Why Did Hitler Become Chancellor in 1933?
For ten years Germany was governed by the Weimar Republic – which
endeavoured to be as fair and democratic as possible. The coalition government
was just left of centre, and was continually elected by the German people. Yet,
from 1929 onwards, support for the coalition government rapidly waned, and
there was a shift to the extremes. By 1933, the German people had elected
Hitler; a fascist, power hungry dictator, who despised democracy; and would turn
Germany into one of the most notorious dictatorships the world had ever known.
What caused the German people to lose confidence in the Weimar Republic, and
turn to a system of government so disparate in its values?
The Weimar Republic itself, although it fulfilled the characteristics of a
democracy, giving universal suffrage and equal indiscriminate rights to its
people; had its weaknesses. Prior to its establishment, Germany had been a
monarchy. The people of Germany had never been used to democracy – it was
forced upon them by the Allies, who named the abdication of the Kaiser as a
condition of the WW1 peace treaty.
Consequently the Weimar Republic was on very uneasy footing - the political
landscape of Germany was chaotic–it was a time when many political
philosophies were flying around; untried and untested in Germany; especially
with Russia fallen to Communism in the east, and Italy under a fascist regime in
the South. Naturally there were many radically different political parties;
Including a communist party to the extreme left and a nationalist group called
the ‘Freikorps’ to the right, both of which tried to stage a revolution.
The main problem, however, was that because of its strict adherence to
democratic principles, The Weimar Republic allowed such parties, which were so
openly anti-democratic, to exist and take part in the governing process. Seats in
the Reichstag were determined by proportional representation, so each party got
the same percentage of seats as the percentage of votes they got from the
public. After every election held in the Weimar Germany, at least 6 of the seven
parties would gain 20 or more seats, and no party ever gained an overwhelming
majority, so coalition governments had to be formed. (Compare this to the UK
House of Commons, which consists of three main parties; typically the only ones
to get more than 10 seats in the general elections, and there is usually always
one party that gains an overall majority; due to the plurality voting system, so
we have a very stable government.)
Therefore parliament was fragmented into many parties, often at loggerheads
with each other; making it difficult for legislation to be passed through. Because
power was shared between parties, there was no strong, decisive leadership, as
the consent of all parties involved in the coalition government was needed to
form policy. To the German people, parliament must have seemed like a bunch of
squabbling politicians, who disagreed on everything and could not work together
to lead the country.
When the Great Depression hit Germany, the Weimar Republic could not
respond in an efficient way. The coalition governments fell apart due to
ideological differences, as again, they could not agree on the right course of
action to take after the Depression. The chancellor had to rely on article 48 of
the constitution, which gave the President emergency powers. The president of
the Weimar Republic, Hindenburg, was an old army general, who was really and
truly a monarchist – himself elected 4 years ago by the public, reflecting their
attachment to the old regime. He was under the influence of rich industrialists,
and he supported the chancellor’s line of policy, which was to raise taxes, and
cut unemployment benefit and wages.
This proved to the people what a shambles the Weimar Republic really was; it fell
apart under pressure, and people lost faith in it. The condition of the German
people was desolate; the government could not alleviate their problems, and
instead pushed through unpopular policies. This had been their only experience of
democracy, and it had failed. Life under the Kaiser seemed to have been much
better than life under the Republic; Germany had been strong and powerful; now
Germany was weak; and indebted to the allies. This sentiment amongst the
people caused them to turn away from democracy, in search of something else.
In the wake of the Great Depression, Hitler saw his chance. The people were fed
up of democracy and were looking for something radically different. There were
two ways they could go, the extreme left or the extreme right. Hitler would
make sure they chose right. Hitler stood out from the rest of the political party
leaders. His domineering personality and powerful public speaking skills
impressed the people, and kindled hope in their hearts. Here was a man who
was impassioned in his concern for the welfare of Germany and its people. He
seemed to share the same anger and frustration as them. He too, could
remember the days when Germany was a superpower, and wanted the things
that had contributed to its greatness then returned. This was reflected in the
policies of the Nazi party, which were aimed at all members of society.
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the things that the Nazi party despised, and
many German people hated it too. Hitler attracted a lot of support because he
seemed like the only one who would stand up to the Allies, and disregard the
Treaty of Versailles.
The reparations it demanded were instrumental in the destruction of the German
economy. Everyone could remember the years of hyper-inflation, when France
and Belgium invaded the Ruhr, halting the better part of German industry. The
loans from the USA, agreed upon by the Weimar Republic to help pay back the
reparations, were also remembered as the force that had dragged Germany into
the Great Depression, when the USA recalled the loans.
Under the Kaiser, the German military had been a force to be reckoned with. The
terms of the treaty destroyed this military might, by reducing the amount of
soldiers in the army from a few million to lOO,OOO. . Hitler was all for
rearmament, which Hitler believed was indispensible in creating a powerful
Germany. He hoped to achieve strength through military conquest, gaining
‘lebensraum’ or ‘living space’ for the German people. This ideology attracted
support from nationalists and the many demobilized soldiers in Germany. Hitler
perpetrated the myth that the Weimar politicians had ‘stabbed Germany in the
back’ by signing the treaty of Versailles, thereby inciting hatred of the social
democrats and other pro-democratic parties. Many soldiers and members of the
public believed that Germany could have won the Great War, urged on in this
belief by army generals falsely claiming that the army could have carried the war
on successfully. In truth the German army would invariably have been defeated,
what with the British naval blockade of German ports stopping essential supplies
reaching the military. Conditions were so bad that naval officers mutinied when
ordered into a suicidal battle with the British Navy. The truth, however, did not
matter to Hitler, as long as he could use the myth to gain more votes.
