Because of the Great Depression the Nazis 25 point plan was much more appealing to the people most effected by the economic crisis: the unemployed, elderly and middle classes
Hitler offered them people to blame for Germany's troubles: the Allies, the Weimar Government for signing the Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty itself and the Jews
These views had not been popular during the Stresemann years but now that the Weimar government couldn't get people back to work the views were now listened to
In the 1930 elections the Nazis had 107 seats and in 1932 they had nearly 200 - they didn't have the overall majority but they were the biggest single party
1 of 4
Why did the Nazis succeed in elections?
When the Nazis were firmly established in the 1930s there propaganda chief - Goebbels created his own version of events of 1929-1933 that brought Hitler to power
In this version Hitler's destiny was to become Germany's leader and the German people recognised this
This lead to much Nazi support as well as other methods of propaganda
2 of 4
Nazi Campaigning
It was hard to critisise the Nazi policies as they relied on slogans rather than detailed politics, uniting people behind one leader and going back to traditional values but they were not clear in what this meant in terms of politics
However, if they were critisised on a policy they were likely to drop it
The Nazis repeated at every opportunity that they blamed Jews, Communists, Weimar government and the Treaty of Versaillies for Germany's problems - they said the Weimar government were unable to solve these problems
Nazi posters were found everywhere and there rallies impressed people with there energy, enthusiasm and size
At this time there were many street battles between Communists and the police and unruly groups of the unemployed gathered in street corners which gave the SA and ** an impression of discipline and order in contrast
People welcomed the fact that the SA were prepared to fight the Communists
The SA were organised and often had the support of the police and army when they beat up opponents and disrupted meeting and rallies
Nazis also organised soup kitchens and provided shelter in hostels for the unemployed
3 of 4
Nazi Campaigning - Hitler
The Nazis best campaigning asset was Hitler
He was a powerful speaker and was years ahead of his time as a communicator
He ran for president in 1932 and received 13 million votes to Hindenburg's 19 million
Despite his defeat the campaign raised his profile hugely
Using films, radio and records he brought his message to millions of people and he travelled by plane on a tour of rallies around Germany
He appeared as a dynamic man and the leader of a modern party with modern ideas - he was also seen as a man of the people and understood the people and there problems
Comments
No comments have yet been made