Adolph Hitler Rises to Chancellor

Another fast riser in 1933 was quite so benign or to be admired. On January 30th, Adolph Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. In July of 1932, the Nazis had won 230 seats in the Reichstag. They and the Communists made up more than half of that body. Trying to avoid the Communists’ influence, President Paul von Hindenburg was talked into naming Hitler, the leader or fuhrer of the National Socialist German Workers Party, chancellor of Germany.

Hitler’s emergence as chancellor on January 30, 1933, marked a crucial turning point for Germany and, ultimately, for the world. His plan, embraced by much of the German population, was to do away with politics and make Germany a powerful, unified one-party state. He began immediately, ordering a rapid expansion of the state police, the Gestapo, and putting Hermann Goering in charge of a new security force, composed entirely of Nazis and dedicated to stamping out whatever opposition to his party might arise. From that moment on, Nazi Germany was off and running, and there was little Hindenburg or von Papen—or anyone—could do to stop it.

And we all know where that led.


From This Day in History