The turning point in Hitler's fortunes came with the Depression

which hit Germany in 1930. The democratic regime established in

Germany in 1919, the so-called Weimar Republic, had never been
genuinely accepted by conservatives and was openly opposed by
fascists. The Social Democrats and the traditional parties of the
centre and right were unable to deal with the shock of the
Depression. In the elections of September 1930 the Nazis
suddenly rose from obscurity to win more than 18% of the vote
and 107 seats in the Reichstag, becoming the second largest
party.
Hitler won over the bulk of the German farmers, war veterans and
the middle-class, who had been hard hit by the inflation of the
1920s and the unemployment of the Depression. The urban
working classes generally ignored Hitler's appeals, and Berlin and
the Ruhr towns were particularly hostile. The 1930 election was a
disaster for Heinrich Brning's centre-right government, which
was now deprived of a majority in the Reichstag. In December
1931, Hitler's niece, Geli Raubal, was found dead in her bedroom.
Hitler had taken in his half-sister Angela and her daughter Geli, to
live in his Munich apartment in 1929. Some claimed he fell in love
with Geli despite the fact she was much younger than he was and
was his niece. She had shot herself with one of his handguns. This
tragedy disturbed Hitler immensely.
With Brning's austerity measures having little success, the
government was anxious to avoid a presidential election in 1932,
and hoped to secure the Nazis' agreement to an extension of
President Paul von Hindenburg's term. But Hitler refused to agree,
and ultimately competed against Hindenburg in the presidential
election, coming in second in both the first and second rounds of
the election, attaining more than 35% of the vote in the second
round, in April.

Hitler greets supporters from aboard a parade vehicle

Hindenburg dismissed the government, appointing a new
government under the reactionary non-entity Franz von Papen,
which immediately called for new Reichstag elections. In the July
1932 elections the Nazis had their best showing yet, winning 230
seats and becoming the largest party. Since now the Nazis and
Communists together controlled a majority of the Reichstag, the
formation of a stable government of mainstream parties was
impossible. Following a vote of no-confidence in the Papen
government supported by 84% of the delegates, the new
Reichstag was immediately dissolved and new elections called.
Papen and the Centre Party (Zentrumspartei) now both opened
negotiations to secure Nazi participation in the government, but
Hitler set high terms, demanding the Chancellorship and the
President's agreement that he be able to use emergency powers.
This failure to join the government, along with the Nazis' efforts to
win working class support, alienated some of the Nazis' previous
supporters, so that in the elections of November 1932, the Nazis
actually lost votes, although they remained by far the largest
party in the Reichstag. As Papen had failed to secure a majority,
Hindenburg dismissed him and appointed General Kurt von
Schleicher, who promised that he could secure a majority
government by negotiations with both Social Democratic labour
unions and with the dissident Nazi faction led by Gregor Strasser.
Papen and Alfred Hugenberg, who was also Chairman of the
German National People's Party (DNVP), before the Nazis' rise to

being Germany's principal right-wing party, now conspired to

persuade Hindenburg to appoint Hitler Chancellor in a coalition
with the DNVP, promising that they would be able to control him.
When Schleicher was forced to admit failure in his efforts to form
a coalition and asked Hindenburg for yet another Reichstag
dissolution, Hindenburg fired him and appointed Hitler Chancellor,
Papen Vice-Chancellor and Hugenberg Minister of Economics, in a
cabinet which only included three Nazis Hitler, Gring, and
Wilhelm Frick. On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was officially
sworn in as Chancellor in the Reichstag chamber, with thousands
of Nazi supporters looking on and cheering.
In the election of March 1933, the Nazis received 44% of the vote.
The party gained control of a majority of seats in the Reichstag
through a formal coalition with the DNVP. Finally, the Enabling Act,
which invested Hitler with dictatorial authority, was passed by the
Reichstag after the Nazis expelled the Communist deputies. Under
the Enabling Act, the Nazi cabinet had the power to pass
legislation, just as the Reichstag did; the Act further specified that
the cabinet could only approve measures submitted by the
Chancellor (Hitler), and that it would lapse after four years time or
upon the installation of a new government. The Enabling Act was
dutifully renewed every four years, even during World War II.
In a series of decrees that followed soon after the passage of the
Enabling Act, other parties were suppressed and all opposition
was banned. In only a few months Hitler had achieved
authoritarian control. Finally, in early August 1934, President Paul
von Hindenburg died. Rather than have new presidential
elections, Hitler's cabinet passed a law combining the offices of
President and Chancellor, with Hitler holding the powers of both
offices (including the President's decree powers) as "Leader and
National Chancellor." This consolidation was approved by the
electorate in mid-August 1934. Hitler then had the military swear
an oath of allegience to him personally an unprecedented step.
The Nazi regime
Having secured supreme political power without winning support
from the majority of Germans, Hitler did go on to win it and

remained overwhelmingly popular until the very end of his

regime. He was a master orator, and with all of Germany's mass
media under the control of his propaganda chief, Dr. Joseph
Goebbels, he was able to persuade most Germans that he was
their saviour from the Depression, the Communists, the Versailles
Treaty and the Jews.
Economics and culture
Once in power, Hitler oversaw one of the greatest expansions of
industrial production and civil improvement that Germany had
ever seen. The German economy achieved near full employment
and greatly expanded its economic and industrial base. Hitler also
oversaw one of the largest infrastructure improvement campaigns
in German history, with the construction of dozens of dams,
autobahns, railroads, and other civil improvements. Hitler's health
initiatives for ethnic Germans were successful and progressive.
Hitler's policies emphasised the importance of family life: men
were the breadwinners, womens' priorities being "church, kitchen
and children."
Excellence was encouraged in all spheres. Hitler's government
sponsored architecture on a great scale, with Albert Speer
becoming famous as the first architect of the Reich. In 1936,
Berlin hosted the summer Olympic games, which were opened by
Hitler and billed as a showpiece of German excellence.
For these and other reasons, Hitler was very popular among the
German people during this time.
While Hitler made plans for a Breitspurbahn (broad gauge railroad
network), such plans were preempted by World War II. The gauge,
had the railroad been built as planned, was to have been three
meters, even wider than the old Great Western Railway of Britain.