#1932 German Elections

[tmarshconnors]

"History has its own way of dealing with individuals, as well as with nations."

Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk was a German national conservative, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. He served as the chancellor of Germany in 1932, and then as the vice-chancellor under Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1934.

Born: 29 October 1879, Werl, Germany

Died: 2 May 1969 (age 89 years), Sasbach, Germany

Chancellor of Germany: Franz von Papen served as the Chancellor of Germany from June to November 1932. His tenure was marked by political instability and economic difficulties during the final years of the Weimar Republic.

2) Role in Hitler's Rise to Power: Von Papen played a crucial role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power. As Vice Chancellor under Hitler in 1933, von Papen and other conservative elites believed they could control and moderate Hitler's policies. This miscalculation contributed significantly to the consolidation of Nazi power.

3) Diplomatic Career: After being sidelined by the Nazi regime, von Papen served as Germany's ambassador to Austria (1934-1938) and later to Turkey (1939-1944). In Austria, he was instrumental in facilitating the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938.

4) Acquittal at Nuremberg Trials: Despite his involvement with the Nazi regime, von Papen was acquitted at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. The tribunal found insufficient evidence to convict him of war crimes, although he was later denazified by a German court and sentenced to eight years in a labor camp, a sentence which was soon reduced, and he was released.

5) Post-War Life: After his release, von Papen published his memoirs, "Der Wahrheit eine Gasse" ("Memoirs") in 1952, offering his perspective on his political career and the events of the era. He lived a relatively quiet life in West Germany until his death in 1969.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Die Sieghaften [The victorious.],” Simplicissimus. Vol. 37, issue 2, April 10, 1932. Cover page.

Two men converse about Adolf Hitler, riding a blinkered horse, and Alfred Hugenburg, riding an ass: “Man sieht es ihnen eigentlich gar nicht an, daß sie eine Niederlage erlitten haben.” "Sie wissen es la auch noch nicht, sie lesen doch bloß ihre eigenen Blätter" [“You don't really see that they have suffered a defeat.” "They don't know it yet either, they're just reading their own papers"]

[grendelsmom]

Germans faced with a minor inconvenience:

Love to go on youtube and look up old German movies I used to watch with my grandfather, only to be informed in the comment section by "GermanicWarrior18" or "LiebesVaterland" that well, that's all we have left of the good, old Germany and we should all be saddend to tears when we see the state our dear country is in compared to this beautiful piece of art... from 1944

[whencyclopedia]

How Did Hitler Rise to Power?

The rise of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the Nazi dictator of Germany from 1933, was enabled by those already in power eager to take advantage of his popularity. Hitler promised to make Germany great again after the humiliation of WWI by restoring Germany's lost territories, returning to traditional German values, achieving full employment, and destroying 'enemies' like Communists and Jewish people.

Hitler's rise to power was a surprisingly long process, involving many steps and several significant setbacks such as his imprisonment following the failed coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923. Hitler's rise to power effectively took a decade, with the Nazi Party gaining just 12 seats in elections for the German Reichstag (Parliament) in 1928 (from a total of 491 in that election), 107 in 1930, 230 in July 1932, 196 in November 1932, and 288 seats in 1933. Once securely in power as chancellor, in 1933, Hitler quickly eliminated all opposition and established a totalitarian regime with himself as undisputed dictator, Germany's Führer.

Adolf Hitler in SA Uniform

Imperial War Museums (CC BY-NC-SA)

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power for the following reasons:

The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles riled many Germans, especially the guilt clause for starting WWI, and traditional political parties were tarnished by association with the signing of the treaty. Hitler promised to overturn the treaty and restore German pride.

The fallout of the Great Depression led to mass unemployment and hyperinflation leading voters to turn to more extreme political parties.

The weakness and ineptitude of successive Weimar Republic coalition governments.

Hitler promised full employment through such programmes as road building and rearmament.

In return for their support, Hitler promised business leaders lucrative state contracts such as arms manufacturing. This idea was also popular with the German Army.

