The rise of Hitler and the NSDAP remains a very significant event in European history and is still a controversial topic even today. Historians have all come with many different explanations for the rise of Hitler to power in 1933; however some historians would attribute the overwhelming success of the NSDAP in 1933 to one man, Adolf Hitler. Portrayed as the ‘messiah’ to rid Germans of all their social and economic hardships subsequent to the Wall Street Crash in 1929, it is no surprise that many of the ordinary Mittelstand turned to his party to return Germany to its former days of glory. Despite his charismatic speaking abilities and his hypnotic effect on the German volk, many historians would argue that Hitler’s rise to power cannot be attributed to his strengths alone, instead it was a combination of factors such as the weaknesses of Weimar and factors which were out of Germany’s control.
Hitler was the main reason that the NSDAP came to power rather than anyone else because, firstly he was a great speaker and had a hypnotic effect on ordinary Germans. These skills were exhibited after the failed Munich Putsch of 1923 where Hitler somehow managed to turn his own trial into a great propaganda success as well as making the Judge feel sympathetic towards his patriotism and anti-democracy views. It was this ideology that helped him to secure votes and turn the volk against democracy after the great depression hit Germany with full force.
The ingenious propaganda campaign of Joseph Goebbels another factor that was significant in Hitler’s rise to power in 1933. It could be argued that Hitler was only the face of the party and any other right-wing extremist could have taken his place, whereas Goebbels was indeed the brains of the outfit. Nevertheless, the propaganda campaign was successful, particularly after the great depression was in