Nazi election poster featuring a portrait image of Adolf Hitler’s head

Poster for Adolf Hitler’s 1932 campaign as the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) presidential candidate against incumbent Paul von Hindenburg. The poster features a photorealistic black and white image of the disembodied head of Adolf Hitler against a black background, with his name printed below in large white capital letters. The black and white coloring helped to make the poster conspicuous, and stand out against the often multicolored designs of contemporary advertisements and posters. The image of Hitler stares out at the viewer confidently, giving the impression that he is the only thing Germany needs. By June 1932, Germany was deep in the throes of the Great Depression, with six million people unemployed. This economic distress contributed to a rise in the popularity of the Nazi Party, who along with the Communist Party and the Social Democrats, were the most popular political parties in Germany. When Germany held presidential and parliamentary elections in November 1932, the Nazi party won 33 percent of the electorate in the Reichstag to become the largest party in the German parliament. However, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party failed to defeat incumbent President Paul von Hindenburg in the presidential election. Unable to gain an absolute majority, a coalition government was formed by Hindenburg, the Social Democrats, and the Nazi Party. The Nazis only joined under the condition that Hitler be appointed chancellor. With the backing of his party, Hitler was appointed Chancellor on January 30, 1933.