Hitler appealed to traditional German beliefs like the greatness of the nation, strong family values, and a classless society.

Hitler promised an expansion of Germany to find new lands and Lebensraum ('living space') where the German people could prosper.

Hitler used propaganda to identify what the Nazis described as common enemies of the state, such as outsiders and Jewish people who, he claimed, were holding Germany back.

A cult of Hitler was created, which promoted the idea that he was the saviour of Germany.

The establishment thought that by inviting Hitler to power, they could better control the Nazi phenomenon and benefit from its popularity themselves.

Once made chancellor, Hitler used his power to eliminate rivals. He ensured the German parliament had little power and began to establish a dictatorship with himself as the undisputed head of a one-party police state.

Historians continue to debate the weight of each of the above points in accounting for Hitler's rise to power.

The Treaty of Versailles

The First World War (1914-18) was formally terminated by the Treaty of Versailles, which dictated the terms of the German surrender. Germany lost a significant part of its territory, was obliged to pay reparations, and had to accept full responsibility for starting the conflict. The German people protested at these terms in 1919, and those German politicians who had agreed to it were widely referred to as 'the criminals of 1919'. This resentment was fuelled by the myth that the German people had been let down in WWI by the high command of their army, which had 'stabbed them in the back', otherwise, they might have won the war, many thought. Consequently, there was a feeling that the political and military establishment of the new Germany, the Weimar Republic (1918-33), could not be fully trusted.

Europe after The Treaty of Versailles

Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-ND)

The fascist National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party for short) was founded in 1920. The party was neither socialist nor at all interested in workers, but Adolf Hitler had chosen the name to give his ultra-nationalist party as wide an appeal as possible. Hitler was able to exploit the anti-establishment feeling as the Nazis were complete outsiders. As early as 1925, in his book Mein Kampf, Hitler promised to abolish the terms of Versailles and create a new 'Greater Germany'.

Continue reading...

[crazyintheeast]

Chappell Roan if she was in Germany in 1932: Ugh no I am not voting for Hitler ok .But moderates have some real problems and we need to hold them accountable . Anyway now let’s talk about all the problems of moderates especially how they treat trans people while barely mentioning Nazis even though Nazis want to outright kill not only trans but all LGBT people

And yes my uncle is Nazi politician so what? The real issues is not whether Nazis are about to come to power and commit unspeakable evil it’s that people should think for themselves and not listen to celebrities . Anyway I care so much about the issues guys , truly . Also remember fuck Nazis or whatever but moderates are problematic . You know what yeah let me ramble some more about why moderates are problematic because we need to hold them accountable. No I can’t wait a month until the election is over to talk about all the problems of moderates and it’s awful that you are trying to shut me up . 1932 German Chappell Roan fans : Omg yes go off Queen . Look at these white liberals bashing her for not being a slave to moderates . They should leave her alone . Moderates have to earn our vote . If the Nazis comes to power it would be the fault of moderates for being progressive enough and earning our vote . Omg Chappell is sad now ! See what you did you bully ! How dare you be mean to her just because she doesn’t condemn Nazis strong enough for your taste

[mapsontheweb]

The last free elections of the German Reich (1928 - 1932)

[misfitwashere]

How to Stop Fascism

Five Lessons of the Nazi Takeover

Timothy Snyder

Jul 05, 2024

As the United States hovers at the edge of fascism, the history of Germany can help.

To be sure, Americans have other histories to ponder, including their own.  Some American states, right now, are laboratories of authoritarian rule (and resistance).  The American 1860s and American 1930s reveal tactics authoritarians use, as well as the weaknesses of the American system, such as slavery and its legacy. At those times, though, Americans were lucky in their leadership.  Lincoln and Roosevelt were in office at the critical moments.  And so we lack the experience of the collapse of the republic.

We can certainly learn from contemporary authoritarian success, as in Russia and in Hungary, which I have written about elsewhere.  Yet the classic example of a major economic and cultural power collapsing into fascism remains Germany in 1933. The failure of the democratic experiment in Germany led to a world war as well as the Holocaust and other atrocities.

