How Hitler Became a Dictator Democratically Ninety Years Ago | General

On January 30, 1933, ninety years ago today, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. He was appointed Reich Chancellor, the head of the German government. Through a democratic route, Hitler succeeded in establishing a dictatorship. How did he do this?

Hitler’s rise to power started in World War I (1914-1918). In his twenties he fought in this war, which Germany lost. He – like many Germans – felt humiliated by the heavy demands of the victors.

The Germans had to pay reparations from the victorious countries, cede territory and reduce the size of industry and the army. The reparations were a huge cost to the German post-war economy.

After the First World War, Hitler took off attention with his fierce speeches and elaborate speeches. With this he knew how to respond cleverly to the great dissatisfaction among the German population. This was due to the poor state of the economy due to, among other things, the reparations.

More and more people therefore joined Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party, which promised improvement. Hitler’s followers called themselves National Socialists. The abbreviation ‘Nazi’ comes from that.

Adolf Hitler speecht in 1925.Foto: Getty Images

Hitler attempted a coup ten years before he became Chancellor. That was in 1923. The young, democratic, post-war Weimar German Republic was shaky. From Munich, Hitler wanted to overthrow the government in Berlin.

That coup attempt is known as the Bierkellerputsch, because Hitler and his supporters gathered in the basement of a beer pub. The attempt failed due to the intervention of the police and the army. Hitler was sent to prison as punishment.

While in prison, Hitler was working on his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle). Part of his anti-Semitic ideas are explained here. Hitler believed in a non-existent Jewish plot (the Protocols of the Elders of Zion), which described how Jews would want to control the world.

Moreover, according to Hitler, the Jews were also responsible for the humiliating German loss in the First World War. Hitler considered the Germanic race superior to all other races.

Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf while in prison.

After he was released, Hitler spread his ideas at rallies where his followers gathered en masse. From that moment on, the Nazis followed the legal route for taking power, namely through elections.

The party was initially banned, but Hitler was able to speak freely in some states. Many people were attracted to his words and party. The Nazi leaders were young and fresh. Hitler appeared to them as a strong leader.

Hitler’s party played with promises and nationalist propaganda to the bad economy. He promised improvement, employment and a way out of poverty. Many people listened to it. The global economic recession of the late 1920s was added to this. The country was plagued by high inflation, high unemployment and, above all, great dissatisfaction among the population.

These turned out to be the ideal conditions for Hitler to make his Nazi party great and to come to power thanks to a well-oiled propaganda machine.. The strategy worked; the NSDAP grew into the largest party.

In the 1928 elections, the NSDAP received less than a million votes. In 1930 it was already the second largest party with more than six million votes and in 1932 it became the largest party. Millions of Germans voted for Adolf Hitler.

The NSDAP made good use of modern propaganda methods in the election campaign. The Nazis convinced the population with mass rallies, radio broadcasts, newspapers and pamphlets.

Although Hitler was popular among the people, he was unable to win the separate elections for the Reich President in 1932 against the ancient conservative Paul von Hindenburg. Von Hindenburg was re-elected in 1932 with 53 percent of the vote. Hitler achieved 37 percent.

Adolf Hitler and Paul von Hindenburg, whom he couldn’t beat in 1932. Photo: Getty Images

On January 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor. However, the conservative elite – the Prussian landowners and the big industrialists – wanted to help Hitler to power. This elite put pressure on Reich President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Reich Chancellor and hoped to use him for their own purposes.

From January 30, 1933, as Chancellor, Hitler led a coalition government of the NSDAP and the Deutschnationale Volkspartei. So he was not directly elected as president by the German people, but he was legally appointed as the head of the German government. It turned out to be a mistake that he would make himself useful to the conservatives as chancellor.

Within a few months, the National Socialists had seized power and purged political opponents. A Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, set fire to the German parliament. Hitler used the moment as an occasion to limit fundamental rights and to take all power to himself.

A year later, Paul von Hindenburg died, after which Hitler assumed the position of president in addition to chancellor. He immediately abolished that position, because Hitler appointed himself Führer of the German Reich. He became the absolute leader and dictator of Germany. His authority had no counterweight. The race laws, World War II and the Holocaust were the result.

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