President Paul von Hindenburg with 15th Chancellor Adolf Hitler in May 1933
Hindenburg was 84 years old, and Hitler was 43 years old
The Weimar Republic was a historical period of the German state from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history.
"It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic"
On November 08, 1918, a meeting was scheduled between military officers and politicians of Germany and the main Allies of the First World War.
The location was a railway carriage in the forest of Compiègne in northern France.
The Germans thought that they were there to negotiate terms.
However, Marshal Foch, the top French military leader, made it clear that they were, in fact, there to sign Germany’s unconditional surrender.
Three days of fruitless negotiations followed before the Germans signed the armistice, lodging a formal complaint about the harsh terms imposed on Germany by the victorious Allies.
Painting depicting the signature of the armistice in the railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne, Eastern France, November 8, 1918. Behind the table, from right to left, General Weygand, Marshal Foch of France (standing) and British Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss and fourth from the left, British Naval Captain Jack Marriott. In the foreground, Matthias Erzberger (a member of the German government), Major General Detlof von Winterfeldt (with helmet), Alfred von Oberndorff and Ernst Vanselow. (Wikipedia)
On November 10, Kaisar William II took refuge in the neutral Netherlands, where on November 28, he signed his own abdication of his sovereign rights.
The Armistice of November 11, 1918, was an agreement signed between the Allies and Germany that halted fighting in World War I, taking effect at 11 a.m. on that date on the Western Front.
The casualties suffered by the participants in World War I dwarfed those of previous wars: some 8,500,000 soldiers died as a result of wounds and/or disease.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, at the Palace of Versailles, formally ended World War I by imposing harsh terms on Germany, including territorial losses, significant war reparations payments, and severe restrictions on its military.
The treaty also included the War Guilt Clause, blaming Germany for starting the war, and established the League of Nations, an international organisation intended to maintain future peace.
People in Germany were angry. The country had to pay 132 billion gold marks (their currency before the Euro) to repair the damage of war. They became poor because of this.
The leaders of the USA, Great Britain and France met in Versailles to decide what should happen next. Germany, Austria and Hungary were not invited.
The agreement was called the Treaty of Versailles.
Germany was shocked that it was totally to blame for starting the war.
They could not join the new League of Nations, where countries worked together for peace.
Some places Germany used to own, like Alsace-Lorraine, were taken from them.
They were banned from having an army of more than 100,000 men and from having any submarines or an air force.
"November Criminals" was the jibe against politicians and public officials who negotiated the armistice in November 1918 and signed the Treaty of Versailles, ending World War I.
This sentiment, part of the "stab-in-the-back legend," was fueled by the treaty's harsh conditions and was later exploited by groups like the Nazis to undermine the Weimar Republic.
Jews, Social Democrats and Communists were the targets.
The primary Allied Powers in World War I were France, the British Empire, and Russia. Other key Allied countries that joined the alliance included Serbia, Belgium, Italy, Japan, Romania, China, and the United States.
Germany’s first experiment with liberal democracy was born of the 1919 Weimar Constitution, established after the conclusion of World War I. It called for a president elected by direct ballot, who would appoint a chancellor to introduce legislation to members of the Reichstag (who were also elected by popular vote).
Adolf Hitler was discharged from the German army in 1919, and he then worked as a police spy before becoming involved in politics.
He worked for the German Workers' Party, which he later helped to transform into the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party). He became the party's leader/ Führer in 1921.
"Germany’s government was on the brink of collapse. Hyperinflation saw the price of a loaf of bread rise from 250 marks to 200 billion by November.
Beer Hall Putsch: Hitler sought to start a revolution. On 8 November 1923, Bavarian Prime Minister Gustav Kahr addressed a meeting of businessmen at a beer hall in Munich. Hitler burst in with his storm troopers (the SA) – a motley crew of far-right paramilitaries.