Yet today a taboo hovers around anything concerning Hitler.  As soon as the collapse of the German republic in 1933 is evoked, American voices commence a fake lament — America is uniquely good so nothing about Nazis can ever apply, and/or Hitler was uniquely evil and so nothing concerning him is relevant.

To be sure, every person and every event is in some sense unique.  But history is precisely the interaction of individuals and situations which, seen in isolation, will appear unique.  The taboo on fascist history shoves people back to a turbulent present, leaving them feeling more helpless. It is an element of the fascist takeover.

The lessons from Germany that I present below are not at all new.  We have been trained by digital media to believe that only what happens right now matters.  But the people who intend to destroy the American constitutional republic have learned from the past.  One of the basic elements of Project 2025, for example, is what the Nazis called Gleichschaltung: transforming the civil service into a fascist nest.

Those who wish to preserve the American constitutional republic should also recall the past.  A good start would be just to recall the five basic political lessons of 1933.

1.  Voting matters.  Hitler came to power after an election which enabled his appointment as head of government.  It is much easier for fascists to begin from within than to begin from without.  Hitler’s earlier coup attempt failed.  But once he had legitimate power, inside the system as chancellor (prime minister), he could manipulate it from within.  In the American system, “voting” means not just going to the polls yourself, but making donations, phone-banking, and knocking on doors.  We are still, happily, at the stage when unglamorous actions can make the difference.

2.  Coalitions are necessary.  In 1932, in the crucial German election, the far left and the center left were separated.  The reasons for this were very specific: Stalin ordered the German communists to oppose the German social democrats, thereby helping Hitler to power.  To be sure, the American political spectrum is very different, as are the times.  Yet the general lesson does suggest itself: the left has to hold together with the the center-left, and their energies have to be directed at the goal rather than at each other.

3.  Conservatives should be conservative.  Which way the center-right turns can be decisive.  In Germany in 1932, conservatives enabled the counter-revolution.  They did not see Hitler and his Nazis as something different from themselves.  They imagined, somehow, that Hitler would preserve the system rather revolutionize it.  They were wrong, and some of them paid for the mistake with their lives.  As in American today, the German “old right” was less numerous than the “new right,” the fascists.  But how the traditionalist center-right acts can very well make the difference.

4.  Big business should support democracy.  In the Germany of the 1930s, business leaders were not necessarily enthusiastic about Hitler as a person.  But they associated democracy with labor unions and wanted to break them.  Seeing Hitler as an instrument of their own profit, business leaders enabled the Nazi regime.  This was, in the end, very bad for business.  Although the circumstances today are different, the general lesson is the same: whether they like it or not, business leaders bear responsibility for whether a republic endures or is destroyed.

5.  Citizens should not obey in advance.  Much of fascism is a bluff — look at our loyal cult, listen to our outrageous language, heed our threats of violence, we are inevitable!  Hitler was good at that sort of propaganda.  Yet to gain power he needed luck and the errors of others.  American fascism, likewise, is far from inevitable.  It too is largely bluff, most of it digital.  The internet is much more fascist than real life, which is discouraging.  But we vote in the real world.  The crucial thing is the individual decision to act, along with others, for four months, a little something each day, regardless of the atmospherics and the polls and the media and the moods.

It’s simple: recalling history, we act in the present, for a future that can and will be much better.

[tervencherries]

i’m going to expand on this later but i just want to remind everyone that this election was scarily similar to the german 1932 election (this is the one where hitler won).

we’ve got the unstable economy and high inflation rates, we’ve just gotten out of a war in the last decade which has made foreigners hate us, we have high levels of racism, misogyny, homophobia, antisemitism, and xenophobia (all of which are what made this president win!).

remember that it wasn’t immediate with hitler. it took 6 years after the election before Kristallnacht happened. “never again” is right now. it could be anyone, but it’ll likely be jews, black people, and/or gay people.

do what you need to in order to make your local government hear you. coordinate protests with other towns in order to make your state listen. coordinate with other states to force the federal government to see what’s happening.

remember that we don’t have to agree on everything in order to come together. the american people’s safety comes before any ideology.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

"His election opens up possibilities! We'll push him to the left." - Liberals in Germany on militarist Paul von Hindenburg, 1932

(Less than a year later, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as German chancellor.)

