How did Hitler capture power in Germany?
To understand why the NSDAP garnered so much popular support so rapidly and assumed control of Germany, we must first understand the context behind how Germany was susceptible to a rise in power by the NSDAP.
Post WW1 there was an evident shame and embarrassment across Germany. The Monarchy, which assembled all the Prussian states was gone, and Germany, too swiftly, switched its entire political makeup to appease the Western powers and create the Weimar Republic. While the Weimar Republic did provide the expansion of rights and freedoms of individual German citizens. Moreover, the change did not come easy for the German population. There was still overwhelming right-leaning anxiety amidst the German population.
Germans were struggling from the Great Depression.
It was terrifying for traditionalist Germans to experience such a stark contrast to the Germany they knew, one that did not resemble strength. Because of the lack of national identity, unity, stability, and history, the NSDAP was able to surge to power in Weimar Germany. As well, through the NSDAP’s ‘charismatic’ leadership and creation of the Volksgemeinschaft,1 The NSDAP was able to gain enough popular support to assume control of Germany.
The charismatic leadership of Hitler was so influential in the rise of the NSDAP in mainstream German politics. According to Epstein, Hitler “turned the NSDAP from a debate club to a disciplined party.”2
The NSDAP had no political cache and withstanding in the Reichstag before Hitler became the focal point of the party. The political prominence Hitler possessed then only played into his mystique. Hitler’s “followers imbued him with heroism, greatness, and a world-historical mission to save Germany.”3 Hitler embodied these qualities and played into the severity of this mission to save Germany because he “was the incarnation of Nazism, and the personification of all that was best for Germany.”4 To the followers of Hitler, Hitler was what Germany needed to stand for. He portrayed what they wanted Germany to be.
The NSDAP existed as the vessel to provide him the opportunity to save Germany – whether that be from Communism, Jews, or even democratic socialists.
Hitler’s Leadership
Hitler’s charismatic leadership is also prevalent through the accounts of Albert Speer. According to Speer, Hitler could “lead students and part of the faculty of the two greatest German academies submissively by a leash.”5 For reference, Speer is quoted as, prior to his speech, stating that he believed Hitler was only a “fanatic in uniform.”6 That was some glaringly strong praise for someone who gave Hitler little flowers before he even spoke. Hitler’s ability to charm and steer thoughts like Speer’s is a textbook example of the influence and power that Hitler possessed. He could make his listeners flip-flop their opinions almost as if it was routine. Even more so, Speer explains how he did not join the NSDAP because of his belief in them, but how he joined the NSDAP because he was a “ follower of Hitler.”7 This further exemplified
Hitler’s importance in the rise of the NSDAP. Through Hitler’s charisma, the Nazi party could garner rapid popular support among Germans vying to grasp onto his mission to save Germany. In addition, the political propaganda the NSDAP published created a sense of community that strengthened national unity and promised political stability. The NSDAP referred to this national community as the Volksgemeinschaft. In the years following WW1, and in Weimar Germany, many Germans were ashamed of what their country had turned to.
Battle Of Stalingrad
Germany was devastated by the treaty of Versailles, and again by the great depression. This economic devastation coupled with the political instability of the Weimar era was unsettling to German denizens. German propagandist Joseph Goebbels played into these anxieties by pulling from the stability of Germany’s past to create a sense of national community. According to Welch, the people’s community played on “‘the spirit of 1914’ when the Kaiser declared:
‘I recognize no parties, but only Germans.’”8
The NSDAP’s goal was to convince Germans that they would unite Germany by “constantly urging the population to put the ‘community before the individual’” where it was “‘One people! One Reich! One Führer!’”9
The NSDAP propaganda initiatives had a direct impact on the German public. Melita Maschmann is a prime example of the influence the NSDAP had on young Germans. Maschmann explained that “no catchword ever intrigued me like ‘National Community’… it acquired a magical glow.”10 While attending a celebration of the NSDAP’s victory, Mashmann wanted “to hurl myself into the crowd” of marchers.11
There is an allure the NSDAP created through their mirage. They created buzzwords such as the national community, and issued passionate speeches, and formulated exciting parades to convince individuals that “all classes would live together like brothers and sisters,” and it worked very effectively.12 Maschmann, like thousands of others, found herself drawn into the NSDAP “with a burning desire to belong to these people for whom it was a matter of life and death.”13
Hitler and the NSDAP’s ability to draw in supporters was accelerated by his charismatic leadership, and the NSDAP’s ability to play into the undertones of the prior German Reichs. Furthermore, Hilter was able to convince his followers that the NSDAP would serve as a thousand-year empire. Hilter could control a room and create so much raw emotion from his supporters as well to enhance his stature as a strong leader for Germany.
To many of his followers, Hitler was Germany.
In conclusion, through the Volksgemienshaft, the NSDAP was able to unite Germans through a shared entity, the national community. The national community served as the staple illusion for the NSDAP that helped to garner even more support for one unified German Reich.
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How did Hitler capture power in Germany?
How did Hitler capture power in Germany?
1 Welch, David. Nazi Propaganda and the Volksgemeinshaft. London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi: Journal of Contemporary History, 2004, 148.
2 Epstein, Catherine. Nazi Germany: Confronting the Myths. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015, 41. 3 Epstein, 41.
4 Epstein, 41.
5 Epstein, 42.
6 Moeller, Robert G. “The Nazi State and German Society: A Brief History with Documents.” Amazon. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010, 116.
7 Moeller, 117.
8 Welch, 217.
9 Welch, 218.
10 Moeller, 120.
11 Moeller, 121.
12 Moeller, 120.
13 Moeller, 121.
How did Hitler capture power in Germany?