At gunpoint, Kahr was forced to pledge support. The next day, Hitler led 3,000 men onto the streets. But the police were waiting. In the ensuing violence, 16 Nazis and 3 policemen died. Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for treason." (BBC)
Adolf Hitler was jailed for his role in the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, being convicted of high treason and sentenced to five years in a minimum-security prison in Landsberg, though he only served nine months before his release.
US Governor Pritzker points to a newspaper about Hitler, at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, 2025
During his imprisonment, Hitler dictated his book Mein Kampf to Rudolf Hess, and his time in prison was relatively comfortable, allowing him to strategise for a new, legal path to power.
Mein Kampf (which means My Struggle, 1925) promoted the key components of Nazism: rabid antisemitism, a racist worldview, and an aggressive foreign policy.
The book outlined the central tenets of a Germany under Nazi control – military expansion, elimination of "impure" races and dictatorial authoritarianism. After its publication in July 1925, the book saw more exposure for Hitler’s views.
Hitler and his future propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, utilised this Big Lie technique to repeat the technique of telling a lie so colossal that no one would ever suspect it was false. He first described this concept in Mein Kampf.
The Nazi SA (Sturmabteilung), or "Brownshirts," was the Nazi Party's original paramilitary wing, founded in 1920 and led by Ernst Röhm (executed in 1934 by Hitler).
The SA was instrumental in the Nazi rise to power by using street violence and intimidation to suppress political opposition, particularly communists and socialists.
1928 – 1932
In the 1928 federal elections, 491 seats were contested. The Social Democratic Party won 154 seats; the Communists 54, and the Nazi Party 12 seats (2.63%).
In October 1929, there was a crash on Wall Street, New York, that triggered a worldwide economic Great Depression.
America called in all its foreign loans. This destroyed Weimar Germany.
Unemployment in Germany rose to 6 million. In response, in July 1930, Chancellor Brüning cut government expenditure, wages and unemployment pay – the worst thing to do during a Depression.
He could not get the Reichstag to agree to his actions, so President Hindenburg used Article 48 to pass the measures by decree.
Anger and bitterness helped the Nazis to gain more support. Many workers turned to communism. This frightened wealthy businessmen, so they financed the strongest opponents of the communists – the Nazis.
The election in 1930 returned the Nazi Party with 107 seats and 18.25% of the vote.
The party had the second position in the Reichstag
The German National Association of Commercial Employees reported that half of its members voted for the Nazis.
184 of the seats in the Reichstag were held by parties that refused to participate in any coalition government.
By 1931, political violence on Germany's streets had become unmanageable. This was in large part because of the increase in paramilitary groups affiliated with parties from across the political spectrum.
The Nazi Party's paramilitary, the SA, was especially radical and violent.
Also in 1931, Germany's foreign debt was 21.514 billion marks, with the main creditors being the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, though this amount also included debts unrelated to WWI reparations.
This debt was difficult to manage due to international financial crises and German exchange controls introduced to limit capital flight, creating a "doom loop" between the government's finances and the struggling banking system.
In July 1932, the Nazi Party won 37.27% of the vote and 230 seats in the Reichstag.
In November 1932, the Natzi Party won 33.09% of the vote and 196 seats.
Alarmed by the obvious failure of democracy, many middle-class people decided that the country needed a strong government. Under Brüning they were in chaos.
President Hindenburg dismissed Brüning in 1932. Franz von Papen became Chancellor
1933 – 1934
"Adolf Hitler's acceptance of the German Chancellor in a coalition with conservatives and non-partisans marks a radical departure from his former demand that he be made 'the Mussolini of Germany' as a condition to his assumption of government responsibility."
Actually, a reign of terror was in the making in 53 days.
The senile president appointed Hitler as Chancellor on January 30, 1930.
Hitler pledged personal loyalty to "Adolf Hitler" rather than loyalty to the Weimar Constitution of the country.
Only two Nazi Party members joined the coalition cabinet that formed immediately after Hitler took the oath of office.