You fight fascism by organizing workers and oppressed people to fight back, not by voting for centrist politicians whose only 'strategy' is to constantly move further right and build up the repressive forces of the capitalist state.

No, it's not easy. Yes, it's the only way.

Twentieth Century 101

-redguard

[maaarine]

Elon Musk and Far-Right German Leader Agree 'Hitler Was a Communist' (David Gilbert, Wired, Jan 9 2025)

—

Hitler (Ian Kershaw, 2008)

“The long-standing hatred of Socialism and Communism – both bracketed together as ‘Marxism’ – was played upon by Nazi propaganda and turned into outright anti-Communist paranoia. (…)

By October the same year he was writing of a life and death struggle of two opposed world-views, incapable of existing alongside one another.

Defeat in this great showdown would seal Germany’s destruction.

The struggle would leave only victors and the annihilated. It meant a war of extermination.

‘A victory of the Marxist idea signifies the complete extermination of the opponents,’ he remarked.

‘The Bolshevization of Germany … means the complete annihilation of the entire Christian-western culture.’

Correspondingly, the aim of National Socialism could be simply defined: ‘Annihilation and extermination of the Marxist Weltanschauung.’

By now Marxism and the Jew were synonymous in Hitler’s mind.

At the end of his trial, on 27 March 1924, he had told the court that what he wanted to be was the breaker of Marxism.

The Nazi Movement knew only one enemy, he had emphasized the following month – the mortal enemy of the whole of mankind: Marxism.

There was no mention of the Jews."

—

Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning (Timothy Snyder, 2015)

"In his election campaigns of 1932 and 1933, Hitler instead presented his own National Socialism as a recipe for stability and common sense to be contrasted to the insanity of capitalist and communist ideology.

In reality, National Socialism involved the aspiration to destroy communism in order to build a massive empire that would insulate Germany from the vicissitudes of global capitalism; there was nothing remotely conservative about that aim.

Hitler presented his anti-communism not as a military crusade against a great power, but as concern for the bottom line of German businesses and the full bellies of the electorate."

—

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (Timothy Snyder, 2010)

"With or without German agitation, many people in interwar Europe associated the Jews with communism.

Interwar communist parties had in fact been heavily Jewish, especially in their leaderships, a fact upon which much of the press throughout Europe had commented for twenty years.

Right-wing parties confused the issue by arguing that since many communists were Jews therefore many Jews were communists.

These are very different propositions; the latter one was never true anywhere. (…)

Nazi propaganda thus had a double appeal: it was no shame to lose to the Soviet communists, since they were backed by a powerful worldwide Jewish conspiracy; but since the Jews were ultimately to blame for communism, it was right to kill them now."

[nevermythologized]

history is repeating itself. whether we are willing to admit it to ourselves or not, the united states has embraced fascism. hitler won 33% of the vote in the 1933 election, the one that secured him power. once he was in power, he never left. this election was our 1933.

trump never wanted to leave power when he lost in 2020, but now the nazis behind him have had four years to plan. four years of a democratic president who normalized and increased trump's fascist policies.

biden winning in 2020 was not a good sign. the fact that he was the democratic nominee, and the other moderates dropped out right before super tuesday to ensure bernie could not get the nomination, was evidence that the democratic party has never had an interest in left wing politics. they were more willing to embrace fascism if it meant picking up the "median voter" (this is like 30 people. politics has become quite polarized. every freshman year poli sci major knows this).

they also put up an old, middle right, establishment political figure in opposition to Hitler for the german presidential election in 1932. Hindenburg was 84, and ran reluctantly because he was seen as the only person who could defeat Hitler. sound familiar?

