How Hitler and the Nazis won support

G2 Full History - syllabus K227, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can explain how leaders, the army and other groups helped set up authoritarian rule.

    Syllabus K227, Rise of Authoritarian Regimes, Learning Outcomes. Explain the roles of key players in the establishment of authoritarian rule.

  • I can explain how authoritarian regimes rose and how they changed politics, the economy and society.

    Syllabus K227, Rise of Authoritarian Regimes, Learning Outcomes. Explain the rise of authoritarian regimes and their impact on the political, economic and social context of countries.

Make a guess

After his failed attempt to seize power by force in 1923, how do you think Hitler planned to gain power next?

  1. Plan another armed rising, this time in Berlin with the help of the SA.
  2. Give up politics after prison and leave the party to other Nazi leaders.
  3. Win votes in elections, while planning to destroy democracy once in power.
Show the answer

Win votes in elections, while planning to destroy democracy once in power.

After the Beer Hall Putsch failed, the Nazis rebuilt the party and fought elections. They used democracy as a route to power, not as a goal.

Hitler promised jobs, strength and unity; Nazi propaganda spread the message, while the SA used violence against opponents.

Hitler presented himself as the leader who would bring back jobs, national strength and unity. Propaganda is communication designed to shape what people believe and do. Nazi posters, speeches, rallies and local campaigners repeated these promises. They stressed jobs to people facing hardship, and fighting communism to people afraid of revolution. The Nazis also promoted militarism, making military strength and preparing for war central to national life.

Sort these

Mark it like an examiner. The question: why was a Nazi poster reading "Work and bread! Vote Hitler!", showing jobless men by a closed factory, produced in July 1932? Sort each answer into its level.

Groups: Level 1: describes the poster or its maker, Level 2: gives the message only, Level 3: states the aim but not the context, Level 4: aim, audience and context.

  • The poster shows sad jobless men by a closed factory and a smiling worker with a hammer.
  • With millions out of work in the Depression, the Nazis made it before the 31 July 1932 election to win jobless voters by promising that Hitler would end unemployment.
  • It was produced to persuade jobless Germans to vote for Hitler by promising them work.
  • In July 1932 voters blamed the main parties for the Depression, so the poster aimed to turn that anger into Nazi votes in the Reichstag election.
  • It is saying that factories have closed and German workers are suffering.
  • It was made by the Nazi Party, so it is just propaganda.
  • The message is that Hitler will give work and bread to the unemployed.
Show the answer

Level 1: describes the poster or its maker

  • The poster shows sad jobless men by a closed factory and a smiling worker with a hammer. This only describes what is drawn. It never says what the poster wanted voters to think or do.
  • It was made by the Nazi Party, so it is just propaganda. Naming the maker and calling it propaganda is provenance only. It does not explain what the poster was meant to achieve.

Level 2: gives the message only

  • It is saying that factories have closed and German workers are suffering. This is a sub-message: it gives the problem shown but misses the main point that Hitler is the answer.
  • The message is that Hitler will give work and bread to the unemployed. This reads the main message well, but a purpose question asks why it was made, not just what it says.

Level 3: states the aim but not the context

  • It was produced to persuade jobless Germans to vote for Hitler by promising them work. This gives the audience and the intended outcome, votes, but does not link them to what was happening in July 1932.

Level 4: aim, audience and context

  • With millions out of work in the Depression, the Nazis made it before the 31 July 1932 election to win jobless voters by promising that Hitler would end unemployment. It links the aim, votes, to the audience and the context: mass unemployment and the election that month.
  • In July 1932 voters blamed the main parties for the Depression, so the poster aimed to turn that anger into Nazi votes in the Reichstag election. It explains why this message was useful at that moment and what the Nazis wanted voters to do, which is the top level.

The Nazis used scapegoating: falsely blaming a group for wider problems. Their antisemitism, hatred of Jews, wrongly blamed Jewish people for Germany's troubles. These claims explain how the party sought support. They must never be repeated as true explanations of Germany's problems.

