dea. He was only concerned with what was politically useful to gain power. Consequently, most of the German people ignored the heinous side of Nazi rule because he preached what the people wanted to hear. Hitler spread his racial hatred, hatred towards democracy, and challenged the Versailles Treaty. He promised to rebuild Germany, and he appealed to nationalism to gain power. Hence, he successfully increased his popularity in Germany.
             Hitler knew that a successful leader must gain the support of the masses. Through mass meetings he was able to appeal to the German peoples' emotions rather than to reason and to eventually gain their trust and support. This he felt was the most important principle for political action. Hitler openly explains this in Mein Kampf, "The movement must avoid everything which may lessen or weaken its power of influencing the masses, because of the simple fact that no great idea, no matter how sublime or exalted, can be realized in practice without the effective power which resides in the popular masses;&
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