i could go over more chilling parallels, but i think we all know this, on some level. that we have crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed.

and i think we have reached a point where we must understand this:

most of us cannot change the course of history, but we can always, always, try to be better. to be good.

i think that young left-wing people are obsessed with each others flaws because we have grown up in a world where people we are supposed to trust end up being fascists. we are constantly seeking each other's biggest, darkest secrets and transgressions because we are sick of being betrayed.

we do this in a misguided attempt to be good to one another. but being good to one another requires forgiveness and the willingness to try and earn forgiveness. we are all going to do something fucked up to another person. that is life. it is inevitable.

what matters, what always matters, is how you move forward.

and in donald trump's america, we move forward by moving past our divisions and mistakes. we find people who do not want fascism and we look out for each other. we do not tolerate nazi shit. we do tolerate messiness and humanity.

and we fucking fight. we do not go gently into that good night, okay? we need people in the future who read our history to know that there were always, will always be people who care, who knew that their country was wrong, who were righteously furious.

we fight back. it is our duty to one another.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

A Letter from the Editor in Chief of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: The facts involving Trump are crystal clear, and as news people, we cannot pretend otherwise, as unpopular as that might be with a segment of our readers. There aren’t two sides to facts. People who say the earth is flat don’t get space on our platforms. If that offends them, so be it. As for those who equate Trump and Joe Biden, that’s false equivalency. Biden has done nothing remotely close to the egregious, anti-American acts of Trump. We can debate the success and mindset of our current president, as we have about most presidents in our lifetimes, but Biden was never a threat to our democracy. Trump is. He is unique among all American presidents for his efforts to keep power at any cost.

Personally, I find it hard to understand how Americans who take pride in our system of government support Trump. All those soldiers who died in World War II were fighting against the kind of regime Trump wants to create on our soil. How do they not see it? The March 25 edition of the New Yorker magazine offers some insight. It includes a detailed review of a new book about Adolf Hitler, focused on the year 1932. It’s called “Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power” and is by historian Timothy W. Ryback. It explains how German leaders – including some in the media -- thought they could use Hitler as a means to get power for themselves and were willing to look past his obvious deficiencies to get where they wanted. In tolerating and using Hitler as a means to an end, they helped create the monstrous dictator responsible for millions of deaths.

How are those German leaders different from people in Congress saying the election was stolen or that Jan. 6 was not an insurrection aimed at destroying our government? They know the truth, but they deny it. They see Trump as a means to an end – power for themselves and their “team” – even if it means repeatedly telling lies. Sadly, many believe the lies. They trust people in authority, without questioning the obvious discrepancies or relying on their own eyes. These are the people who take offense to the truths we tell about Trump. No one in our newsroom gets up in the morning wanting to make a segment of readers feel bad. No one seeks to demean anyone. We understand what a privilege it is to be welcomed into the lives of the millions of people who visit our platforms each month for news, sports and entertainment. But our duty is to the truth.

Our nation does seem to be slipping down the same slide that Germany did in the 1930s. Maybe the collapse of government in the hands of a madman is inevitable, given how the media landscape has been corrupted by partisans, as it was in 1930s Germany.

[tomorrowusa]

Anybody who claims that both major US political parties are the same is either a mindless airhead or a self-deceived cult member.

Third parties and independents in US presidential elections are a bad idea in "normal" cycles due to the archaic Electoral College. This year is not close to normal.

As Rachel Maddow pointed out, Biden would like to campaign on abortion and the economy. But the existential threat to democracy by Trump and his groveling Republican Party has shifted the emphasis to the basic existence of this country.

Complain all you like about the electoral system in the US but don't ignore it while trying to make progress politically.

It doesn't matter if a majority of Americans don't want Trump to be president if they don't properly use the available electoral tools. Republicans need to be stopped via the system that currently exists. Voting for impotent minor parties will do nothing to keep Trump from returning.

Way bad régimes in other countries have come to power with much less than a majority of popular votes.

