Rise Of Hitler

1035 Words5 Pages
Analyse the methods used and the conditions which helped in the rise to power of one ruler of a single-party state. One of the most well-known Single Party States in history is Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. There are various themes of single party states in his rise to power in the 1930s. The conditions in Germany then enabled Hitler to take advantage of a crisis, and, using a variety of methods, consolidate his power. Hitler used propaganda, elimination of the opposition, and a cult of personality to gain the support and trust of the German people in a time of economic crisis to his benefit and the rest of the world's loss. Single party states arise from a crisis, and Germany was suffering from a very large one at that time. The end of World War I in 1918 had left the economic state in shambles, and the loss struck the German people hard. Furthermore, the Treaty of Versailles the following year resulted in the demilitarisation and many cuts from German land and territory. Hitler criticized the carving up of Europe by the "Big Four" (the US, UK, France and Italy), stating that the Germans were the "master race". While World War I and the Treaty of Versailles was just over a decade before his rise to power, it played a large role in the propaganda Hitler spread about in order to gain support from the people and influence them with his ideas. After World War I, Europe's economy was in a great recession. The US, in a post-war economic boom, had been sending aid to various European nations and the world economy was brought up by their economic success. The 1929 Great Depression in the States had a global impact, and most prominently on Germany. Such were the conditions that enabled Hitler to rise to power - Germany was struggling so much there was no real leader at that time, and there was a struggle for that role. In the times of the Great Depression, the Nazi
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