HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 10

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HI136 The History of GermanyLecture 10

• The Rise of Extremism and the Collapse of Weimar
  Democracy

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Left-wing Extremism

• Jan. 1919 A number of radical socialist groups
  came to together to found the Kommunistische
  Partei Deutschlands (KPD).
• Suppression of the Spartacus Uprising (Jan. 1919)
  and the murder of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa
  Luxemburg left a legacy of bitterness and meant
  the German left was split throughout the Weimar
  period.
• The KPDs support mostly came from the unskilled
  working class and the unemployed.
• April 1920 The Leftists expelled and form the
  Kommunistische Arbeiter Partei Deutschlands
  (Communist Workers Party of Germany, KAPD).
• October 1920 The collapse of the USPD benefited
  the Communists, whose membership swelled to over
  400,000.
• But their electoral appeal was limited in the
  Reichstag elections of 1920 the KPD won just 2.1
  of the vote.
• Involvement in insurrections in 1921 and 1923
  underlined the Communists fundamental opposition
  to the democratic system.

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Right-wing Extremism

• Interwar Germany a fertile breeding ground for
  radical right-wing organizations.
• 1919 Anton Drexler founds the Deutsche
  Arbeiterpartei (German Workers Party, DAP).
• Adolf Hitler joined the DAP in Sept. 1919,
  quickly rising through the ranks to become the
  partys chief theorist and propaganda officer.
• Feb. 1920 Hitler heads a committee which draws
  up the Partys 25 Point Programme which remains
  the basis of Nazi ideology until 1945.
• April 1920 The DAP renamed the
  Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
  (National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP
  or Nazi for short).
• July 1921 Hitler ousts Drexler is appointed
  Party Chairman.
• November 1923 Attempt to seize power through
  violence in the failed Munich Beer Hall Putsch.
• 1925 Nazi party refounded with a new commitment
  to achieving power through legal means.
• But still had little popular support they won
  only 2.6 of the vote in the Reichstag elections
  of 1928.

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Paramilitary Organizations

• Loss of state monopoly of violence in 1918.
• Cult of vigilantism and Fehemorde (vendetta
  killings) by right-wing groupings.
• Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold Founded in 1924
  by the Social Democrat Otto Hörsing to protect
  the republic from attacks by political enemies.
  Officially non-partisan, but run financed by
  the SPD and the Trade Unions. It had around 3
  million members by 1932.
• Roter Frontkämpferbund (Red Fighter League)
  Founded in 1924 as the paramilitary wing of the
  KPD. Its aim was to defend the working classes
  from attacks from the radical right. By 1927 it
  had 111,000 members.
• Sturmabteilung (Storm Division, SA) Founded
  in 1921 as the paramilitary wing of the NSDAP.
  Acted as a uniformed guard to protect speakers at
  party meetings and intimidate opposition. Had
  55,000 members by 1923, rising to c.500,000 a
  decade later.
• Stahlhelm. Bund der Frontsoldaten (steel helmet.
  League of Frontline Soldiers) founded 1918 by
  Franz Seldte antidemocratic, nationalistic,
  non-partisan but close to DNVP. Had 500,000
  members by 1930.

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The Great Depression

• October 1929 the Wall Street Crash led to a
  worldwide economic downturn.
• Germany was particularly hard hit the German
  economy was heavily dependent on foreign loans
  and the banking system was geared towards
  short-term credit to finance long-term ventures.
• As foreign investment dried up and debts were
  called in, German firms folded and banks
  collapsed leading to mass unemployment.
• 2 million Germans out of work by the winter of
  1929-30.
• Unemployment reached 3 million in 1931 had
  risen to 5.1 million by Sept. 1932. It peaked at
  6.1 million in early 1933.
• This led to material hardship, but also had an
  important psychological effect fear,
  uncertainty, loss of pride and status, feeling
  that the fabric of society was unravelling.
• The economic crisis quickly became a political
  crisis as the social insurance system became
  overloaded.

Soucre R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas
of the Third Reich (1996)
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The Final Crisis, 1930-33

• March 1930 Hermann Müllers Grand Coalition
  collapsed when the DVP and SPD members of the
  Cabinet could not agree on how to solve the
  crisis.
• Hindenburg appointed Heinrich Brüning, leader of
  the Centre Party, Chancellor. His lack of
  charisma and unpopular deflationary policies
  (cuts in public spending tax rises) meant that
  he was unable to command a majority in the
  Reichstag. Thus from the summer of 1930 onwards
  he was forced to use emergency powers to pass any
  legislation.
• But the Depression had radicalized German
  politics and the parties of the extreme left and
  right continued to gain support a very real
  fear of communist revolution amongst
  conservatives and the middle classes.
• By 1930 the Nazis were the 2nd largest party in
  the Reichstag.
• Oct. 1931 the Harzburg Front anti-republican
  alliance between the Nazis, Alfred Hugenburgs
  DNVP and the Stahlhelm.
• 1932 Hitler confident enough to challenge
  Hindenburg for the Presidency.
• By May 1932 Brüning had lost the support of the
  President and his advisors his policies had not
  significantly solved the problems caused by the
  Depression or stopped the escalating violence in
  the streets.
• June 1932 Franz von Papen head the right-wing
  Cabinet of Barons.

