Hitlers Accession to Power
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On the 24th March, 1933 Adolf Hitler legally became the dictator of Germany.
To completely understand why Adolf Hitler became the legal dictator of Germany you must focus on the few years prior to his dictatorship. What was the climate in Germany that provided the conditions for this to happen?
Firstly the weakness of the Weimar Political Party System. This was due mainly to the multiplicity of parties and weak coalition governments were no prepared to compromise to make an effective government.
Secondly, the German people lacked a commitment to a democracy. They preferred order and authority over freedom so they elected extreme Nationalists in their desperation.
Thirdly, continuing economic Problems Culminating in the Great depression had left Germany devastated. Years of inflation, reparations, unemployment and increasing texes left the people
Fourthly, fear of left wing political parties — There was a fear of communism by all, apart from the working class that supported communism. In 1921 the Russian revolution saw all conservative elites, landowners and aristocrats lose their private property. Germans feared this outcome and the impact of communists in their own country.
Fifth, there was an obvious hostility of conservative elites to the democracy. They had never trusted or supported the democratic Weimar Republic, which went against the authoritarian conservative type of rule that they favoured.
Lastly, growth of support for the Nazi’s. Although Hitler had become leader of the NSDAP in the early 1920’s it was not until the late 1920’s and early 30’s that their propaganda, SA violence, organisation and Hitler’s image began to become very visible in Germany. It was the combination of the above factors that inevitably brang Hitler into a position of doctorial power.
If these were the conditions that existed in Germany what was the sequence of events that occurred from 1930 to 1933 that led to the final collapse of the Weimar Republic and the accession of Hitler to absolute power?
Bruning uses presidential decree: In March 1930 the Muller coalition government collapsed due to depression difficulties. They could not cope with severe economic dislocation and rapidly increasing unemployment. Muller was the last Social Democrat to be Chancellor. Bruning’s cabinet contained no Social Democrats. The new Chancellor, Bruning, of the Centre Party, failed repeatedly to gain majority support from the Reichstag for his financial measures. He declared a state of emergency under the constitution and resorted to rule by Presidential Decree by invoking article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. Article 48 gave the president emergency powers including the right to intervene with the use of armed forces and, in time of emergency, the power to suspend the constitution, and issue laws of decree without a vote from the elected parliament. From March 1930, Parliamentary Government was effectively dead in Germany. Authority was now taken away from the elected German parliament and placed into the hands of the president. Many Reichstag members protested at this use of article 48 stating that this was not the kind of emergency it should have been used.
September 1930 Elections: Hindenburg dissolved the parliament in September 1930 hoping a new general election would create a government which could deal with the financial crises. The Social Democrats retained their position as the largest party with 143 seats out of a possible 577 but still lost a number of seats. The communist vote increased 40% from 54 to 77 seats and the Nazi vote jumped from 12 to 107 seats. Hitler was now the leader of the second largest party in the Reichstag. The nation had lost faith, during the depression, in the moderate socialists and Centre Liberals and it was turning to the radical extremists on both the left and the right for solutions. Desperate people will do desperate things.
Presidential Elections: In March 1932, Hindenburg’s seven year term as president expired. Hindenburg, an Ex World War One General was the tender age of 85. In election Hitler ran for president and carried out his “Hitler over Germany” campaign using planes. In the presidential election he secured 53% of the vote (with 19,356,635 votes) and Thalman, the communist party leader secured 10.2% (with 3,706,655 votes). Hitler’s growing popularity was revealed in this Presidential election when he won 30.1% of the vote and was one of the factors which influenced Hindenburg to finally appoint Hitler Chancellor in January 1933. Hitler’s success was mainly due to his “Hitler over Germany” campaign which made Hitler a notable public figure as he became the first modern politician to take to the air and he appeared in twenty-one cities in a week.
Von Papen’s Coalition Government — May 1932: Chancellor Bruning’s government ended when he was dismissed by the re-elected President Hindenburg. Schliecher convinced Hindenburg to dismiss Bruning. From here the intrigues of the military elites are revealed. Kurt von Schliecher, who had proposed Bruning as chancellor in March 1930, now believed Germany needed a more authoritarian government. Bruning opposed any concessions to the Nazis, whereas Schliecher was beginning to think that concessions were needed to win their support. Schliecher was impressed by the Nazis electoral success, their right wing values, their opposition to communism and their goal to seek power legally. As a well known general, the head of the Ministerial Service which linked the army and political parties, Schliecher was also a close friend and advisor to Hindenburg. Bruning was succeeded by Franz von Papen, a former member of the Centre Party. Papen and Schliecher believed they could control Hitler and the Nazi Party and exploit their political policies to ensure the survival of the conservative parties but they seriously under-estimated Hitler and Hitler’s ambitions.
Increase in Depression — December 1932: The Weimar Government’s economic measures of reduced social services and salaries, higher prices, cancellation of reparations payments and high tariffs to protect German agriculture and industry had failed to prevent unemployment rising to 6 million by September 1932.
The Government lost the support of wealthy industrialists and the working classes, both of whom looked to the Nazi Party for drastic solutions to the series of political and economic crises.
S.A. (or Storm Troopers) membership soared during the Depression reaching 400,000 by March 1932. It offered a wage, a purpose and an identity during a period of severe hardship.