How did Hitler maintain his power?

Answer

He was a very charismatic man and the people liked what they heard from him. The country had just endured WWI a few years before and after not much growth during the 20's were caught in the financial depression of the 30's. Hitler assured them that the Aryan race was superior and that all of the problems that Germany now endured was because of the Jewish community. Hitler had convinced people that Germany's future would be prosperous if only they would take over neighboring countries, like Poland, Austria and France. People WANTED to believe him and what he said sounded good, so they followed.  

through lies

through promises made for example he promised them power and kept them in a state of peace so that they feel they are safe and they have nothing to worry about




EDIT:
Hitler MAINTAINED power through these:
Terror, force - SS mainly
propaganda,
success of Hitler himself, his image and his policies
Use of Law.


From 1933 (when he GAINED power..) he then maintains it by turning his chancelor position into a dictator rule.  

Answer

He also owned the press. They told the German people that Hitler was an upright kinda guy, and the people believed them.
Answer
The Nazi party to a certain extent relied on fear rather than popular support to stay in power. The Nazis with the help of the S.S and the Gestapo, as well as the threat of concentration camps were able to keep a reign of fear over German citizens. However there were was popular support for the Nazis, these were the people who attend the marches and rallies and who were won over by the promises made by the Nazis. However many people were simply passive supporters of the Nazis, these were the people who neither openly supported or opposed the Nazis. Passive supporters were pleased with the stability and order the Nazis were re-establishing back into the lives of German citizens and were therefore` reluctant to oppose the Nazis as long as it was not them being persecutedFear was an important factor in helping the Nazi party stay in power. The first thing the Nazi party did to create an atmosphere of fear over Germany was to abuse article 48 and use it to firstly get rid of the communists and then to get rid of all other opposition, this meant that the German citizens had no other choice of parties. Another way the Nazis brought about fear in German citizens was by showing them how they dealt with problems for example on the night of the long knives where all SA officers were either arrested or disposed of to get get rid of fears that they were a threat to the army. The Nazi party also had the power of the Gestapo to keep control of German citizens. The Gestapo were the secret police who spied on German citizens and reported them for being "Anti-Nazi".If found to be take part in Anti Nazi behaviour you would be arrested by the Gestapo and thrown into a jail cell, you were then asked to sign form D11 which was a form consenting to being thrown into a concentration camp. Whilst in a concentration camp you were made to endure hard physical labour. This was an effective way of both reforming those opposing the Nazi party as well as preventing others from going against the Nazi party. This is because those released from concentration camps would spread the message of how awful they were, this meant that others were reluctant to disagree with the Nazi party.Another way the Nazi party kept control of Germany was through the youth. Keeping control of the German youth was particularly important in the Nazi regime as Hitler himself realised very early how important the youth were in keeping control of Germany. Hitler himself quoted " If my enemy declares I will not come over to your side, I simply say I have your children already".Hitler kept control through very simple methods such as the youth groups which many young Germans were won over by, this was because they were given new activities to do such as shooting, camping and hiking. The youth groups were an important part of the Nazi youth regime because it allowed Hitler to keep a close eye on the youth of Germany and therefore shape the future generation in his image This image meant that young boys were taught to be soldiers and young girls were taught about the importance of the three ks -- Kinder,Kuche and Kirche, this meant kitchen,children and church. Although youth groups were generally seen to be accepted by the youth there were those groups who opposed them such as the edelweiss pirates who were a youth group often engaged in fights with the Hitler youth. However these groups can be seen to be simply rebelling against authority rather than the Nazi party itself. The other method used by the Nazi party to indoctrinate the youth into the Nazi methods and ideology was the control of education. Teachers were forced to join the national socialist teachers alliance (NSLB) whose task was to indoctrinate teachers in Nazi beliefs. The normal classes taught in German schools were altered to reflect the Nazi point of view. This included the introduction of new classes such as Racial studied which aimed to show the superiority of the Aryan race through degrading other races in particular the Jews. This meant that children were brought up believing Nazi lies to be true and were therefore more likely to support the Nazi party as they got older.However another way the Nazi Party kept control of Germany was through the promises they made and the things they offered to normal German citizens. The Nazi party set up organisations such as the strength through joy campaign which aimed to provide loyal workers with cruises and state holidays and later sport and theatre facilities. The regime also tried to produce a Volkswagen at a reasonable price but very few were actually sold due to the demand for military vehicles meaning that the factories originally meant to be used for making cars were transformed in order to produce tanks. The organisation was set up as an attempt to get rid of criticism of the regime which came from a decline in the standard of living. The organisation was fairly successful as by 1938 there was and estimated 180,00 workers that had been on a KDF cruise and one third of the workforce had been on a state holiday. However some workers still didn't trust the Nazi party and therefore the Nazi party found it hard to break working class loyalty to the socialist and communist party. However the majority of people were grateful for the regime as for the first time they were able to go on holidays which were previously too expensive. This was a typical example of passive support as so many people that were not strong supporters of the Nazi party were reluctant to oppose them as long as they were not being persecuted and as long as they were getting something for nothing. A quote by Martin explains the German way of thinking at the time " First they came for the communists but I was not a communist, then they came for the trade unionist but I was not a trade unionist, then they came for the Jews but I was not a Jew, when they came for me there was no one else to speak out"Of course the Nazi party did have popular support these were people who attended his marches and rallies and who were won over by nazi promises.hitler was a charismatic character and people found it easy to believe what he had to say.In conclusion it is fair to say that the Nazi party relied on Fear rather than popular support to stay in power to a certain extent Nazi party relied on the gestation and the ordinary citizens fear of being sent to a concentration camp to keep a reign of fear over Germany. However the Nazi party did have support otherwise they would have not come to power in the first place, these people were won over by Nazi promises and attended Hitler speeches and marches etc. However a large factor of the nazis staying in power relies on Passive support as the ordinary German citizen was happy with the stability and order the Nazi party was bringing back to Germany and were therefore fairly happy just to get on with their life as long as they were not being bothered