The German people didn’t want communism, which was the other option so they turned to Nazism, as it was the only alternative. People feared that, since they had established themselves from the lower or skilled working classes and they now had a small stake in the world, economic chaos brought about by Communism would drag them back down the ladder. The wall street crash had led to mass unemployment in Germany and poverty. Hitler promised people recovery from this unemployment and get back on the road to economic recovery. After hyperinflation had occurred shortly after the end of the First World War the German people wanted economic stability to be able to feel safe again and the Nazi party offered this. The Weimar republic had alienated the middle classes through hyperinflation. The government printed millions of bank notes when Germany was in economic crisis to try to solve the problem but the notes were worthless and more and more were printed. The value of the mark on the stock exchange became almost worthless and savings that were once worth lots became worth hardly anything. The middle classes, the people who had savings, resented the Weimar Republic for allowing this to happen as they lost all of their savings during this period so they voted for the Nazis to get rid of the Weimar republic and democracy, as it didn’t seem to benefit them.
Germany had a long militaristic, autocratic and authoritarian tradition. Hitler carried this on but the Weimar republic didn’t. The Germans failed to develop their democracy to enable it to succeed instead they carried on their strong state led by a powerful leader. The natural even inevitable leader at this time was Hitler. He used the Brownshirts to parade in the streets and be on display to show the militaristic side and he wore uniform when speaking to the people. He used a symbol, the swastika, to signify his party. He based his party on and used propaganda to promote the authoritarian foundations that he intended for Germany. The democracy of the Weimar Republic was built upon weak foundations so this allowed Hitler to reinforce his authoritarian ideas especially since Hitler was against democracy.
Hitler was a very skilled politician. He used dualism in the Reichstag to play his opponents off against each other. Despite the Nazis being revolutionary, they came to power using constitutional methods. Hitler would not be satisfied by power that was limited by a constitution and with the presence of other opposing parties.
By 1930, democracy ended. Arthur Rosenberg described the formation of Bruning´s government as ‘ the beginning of the end of German democracy´. Bruning´s methods of deflationary economic policy were highly unpopular amongst the public. Evidence was soon shown when Bruning foolishly called for a general election in September 1930. The public had cast their votes towards the extreme parties, in particular the Nazis who advanced from the 12 seats they had won in 1928 to 107. They were now the second largest party in the Reichstag and clearly had to be included in all future political calculations. The ascension of the Nazi party was helped by these elections and thus further prompted the demise of the Republic. After 1930 there was growing support for the Communists and a much larger growth in support for the Nazis. The July 1932 elections saw a massive swing towards the Nazis and the high point of their success under free electoral conditions. The Republic’s political weaknesses had enabled the future successor to establish himself. Under these frailties Hitler was able to gain a majority in the Reichstag, by now it was clearly self-evident that the collapse of the Republic was evitable even if Hitler had not managed to assume the Chancellorship.
The responsibility for the demise of the Weimar Republic and the triumph of Nazism must lie not only with the electorate but also with those figures that played into Hitler’s hands and manoeuvred him into the Chancellor ship. Right-wing politicians such as von Papan and von Schleicher attempted to attract the Nazis into a coalition as junior partner. When von Schleicher replaced von Papan as Chancellor on 2nd December 1932, he attempted to split the Nazis by inviting Gregor Strasser to join his government. At the centre of this political fiasco lay Hindenburg, the last guardian of the Weimar Democracy. His decisions coupled to that of his son’s Oskar, had encouraged the rivalries between Papan and Schleicher in the first instance. It was their political scheming eventually leading to the downfall of the Weimar Republic. When Hitler made an agreement with von Papan on 4 January 1933 to obtain Chancellorship for himself, the end of the Republic was at hand and a new authoritarian regime had begun.
In the end it was the actions of the people at the top that reinforced the collapse of popular confidence in the democracy. Together with an initially weak political system, an economy in slump and the not too distant memories of the war and Versailles, it was easy for the Nazis to advertise the benefits of authoritarian government. Even though there was a short period of relative stability, the onset of depression brought hidden flaws to the surface again once more. Democracy was in unreliable hands and the Nazis could offer competence, certainty and an all-important sense of confidence, something the Weimar Republic lacked during all of its years.
