Reasons the Nazis gained power - Mistakes and weaknesses of opponents

2. President Hindenburg
From the first time that
Hindenburg met Hitler the
two men were said to dislike
one another.
Hindenburg often called
Hitler simply the “upstart
corporal”.

3. President Hindenburg
Paul von Hindenburg was in
his 80s by 1933; some
historians believe he was
senile by this time.
In 1932 he stood in the
Presidential election, largely
to stop Hitler being elected.

4. Arguments for influence
By 1932, Hindenburg was too ill to
effectively run Germany.
If Hindenburg had stepped aside in
favour of a younger, stronger
candidate, this person may have
found it easier to stop Hitler.

5. Arguments against influence
Hitler managed to win 37% of
the national vote in the 1932
Presidential election.
Hitler might have been elected
President if he was up against a
candidate other than the popular
Hindenburg.

6. Arguments for influence
Hindenburg and many of his
supporters underestimated Hitler,
giving him the chance to be
appointed as Chancellor.
Franz von Papen, a former
Chancellor, even said “we’ve hired
him” after this.

7. Article 48
Weimar’s Constitution
included Article 48, which gave
strong powers to the President.
This let the President pass laws
in the event of national
emergency, even without
Reichstag approval.

8. Article 48
Hindenburg made regular use
of Article 48 to pass laws which
were not supported in the
Reichstag.
In 1932 alone, he used Article
48 on 60 occasions.

9. Arguments for importance
Many people considered that
giving the President these
powers was undemocratic,
costing faith in the system.
This established a precedent
which Hitler would later use.

10. Arguments for importance
Article 48 was used because
political parties did not work
together effectively.
If Hindenburg had not used
the law, there would have been
less government action,
possibly causing more anger.

11. President Hindenburg
Hindenburg also allowed
elections to be held to the
Reichstag when it was not
required by the Weimar
Constitution.
Between 1928 and 1933, there
were five Reichstag elections.

12. Arguments for influence
Regular elections cost public
support for democracy, pushing
some Germans towards the Nazis.
Holding elections during times of
crisis (such as the Depression) also
greatly helped Hitler win support.

13. Arguments against influence
However Hindenburg’s actions
were again forced upon him.
Rival parties refused to work
together, and this forced the
President to pass laws or get new
politicians elected.

14. SPD/KPD divide
The Social Democratic Party
(SPD) and German Communist
Party (KPD) were both
considered left-wing parties -
but would not work together.
This was due to a dispute going
back to the Spartacist Revolt.

15. SPD/KPD divide
The SPD government had used
the German Army and
Freikorps to stop the Spartacist
Revolt. KPD members were
killed during this.
The KPD pledged never again
to trust or work with the SPD.

16. SPD/KPD divide
In November 1932, the Nazis
were biggest party in
Germany’s Reichstag (with 33%
of the votes).
However the Social Democrats
and Communists had a
combined 36% of the votes.

17. Arguments for influence
If the two parties had been
prepared to work together, they
might have been able to stop the
influence of the Hitler.
Instead they allowed personal
rivalry to stop this unity.

18. Arguments against influence
It is unlikely that a government
including Communists would
have received support from
other parties.
Therefore this left-wing coalition
would still have failed to get
laws passed, and collapsed.

19. SPD/KPD divide
During the 1925 Presidential
election, the Communists stood
a candidate against the SPD’s
choice, Wilhelm Marx.
This split the Left and Centre
vote and helped Paul von
Hindenburg win.

20. SPD/KPD divide
Without dividing the Left and
Centre vote, Hindenburg may
not have been elected.
This might have stopped Hitler
becoming Chancellor because it
was Hindenburg who
appointed him.

21. SPD/KPD divide
However large numbers of
Germans – especially richer
ones – wanted Hitler to be
leader of Germany.
Whoever was President, they
would have been pressured to
appoint Hitler as Chancellor.