History Essay Lawrence Gartshore

Q: Propaganda, Propaganda, Propaganda. All is Propaganda. How satisfactory an explanation is this for Hitlers appointment as chancellor in January 1933?

When Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933, many factors had got him there. Propaganda was without a doubt a contributing factor in Hitlers rise to power. With the help of Propaganda expert, Josef Goebbels, Hitler was able to get his message across and reach a mass audience in Germany. At the time when Hitler was getting to power there was an evident weakness in the Weimar Republic. Arguably, this was a major reason Hitler rose to power. The Weimar Republic signed Germany to the Dawes Plan in 1924 and the Young Plan in 1929. The Nazi Party used this to their advantage as they planned to sort out the Great Depression it caused. The Nazis were also a very popular party as they had one of the best politicians leading them. Hitler was an excellent speaker and gained a lot of support through his many speeches. The failure of the previous chancellors and the failure of the government in Germany at that time was able to get Hitler in to power as it was clear he was the only way forward if Germany was going to escape the huge economic crisis that the Wall Street Crash had caused.

The Nazis used a large amount of propaganda to help their rise to power. The Nazis had propaganda expert, Josef Goebbels, who was able to use his propaganda expertise to its full potential. The Nazis Party had an alliance with Hugenburg who owned a chain of cinemas around Germany. This allowed the Nazis to reach a mass audience as Goebbels used the cinema to show clips of Hitler making speeches. Without this the Nazis would of being less known and wouldnt have had as much support. Furthermore, the image of

Hitler was an effective form of propaganda. He was a corporal and won the iron cross. Hitler always wore a uniform displaying the medals he had won. In a way he was acting like a surrogate Kaiser showing the Germany that he should be their leader. This idea was furthered thorough the symbol of the Nazis. The swastikas colours were closely based on the colours of the German national flag. This was another way of showing the German people that the Nazis should be the rulers of Germany.

Another reason why the Nazi party got to power was the fact that they were quite exceptional. Arguably, they had the best presented policies of the time and the best leader of the time. Adolf Hitler was liked by a large number of German people as he was an excellent speaker. He used this skill to his advantage and made many speeches that gained him and his party support for elections. Another reason the Hitler was so popular was the fact that he was offering work and bread. The unemployed in Germany were looking for a party that could help them at the time of a huge economic disaster. The unemployed made up a large number of votes in Germany and by offering work and bread he appealed to their only needs and got them on his side.