On February 22, Hitler used his powers as Chancellor to enrol 50,000 Nazi SA men (also known as Nazi Party stormtroopers) as auxiliary police.
Two days later, Hermann Göring, Minister of the Interior and one of Hitler’s closest compatriots, ordered a raid on Communist headquarters. Following the raid, the Nazis announced (falsely) that they’d found evidence of seditious material. They claimed the Communists were planning to attack public buildings.
The burning of the Reichstag
On the evening of February 27, 1933, in Berlin, a fire broke out shortly after 9:00 p.m. when a passerby heard breaking glass, followed by the eruption of flames from the Reichstag parliament building.
Der Spiegel 2008: Verdict against 1933 Reichstag Arsonist Thrown Out
"The verdict against the Dutch bricklayer executed for setting the 1933 Reichstag fire that led to Adolf Hitler's stranglehold on power in Germany was tossed out on Thursday. But who started the fire remains a mystery."
Hitler used the fire to the Nazi Party's advantage in two ways: He expelled the communists from Parliament and imprisoned many communist leaders.
This stopped them from campaigning before the 1933 March 5th general election.
Hitler announced that the country was in danger from the communists during the election campaign. This encouraged many to vote for the Nazis, who were seen as anti-communist.
Hindenburg declared a state of emergency using Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. This resulted in newspapers being censored and personal letters and phone calls being checked. This is seen as the start of the end of democracy in Germany.
The Nazi Party won 44% of the vote on March 5th and 288 seats. The Communist Party won 81 seats.
Hitler formed a coalition with the National Party (8%), giving him a majority for the first time.
The Enabling Act 23 March 1933
Arguably, this was the critical event during this period. It gave Hitler absolute power to make laws, which enabled him to destroy all opposition to his rule. This removed the Reichstag as a source of opposition." (BBC)
On Monday, January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed the 15th Chancellor of the frail Weimar Republic, and in 53 days, he used the democratic system to launch a murderous dictatorship.
“The big joke on democracy,” he observed, “is that it gives its mortal enemies the means to its own destruction.”
Trade Unions Banned: On May 2, 1933, trade unions were abolished, and their leaders were arrested.
Abolishing the trade unions allowed Hitler to destroy a group that might have opposed him. It also gave Hitler the opportunity to set up the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront – DAF), which gave him control over German workers.
Political parties: By 14 July 1933, Hitler had banned all political parties, meaning the only party allowed to exist was the Nazi Party. This made Germany a one-party state and destroyed democracy in the country. After this action, Germans could no longer get rid of Hitler in an election.
In 1934, Adolf Hitler consolidated his power in Germany, leading to the "Night of the Long Knives" on June 30, a "reign of terror" where the SS executed hundreds of his political opponents and SA leaders to eliminate any challenge to his authority.
Many members of the SA (Hitler's stormtroopers), including its leader Ernst Röhm, were demanding that the Nazi party carry out its socialist agenda and that the SA take over the army. Hitler could not afford to annoy businessmen or the army, so the SS (Hitler's personal bodyguards) murdered around 400 members of the SA, including Röhm, along with several of Hitler's other opponents, like the previous Chancellor, von Schleicher.
This destroyed all opposition to Hitler within the Nazi Party and gave power to the brutal SS. It also showed the rest of the world what a tyrant Hitler was. This removed any internal Nazi Party opposition to Hitler.
When German President Paul von Hindenburg died on August 2, 1934, Adolf Hitler used the opportunity to merge the offices of President and Chancellor, creating the position of Führer (Leader).
The Daily Mail praised Germany's recovery under his leadership, while others expressed caution or scepticism about his foreign policy. Lord Rothermere's visit to Germany led to him writing highly favourable articles in the Daily Mail, portraying Hitler as a potent leader who had given Germans a new soul and confidence. However, some papers, like the Morning Post, remained openly sceptical of Hitler's motives and actions, viewing his words and policies with concern.
