'Backstairs Intrigue' Flashcards
1932 election
Hindenburg stood for a second term of presidency
- Hitler was the NSDAP candidate
- Duesterberg was the DNVP candidate
- Thaelmann was the KPD candidate
- SPD and centre parties didn’t provide a candidate so that they did not split the vote out of fear of enabling Hitler to win the election
Hindenburg’s ruling style
- President of Germany
- increasingly used Article 48 to rule following the Great Depression
Outcome of 1932 election
- thus far Hindenburg has abided by the constitution and presidential oath although he was right wing and anti-Weimar
- 49.6% of the vote went to Hindenburg in the first round, very close to victory
- Hitler, Thaelmann and Hindenburg went to the second round, with Hindenburg getting 53% and Hitler getting 40%
- The lack of SPD and centre party candidates meant that their votes went to Hindenburg, helping him take the win
- this was he usually support base (SPD and Catholic voters)
Francis von Papen’s political rise/background
- Catholic aristocrat
- Zentrum politician
- One of Hindenburg’s closest advisors
- 2 days after becoming chancellor Papen left the ZP
- Schleicher influenced Hindenburg to make Papen the chancellor
- his cabinet was made up of the elite, with no members of the Reichstag
Papen - lack of political support and the SA
- little support from Reichstag and ZP
- only supported by the DNVP
- he lifted the bane on the SA in June 1932 in order to get NSDAP support
- however, this increased violence on the streets of Berlin, with the SA fighting communists
- Papen used this violence to remove the socialist Prussian government and arrest leftist politicians on the grounds of them supporting communists
- Hindenburg used article 48 to make Papen the Prussian Minister-President
Papen - the failure of his coalition
- Papen was unable to work with the Reichstag
- So Hindenburg dissolved it and called for new election, which were a disaster for the Weimar Republic
The November 1932 election - extremist parties
The Nazis had 33.1% of the vote and the KPD has 16.9%
- together they controlled half the Reichstag
- the elite asked for Hitler to be Chancellor
Reactions to the 1932 election
- Hindenburg state that Hitler must control a majority before he becomes Chancellor
- Hitler wouldn’t agree to a coalition since it would require compromise
- Papen proposed that he remain Chancellor, get rid of the Reichstag, use therapy to suppress opposition and set out a new authoritarian constitution
- Schleicher warned of a civil war, with his aim being to bring the left and right wing together to support constitutional change
Reaction to July 1932 election - vote of no-confidence
September 1932 - declaration of no-confidence in Papen by 512 votes to 42, with only the DVP and DNVP supporting him
- The Reichstag was dissolved by Hindenburg
- Papen and Hindenburg didn’t want to call another election, but this would be unconstitutional
The July 1932 election
Nazis and Communists won over half the seats
- nazis were biggest party with 37% of the vote
- Hitler demanded to be chancellor in August 1932 with an Enabling Act that allowed him to issue decrees himself
- Hindenburg did not like Hitler, partially due to his humble background, and refused
- Papen tried to gain support within the reichstag but failed
Schleicher’s appointment as chancellor
- Schleicher persuaded Hindenburg to make him Chancellor in December 1932
- Gregor Strasser, a left wing Nazi, was Vice Chancellor
- Schleicher developed Brüning’s land reforms
- However, his plan failed, alienating the Junkers and failed to win the support fo the socialists in the Nazi party
- Papen made a move against Schleicher
Papen’s plan
- Papen wanted to make Hitler chancellor and himself vice chancellor
- He believed that Hitler could be controlled
- Hitler became chancellor on the 30th January 1933
