Adolf Hitler, the soldier who was once an adorned war veteran of the World War I, the leader who was once praised by millions of Germans, the villain who was responsible for the annihilation of millions of Jews, is now the most hated dictator of the 20th century and debatably throughout human history. All of those around the world knows what Hitler had done to the Jewish people, which made it one of the darkest periods in history. Few have thought about how he gained his power in the first place; specifically, how did Adolf Hitler become the chancellor of Germany? He lied, manipulated, influenced people just to gain power. Hitler came to power because of society’s discontent of the government and the society after the First World War.
Some say that Hitler gained power purely by striking violence and using nothing but force. The failed overthrow, which brought him to jail, was a perfect example of Hitler seizing power by force. It is true that Hitler used force to eliminate possible enemies that were against him, but mostly, he was supported by people, because of the unhappiness resulting from a devastated society after the First World War, his ideologies, which attracted lots of people, and his use of marketing, which perfectly advertised him. It was a few that took Hitler seriously and thought that he would go through with putting his threats against the country’s Jewish minority, liberal newspaper editors his rants against feminists, homosexuals, etc. into full effect. Fewer still believed his vow to quit the League of Nations, and within a few months of taking office, he did it all and even more. He gave the believers hope.
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Initially, Hitler was given the chance to grow because of the people’s general discontent towards society. The loss of national pride and national integrity was two of the main reasons why the German people were discontent. In 1919, Hermann Mueller, the foreign minister of the Weimar Republic representing Germany, signed the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty made Germany lose important industrial cities, which not only slowed down the Germany economy a lot, but also, and most importantly, deprived Germany of its national integrity. Hitler considered the Treaty a scandal and a disgrace and that the dictate signified an act of highway robbery against the people. According to Mr. Law, he believed that Hitler was a lunatic who didn’t listen to anyone: “I am told, on what I believe to be very good German authority, that really the most dangerous man of all is the Fuhrer himself. He falls into fits of passion and will listen to no advice. It was on his orders and against the advice of the Foreign Office and the Army that recently an American was beheaded”.
On September 27th, 1938 the Policy of Appeasement between Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain had been stressed. Chamberlain had neither desire to be drawn into a costly war. He was unwilling to oppose Hitler as he had feared another ‘Great War’ would come into effect. He also favored a policy of appeasement. Chamberlain believed Hitler was a reasonable leader and planned on giving him whatever Germany needed, so that he could be satisfied. Chamberlain believed that Hitler would keep his promises: “We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again”. In Chamberlain’s ‘Peace in Our Time’ speech, he spoke very highly of Hitler. He believed that the meeting they just had was one of the great ones. However, a year later Hitler has another plan of his own. He was nothing but a cruel, ruthless man that manipulated all the countries leaders as to believing that he was a sincere, reasonable leader.
Hitler only seemed to be after one thing which was power. He wanted to stop things that he couldn’t, he wanted to dictate the people so that they could get back at those who were part of the First World War. Anyone against him was always sent away or punished forever. He made sure that there were no faults to his plan. Which is why he worked 20 hours a day and only 4 hours of sleep. Hitler wanted to take all actions necessary in order to make Germany prosper, please the Germans, and gain recognition. With the lies, manipulation, and influence, Hitler successfully convinced the people that Germany would regain glory. He only gave the ones who believed in him hope.
Sources
- FO371/20733 Report by Mr. Law, a British businessman who worked in Germany (1937).
- Neville Chamberlain. ‘Peace in Our Time’. Speech Subtitled (2015).
- FO371/20733 Report on a conversation with Count Bernstorff (1937) .
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