At the beginning the Nazis tried to overthrow the German democratic Weimar Republic by force in November 1923. The "putsch" failed and Adolf Hitler was imprisoned. However he only received the minimum sentence as the judge showed sympathy towards the Nazi cause. In prison Hitler swore to himself to play by democratic rules and get elected.
" Instead of working to achieve power by an armed coup we shall have to hold our message & enter the Reichstag by democratic means. If outvoting them takes longer than outshooting them, at least the results will be guaranteed by their own constitution. " (ibid.117).
After he was released from prison Hitler began "building up" his party and laying the foundation to take power. In 1924 the NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker's Party) held the first of its mass rallies with around 100 000 people attending (appendix). In 1927 the Hitler Youth was established in order to attract young people. However membership of the Nazi Party grew only very slowly as many Germans didn't care about the Nazi cause. That changed with the Wall Street crash in 1929 and with skilful propaganda under Dr Joseph Goebbels the Nazi Party was able to attract a large number of votes, especially from the industrial and middle classes. With the Wall Street crash leading to complete political and economic chaos and the Nazis attracting more and more votes in the elections (appendix), President Hindenburg had to appoint Hitler as Chancellor on 30th January 1933. Although not in total control yet, the Nazis showed what they were capable of doing by establishing the first concentration camps and imprisoning political opponents (app.). .
The Nazi Party gained power for many reasons. After WW1 Germany was left with huge reparation debts, which heavily burdened the German economy. The country lost all colonies as well as territory to neighbouring countries. The infamous Treaty of Versailles further upset Germans with a clause, which stated that Germany was solely responsible for causing WW1.
