“Hitler Became Chancellor in January 1933 Because He Was the Leader of the Most Popular Party.” Do You Agree?

“Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933 because he was the leader of the most popular party.” Do you agree?

The Nazi rise to power was the result of years of campaigning, violence and struggle. However, it can be argued that Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor was not inevitable; the fate of the Weimar Republic could have been very different and we must take into account Hitler’s opportunism. Germany was faced with many crises that the Weimar Republic was too weak to handle, and these crises allowed Hitler to highlight these weaknesses in the government, causing voters to have a change of heart. Despite the importance of the Party’s popularity, there are other factors that must be considered when judging Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in 1933, such as Hitler’s leadership skills and the weaknesses of the Weimar Government.

The Weimar Republic had been severely weakened by the Wall Street Crash; people lost faith in the state when the economy couldn’t be recovered. When Brüning came into power in March 1930, he didn’t have a parliamentary majority, meaning his power as Chancellor was massively hindered. In July of 1930, for example, he tried to pass a bill on finance, but it was defeated in the Reichstag. When he then resorted to the undemocratic Article 48 to pass to bill, this act was condemned in Parliament by 236 votes to 221. This shows that the Weimar Government was unable to act decisively whilst being democratic at the same time, meaning people would quickly start to believe there needed to be huge change in the politics of Germany. It was these people, the disillusioned and those who felt let down by the Weimar Republic, who would have become more radical in their voting. We can see this to be true in September of the same year, when Brüning called for a new election in order to try and increase the number of seats for the Centre party. While Brüning’s attempt to raise his own party profile failed, the Nazi party saw a significant increase in...