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Chancellors, 1930-33
General Kurt von Schleicher (Non party) Dec. 1932
Jan. 1933
Franz von Papen (Centre Party) June Dec. 1932
Heinrich Brüning (Centre Party) March 1930 May
1932
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The Final Crisis, 1930-33

• July 1932 Preussenschlag The illegal
  constitutional coup in which the elected SPD
  government of Prussia deposed by the army on the
  orders of von Papen. A Reich Commissioner was
  installed and Social Democratic and liberal
  officials were replaced by conservative civil
  servants.
• Nov. 1932 Papen replaced by General Kurt von
  Schleicher.
• Papen enters into secret negotiations with the
  Nazis, big business and large landowners designed
  to bring about his return to power with a
  majority in the Reichstag.
• Jan. 1933 Hindenburg reluctantly agrees to
  dismiss Schleicher and replace him with Hitler.
• The Conservatives convinced that they would be
  able to control Hitler and the Nazis Papen was
  Vice-Chancellor and their were only 3 Nazis in
  the Cabinet.

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Hitlers first Cabinet, 30 January 1933 Seated
(left to right) Hermann Göring, Hitler, Franz
von Papen Standing (left to right) Baron
Konstantin von Neurath (Foreign Minister),
Günther Gereke (Commissioner for Job Creation),
Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk (Finance
Minister), Wilhelm Frick (Interior Minister),
General Werner von Blomberg (Defence Minister),
Alfred Hugenberg (Minister of Agriculture and
Economics)
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Reasons for the Collapse of Weimar Democracy

• Domestic Factors
• Lack of popular support
• Constitutional flaws
• Role of established elites
• International Factors
• Legacy of Versailles
• World economic crisis (the Great Depression)
• General crisis of liberal democracy

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Lack of support for Democracy

• The Republic never enjoyed much popular support
  people accepted it, but there was never
  widespread identification with the Republican
  system and values.
• No strong tradition of participatory politics in
  Germany democratic institutions relatively new.
• Negative experience of democracy the Republic
  associated with political economic crisis,
  failure to solve the problems of the Depression.
• Factional nature of party politics most parties
  relied on their core constituencies did not
  reach out to other groups. Parties on the left
  and right fundamentally opposed to democratic
  politics. Split in the left ? parties unable or
  unwilling to work together to defend the system.
• The Nazis much better than other parties at
  targeting their message at disaffected groups.

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Constitutional Flaws

• Proportional Representation
• 1 seat in the Reichstag for every 60,000 votes.
• Led to the proliferation of parties.
• Led to weak coalition governments.
• Article 48
• Allowed the President to assume emergency powers
  and pass bills into law without the approval of
  the Reichstag.
• Open to misuse when the President is not
  supportive of the Republican system.

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Role of Elites

• Powerful established interest groups big
  business, landowners, the Army, Civil Service
  etc. ambivalent towards democracy.
• The military-conservative clique of advisors
  around the President had been considering an
  authoritarian reconfiguration of the Republic
  since 1929.
• The middle and upper classes saw the Communists
  as a bigger threat than the Nazis.

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The Legacy of Versailles

• The Republic blamed for signing the humiliating
  peace in 1919.
• The Stab in the Back a powerful theme in the
  propaganda of the right.
• On-going frustration over the failure to revise
  the peace settlement.
• Germany continues to feel like a second-class
  power.
• All of this undermines support in the Republican
  system and the moderate parties.

What we will lose! propaganda poster
opposing the Treaty of Versailles (c. 1919)
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The Great Depression

• Radicalized German society and politics.
• Moderate parties and the democratic system
  apparently unable to solve the problems of
  unemployment and social insurance.
• So people turned to the parties of the extreme
  left and right who offered radical solutions and
  strong leadership.
• The unemployed turned to the KPD, while the
  middle classes turned to the Nazis.

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Soucre R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of
the Third Reich (1996)
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The European Context

• 26 democratic states in Europe in 1920. By 1938
  there were only 10.
• Reasons for democratic collapse (Robert Pearce)
• Threat from the Left
• Fear of the spread of the bacillus of
  Bolshevism from Soviet Russia.
• Aggrieved Nationalism
• The post-war settlement left many nations (both
  victors and vanquished) dissatisfied.
• Economic Crisis
• Fears of the collapse of capitalism and the
  spread of Communism. Growing feeling that
  democratic politicians could not run the economy
  effectively and that the liberal democratic
  system was unable to cope with the problems of
  the modern world.
• Weak democratic institutions/traditions
• History proves that dictatorships do not grow
  out of strong and successful governments, but out
  of weak and helpless governments. (Franklin
  Delano Roosevelt)