Why did Germans support Hitler and Nazi party during WWII and before?

Answer 1

People supported Hitler when he took power because conditions were so bad in Germany that they were willing to try anything. They continued to support him afterwards because, before he started his war, he was doing what he promised and things in Germany kept getting better, if you weren't a Jew, that is. When the war started, Hitler had been right about so many things before then that the people gave him the benefit of a doubt until it became obvious that it would not turn out well. Before Hitler began his war, his approval rating was in the 90's as he had achieved much up until that point. There is a consensus among historians that if Hitler would have died in 1938, he would today be remembered as the greatest German leader of modern times and would be honored along with Frederick the Great and Bismarck.

Official polling was not done during the war, but the Gestapo regularly made internal reports on the public mood, and certain underground opposition groups did the same. A close examination of these sources reveal, not surprisingly, that Hitler's approval rating diminished in direct proportion to German losses on the battlefield and the resultant effects on the German people at home. But at no point did the Germans of those days completely give up on their Fuehrer. When a group of Army officers attempted to assassinate Hitler shortly after the D-Day landings (the July 20, 1944 plot known as Valkyrie), they received no popular support. An entire generation of Germans had grown up in the Hitler Youth and many would remain loyal to Hitler long after he was dead.

Here is documentation of a POLL of Germans taken many decades back. It is from a book by Albert Speer about the Nuremberg criminals who served time in Spandau prison in Berlin for their crimes.

April 11, 1953 Spandau: The Secret Diaries: Through a clandestine note from his son-in-law, Doenitz has heard the results of a (July 1952) survey . . . . He himself stands at the head of the list of formerly prominent personages (former Nazis) whom the Germans still have a good opinion of. Doenitz has 46 percent; he is closely followed by Schacht with 42, Goering with 37, myself with 30, Hitler with 24 percent. Schirach and Hess lag behind with 22 percent. Seven percent have a bad opinion of Doenitz, 9 percent of me, 10 of Schacht, 29 of Schirach and Hess, 36 of Goering and 47 percent of Hitler. "Because the German people cherish me in their hearts, I shall soon be getting out," Doenitz observed complacently as he stood beside me today washing his hands. Nevertheless, the letter gave Doenitz no pleasure, for his son-in-law unforgivably passed on the information that he is now as popular as Rommel. In a tone of sharp repugnance, Doenitz commented that Rommel had been nothing but a propaganda hero because he participated in the July 20 conspiracy. Then Doenitz stalked off. (Speer II)

This poll reveals that in 1952, a full 25% of Germans still thought well of Hitler, and only 47% would say they disapproved of him!

As to why the German people continued to support Hitler during the war, the Allies policy of 'Unconditional Surrender' left them little realistic choice. Hitler was certain that if he surrendered to the Allies, no matter how dread the situation facing Germany was, the Allies would destroy Germany in the same manner that he himself intended to destroy his own enemies. Nazi propaganda utilized 'Unconditional Surrender' to spur the German people on, even in the face of hopeless odds. The behavior of the Red Army as they murdered and raped their way into Germany confirmed their worst fears and caused them to support their government until the last minute.
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Answer 2

in the 1933 elections Hitler got 43.9 % of the Vote Not enough to be Chancellor but the president said it was enough so appointed it Chancellor 56% never wanted Hitler

Despite achieving a much better result than in the November 1932 election, the Nazis did not do as well as Hitler had hoped. Notwithstanding massive violence and intimidation, the Nazis won only 43.9% of the vote, rather than the majority that he had expected. Therefore, he was forced to maintain his coalition with the DNVP to control a majority of seats. The Communists forfeited about a fourth of their votes, while the Social Democrats suffered only moderate losses. Shortly after the election, the KPD was banned and its 81 seats (12% of the Reichstag seats) were "annulled" for the purported communist role in the Reichstag Fire. Within a few days, all of the KPD's representatives were either under arrest or were in hiding.

Although the Nazi-DNVP coalition had enough seats to conduct the basic business of government, Hitler needed a two-thirds majority to pass the Enabling Act, a law which allowed the Cabinet to enact laws without the approval of the Reichstag for a four-year period. He obtained this majority by persuading the Catholic Centre Party to vote with him with regard to the Reichskonkordat. The bill was passed on 23 March with 444 against 94 votes. Only the Social Democrats led by Otto Wels opposed the measure, which came into effect on 27 March. Leaving nothing to chance, the Nazis used the provisions of the Reichstag Fire Decree to keep several SPD deputies from attending. However, even if all 120 Social Democrats had been present the measure would have still passed with the required supermajority. The provisions of the bill turned the Hitler government into a de facto legal dictatorship.

Hitler got into Power legally but not with the support of the Majority of the People

Answer 3

People give Hitler too much credit. The environment in Germany when he rose to power was ripe for someone like him. There already existed a great deal of antisemitism. Hitler's ideas were not unique to him; that's a big reason why people were buying his book, Mein Kampf - they agreed with him. The Weimar Republic, the democracy that replaced imperialism after WWI, had a great many failures and the economy was collapsing. This was brought to a breaking point during the 1929 market collapse, as the republic had much of its wealth tied to America.

You also have to remember that when the Nazi party took over, they didn't win with a majority because Germany had a multi-party system so you only had to get more votes than the other parties rather than a greater than 50% majority. After taking power, Hitler gained his popularity due to bringing the country out of poverty as well as his massive propaganda campaigns. Plus, most of the German citizens were unaware of the conditions inside the concentration camps. They knew nothing of the death, torture and atrocities. In fact, hardly anyone was aware of this until the Allies began coming across the camps and liberating them.

Answer 4

There was a huge amount of germans who did not support Hitler and people supported him because post WW1 the economic restrictions placed on germany left most people poor and angry he promised to solve that problem wich he sort of did. Take a bunch of poor angry youths and give them someone to blame there problems on and they will happily oblige. In my opinion he was a dumb *** who had a smart mout. Dont forget that befor the war actually came to be many countries supported the Nazi party including America the biggest nazi march outside of germany was held in madison square garden.

Answer 5

The german economy was really in the dumpster...hitlers program brought them out of bad depression and there was the fear of hitlers ss...people that didn't support him were put in prison on trumped up charges...or simply disappeared

Answer 6

Because he turned it from a nation of the unemployed into a powerful country in which everybody was working.

Answer 7

cuz the people didnt have jobs and the economy was bad, hitler told them hed get everyone jobs and the economy would be better if hed become the leader and the people were too desperate so they believed him

Answer 8

Before he got into power nobody realised how evil he was

then afterwards, he'd imprison those who stood against him