The campaigning of the Nazi party was intense and very successful. "In an intense three-week campaign the party organised 30 meetings a day across the country". In the 1930 elections that came about thanks to Bruning having the Reichstag dissolved, the Nazis campaigned fiercely and "tapped into the mood of resentment and frustration" (Mason) amongst the German people. They went from having 12 seats to 107 seats in the Reichstag - the 2nd largest in the Reichstag. The Presidential elections of 1932 provided another opportunity for the Nazis to campiagn vigorously and despite being defeated by Hindenburg, he managed to gain over 30% of the votes. The next Reichstag elections where in Jly 1932 at the height of the depression. The Nazis once again campaigned well and Hitler was able to personally visit over 50 cities during the campaign. They continued to push their themes of the failure of democracy to help Germany and while they were vague on details, they were strong on promise and passion and they appealled well to the emotions of the suffering Germans. The Nazis won 230 seats in that election out of 608 in the Reichstag. The reichstag elections of November 1932 were more difficult for the Nazis as money was running out. They lost ground and ended up with 196 seats, however, they were still the largest party in the Reichstag. All of this campaigning gave the Nazis a great deal of power and left them in the best position to be used by the politicians when they came to the conclusion that they needed a strong party in the Reichstag with a rightwing persuasion.
o The Nazis managed to associate the Jews, the socialist and communists with the Weimar democracy and therefore responsible for Germany’s current condition. With all those people as its prime enemies they were able to gain some status as the ‘we told you so’ party. (Layton. P. 141)
o The propagation of the Fuhrer cult – Hitler as the Messiah type figure was happening across Germany and the propaganda machine was helping this to happen. Also the unifying theme of a people’s community (nationalist idea) was taking hold.
o Hitler offered the strong authoritarian leadership that appealed to traditional German values.
o The Nazis managed to associate the Jews, the socialist and communists with the Weimar democracy and therefore responsible for Germany’s current condition. With all those people as its prime enemies they were able to gain some status as the ‘we told you so’ party. (Layton. P. 141)
o The propagation of the Fuhrer cult – Hitler as the Messiah type figure was happening across Germany and the propaganda machine was helping this to happen. Also the unifying theme of a people’s community (nationalist idea) was taking hold.
o Hitler offered the strong authoritarian leadership that appealed to traditional German values.