Hitler and His Rise to Power

Hitler's Rapid Rise To Power

Adolf Hitler seemingly took power in Germany very quickly, and at the time it seemed as though that rapid rise was not questioned at all. However, it is important to look at the reasons Hitler came to power so quickly, in order to better understand why his followers embraced him so strongly and how he became such a polarizing and significant figure in history. When everything is carefully considered, it is possible to see that Hitler really did not gain power as quickly as some may think. He was leader of several different things before becoming leader of the Nazi party, and was even imprisoned for a failed coup attempt in Munich (Maser, 24). He had his share of struggles, and did not have everything handed to him. What he did have was dedication to his cause. It is easy to argue that he committed atrocities, but in putting that aside and looking objectively at his focus and his interest in completing his goals, it is relatively easy to see that he was a man with deep -- if misguided -- dedication to the things in which he believed. With such a strong focus on what mattered to him, it is not really surprising that many people thought he came out of nowhere to take over Germany.

The main reason Hitler was able to rise to power was because he was charismatic. People believed in him and his cause, and because he could get people to believe in him he could get them to support him. By the time he created the Nazi party, he already had experience as a leader, and he already had a following (Aigner, 48). That only grew when he was elected, and he helped Germany recover quickly from its most serious economic depression on record (Aigner, 55). He also annexed a number of territories that were home to many people of German ethnicity, and gained a great amount of popular support because of that. People liked him, because he wanted to make Germany strong and rebuild it into a world power that would have to be reckoned with. In and of itself, that was not necessarily a bad thing. It was how Hitler chose to go about that rebuilding that became a problem. When he first attained power, though, those who supported him did not know what was going to happen.

While Hitler had been active in politics for some time before he took complete power of Germany, his "big break" came from the Great Depression that Germany experienced. It gave him a huge opportunity, from a political standpoint, because Germans were not happy with the parliamentary republic that was ruling and guiding them at the time (Benderwky, 14). There was a concern among the German people that their leaders were not doing a good job. If the leaders had handled things properly, the belief was that the depression would not have taken place. Because of that, the German people wanted something (and someone) new. They were interested in trying a new approach to solving their problems, and they liked what Hitler had to say about how he would rebuild the country and how strong he would make it from an economic standpoint. There were a number of extremist parties, and the moderates who were running the country at the time were finding that they were having more and more trouble keeping the extremists at bay. That gave Nazi ideology the opportunity to gain a foothold in the political arena and a following among the people (McNab, 58).

The first presidential election in which Hitler ran was in 1932 (Aigner, 67). He lost, but he got approximately 35% of the vote (Aigner, 68). That showed that he was a good candidate, and that he would be someone to be carefully considered going forward. A majority government was not formed even after further elections, and at the urging of many Hitler was appointed as chancellor. By March of 1933, Hitler had used the chancellor position to his advantage so strongly that the Enabling Act was in place (Maser, 98). That granted Hitler and his cabinet complete legislative power for a four-year period, and also allowed him to deviate from the constitution, although there were exceptions to his power in that area. Coupled with the Reichstag Fire Decree, the Enabling Act created a legal dictatorship with Hitler at the helm (Maser; 102). The Act was renewed twice, for four years each time. The way in which Hitler took over Germany was very open, but yet it was not thwarted by others in the political realm. By the time they realized what was taking place, it was already done.

Hindenburg was still president of Germany at that time, but right before he died a law was passed that the presidency would be abolished with his death, and all power over the government and the country would go to the chancellor (Hitler) (Benderwky, 62). This was a very insidious way to get the remaining power that he was still lacking, and it provided him with completely political and legal control over Germany and its people. In 1934, Hitler told a reporter how people had laughed at him 15 years prior, when he stated that he would become ruler of Germany (McNab, 70). At that time, he said he would remain in power, and his National Socialist party would endure for 1,000 years (McNab, 70). Once Hitler had complete power, a number of people who had been against him in the past -- and many who still were -- were rounded up, arrested, and executed. Many people were shocked by this display of power, both in Germany and in other parts of the world. Other people felt that Hitler was restoring order to the country and righting wrongs that had been taking place for a number of years prior to his taking office. Either way, it was a bold move. There was really no one to challenge it, though, because Hitler had complete power over the country.

By the time Hitler was done "restoring order" and addressing both military and legal issues, he had removed every challenge that could be made or used to remove him from power. His dictatorship was in force, and he commanded the country and its military forces. If people got in his way, or if they were not "on board" with what Hitler wanted to do, they were removed. Documents were falsified, people disappeared, and a number of nefarious activities were engaged in so that Hitler could keep power and stop people from standing in the way of what he wanted to do (McNab, 95). Still, the people largely supported him. One of the reasons they did so was that he was providing them with something they did not have before -- a stable economy that was growing. The six million people in the country who were unemployed were reduced to only one million, and people had work for the first time in a long time, in many cases (Maser, 38). Hitler focused on building the military, and that allowed a lot of people to go to work and help with that effort, which gave them a purpose and a paycheck.