Hitler was brought to power in 1933 because the German people were desperate for solutions to their political, economical and social problems. By his fall in 1945, he had solved many of the problems which had allowed him to come to power but when Germany surrendered to the allies and the country was divided, most of the problems resurfaced so the solutions were not long-term.
After World War I, in the 1930's especially, the Great Depression hit strongly in Germany and its economy was virtually crushed . The harsh demands of the Treaty of Versailles intensified this critical situation, leaving 6 000 000 Germans unemployed by the end of 1932. Inflation soared to incredible levels, paralleling the dramatic drops in the value of the currency, the Reichsmark.
Because of the troubled economy and the desperation of the people, new extremist parties grew. These included fascism and communism. Politically, the nation reverted to several parties representing all points on the political spectrum.
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germa...
Mussolini (left) and Hitler sent their armies to N...
According to Bullock, Hitler was an opportunistic ...No single group had sufficient support or alliances to form an effective government and with no powerful leader, the German government was in desperate need for some guidance.
With unemployment reaching an all time high, jealousy grew, along with racism. The Jews were taken as scapegoat and became a social problem the German people wanted to get rid of.
Anger and frustration were growing, consequences of the unfair rules made by the Treaty of Versailles which led to extreme nationalism.
Hitler appealed to the German people because he promised an aggressive but effective policy where, he claimed, he would solve all Germany's problems, although he never fully explained how.
Immediately after he came to power, Hitler focused on the economic problems. He had two aims when tackling this: eliminate unemployment and make Germany self-sufficient.
Hitler ordered public works to...