In South Africa in 1948, the pro-apartheid National Party won 37.70% of the popular vote as opposed to 48.18% for the more moderate United Party. But because of the existing first past the post parliamentary system then, the National Party in coalition with the even more extreme Afrikaner Party (3.93% of the vote) won a majority of seats in Parliament and were able to institute apartheid which lasted until 1990.

In both elections in Germany in 1932 the Nazis got less than 40% of the popular vote: 37.27% in the July election and just 33.09% in the November election. Despite these unimpressive results they managed to take power because the opposition was divided and failed to stop them. Famously, the Communist Party of Germany (16.9% of the popular vote in November '32) welcomed the Nazis. According to Communist ideology, fascism is supposed to be the final stage of capitalism and the German Communists were licking their chops; long story short – Ernst Thälmann, head of the German Communists, was executed on Heinrich Himmler's orders. Communists are stupid – but that's another story.

Not taking the threat of dictatorship seriously does not have happy endings in history. And it's always easier to prevent dictatorships than it is to remove them. If a candidate tells you he's going to be a dictator, believe him.

[doubledamian]

After prompting chatGPT with the question, “Can you describe the legal process - in the form of a linear temporal story - of how Hitler changed a democracy into a dictatorship?”, the following timeline was generated:

Certainly. Here’s a chronological account of how Adolf Hitler transformed the Weimar Republic, a democracy, into a Nazi dictatorship:

1. Weimar Republic’s Fragility (1919-1933)

Germany’s post-World War I democracy was unstable due to economic hardships, widespread resentment over the Treaty of Versailles, and political polarization. The Great Depression of 1929 further destabilized the country, leading to increased support for extremist parties like the Nazis.

2. Hitler’s Appointment as Chancellor (January 30, 1933)

Despite the Nazi Party not winning a majority in the 1932 elections, political elites believed they could control Hitler and use his popularity to stabilize the government. President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor.

3. The Reichstag Fire (February 27, 1933)

A fire destroyed the Reichstag (German parliament building). Hitler and the Nazis blamed Communists, using the event to stoke fear of a supposed Communist uprising.

4. Reichstag Fire Decree (February 28, 1933)

The day after the fire, President Hindenburg, under Hitler’s pressure, signed the Reichstag Fire Decree. This suspended civil liberties, including freedom of speech, press, and assembly, and allowed arbitrary arrests. It gave the Nazis a tool to suppress political opponents.

5. The March 1933 Elections

With civil liberties curtailed and political opponents suppressed, the Nazis increased their seats in parliament, though they still didn’t achieve an outright majority.

6. The Enabling Act (March 23, 1933)

Hitler introduced the Enabling Act, which allowed him to pass laws without parliamentary approval or presidential consent. Using intimidation and political manipulation, the Nazis secured the necessary two-thirds majority in the Reichstag. This effectively gave Hitler dictatorial powers.

7. Elimination of Political Opposition (1933-1934)

The Nazi regime quickly outlawed opposition parties, trade unions, and free press. By mid-1933, Germany was a one-party state. Political dissenters were arrested or sent to concentration camps.

8. The Night of the Long Knives (June 30, 1934)

To consolidate power and gain the army’s support, Hitler ordered the purge of the SA (Stormtroopers) leadership and other potential rivals. Hundreds were executed, eliminating internal threats.

9. Hindenburg’s Death and Hitler Becomes Führer (August 2, 1934)

When President Hindenburg died, Hitler combined the roles of Chancellor and President, declaring himself Führer (Leader) of Germany. The military swore allegiance directly to him.

10. Totalitarian Control (1934 onward)

The Nazis established totalitarian control through propaganda, censorship, and terror. Institutions like the Gestapo (secret police) and SS enforced Hitler’s rule. Education, media, and culture were co-opted to promote Nazi ideology, ensuring complete dominance over German society.

Summary

Through a combination of legal manipulation, fear tactics, and outright violence, Hitler dismantled the democratic institutions of the Weimar Republic and established a totalitarian Nazi dictatorship within JUST OVER A YEAR (emphasis added) of becoming Chancellor.

