1.1.3

The 1932 Election

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Weimar Government and the Great Depression

The period after the Wall Street crash is often called the Great Depression. It became increasingly clear that the Weimar government was too weak to deal with the problems of the Great Depression.

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The situation in Germany

  • It became clear that the government could not solve the problem of unemployment.
    • Chancellor Müller could not improve Germany’s economy and neither could his replacement, Chancellor Brüning.
    • It was a global problem. Economic growth and world trade slowed and Germany was handicapped by the terms of Versailles.
Illustrative background for The rise of the NazisIllustrative background for The rise of the Nazis ?? "content

The rise of the Nazis

  • Between 1928-1932, the Nazi vote grew rapidly:
    • 2.6% in 1928
    • 18% in 1930
    • 37% in July 1932
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Article 48

  • In response to the economic crisis, President Hindenburg lost faith in democracy himself and used Article 48 to bypass (avoid and go around) the Reichstag.
    • This significantly weakened the Weimar Republic.
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DNVP-Nazi Alliance

  • The DNVP was a mainstream conservative political party in Weimar Germany. They won 21% of the votes in the 1924 German election.
  • In 1928, Alfred Hugenberg became the leader of the DNVP.
  • Alfred Hugenberg was a media entrepreneur who owned Universum Film, and Telegraphen Union, giving him control of Weimar film, news, and telegraph.
  • The convergence of the conservative nationalist movement with Hitler is shown by the fact that the DNVP's traditional voter base, protestant Germans, is, according to Jurgen Falter, the only predictive factor for someone voting for the Nazi Party in the 1932 German election.

Jump to other topics

1Dictatorship

2Control & Opposition

3Changing Lives, 1933-1939

4Germany in War

5Occupation

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