By July 1933, Hitler’s Nazi Party was the single political party in Germany. Hitler had been handed power through legal means, but how did he manage to create a one party state in Germany? Some historians argue it was due to the role Hindenburg and the political intrigues of politicians. The fear of Communism was important for this as was the economic crisis fuelled by the Depression. The role of the conservative elites and the fall of the Weimar Republic were significant too for the creation of a one party state.
The circumstances the Weimar Republic had been set up in made it structurally weak. Weaknesses undermined it, and these could have led to its collapse and the rise of the one-party state. One was that it was blamed to committing to the Treaty of Versailles and so was instable. The legitimacy of the Weimar was always a fundamental problem and the lack of tradition of a democratic government and weak liberalism made its acceptance difficult. Coalition crises were frequent and people had little commitment to it. The parliament would be elected by proportional representation. Political parties would have to work together in coalition governments with a proportional representation system. However, the President was given powers under Article 48 which could be used in emergency and in effect to undermine the democratic constitution. These weaknesses in the Weimar meant that support was lacking and after the devastations of the Depression, people lost faith in coalition governments and democracy. It has been argued that the fall of the Republic may have not come about if the Depression had not been so severe and prolonged or even occurred at all. The Weimar faced opposition from left and right wing parties, who were waiting for the right time to gain power. The Depression was the perfect opportunity, as people were in hard times, the NSDAP, particularly Hitler, the opportunist, and the KPD gained from this as votes grew massively for them.
The Depression...