Why did Hitler speeches appeal to many of the German people?

Answer 1

Nazism was unique because of the mass popular appeal behind the movement. By comparing the Nazi case to the cases of other regimes, we can see the drastic differences between the generation of popular appeal under Hitler, and how it far surpassed the popular appeal generated by any other regime in history. When we remember Nazism, we must consider how this party gained its support to understand how they accomplished so much, and rewrote not only German, but global history forever.

National Socialism: What seemed to be a small fractional party with no real threat to the democratic system became a nation-wide infatuation within a matter of years. How did they do it?

The German elite and general electorate both supported the Nazis in their rise to power. Even though it may seem that most of the Nazi message was based upon anti-Semitism, some scholars argue that it was not the appeal of anti-Semitism that attracted these voters. According to Dieter D. Hartmann, (who formulated his opinion on the basis of Kershaw and Noakes' beliefs) author of "Anti-Semitism and the Appeal of Nazism", there were many reasons for the increase in Nazi popular support after 1929:

The upsurge of Nazi votes after 1929 was due to many factors. Quite probably, national greatness and economic despair loomed much larger in most people's minds than did the rather remote issue of the so-called Jewish question. But if so many Germans paid little regard to the very core of Nazi ideology, they could do so only because they did not truly resent it. Nazi Propaganda was, after all, drenched in hatred for the Jews from beginning to end. Although the Nazis sometimes adapted anti-Jewish propaganda according to its popularity in different regions in the country, they never had to abandon it altogether. Hitler's hatred of the Jews did not lessen his popularity. Most people apparently found anti-Jewish sentiments both familiar and abstract, nothing to object to and nothing to worry about much.

So it goes that people were drawn to anti-Semitism because they were first drawn to Nazism. But as Hartmann proves, there was much indifference surrounding anti-Semitism. How did Hitler and the Nazis change this view around? A denunciation system was put in place, which relied on the people of Germany to turn in Jews and others who were not "suitable" for the German population. This system offered a great deal of incentive for people - if they turned in others, they eliminated the possibility of being persecuted themselves. People began to flagrantly dismiss others for reasons as petty as settling old grudges. The officers who were in charge of monitoring the denunciations became so overwhelmed with the multitude of cases they faced on a daily basis, that they began to take people for their word without looking further into the cases. Thus, many people were denounced without just cause, and sent to concentration camps to die. For whatever personal reasons people rapidly began to take to this system, the important fact is that it worked. People liked being in control of who was in their neighborhood. Plus, they were offered financial incentives in many cases. A denunciation, reliable or not, could be worth a great deal of money. And at a time where money was scarce, people did anything they could to get their hands on cash.

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Money and the promise of economic success was another reason why people were so attracted to the Nazis. With the Stock Market Crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression, many Germans were devastated financially and unable to recover for quite some time, if ever. Already poor civilians became poverty stricken, homeless, and jobless. The upper class citizens who had money invested in the stock market lost everything they had, and were not willing to reinvest to inject money into the German economy, for they feared losing the little they had left. People lost faith in the Weimar government, which seemed to do nothing to help them get their money back. And then came Hitler, boldly promising economic reform. He preached the same message as he had been saying before 1929, but now people were more willing to listen. In a state of crisis, Hitler seemed to be calm and collected. It seemed to the people of Germany that Hitler would be the hero that would save the German people from the financial woes associated with the Weimar democracy.

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Hitler gained mass appeal because he seemed to promise everything to everybody. Initially the Nazi party was aimed at the working class patriots who had returned from the war to see communism taking root in their communities.

Hitler used communists just as much as Jews as propaganda tools.

The Nazis were prepared to meet the communists head on in the streets and break up their demonstrations. This was covienient to the former ruling class.

As The Nazis began to adopt the Fascist doctrine of Mussolini, again this had more appeal to the rich. Instead of taking over industry, The Nazis wanted to be their biggest customer. The idea of a centralized Government big issuing contracts to private industry during the depression was going to be a life saver for all. The middle class which had sen their savings wiped out by hyper inflation could look forward to a new age of prosperity through Hitler's "Economic miracle" as Germany spent its way out of recession.

The conservative right thought they could use Hitler and his Nazis to destroy the threat of Communism and challenge the French and British over the conditions of the Versailles treaty and then resume business as usual. Had the Allies stood up to him at any point, that may well have happened. If Hitler was forced out of office by a major confrontation over the Rhineland or Austria, then a new government would have probably made a comprising deal with the Allies to avert further problems. As it was every success the Nazis gained consolidated their power.

Answer 2

A number of factors would be relevant here. It must be remembered that, up until the time Hitler and his party were given power, they had many open opponents. They even went backwards electorally in one election. But Hitler, being a shrewd and resourceful politician exploited the problems in his opposition and in the nation in terms of national debt and recession to gain approval for him to take over the government even though in a minority.

The support Hitler had was largely due to his appeal to German national pride, dented severely after WW1 and with the nation under a heavy weight of war reparation debt under the peace treaty signed at the end of the war. He sought to restore national pride and also instituted a number of social welfare programs which were popular. Part of his appeal was his casting blame on various minority groups as being the cause of Germany's woes, such as the Jews.

Although popular, Hitler always had many opponents, as evidenced by the various attempts on his life. Many people simply went along with him and his party, since the price of dissent was high. Also people did not wish to be seen as unpatriotic.

Answer 3

1. The hardship caused by the Great Depression, which affected Germany particularly badly.
2. The lack of a effective, broadly based, conventional conservative party.
3. Hitler's cult of rage. His seemingly uncontrolled rage, which even at the time struck many foreign observers as comical, seems to have made many feel that he shared their frustrations ... and that he was determined to do something about their grievances.

Many popular histories forget that electional success is usually based mainly on immediate issues that affect voters' everyday lives - and elections of 1930, 1932 (and even 1933) were no exception. There is an irritating tendency in 'pop' history to highlight the Treaty of Versailles, the perceived role of the Jews and so on. For most voters these things were very low on their list of priorities. They were much more concerned with falling living standards and with unemployment.

Versailles and the 'humiliation of Germany' were of course later stirred up, when the Nazis were in power, but even then things like food shortages and the like mattered much more to most people.

Hitler promised and gave the Germans some things that would improve their living standards.

Answer 4

The people were frustrated with their current economic and political situation.

Answer 5

- Economy

- Religion