What were some of the reasons for growth in support of the Nazi party in the 1930's?

During the decades before WW2, the Nazi party headed by Adolf Hitler gained in popularity, with Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933. In 1928 the Nazi Party held 12 seats in the Reichstag (German Parliament) but in 1932 they held 230. So why did they increase in popularity so much over this period?Firstly, their 25-point manifesto appealed to all levels of society: nationalists were attracted to Hitler as he too opposed the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles; the middle-class welcomed the Nazi party as an alternative to the status-quo which had failed Germany during the Weimar Republic; the Wealthy buisness classes financed Hitler's Nazi party in retaliation to the grwoing support of the communist party, and finally the Nazi'z appealed to the rural population of 'forgotten' merchants and farmers.Secondly, the Nazis used propaganda to promote their party and garner support. Headed by propaganda chief, Geobbles, the Nazi party created the Cult of the Fuhrer which used Hitler as the figure head of anti-establishment. Moreover, the idea of Volksgemeinshaft was promoted - this is the idea of a single German community without class division - particularly in contrast to the Jewish population. This leads onto a crucial aspect of propaganda, scapegoating the German Jewish populations for all of Germany's ills including unemployment. Jews were othered and considered racially impure as opposed to the 'Aryian race'. Thirdly, they used terror and scare tactics using the SA to intimidate political opponents. The SA recruited young, unemployed men to intimitdate political opponents by physically attacking their members and distrupting meetings. In addition, they added to the propaganda against the Jewish community by attacking their buisnesses and encouraging the public to boycott Jewish services.

Answered by Rose K. History tutor

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