What were the key events in the collapse of German democracy



Why did Hitler become Chancellor of Germany? In 1925 the Weimar Republic received a major blow, President Ebert died and was replaced by Paul Von Hindenburg. He had been head of the army high command in WWI and was a right wing monarchist with little sympathy for parliamentary government and the Weimar Germany. To make things even worse the Republic’s one major statesman Stresemann died in October 1929. In June 1929 Hitler burst onto the scene of national politics. During 1929 an international committee of experts under Owen Young decided on the reparations issue that faced Germany. The Young Plan reduced reparations payments but ensured Germany would still be paying them for another 60 years. Hitler used this as an opportunity to revive all the anger felt in Germany over the Treaty of Versailles and especially the war guilt clause. With the help of Hugenburg (the leader of the right wing nationalist party the DNVP and a press baron who owned newspapers and cinemas all over Germany) he campaigned to have the Reichstag reject the plan. The campaign failed but for Hitler it was a major success. For six months all Hitler’s speeches were carried to the public by Hugenburg’s newspapers and cinemas – he became a familiar, public figure for the first time. The worldwide depression that followed the Wall Street Crash had a terrible impact on Germany. By the end of 1929 unemployment had passed 3 million. The government collapsed and no new group could be found to govern the country. Hindenburg used Article 48 of the Weimar constitution to appoint Brunning, the Centre Party leader, as Chancellor. Article 48 allowed the Chancellor to rule without the Reichstag in the case of an emergency. Brunning called elections for September 1930. Hitler could not believe his luck – he had a well-organised party and a favourable climate for his message to the German people. The Nazis did very well and won 107 seats in the Reichstag (with 5.5 million votes) making them the second largest party. Even with this success, however, Hitler did not have a majority in the Reichstag and Hindenburg re-appointed Brunning as Chancellor. By this point Germany was really being ruled by a small group of men around Hindenburg such as Franz Von Papen, a rich Catholic nobleman and General Von Schleicher, a former army leader. Hindenburg and his advisors wanted to find someone who had enough control of the Reichstag to be able to change the constitution and have Germany ruled by a President with similar powers to the old Kaiser. The trouble for Hitler was that Hindenburg did not respect him and did not want to deal with him.By 1931 unemployment had reached 4 million; Brunning was failing to deal with the economic crisis. By 1932 unemployment was nearly 6m, Germany’s major banks had all failed and 50,000 businesses had shut – the situation was getting worse and worse. Hitler then received another opportunity. Hindenburg was due to retire as President in May of 1932. Hitler thought long and hard about standing. Hindenburg was a national hero and was bound to win but with 3 weeks to go Hitler decided to stand. The election allowed Hitler to appear as an equal of Hindenburg. The Nazis launched a massive campaign of posters, films, leaflets and rallies. Hitler was beaten (he got 11.5 million votes, 7 million less than Hindenburg) but the old president was still 200,000 votes short of the overall majority he needed so a second round was held. Hitler hired a plane for the second round and flew around 21 cities campaigning and making speeches. It became known as the ‘Hitler over Germany’ campaign because of all the flights he took. He still lost but received 13.4 million votes – twice as many as in the 1930 election After the presidential election Brunning was removed from power and Von Papen was appointed Chancellor. There was a Reichstag election in July 1932; it was a brutal campaign and the SA (The Nazi Stormtropers) and the Communists fought on the streets all over Germany. The Nazis did very well in the elections, they got 13.7 million votes (and 230 seats in the Reichstag) making them by far the biggest party. After the election Hitler demanded to be Chancellor but Hindenburg refused and made Von Papen Chancellor again. Hitler was offered the the vice-chancellorship which he rejected. Hitler was furious about how he had been treated and in the first full session of the Reichstag in September 1932 the Nazis and the Communists worked together to defeat Von Papen’s government. Von Papen was forced to call ANOTHER election. The Nazi vote fell to 196 seats but they were still the biggest party by far. Hitler again demanded to be Chancellor and again Hindenburg refused. Von Papen was delighted but then Hitler got another stoke of luck. Von Schleicher decided he wanted to be chancellor and told Hindenburg that Von Papen did not have the support of the army. Hindenburg appointed Von Schleicher as Chancellor. Von Schleicher also failed to form a working government and asked Hindenburg for permission to rule by emergency decree on the 23rd January. Meanwhile, however, Von Papen had met Hitler on the 4th January. He convinced Hindenburg that Hitler was the only option and that he could be controlled. Hitler was appointed Chancellor but with only two other Nazis in the cabinet. Von Papen thought he had won. He was the Vice Chancellor, had the confidence of the President and Hitler had hardly any Nazis in his government. Von Papen said to Hindenburg, “No Danger. We’ve hired him for our act” ................
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