Hitler's Struggle to Power
...all the solutions to Germany’s many problems”. After the Wall Street Crash in 1929 the Nazis gained 107 seats in the Reichstag, 95 more seats than they had gained two years previously and then in July 1932, the Nazis gained 230 seats in the Reichstag. The Nazis had views that the majority of Germany agreed with including their anti-Semitist, anti-Marxist and anti-Communist stances. Basically the Nazi party stood for what the German people wanted. Nazi policies were vague, repeating ideas that were popular then never again repeating unpopular ideas. Many Germans were unsure about what the Nazi Party stood for but trusted that they would keep any promises made when the time came. Hitler’s promises that he would “ make Germany great again” were enough for most Germans. The Nazi’s flexible ideas had then to be broadcast, to let the whole country know, so that Hitler could come to power. If the German people had not been persuaded that these ideas were the right ones then the Nazis would stand little chance in the elections. This is why propaganda played a very important role in the success of the Nazis. Headed by Josef Goebbels, the Nazis did all they could to drum the Nazi message into people’s heads. Modern technology was used including radio, cinema along with rallies, posters, leaflets and parades. Propaganda was very useful to the Nazis as it didn’t let the people ever forget their message, especially in the run up to the elections. In 1932 Hitler had run for President against Hindenburg but lost. In the same year the Nazis were made the largest single party in the Reichstag but still didn’t give them an overall majority. The Nazis then started to lose some support as the economy began to pick up again but Hitler cleverly used a combination of persuasion and blackmail to persuade Hindenburg to allow him become Chancellor. Hindenburg feared the Communists growing power and was also scared of violence from the SA, so he fell for Hitler’s trickery. It was thought that Hitler would be able to be controlled but this was a big mistake. Once Hitler got the position of Chancellor he wanted his power to be absolute. He began to take action against everything that he disagreed with and soon became a virtual dictator. A new Reichstag election was scheduled for March 1933. Only a few days before the elections on 27th February, the Reichstag was burned down under suspicious circumstances. The Nazis may well have set the Blaze but they blamed the Communists, Charging that the Communists were trying to seize power. Hitler convinced Hindenburg to take strong action against this supposed Communist threat, and the President suspended freedom of speech and the press and other civil liberties. The Nazis stepped up their harrassment of political opponents and the March 5th election was held in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Poling 44% of the votes, the Nazis won 288 seats in the Reichstag. With the support of their nationalist allies, the Nazis held a controlling majority of the 647 Reichstag. The Nazi majority was even more substantial seeing as the 81 Communist representatives were not allowed to take their seats. On March 23rd 1933, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act which gave ...