User:Doctor Papa Jones/Nazi power

Adolf Hitler, an embittered veteran of the First World War, joined the German Worker's Party (DAP) in 1919. The DAP was one of many far-right political groups operating in Bavaria at the time. His is flair for public speaking and crowd control was quickly recognized by the party's leader, Anton Drexler, who made him head of party propaganda. By 1921, Hitler was leader of what he had the previous year renamed the National Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP; Nazi Party). He took advantage of the uncontrollable hyperinflation in Weimar Germany to increase the party's membership and popularity. However, in the mid 1920s support for extremist parties, both left and right, was dropping as the economy improved. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 put an end to Germans faith in democracy and people moved towards the political extreme. In the 1932 elections, the NSDAP gained 37.27% of the vote and became the largest party in Germany. A year later, Hitler was appointed Chancellor by the aged President Paul von Hindenburg. Shortly afterwards, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, beginning the formation of a dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of National Socialism.

Once in power, the Nazis moved to eliminate all forms of opposition. All parties besides the NSDAP was banned, their leaders arrested, and old rivals, such as Gregor Strasser and Ernst Röhm, were killed. The military, police, courts, education authorizes and media were placed under Nazi leadership. Upon the death of Hindenburg, Hitler took over his office and established himself as the undisputed master of what is today known as Nazi Germany with the title of Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor). All power was firmly centralized in his hands and his word became above all laws. Furthermore, the government of Nazi Germany was a collection of factions struggling for Hitler's favor rather than a coordinated body. People who had supported Hitler or had become party members in its early days were rewarded with powerful state positions and other bonuses. The Nazis embracement of social stratification made it easy to tell who where who in the Third Reich.

Hermann Göring, who had joined the party in 1923, became commander of the Luftwaffe and promoted to Reichsmarschall (realm marshal), a rank senior to that of all military leaders. Heinrich Himmler, also a supporter since 1923, was named chief of all German police forces and internal security. Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's protégé since 1931, controlled the Gestapo (secret state police) and Sicherheitsdienst (intelligence agency of the party). All branches of the military maintained their traditional influence on state matters as Hitler aimed to turn Germany into a military society. Other non-military leaders with significant influence over the country because of their association and friendship with the Führer included Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann. To maximize his own power and control of the people around him, Hitler encouraged competition and rivalry which resulted in a number of tense feuds in his inner circle.