The Nazis' rise to power: Hitler becomes German Chancellor

The German economy is in bad shape again. The economic crisis that began in 1929 in the United States has spread, and Germany is one of the hardest hit countries. 3 million people are unemployed, and many Germans have lost all faith that the politicians who govern the country can save them from the crisis. Hitler and his Nazi party have worked hard to get into parliament, and now this starts to produce results. The party is growing.

Hitler promises that if he gets into power, everything will be much better. He says the things that he knows the German people want to hear. Hitler is a populist. Hitler deliberately divides the population into two groups: On one side,‘Us’, whom he calls ‘the German people’, and describes as good and hard-working, and on the other side, ‘them’, whom he calls ‘the elite’: the politicians and the Jews whom he says have ‘betrayed and deceived the German people’. And the Germans take it in.

In the 1930 election, the Nazi party becomes the second largest party. In 1931 and 1932, the German economy gets even worse. Hundreds of banks are collapsing, and unemployment is rising even more. The Nazi Party grows in rural areas where many small farms and farm workers are having a hard time economically. But even in the cities, support for the Nazis is growing.

Unemployment is high, and many are poorer than before. Before the parliamentary elections in 1932, Hitler goes all over Germany giving speeches. He travels by aeroplane, and manages to speak in fifty cities in one month. Hitler is the first politician in history to use aircraft in an election campaign. Everything is carefully staged by Joseph Goebbels, who is responsible for the Nazi propaganda.

Hitler's storm troopers, the SA, stand guard at all of his public speeches, and ensure that anyone protesting against the Nazis is silenced, often violently. They also sabotage the election meetings of the other parties. In April 1932, the Germans choose a new president. Hitler has changed his citizenship from Austrian to German, and can therefore stand in the presidential election. Hitler loses to the incumbent president, General Paul von Hindenburg.

But the Nazi election campaign gives the party many new supporters. And in the November 1932 parliamentary elections, out of all the parties, the Nazis get the most votes: 13 million - about 33% - which makes the party the largest in parliament. Now, Hitler demands that President Hindenburg should appoint him the Head of Government: Reichkanzler. Hindenburg refuses. He thinks that Hitler, that Austrian corporal, is someone who knows nothing about politics: an upstart.

But Hitler has a lot of support in parliament from conservative politicians. They are afraid that the Communists, who also did well in the election, will get too much power. Since Hitler has previously promised to crush the Communists, the Conservatives now want to see Hitler as the Head of Government. So President Hindenburg has to change his mind. On January the 30th, 1933, Adolf Hitler becomes Reich kansler!

On the evening of his election, a magnificent Nazi parade is organised in Berlin. Hundreds of thousands of people march with torches to pay tribute to their new Reich kansler. That same night, Joseph Goebbels writes in his diary: "The new world reich is here ... victory after 14 years of struggle ... we have reached our goal.

The German Revolution can begin."