The conditions brought about by the Treaty of Versailles and the revenge enacted by the French afforded the perfect conditions for a totalitarian regime to come to power in Germany. The German people were distrusting of their government and were humiliated by the terms of the treaty. Adolf Hitler, who was born in Austria in 1889, had served in the German army during WWI. During the 1920s he became embroiled with right wing activists and joined the Nationalist Socialist Party, aka the Nazis. As a member of the Nazi party, Hitler, who had not been a particularly bright student, discovered that he had a natural gift for leadership. This ability, coupled with his talent for public speaking, afforded him the opportunities necessary to become a key figure in the Nazi Party. Hitler led an attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic in 1923, known as the Beer Hall Putsch. This effort failed and Hitler was sentenced to a short prison term, during which he wrote Mein Kampf, “My Struggle”. In his book, he detailed his political ideas, among which were the ideas of nationalism and the racial superiority of the German people. He also wrote about his belief that the Jews were a racial problem for Germany, which could not be corrected by conversion to another religion. Additionally, Hitler discussed other groups that he believed soiled the German race, including communists, and criminals. However, he did not see these groups as conspiring against the German state the way he viewed what he believed to be the conspiracy of the Jews.
Hitler continued to work to gain power after his release from prison. He found in his efforts an ally of sorts, the Great Depression, which had hit the German people hard. Due to their financial crises Germans were searching for a strong leader who could alleviate their economic struggles and social desperation. In Hitler, they found what they believed they were looking for. He promised to improve their lives and rebuild the German military. He propagandized about the mightiness of the German empire and the master race of the Aryan people. As a result of his claims, the Nazis won new support from many German people, who were desperate to believe that the words spoken by Hitler were true. As a result of Hitler’s efforts, the Nazis gained more and more power during the early 1930s. Although not the only political party in Germany at the time, the Nazis were the most popular and prominent. Although he lost his election bid for President in 1932 to Paul Von Hindenburg, on January 30, 1933, he was appointed by Hindenburg as the chancellor of Germany, effectually ending the Weimar Republic and instituting the new era in German politics, Hitler's Third Reich. Hitler quickly moved to dispel any and all opposition, beginning with signing the Reichstag Fire decree, which suspended the rights of German citizens, followed by the Enabling Act, which turned Germany into a Dictatorship. The Nazi Party set about using propaganda to build an idealized and public image of Hitler, who was glorified as the FΓΌhrer (leader).
