2.  World War 1 ended.  Their were 37 million casualties.  The German Nation was not prepared for defeat.  The German National Pride was injured.  Political leaders claimed that Germany had been stabbed in the back by politicians, Communists and Jews.  The German Nation needed a leader or they would fall apart.

3.  Adolf Hitler joined a small political party known as the German Workers’ Party.  Which later became the Nazi Party.  He rose to leadership through his emotional and captivating speeches.  He encouraged a pure Germany.  He condemned the Jews and changed the name of the party to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

4. Hitler’s attempt to overthrow authorities in Munich failed. He was jailed and charged with high reason.

5.  While Hitler was in prison, he wrote volume 1 of his book called “My Struggle”.  It was published in 1925.  When he was released, he resurrected the Nazi Party.  It went from 27,000 members in 1925 to 108,000 in 1929.  By the late twenties, the Nazi Party started other auxiliary groups.

6.  From 1925 to 1927, the Nazi Party failed to make inroads in the cities.  In May 1928, the nation did poorly in the Reichstag elections.  The Nazi Party only won 2.6% of the total vote.  They shifted their strategy to rural and small town areas.

7.  The Great Depression began in 1929 and made worldwide economic consequences.  The Weimar Democracy tried to solve this problem for their country, but they failed.  The Reich President Paul von Hindenburg tried to invoke the constitution’s emergency presidential powers.  Hindenburg created a new government made up of a chancellor and cabinet ministers.  The demise of the Weimer Democracy began.

8.  Heinrich Bruning was the first chancellor.  He wasn’t able to unify the government and in September 1930, there were new elections.  The Nazi Party won an important victory.  They had 18.3% of the vote which made it the second largest party in the Reichstag.

9.  Hindenburg’s term as president was ending in the spring of 1932.  At age 84, he thought he was too old to run again, but he knew if he didn’t, Hitler would win.  Hindenburg won the election, but Hitler received 37% of the vote.  At the next election, the Nazi Party won 37% of the Reichstag seats.  The most powerful German leaders severely underestimated Hitler’s political abilities.

10.  And that is the rise of the Nazi Party.  By Aaron Sesler