Why did Hitler rise to power?

There were a number of factors that explain why Hitler was able to rise to power in 1933. The Great Depression caused considerable economic anxiety in Germany with unemployment rising to 6 million. Hitler's promise of, "bread and work", thus appealed to many. As well as this, Germany's more moderate parties failed to work together effectively despite having greater combined support than the Nazi Party. For instance, between the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929 and Hitler's rise to power in early 1933, there were four different governments.What's more, the the economic anxiety and subsequent political polarisation that resulted from the Great Depression caused increased support for the German Communist Party (KPD), their number of seats in the Reichstag grew from 54 in 1928 to 100 by November 1932. Fear of communism in Germany amongst much of the German populace was still high, and many traditional conservatives began to believe that Hitler was the only political figure in Germany with the ability to effectively combat the communists. As a result, Hitler gained considerable support at the expense of the traditional, conservative parties.

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