In November 1923, Hitler tried to seize power by force in Munich. This failed attempt is called the Beer Hall Putsch; a putsch is an attempted coup. Afterwards, the Nazis rebuilt their party and competed in elections. They used elections to gain power, while planning to destroy the democracy that let rival parties compete.

The SA was the Nazi Party's uniformed fighting group. Its members threatened and attacked political opponents and broke up their meetings. This made it harder for rivals to campaign and added to the disorder that Hitler claimed he could end. Campaigning won people over; violence frightened opponents into silence. Both mattered, but in different ways.

Propaganda
Messages designed to shape what people believe.
Beer Hall Putsch, 1923
Hitler's failed attempt to seize power in Munich.
SA
Nazi fighting group that attacked opponents.

Real examples to use

Votes before the Depression, May 1928

The Nazis won only 2.6 per cent of the vote and 12 seats.

Breakthrough, September 1930

As unemployment rose, the Nazi vote jumped to 18.3 per cent and 107 seats, making them the second largest party.

Presidential race, 10 April 1932

In the run-off Hitler won 36.8 per cent against Hindenburg's 53 per cent, showing his wide appeal but also its limits.

Worked example: One campaign, different reasons

A Nazi campaign promises jobs, national revival and action against communism.

  1. A jobless worker is drawn by the promise of work.
  2. A property owner is drawn by the promise to fight communism.
  3. Both back the same party for different reasons.

Watch out for this

Taking part in elections proves the Nazis supported democracy.

The Nazis used elections to gain power, but aimed to destroy democracy once in office.

Check your understanding

What was the SA's role in the Nazis' rise?

  1. It was the army that defended the Weimar Republic.
  2. It ran the Nazi election posters and radio.
  3. It intimidated and attacked political opponents.
Show the answer

It intimidated and attacked political opponents.

Yes. Violence silenced rivals and added to the disorder.

Sources and context

Background reading for this chapter.

  • Hitler asks for trust

    Paraphrase of Hitler's radio appeal on behalf of the new Reich government, 1 February 1933, reproduced by GHDI.

  • USHMM, Enabling Act; law translated from Reichsgesetzblatt I, 1933, p141

    Paraphrase of Articles 1-3 of the Enabling Act, promulgated 24 March 1933; text translated from the official law gazette by USHMM.

  • Wels opposes the Act

    Paraphrase of SPD leader Otto Wels' Reichstag speech, 23 March 1933, as reproduced in the German Bundestag historical exhibition, p2.

  • workers' mixed responses

    Paraphrase of a Central Germany report commissioned by the exiled Social Democratic leadership (Sopade), September 1938; published in GHDI.

  • Hitler's confidential memorandum on autarky, August 1936, GHDI

    Paraphrase of the concluding instructions in Hitler's confidential memorandum on autarky, August 1936, published in GHDI.

  • a Nazi election poster, July 1932

    An original poster drawn for these notes in the style of Nazi Party posters for the Reichstag election of 31 July 1932. It is not a copy of a real poster, but its promises match what Nazi posters of that campaign offered unemployed voters.

  • the Enabling Act, March 1933

    Extract from the "Law to remove the distress of people and State" (the Enabling Act), 24 March 1933, signed by President Hindenburg and Chancellor Hitler. English translation of document 2001-PS from Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, volume IV, published by the US Office of Chief Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality (1946); text from the Avalon Project.

  • the American ambassador reports, 30 June 1934

    Extract from a telegram from William Dodd, US Ambassador in Germany, to the Secretary of State, Berlin, 30 June 1934, 5 p.m., sent on the day the purge began. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1934, volume II, document 194. A US government document in the public domain.

  • the ambassador looks again, 2 July 1934

    Extract from a telegram from Ambassador Dodd to the Secretary of State, Berlin, 2 July 1934, two days later. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1934, volume II, document 197. A US government document in the public domain.

  • the German Foreign Minister explains, July 1934

    Extract from a telegram from Ambassador Dodd to the Secretary of State, Berlin, 6 July 1934, reporting what the German Foreign Minister, Konstantin von Neurath, told him. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1934, volume II, document 199. A US government document in the public domain.

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