The Nazis party’s blatant hatred of Communism attracted the upper and middle
classes. Hitler utilized the SA to break up opposition meetings and beat up and
intimidate Communists; although this lost them support from some people, who
were horrified by their tactics. Hitler’s hatred of Jews, however, went
unchallenged, because many Germans themselves were racist, and anti-Semitism
was generally present all over Europe at the time. The success of Jewish
businesses worried some Germans too, and Hitler’s anti-Jewish propaganda
fuelled this fear. This was in line with Hitler’s ideal of an Aryan super race, which
he believed Jews were purposely trying to infiltrate to destroy it. He believed in
the unification of all countries in which people of this race inhabited, as his vision
of Greater Germany. This ideal also helped win the support of German
Nationalists.
The Nazi Party claimed to be both nationalist and socialist; however Hitler
himself did not care greatly for the plight of the working class, and was more
reliant on votes and funding from wealthy, middle class business owners. Some of
the Nazi’s socialist policies, such as the nationalization of industry, alarmed these
industrialists, and Hitler had no qualms about suspending the policies in order to
keep their support, demonstrating his lack of commitment to socialism. Other
socialist policies, such as free education for gifted children and higher pensions
were promised by the Nazis, but it seemed that Hitler was only using them as a
tool to gain votes. His prime objective was to gain power, and he seemed to
adhere to the philosophy that in achieving this, the ends justified the means.
Hitler not only geared Nazi policy to secure him the maximum amount of votes,
but also made use of the various other skills his party members made available
to him. The Nazis were a very well organised movement, with support from
army generals, and many of their members coming from military backgrounds.
They bought discipline and efficiency to the party; valuable assets of any
organization.
One of the most effective components of his election campaign was propaganda.
With the help of Joseph Goebbels, a mastermind in propaganda, Hitler
capitalized on all the media opportunities in Germany to make his message clear
and influence the masses; tactics which the opposition had not yet used
extensively. The Nazis printed their own newspaper, and Hitler made use of radio
to broadcast his speeches everywhere and travelled across Germany so that
everyone heard his message, giving public speeches as he went. The main aim of
this was not just to raise awareness about the Nazi Party and its philosophy; but
to focus on Hitler as a leader. To emphasize the strength that Hitler and the Nazi
Party possessed, in contrast to the weakness of the Weimar Republic. It was
exactly what the public needed and wanted to see. Hitler had millions of election
posters and leaflets printed and distributed widely.
They were aimed at different parts of society, all portraying strong and
convincing messages. One poster that stands out in my memory has a sketch of
a crowd of German people, looking diverse as individuals from different walks
of life, but all having the same expression and mood. The words ‘Our Last Hope’
at the top and ‘HITLER’ in large, white print at the bottom are printed on it. It is
a powerful image that seems to represent the German nation collectively, and
captures the mood of the people – depressed and desolate. It shows that the
Nazis understand how the people are feeling, understand their condition, and
that they alone care. Hitler is the only one who can save them from their plight,
he is their ‘last hope’, and is the only one who can unite the people, from
different walks of life, under one banner and bring them out of the darkness.
Ultimately, this image would have gained the Nazis universal support as the
only party who could relate to the people, which is why I believe it is so
effective.
Together, all the above mentioned tactics brought the Nazi Party great support
from the people, and by 1932 they had leaped from 12 to 230 seats in the
Reichstag. The only thing left to do was get Hitler the position of chancellor. He
had the strongest support in the Reichstag, as the Nazis were the largest party.
However, only President Hindenburg had the power to appoint him chancellor,
and Hindenburg disliked Hitler.
Instead he chose Franz von Papen, who held the support, albeit weak of the
German National People’s party to keep his chancellorship legitimate. Papen
hoped to strengthen his position by gaining the support of the Nazi party, and
lifted a ban on the SA in aid of this, but Hitler refused to support him.
Then General von Schleicher, Hindenburg’s advisor, decided that he wanted the
chancellorship for himself. He used his influence with Hindenburg to remove von
Papen from the position and take it for himself. Nevertheless he was unable to
maintain his position as chancellor, because he failed to get enough support
from the Reichstag. Hitler was the only man left for the job, as he had the most
legitimate claim towards it because he had the most support from the Reichstag
– and the Nazis would probably revolt if he was not given the chancellorship.
Franz von Papen assured Hindenburg that if he appointed Hitler as chancellor,
and von Papen as vice-chancellor, Hitler, who had no experience of the job,
could be controlled by von Papen.
In this way, Hitler went from being the leader of an obscure right wing party to
the last chancellor of the Weimar Republic. It is intriguing that he achieved this
through the support of the German people, using democracy’s weaknesses to
cause its own downfall. Of course, he capitalized on the opportunities presented
by the Great Depression, and it was from then on that the Nazis gained real
momentum, but one could say that the Great Depression was a disaster waiting
to happen; on the backs of loans taken out to fix the crisis of hyper-inflation,
and to pay back reparations. In the end, though, it was a desperate people,
searching for hope, guidance, and most of all, strong leadership, who enabled
Hitler to reach the height of power with which he could implement his policies,
and turn his ideals into reality.