royal backround... he rose to power at a time when almost all royals were loosing their power. After all, he first came to power in Munich, which only a decade or so before had the first revolution in Germany deposing a royal family. A Socialist Republic was exisitant in Bavaria for about 18 months!

Please don't misinterpret that as meaning that socialism leads to nazism. They are such different things.

Answer 7

He was an incredibly talented public speaker and he played on the issues that were currently plaguing the public. He was excellent at rousing people's emotions. Eventually he gained a strong base of supports and formed a gang of sorts called the brownshirts. From there he destroyed his enemies and used his public speaking powers to get to be Chancellor of Germany. Then he had all other political leaders killed.

Answer 8

Brock is completely correct. Also, Hitler fought in WW1 so he was considered a bit of a war hero too. More specifically, he gained his role as chancellor by playing different factions off against one another.

Answer 9

Have you seen his speeches???!
They're mesmerizing, it doesn't matter who you are or what you believe, he knows how to captivate and "cast a spell" on his listeners.
I don't know German, but this still affects me. It's his tone, his confident posture, his loudness, his determination and yet it's also his evilness. Everyone secretly or subconsciously wants some share of power (or, for Hitler, all of it) and he made people feel strong, kind of like they were feeding their hunger for wealth and the power to control others.

Answer 10

i had read that as a kid he came to america and was trained in mind washing by the cia. he returned to germany to eventually take over, he was financed by the corporations so he could build up his army and weapondry, now why? some say it was because russia was powerful and they needed someone to keep russia in check, I heard also that it was to create an enemy (after all war is very profitable) to use fear to get britan and other eurp countries into a war, and then the us to fight a war (when most people were doing all they can to avoid war) they had to create a scary enemy, to get people to lay down their peaceful altruism and fight a war that would bankrupt them so the bankers could just come in and take over everything. propaganda propaganda is a very powerful tool for those who are not equiped to counter it, to get people to do things they normally wouldn't do.

just look at the hutus and tutsis, they were related to each other some were brothers and sisters and yet the right propaganda got them to slaughter one another brutally.

I also heard they wanted to create more markets there and that hitler strayed from under their control and thus they had to go to war with him. I don't know what is true, except that he was funded by the elite and the elite care not about human rights or life liberty or property except as it pertains to themselves.

rRRRR

Answer 11

Just for the record: Bigjohn B is a college history prof in real life. He just gave you a capsule version of a whole week's worth of college history courses. Very valuable Answer.