[whencyclopedia]

Reichstag Fire

The Reichstag fire of 27 February 1933 was a possible arson attack on the German parliament building. The fire was blamed on a communist anarchist Marinus van der Lubbe (1909-1934), but it may have been the work of the Nazi party's paramilitary group the Sturmabteilung (SA) to discredit the left-wing parties before the forthcoming general election.

The chancellor Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) used the fire as an excuse to declare martial law and issue a decree that gave the police new powers of arrest and imposed significant limitations on people's civil liberties. The decree was shortly followed by the Enabling Act, which allowed Hitler to bypass the parliament and so establish the Nazi totalitarian regime.

The Nazi Party in Power

In the election of November 1932, the Nazi party (NSDAP), although performing less well than in the election of the previous July, had still won enough seats to convince President Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) that the best candidate to form a coalition government and be appointed chancellor was Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the Nazi leader. Hitler's vice chancellor was the conservative politician of the Catholic Centre Party and former chancellor Franz von Papen (1879-1969). The minister of the interior was the Nazi Wilhelm Frick (1877-1946). The minister without portfolio was the Nazi Hermann Göring (1893-1946). Both Papen and Hindenburg were wary of Hitler but thought they could control him better if he was inside the government rather than outside it.

The consequences of the 1932 election resulted, then, in a great step forward for Hitler's plans for total power, but the Nazi party had not won a majority of seats, and so the political situation remained unstable. Hitler had no intention of sharing power and so was not content with the number of non-Nazi ministers in his government. On 1 February, yet another election was called for March 1933. Göring used the police to round up left-wing activists. The Nazi party's paramilitary wing, the SA, conducted a campaign of intimidation towards rival political parties. Something more was needed, though, to guarantee the Nazis would win a majority in parliament. The Reichstag fire produced the perfect propaganda opportunity.

Adolf Hitler in SA Uniform

Imperial War Museums (CC BY-NC-SA)

Continue reading...

[leohtttbriar]

Both Hitler’s ascendancy to chancellor and his smashing of the constitutional guardrails once he got there, I have come to realize, are stories of political contingency rather than historical inevitability. Hitler’s appointment as chancellor of the country’s first democratic republic came almost as much as a surprise to Hitler as it did to the rest of the country. After a vertiginous three-year political ascent, Hitler had taken a shellacking in the November 1932 elections, shedding 2 million votes and 34 Reichstag seats, almost half of them to Hugenberg’s German Nationalists. By December 1932, Hitler’s movement was bankrupt financially, politically, ideologically. Hitler told several close associates that he was contemplating suicide. But a series of backroom deals that included the shock weekend dismissal of Chancellor Schleicher in late January 1933 hurtled Hitler into the chancellery. Schleicher would later remember Hitler telling him that “it was astonishing in his life that he was always rescued just when he himself had given up all hope.” The eleventh-hour appointment came at a steep political price. Hitler had left several of his most loyal lieutenants as political roadkill on this unexpected fast lane to power. Worse, he found himself with a cabinet handpicked by a political enemy, former Chancellor Franz von Papen, whose government Hitler had helped topple and who now served as Hitler’s vice chancellor. Worst of all, Hitler was hostage to Hugenberg, who commanded 51 Reichstag votes along with the power to make or break Hitler’s chancellorship. He nearly broke it. As President Hindenburg waited to receive Hitler on that Monday morning in January 1933, Hugenberg clashed with Hitler over the issue of new Reichstag elections. Hugenberg’s position: “Nein! Nein! Nein!” While Hitler and Hugenberg argued in the foyer outside the president’s office, Hindenburg, a military hero of World War I who had served as the German president since 1925, grew impatient. According to Otto Meissner, the president’s chief of staff, had the Hitler-Hugenberg squabble lasted another few minutes, Hindenburg would have left. Had this occurred, the awkward coalition cobbled together by Papen in the previous 48 hours would have collapsed. There would have been no Hitler chancellorship, no Third Reich.