Hitler Becoming Chancellor In 1933

"Hitler's personal qualities were the most important reason why he became Chancellor in 1933". How far do you agree with this statement?

Hitler's personal qualities were a very important reason why Hitler became a chancellor in 1933. Hitler was very well organised and a natural public speaker as well as being a good propagandist. These personal qualities showed Hitler to be a credible, alternative leader. However there were other aspects as to how he became chancellor in 1933 such as the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic and the crucial role the Great Depression had to help Hitler come into power.

One reason why Hitler became chancellor in 1933 was because of his personal qualities. He reorganised the party in 1925 and based the party around 'Fuhrerprizip'. Hitler was a renowned orator and gave many public speeches. He gained a lot of publicity for the Nazi campaign using propaganda. Hitler was known to be a very skilled propagandist and his posters are still extremely well-known now. Another way he publicised the Nazi Party was by releasing his book "Mein Kampf" which he wrote in prison when serving his 9 month sentence. Mein Kampf published the aims and ideas of the Nazi party. This contributed to Hitler becoming chancellor because this raised public awareness, establishing him as a credible leader and made people think he could fix Germany's problems. People were impressed with the organisation of the Nazi party and with Hitler showing he could lead a team, and letting the German public see all his good aspects and personal qualities. The German's thought he would use these qualities when running the country. He was enthusiastic with his words and made everyone feel involved when he was speaking, his qualities showed him to be a natural leader of Germany.

However Hitler's personal qualities were not the only reason he became chancellor in 1933 but also because of the Depression and the effect it had on the Weimar Government and the German people's attitude towards Hitler and the Nazi party. The Depression caused economic, political and social chaos in Germany. After the wall street crash in 1929, Germany became the most effected country in Europe because of the American loans and the Dawes plan (1924). Germany could no longer rely on America and their economy suffered horrendously. Unemployment rose to 5.5 million, 5 major banks shut down and over 20,000 businesses folded. This therefore contributed to Hitler becoming chancellor because he told the German people he could fix their problems. More people took notice of Nazi ideas and they began to establish Hitler as the only man who could save Germany from all their problems and the depression. The Nazis therefore became more popular in their elections and increased their votes from 2.8% in 1928 to 37.4% in 1932. This put pressure on Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor.

Another key reason why Hitler became the chancellor in 1933 was because of the weaknesses of the Weimar Government. Hindenburg refused to make Hitler chancellor in August 1932 and was only later convinced because of the weaknesses later of the Weimar Government. It was hard to pass laws because of the weak coalitions, there were 25 separate governments in 14 years. Therefore Hindenburg was having to rule by decree, using Article 48. In order to stop this Von Papen proposed a deal, meaning Hitler would become Chancellor and Von Papen becoming vice-chancellor. The plan was to use Hitler and his power to get votes and use Hitler to pass conservative laws and save the Weimar Republic. Von Papen, with the help of Nazi supporters and industrialists, who would benefit greatly, managed to convince Hindenburg to appoint Hitler. Hindenburg agreed and this resulted in Hitler being appointed on 30th September 1933.

In conclusion, it was a combination of the above three factors that caused Hitler to become Chancellor of Germany in 1933. These factors combined together because the Weimar was falling apart, leaving the German's scared and wanting to rely on a leader and they believed only Hitler could be that leader. Hitler showed off his personal qualities to gain attention and therefore got his party noticed. However the most important reason was the Depression and its impact because the other factors would not have worked so much without the Depression. The Nazi's hadn't changed their ideas or message but people were only starting to take notice because the Depression was causing unemployment and businesses to fail creating fear and panic which meant they wanted to vote for extreme parties such as the Nazis.