In The Nazi Seizure of Power by William Sheridan Allen, the author is able to show the reader the support building strategy used by the Nazi party in Northeim and surrounding areas. Allen's thesis is that Nazi party was able to succeed the village of Northeim and else where because they were able to reach out the lower and middle class. Since these classes held the majority of the population, the Nazi party discovered what they wanted from government officials and then used that to persuade these classes to vote for them. To give you a background of the village of Northeim is vital to the understanding of how this party could have come in and take over the political scene so quickly.
Northeim was a small town that was placed in the
The Nazi party made sure that they were appealing to everyone that felt a since of distance from the Socialist party which tended to be the dominant party of the time.
In this book, Allen does a great job of showing the reader the many ways the Nazi Party got their propaganda out to the voters. He also shows how, at first, while the Nazi Party may have not been the first choice in average citizens' mind, how they were able to relate to and change the citizens' thinking over the course of just a few years. His description of the extremes that all the political parties at the time went to in order to get the vote was very intense. With the parades, pamphlets, meetings, and speakers it is no wonder that these citizens of the lower and lower middle class would choose the Nazi party. In a time of economic depression and political instability, this group proved to them that they had everything together and they had the financial backing to support a party of such a great size.
In conclusion, I feel that Allen did a fabulous job of making his point to the reader and supporting it with a great many different examples. I could easily understand why people at this time would tend to lean towards the Nazi party because of what the Nazis offered to the average citizen of