The Rise of Hitler

The Rise of Hitler

During the 1920's and early 1930's Germany was trying to recover from

World War. It had to pay reparations and try to rebuild the economy

from bankruptcy. It was because of the weaknesses of the economy and

the Weimar Government, together with the growing popularity of the

Nazis that Hitler was able to become Chancellor.

After the First World War, Germany was forced to establish a

democratic government based on proportional representation. The main

problems with the German system were that no one party had absolute

control. So any decisions took a long time to make. Moreover, no one

party had 50% of the votes the parties had to form coalitions. This

meant that parties could not always deliver their promises because

they had to please the parties with which they had formed coalitions.

The government was weak which made it is easier for Hitler to gain

power. Using proportional representation, the Nazis gained more seats

than they would have done in the 'First Past the Post' system. This

meant that the Nazis could slowly build popularity and have some power

even though they are not the most popular group.

Germany never had a strong leader to guide them in the right direction

and gain respect throughout Europe. The three main leaders, Ebert,

Hindenburg and Stresemann all had problems. Ebert could not deliver

his promises because he had to form coalitions and had to please the

people that joined him. Hindenburg was not a good politician and was

only in power because he was popular from the War. The best leader was

Stresemann, who was respected not only within Germany but in Europe as

well. He died, however, b...

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...Nazis, now more organized and efficient, were ready for this

opportunity to gain power and made promises of jobs and bread.

Von Papen was Chancellor and when he lost the support of Von

Schleicher it became easy for Hitler to take over. Von Papen secretly

agreed to work with Hitler and when Hindenburg wanted Von Papen back

as Chancellor, he suggested Hitler with himself as vice-Chancellor.

Hitler was appointed giving the Nazis control.

The weaknesses of the Republic and the strength of the Nazis led to

Hitler to becoming Chancellor in 1933. He was a ruthless leader and

the party became far more organized learning that it could only gain

control through democratic means. The Nazis promised the people

exactly what they wanted and tried to please everyone.

Sources:

www.projectgcse.co.uk

www.johndclare.net