Examine how and why the conditions of the state help Hitler and the Nazi party rise to power.

As the Nazi party was large and powerful in the early 1930’s they made a big impression on the Reichstag in 1932 with 230 seats in July. The fact that a party who opposed democracy could get such a large proportion in the Reichstag was another failing of the constitution due to proportional representation. If any party got 1% of the votes then they would get 1% of the seats and so any party could get into power regardless of their policy. It also meant that there was a huge amount of parties in the Reichstag and all of them had limited support. When this was combined with the effect of the great depression, all these parties argued about what to do. The extremist parties like the Nazis began to look like a viable party for many Germans as the radical ideas which they proposed appeared to be able to solve the ever increasing amount of problems in Germany. They also had the biggest proportion in the Reichstag and so looked increasingly powerful in the failing Weimar.

The inability of the Weimar to deal with the great depression was another of its major downfalls. The economic collapse that occurred after 1929 intensified feeling about the Weimar republic especially in middle class communities as unemployment rocketed to 6million in 1932. Farmers accumulated massive debt and the Nazis promises to lower taxes and protect farmers from foreign competition proved popular. The Weimar made the mistake of believing that no one would fall for these empty promises and also had no counter offer for the German farmers. Big businesses had low profits and ruthlessly refused demands to increase taxes to pay benefits. Communist policies also worried Big businesses and farmers and the Nazis provided a safe haven for those who opposed the Communist ideologies. When the Weimar proposed nothing to solve their problems, people lost their faith in democracy.

Finally, the dislike of the Weimar by the conservative elite (Army officers, big landowners and Big businesses) helped the Nazis rise to power as they were keen to get rid of the Weimar. They believed that they could use Hitler and his support to achieve this. The conservative elite had been brought up under the rule of the Kaiser and liked the idea of a strong government replacing the Weimar, but it was also because they had their own reasons for wanting to abolish the Weimar. Army officers wanted to modernise the army which would be impossible if the Left was in power and the Landowners were worried about the effect of the prolonged rural crisis. The Weimar angered these elite when the increased benefits and social housing diverting money into schemes deemed “unnecessary” by the elite. The fact was, none of the Conservative elite were specifically pro-Nazi, but they all shared the same ideas that the Weimar should be ended. It was this “negative cohesion” that gave the Nazis support of the elite by sharing nationalist and anti-communist values and also gained support by wanting to end the politically unstable Weimar. This really helped the Nazis get into power as they had support of a force that could effectively removed and replace the Weimar with the Nazi Party.

In conclusion, the failings of the Weimar created an environment where the Nazis could rise into power. They were, however, still very lucky as they were beginning to lose support in late 1932 and were also running out of funds and they did not have an overwhelming majority as they only had 37% in the Reichstag. However, the fact that the Nazis seemed to have solutions to the problems that faced the German society gained them support over the floundering Weimar. Hitler’s support was thought to be able to restore the Weimar which helped the Nazis rise to power in 1933.