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I often encounter a claim that the Hitler came to power democratically, exploiting democratic procedures, was "elected" etc. Such claims are usually made by right-wing Liberals who use this argument to justify political restrictions on their opponents as being a painful but necessary measure.





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In countries where only 2 parties isn't an almost religious postulate, governments need to be formed by coalitions. In Germany's case, there were other groups that could align with the Nazis to form a majority, and even the mainstream groups didn't have a huge philosophical objection to the Nazi policies of "getting the country going again". They were thought to be extreme but not evil at the time. –  Oldcat May 2 at 0:07
@Oldcat there was no coalition. –  Anixx May 2 at 0:17

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The Government of Germany had ground to a halt.


Events of course demonstrated how incorrect this belief was.






Quotes from The Rise of Adolph Hitler

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In summation:




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That's the third undemocratic part.

So, no Hitlers rise to power was far from democratic.

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Yes. No.

The problem is the situation in which the Weimar Republic persisted. Germany lost the War and was in a very bad condition.

  • For the NSDAP (Nazis) and the DNVP (Nationalists and Monarchists) Germany should have won the war; Propaganda fed the citizens with the oncoming victory, especially after the defeat of the Russians and the Brest-Litovsk treaty. They did not get the memo that after the failed offensive on the Western front the situation was hopeless, for the ordinary citizen the capitulation and the Versailles treaty came out of the blue. Stack-in-the-back-Myth: The socialists/jews/intellectuals/>insert scapegoat group here< were responsible for the defeat. Therefore they hated the Weimar Republic with passion.

  • The communists (KPD) on the other hand were outraged that the old system murdered their creator and heroine Rosa Luxemburg. For them it was inevitable that the success of the Russian Revolution should be continued in Germany and there was considerable support within the population (20%). Under the influence of Stalin the communists even adopted the "sozial faschism" thesis that the SPD (left-wing civil party) and the unions are even more reprehensible than the right-wing NSDAP and DNVP. (If you remember the joke of the "People's Front of Judea" against the "Judeans People's Front" from the "Life of Brian"...only that it is not funny). Therefore they hated the Weimar Republic with passion.

  • The current goverment of Germany consisting of the SPD (left-wing civil party), Zentrum (catholic party) and the DDP (progressive). Hated from both far left and far right, blessed with hyperinflation 1923, war reparations, a really half-baked political system (more about that down) and civil unrest it was impressive that it hold its ground and was stable until 1929.

After Black Tuesday and the Great Depression it finally broke down. Unemployment rose to unprecended height. It was shown that the political system of the Weimar Republic was critically flawed. The Reichstag (parliament) was not able to work because both left and right parties had enough votes to stop progress. Hindenburg had the power to dissolve the Reichstag, elect the political leader ("Reichskanzler") and create emergency bills ("Notverordnungen"). And he abused this power to its full extent. If someone wants to insist that Germany in the last three years from 1929 to 1932 was a stable democracy: Ferocious streetfighting between communists, nazis and goverment supporters was a daily occurence. In fact, each of the factions had their own hit squad: The KPD had its "Rotfrontkämpferbund", the goverment its "Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold" and the nazis the "SA".

While the German election at March, 5th 1933 was during the time Adolf Hitler was already in power and the opposition was hit hard by the draconian persecution for the alleged arson of the Reichstag (and therefore the election cannot be called "fair" by any means), the NSDAP got 43,9 % and the DNVP 8% with a voter turnout of nearly 89%. They build a coalition and were therefore able to get the absolute majority with nearly 52%. They persuaded the Zentrumspartei to push the Enabling Act through with the necessary 66% majority and legally installed the dictatorship.

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