Hitler’s Rise to

Power
Origins
■ Born in Austria in 1889
■ Dropped out of high school and went to Vienna at
age 19 to pursue art
■ Rejected by Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna
■ Painted and became a “person of the street”
■ Developed aversion to Austria because of its
multiculturalism, Jews, aristocracy, communism
During the Great War
■ Moved to Munich to avoid serving in the
Austro-Hungarian army
■ Served 4 years at front lines of German
Army in WWI
■ Devastated by defeat of Germany in WWI
Origins of NSDWP
■ At the encouragement of the army, Hitler joined
the DAP, the German Workers Party
■ Met in beer halls
■ Wanted revenge for the Treaty of Versailles
■ Espoused anti-Semitism
■ Hitler learned to give speeches and soon became
leader
■ Renamed party the National Socialist German
Workers’ Party (NSDWP) or “Nazi” party
Beer Hall Putsch
■ November 23, 1923
■ “Putsch” (violent overthrow) attempt. Nazi
party attempted to overthrow government of
Bavaria (region in Germany)
■ Hitler gave speech and was arrested as
political prisoner
Munich, 1923 Masses on the
streets during the Putsch
Mein Kampf
■ Wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) 1924 in jail
■ Argued that if Germany wished to become a world
power again, the Nazi platform was the only one
political party that was strong enough. Other
forms of government were weak and would
succumb to communism
■ Believed in “Volkisch” movement
■ Racial ideology that espoused anti-Semitism
■ Believed Jews invented communism to eliminate elites
and accomplish Jewish world domination
Excerpt from Mein Kampf
“…The volkisch view recognizes the
importance of the racial subdivisions
of mankind. …It by no means
believes in the equality of all races,
but along with their differences it also
recognizes their superior and inferior
nature, and feels itself obliged,
through this knowledge, to promote
the victory of the better and stronger,
and demand the subordination of the
inferior and weaker.”
1929 Great Depression in Germany
■ Germany suffered the worst
■ 6 million unemployed
■ Blamed Treaty of Versailles
■ forced Germany to pay huge war reparations, led to
inflation
■ Lost German land
■ Turned over German colonies which provided markets for
German goods
■ Germans became disillusioned, resentful
■ Put stress on new German democracy, used to
rule of Kaiser, not President and Chancellor
Hitler’s Platform
■ Took advantage of feeling in Germany
■ Spoke of German Volk, that Germans must rely
on themselves for improvement
■ Used Jews as scapegoat- Jewish capitalists in
Western powers, Jewish communists in Eastern
powers
■ German Jews were assimilated, some rose to
high ranks in government, the economy, and
society--easy target
German Elections
■ 1928, 12 seats in
Reichstag
(Parliament)
■ 1930, 107 seats
■ July 1932, 230 seats
■ Nov 1932, 196 seats
Hitler to become Chancellor
■ Chancellor (Prime Minister)
resigned and President
Hindenburg had to appoint a
new Chancellor to form a
coalition government
■ Jan 30, 1933 President
Hindenburg appointed Hitler as
Chancellor of Germany, legally
■ Hitler had to form a coalition
government with other political
parties, but instead called for
new elections
Reichstag Fire
■ Feb 27, 1933 Reichstag building was set on fire
■ A Dutch communist, known as an arson, was
caught in the Reichstag the night of the fire
2 versions of the story:
■ Nazis claimed the Communists set the fire
■ When court expert declared the fire could not
have been set by one person, the Nazis arrested
two other Bulgaria communists
Reichstag Fire
Other version:
■ Nazis were already inside
the Reichstag dousing it
with gasoline and chemicals
■ Nazis found Dutch
communist already there-
the perfect scapegoat-
arrested him
■ Reichstag burned and Nazis
blamed communists
Reichstag Fire

“The whole truth about the Reichstag fire will probably

never be known. Nearly all those who knew it are now
dead, most of them slain by Hitler in the months that
followed. Even at Nuremberg the mystery could not be
entirely unraveled, though there is enough evidence to
establish beyond a reasonable doubt that it was the
Nazis who planned the arson and carried it out for their
own political ends.” William Shirer,
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Politics in German Parliament
■ Election did not produce a Nazi majority
■ Hitler persuaded President Hindenburg to
sign a decree that allowed Hitler to arrest
opposition
■ After the fire, Hitler arrested many
members of the Communist and Social
Democrat parties
The Enabling Act
■ Gave powers to Chancellor
■ Creation of new laws
■ Control of budget
■ Approval of treaties
■ Creation of constitutional amendments
■ Laws may deviate from constitution
■ Laws will not affect position of Reichstag or
the powers of the President
The Enabling Act
■ Promised to respect President’s veto,
but never upheld promise
■ Act passed 441-84 on March 23,
1933
■ Gave Hitler legal right to dictatorship
■ Hitler proclaimed the beginning of the
Third Reich
Hitler as Furer
■ “One by one Germany’s
most powerful institutions
now began to surrender to
Hitler and to pass quietly,
unprotestingly out of
existence.” Shirer
■ Hitler got rid of all non-Nazi
government officials and
replaced them with Nazis
■ New law proclaimed the
NSDWP as the only political
party in Germany