At the start of 1933, Germany was a liberal democracy with a president, a parliament including an upper and lower house, an independent judiciary and all the inbuilt checks and balances of a functioning democracy. By July of that year, it was a dictatorship with all democratic rights removed, and it was all done legally.
Are you confident that our democracy is strong enough to withstand a similar fate?
The rise of populism in Germany – the first steps to dismantle democracy
In 1930, a global economic crisis hit. Germany could no longer pay the war debts stipulated in the Versailles Peace Treaty following the First World War, and millions of Germans lost their jobs. The country was in a political crisis as well. Cabinets were falling, and new elections were being held all the time. A majority government seemed impossible.
A small political party, the German National Socialist Workers’ Party (NSDAP), had been formed in 1920. Its leader was a talented orator and the party was characterised by extreme nationalism and antisemitism. The NSDAP was a populist party presenting its leader as someone who understood and represented the common people, contrasting themselves with the elites, and scapegoating minority groups. Sound familiar?
They used the economic crisis to condemn the government and blame others (Jews) for the country’s problems. They were seen as a strong party, with young leaders, radiating vitality compared to the greying politicians of the established parties. Their strong leadership appealed to people as a way of uniting the country and putting an end to the political chaos.
A new chancellor and the end of civil rights
In the elections held in July 1932, the party made major gains but failed to achieve a majority. The conservative parties didn’t win enough votes either but they thought they could form a government with the NSDAP. They pressured the President, Paul von Hindenburg (the head of state) to appoint the NSDAP leader as chancellor, equivalent to our Prime Minister, which he did in January 1933. This was partly an attempt to keep the Communist Party, which came third in the election, out of power.
Membership of the NSDAP had grown dramatically, as had their control over newspapers, where the number of newspapers controlled by the party rose from 49 in 1930 to 127 by 1932. Although they had only two members in the cabinet, they were both in powerful positions.
In February 1933 there was a mysterious fire at the parliament building, the Reichstag. The NSDAP was quick to blame the communists and said this was the start of a communist revolt and must be stopped. The next morning President Von Hindenburg, following a request from the Chancellor, and using his emergency powers, issued the Reichstag Fire Decree. This decree suspended most civil rights and civil liberties enshrined in the constitution, including the right of habeas corpus, freedom of speech, press, assembly and privacy of communications. It allowed for the arrest of political adversaries and for the terrorising of voters before the upcoming election. This made any opposition to the NSDAP almost impossible and intimidation was rife.
The final steps towards dictatorship
In March 1933, the Chancellor called a snap election, hoping the oppressive atmosphere with streets full of NSDAP posters and flags would give them a great victory. In reality, they did well with 43.9% of the vote but not well enough for an outright majority – the left-wing parties together got 30%.
Arrests and intimidation continued and the government banned the Communist Party and arrested 10,000 communists by mid-March 1933. Paramilitary organisations associated with the NSDAP were promoted to auxiliary police forces. They surrounded the parliament building on 23 March when a new law, the ‘Enabling Act’, was passed under threats of war if it wasn’t passed. This allowed the Chancellor to enact new laws without interference from president or parliament for a period of four years.
Using these new powers, trade unions were banned, political opponents were dismissed or arrested, and any organised opposition was impossible. All existing political parties were banned. Cultural and scientific ‘cleansings’ were carried out. Party sympathisers were appointed to all positions of power and authority.
Everything that the NSDAP deemed un-German had to disappear – books written by Jews, left-wing or pacifist writers were burned.
At every step the NSDAP used legal means to give a semblance of legitimacy while eroding democracy until by July of 1933 Germany was a dictatorship with absolute power in the hands of one man, the Chancellor. It had taken just six months.
In part 2, the right conditions, the right people and a simplistic strategy are all that’s needed to dismantle a democracy; what are the cracks in democracy today?
