The German leaders also had a weak devotion to democracy, and some were actively plotting to overthrow it. Hitler furthermore enjoyed an almost unbroken string of luck in coming to power. He benefited greatly from the Great Depression, the half-senility of the president, the incompetence of his opposition, and the appearance of an unnecessary backroom deal just as the Nazis were starting to lose popular appeal and votes. Critics of democracy often claim that Hitler was democratically elected to power. This is untrue.
“It is more accurate to talk of a potential revolution which ran away into the sand than the genuine article” Before we can assess whether a ‘genuine’ revolution took place in 1918, or if held many promises and yet failed to deliver, we must look at the term ‘Revolution’. This often refers to a substantial change in power/structure that takes place within a short time span. Germany was in a vulnerable position, susceptible to change as the defeat in the war had shaken people’s faith in the government. There was undoubtedly political changes undergone in Germany but whether they fundamentally shook the German foundations of society can be seriously questioned. It can be argued that the ’Weimar Republic’ , the outcome of the revolution was a facade of the old authoritarian regime, carrying out change under false pretences of a democratic institution, with the Right Wing Conservatives still in control.
However as the war progressed and more issues became apparent, the divide between the rich and the poor and the left and the right wing became vaster. Before the war had commenced liberals and socialists were aggravated with German democracy. Germany portrayed itself as a democratic state, however all the power belonged to the elite. Kaiser Wilhelm II even boasted that he had never read the constitution. Therefore Liberals wanted constitutional reform and more power to be given to the Reichstag.
Germany had only been a united country since 1871 however by 1914 it had built up a strong army, navy and had the beginnings of an overseas empire. As you can see, Germany since its unison had been very competitive and ambitious against the other ‘leading’ countries. I feel that this may have brought the other countries resentment, especially Britain. Britain had been known as and was the main industrial country in Europe for over 100 years but Germany had very quickly grown into a powerful country. This would have caused Britain some concern, especially because the leader over Britain was cousins with the Kaiser, this would have brought extra tension between them as they both wanted their country to be the best.
In 1933 Hitler legally came to power after a series of miscalculations by the government, they believed they would be able to control Hitler but they were truth. In fact it has been argued by historians such as Kershaw that this was actually the key to Hitler’s success. Structuralists believe that Hitler was in fact a very weak dictator. They have argued that the Nazi regime evolved from the ‘pressure of circumstance’ and not from the role of Hitler himself. Hitler was considered to be incapable of making a decision and as a result his government lacked any form control of important decisions and his general poor leadership skills it is clear to see why Hitler can be seen to be a weak dictator.
There were many factors to explain why Hitler became Chancellor. They all played their part and in 1933 Hitler become Chancellor but not as he had first planned. After the failure that was the Munich Putsch of 1923, Hitler realised that things needed to be done differently. Normally the leader of the party with the most votes in the Reichstag becomes Chancellor. In 1932 Hitler won 230 seats in the Reichstag, making the Nazi party the largest in the Reichstag automatically making Hitler Chancellor.
Why did a dictatorship emerge in Germany in 1933 and not before? The Weimar Republic was bound to fail sooner or later given its weakness at birth and the values it was associated with however as to why Hitler was able to take power in 1933 and not before is an interesting question that requires much thought and attention. It has being proven throughout history that for extreme parties such as the NSDAP or the Communist party to gain mass support there has to be an economic crisis. The Nazi party was the one which eventually turned out ahead of the others, partly because of their leader, Adolf Hitler and partly because of their wider appeal and superior organisation. After it was proven that to rise to power through revolutions and coups (Spartacist revolt, Munich Beer Cellar putsch) was not practicable, economic crises offered these groups their only means to rise to power.
Explain why Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor in January 1933: Hitler became chancellor on the 30th of January 1933, when Hindenburg, the president of Germany appoints him. But a common question is why he was appointed in the first place? Well firstly because of the political schemes that occurred in 1929 till 1932 (which meant that it was the end of parliamentary democracy) Hitler at first wasn't very popular with his ideas of how Germany should be ran, however he was determined to strengthen his power. He targeted a variation of people such as the "Mittlesland" or the middle-class promising them protection from Communism which a lot of people were scared of because of the revolution that occurred in Russia 1917 (this was when autocracy had banished in the empire and Russia became a communist country)- many feared that it would spread in Germany, and restoration of law and order; the upper class were promised Reprisal for the Treaty of Versailles, and the creation of a strong government; important business people that he would suspend trade unions from protesting for more demands; the working class were promised jobs and protection from their work, ordinary civilians who lived in the countryside were promised an increase in the price of agricultural products and finally, most importantly women, who were promised equality and proper family morals which most women of the 1930's thought were important. Hindenburg couldn't oppose against the public's choice otherwise he would be going against the democratic ‘Weimar republic’ regulation of including the people’s views.
In a political sense, it ‘got his foot in the door’, so to speak. It came about largely due to problems with Weimar democracy and weak decisions; there were serious miscalculations in the appointment of Hitler. Many of the elite, particularly Papen, became intrigued and willing to co-operate with Hitler (even settle for a Hitler government), as they wanted his huge support base to further their own power ambitions and counter the rise of communism. He had the support required to solve Germany’s parliamentary crisis, and crucially he had the reluctant backing of Hindenburg, a nationalistic president who also feared a Bolshevik revolution and believed the Nazis could protect Germany from this. Despite the efforts of many to encourage Hitler’s appointment, there was no intention of forming a permanent leadership with him; the elite groups around Hindenburg planned to use Hitler to gain his support base, then abandon him when he was no longer needed.
The failure of the Weimar Republic, as well as the subsequent rise of the Nazi Party, was the end result of a series of difficult political events that the Weimar Republic simply did not have the tools to defend against. The democratic government faced a significant uphill battle as it came into the unenviable job of attempting to the best by a nation angry about the war, and looking for an easy scapegoat, which the Republic provided them with, partly of their own making. Circumstantially, the Weimar Republic also had to deal with the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles. As well a this basic difficulty, in it’s time of rule the Weimar Republic had to negotiate with issues such as the Great Depression, which brought with it the economically cruelling protectionism policies of many foreign nations, compounding Germany’s financial struggles. All of these factors will be spoken about in this essay, as well as the intrinsically linked rise of the Nazi party, which put the final nail in the Weimar Republic’s metaphorical coffin.