The Weimar constitution itself was flawed and had the propensity for abuse in its Article 48 which basically allowed for the president of Germany to take over the government and effectively rule over Germany. The Reichstag could theoretically stop him but should the president control even that. Hitler very effectively used this article in his ascension to power in Germany. Indeed, K. Fischer, in “Nazi Germany. A New History” said that “the Weimar Constitution was a hodge-podge of principles drawn from Socialist and liberal agendas; it represented so much confusion in regard to economic objectives and unresolved class conflicts that German democracy was stymied from the beginning… In 1919, however, it was doubtful whether such a democratic constitution could work in the hands of a people that was neither psychologically nor historically prepared for self-government”. From here, we can then say that the structure of the Weimar constitution itself led to the demise of the Weimar government and the rise of Hitler. In fact, Hitler did use Article 48 to declare a State of Emergency and make himself the undisputed leader of Germany after the incident known as the Reichstag Fire, which took place February 27th 1933 (when Hitler was already in office as Chancellor), where the German parliament building burnt down. He never let go of these emergency powers after implementing them.
Furthermore, we have to look at the Treaty of Versailles as a possible reason for Hitler’s rise to power. The Treaty of Versailles came as a shock to most Germans as it meant that Germany had lost the war. Most Germans had expected victory even as late as spring 1918. Furthermore, most Germans were outraged at the terms of the Treaty, which stated that Germany was to take all the blame for the war and, as a result, had to pay vast reparations to the Allies. It had to disarm, which humiliated Germans as the army was the pride of Germany. Germany also lost the Rhineland, which was very important economically. It also lost population, land and industries. Lastly, the Germans had to make astronomical war reparations of 132 billion gold marks over 30 years to the Allies. While the terms of the Treaty were bad enough, what made them worse were the Germans’ reactions to them. Hitler was able to effectively use this anger in his propaganda against the Weimar government, such as when he used election posters which highlighted the story of the ‘stab in the back’, where the German politicians betrayed the German army by signing the Treaty of Versailles.
The last factor we see which led to the rise of Hitler was the strengths of the Nazi party itself. Hitler was an extremely charismatic leader who was able to grab the hearts of people who attended his speeches. He moved them and made them believe that under him, Germany would be rebuilt and the German people would have a better life. This can be proven by quoting E. A. Buller, who noted at one of Hitler’s speeches that “many of them (the audience) seemed lost to the world around them and were probably unaware of what they were saying. One man… lent forward with his head in his hands, and with a sort of convulsive sob said, ‘Gott sei Dank, he understands.’” Such was Hitler’s power that it was not very surprising that he would be able to turn his party into the most popular one in Weimar Germany.
Another factor was the tactics used by the SA (Sturm-Abteilung), intended to protect Nazi speakers. With membership as high as 500,000 by 1921, they did not hesitate to use violence to suppress any opposition to the Nazis, mostly the communists. For example, in July 1932 alone, 100 were killed as a result of the clashes between the SA and the communists. The SA’s ‘propaganda by deed’ focused attention on the communist threat and the Nazis’ determination to smash it, which attracted many, such as the petty bourgeoisie, to it. Despite the violence and disorder they caused, their disciplined marches created the impression that the Nazis would offer firm government to restore Germany to law and order. Furthermore, the feat of an SA seizure of power led some in the elite to favour Hitler playing a role in government, since they thought he was the only one who could control the SA.
Another significant factor which led to the rise of Hitler was the Nazi Party’s proposed solutions to the Great Depression. Starting the America, the Great Depression created huge economic problems throughout the world then. This was even more so for Germany, which had relied immensely on America to lead it out of its economic problems previously. For example, America had lent Germany money to help it repay its loans in 1924 as part of the Dawes Plan. In fact, American loans and investments in Germany amounted to US$4 billion from 1924-1929. When the Great Depression struck, America started to demand Germany to repay all of the money it had been lent. This led to an economic crisis within Germany. Businesses cut back production, people started buying less and less, and all this led to massive unemployment and serious cuts in wages.
The situation was so bad, in fact, that by 1932, 3 years after the Great Depression started, over 6 million people in Germany were unemployed.
What this did was to make the German people very untrusting of the Weimar government as it could not lead them out of the Great Depression. The Nazis, on the other hand, were able to put forward a number of economic policies which appealed to the working classes and yet did not threaten capitalism (which communism did) through policies such as financial controls to protect those in debt and public investment in industry to boost the economy. It was also able to appeal to a wider social group by proposing economic policies which would allow for economic autarky which would put the interests of Germans above those of foreigners and the creation of a continental economic zone dominated by Germany. For example, W. Brustein, in ‘The Logic of Evil. Social Origins of the Nazi Party 1925-33’, said that the Nazi party gained its phenomenal mass constituency because “the party designed a series of innovative programs that appealed to material interests of a broad constituency overwhelmed by the Depression”.
I personally believe that the most important factor which led to the rise of the Nazis were their policies and the way in which they operated as a party. This is because even though the Weimar government was fragmented in the first place, only a strong party could rise up of all the quarrelling and establish its power at the top. The Nazis were able to do this only through their popular appeal to the masses and the violent methods which their main propaganda machine, the SA, used. As we know, the main opposition party the SA attacked were the communists. The other groups, no doubt, saw the bloodshed and destruction occurring due to this violence and since none of the other groups had a personal army, or even if they did, most definitely not as large as the SA (which was, as already stated, 500 000 by 1921), they could not afford to compete.
Article 48 was, in itself, already a dangerous article in the Weimar constitution, and all it needed was a person who wanted absolute power to abuse it. That person came in the form of Hitler.
As for the Treaty of Versailles, even though it did cause much resentment and anger when it initially came out, the anger was buried as the German economy flourished in the mid 1920s. When the Great Depression came, Hitler was able to revive the issue of the Versailles Treaty and used it to attack the legitimacy of the Weimar government. In other words, he made the German populace judge the Weimar republic as the traitors who had caused so much damage and hurt to Germany. If the Nazis had not brought the issue up, it is quite likely that it would not even have been used so effectively to emotionally stir the German populace.
Therefore, it can thus be seen that the most important reason for Hitler’s rise to power was the appeal of the Nazi party and of Hitler to the German people.
