People often ponder the history of Germany and question how in the world can man such as Hitler gain so much power so quickly. I have even pondered this question myself. The recent reading helped to clarify this issue and shine some light on why the German people could have supported something like this.
Something to consider was that during World War I, the German state was already in a slightly confused political time with various changes occurring. The World War I effort was left wth a conflicted German nation of which
delegations of Reichstag such as the SPD, the Center Party, Progressive People’s
Party, and the National Liberal Party (193). They came together to exert
pressure on the government through withholding support for war loans (194). It
seemed through the representation of these parties that Germany wanted peace
but it did not come until some extensive damage was done. When United States
enter the war in 1917, Germany continued to suffer extensive losses (194). Now one would think that during this time, the German people would support the various parties coming together against the current establishment, but people put their hopes in military leaders instead such as such as General Hindenburg who was appointed Army high command in 1916 (195). This was proof that Germans still looked to military leadership as a form of patriotism and unification in the state which made Hitler's later speeches on military expansion effective. 
When Germany went to a truce in 1918, the country was
practically forced into their first democratic system and it was not due to the
normal rise of a political party. This fact gave Germans a bit of a bad taste
in their mouths about democracy right off the bat. Not only that, but even as
the German people had an election and formed the new basis of government, the
truce with the Allied powers in 1919 cause a great deal of German territory to
be lost (202). Germans were pretty much all opposed to his result and even did
whatever they could to refuse the terms of the peace agreement but they gave in
due to continuous blockade of food and threat to continue attacks if Germany
did not agree (203). The Treaty of Versailles did not have favorable terms
either, and many Germans saw that and the new form of government as a
punishment posed on them by the Western forces (204). One thing lead to another, and the economy was
not looking good. Things even got so bad that the money economy broke down and
people went back to bartering goods (210). The instability of the country following World War 1 lead to
the resentment of the first German democracy. Every German felt like they were
losing the fight, and this made them thirsty for change.
I am confident that this helped contribute to Hitler’s rise
to power with the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (230). Hitler was an
amazing public speaker and this carried him well in the eyes of the Germans,
speaking of nationalism and expansion (231). Under democracy, Germany was not in the best of conditions and people put their trust in Hitler to unify the country and bring change and prosperity. Of course, Hitler’s run finally came to an end in 1945 with the end of
the war and shortly after a temporary Democratic system was established in West
Germany by the Britain, France, and the U.S. (287).
In the end, it was not by a mere hiccup that Hitler rose to power. There were many factors that contributed to his rise of power but it was mostly due to the political unrest in the country and the feeling of defeat after World War I. Germans were tired of dealing with questionable economic stability and they most certainly did not want to continue bartering for the rest of their lives. Germany wanted change at the time of Hitler and he gave them hope of better lives and national strength. Thankfully Hitler's plans to take over the world failed, but this example shows us that despite the different types of people throughout Germany, they all genuinely want their country to succeed and have the desire to come together.
WORD COUNT: 710
References:
Schulze, Hagen. Germany: A New History. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard UP, 1998. Print.
Picture Sources:
1. General Hindenburg: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-von-Hindenburg
2. Treaty of Versailles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles
3. Hitler and Nazi Party: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/527765650055915323/
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