1. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
September 1930: Nazis win 18% of national vote, and SPD resolves to “tolerate” Heinrich Brüning
Oct. 1931: Alfred Hugenberg organizes “Harzburg Front” of the “National Opposition”
March-April 1932: Brüning secures the reelection of Hindenburg with support from SPD and then bans SA
June 1932: Hindenburg appoints Franz von Papen Chancellor, who lifts SA ban and holds new elections
July 1932: Papen forcibly deposes SPD-led Prussian state government; Nazis win 37% of national vote.
December 1932: Defense Minister Kurt von Schleicher topples Papen but fails to win any support…

2. Hitler, practicing his oratorical gestures in 1926
In this sequence Hitler practices a speech facing a spotlight in the mostly darkened photography studio of Heinrich Hoffmann in Munich in 1926; he would study such pictures to seek ever more striking dramatic effects. From Peter Adam, Art of the Third Reich (New York: Harry Abrams, Inc., 1995), pp

3. Dr. Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945), appointed Gauleiter of Berlin in 1926
Gregor Strasser ( ), pharmacist & Reich Organization Leader of the NSDAP
Gregor Strasser ( ), born in Geisenfeld, Oberbayern, Reich Organization Leader of the NSDAP, a successful pharmacist from Landshut appointed by Hitler in March 1925 to take charge of organizing the party north of Bavaria. Photographed here in 1928.
SOURCE:
Photograph of Joseph Goebbels by Heinrich Hoffmann, 1932/33.
SOURCE:

4. HITLER ADDRESSES NAZI LEADERS, AUGUST 1928: Analyzing their election defeat, they noted some success in rural areas….
Hitler addresses the Nazi Party leadership in Munich, August 30, Left to right at the head table: Alfred Rosenberg, Walter Buch, Franz Xaver Schwarz, Hitler, Gregor Strasser, and Heinrich Himmler. Sitting beside the door with his hands clasped is Julius Streicher; to this left, Robert Ley.
SOURCE: Ian Kershaw, _Hitler, : Hubris_ (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999), plate #30.

5. The Nazis ran a very disciplined campaign in 1930, based on the slogan, “For or Against the Young Plan?”
“Freedom and Bread”
They astonished everyone in September 1930 by winning 18% of the vote & 107 Reichstag seats
Brown Shirts infest the Reichstag, October 1930, as a result of the electoral victory of the NSDAP in September. From FRAGEN AN DIE DEUTSCHE GESCHICHTE, #203.

6. The Center Party campaigned against the extremism of Left and Right but sometimes lumped the SPD with the KPD
Center Party [Zentrum] Election Poster (1930)
SOURCE:

7. The SPD also campaigned against the extremism but sometimes took shots at the Center Party
"Vote for Social Democracy," SPD campaign poster from The muscular, barechested worker promises firm opposition to Prussian militarism, clericalism, the monocled Junker of reaction, and the unshaven, uncouth Communist; the weakness of Nazism at this juncture is reflected in the fact that opposition to them was thought to require only the addition of a swastika alongside the Prussian eagle, iron cross, and spiked helmet of militarism. From Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, POLITISCHE PLAKATE DER WEIMARER REPUBLIK, p. 54.

8. “More Power to the President!”
The KPD thought only of its feud with the SPD, and the DNVP sought to replace parliamentary with “Presidential” government.
“Betrayed by the SPD!”
“More Power to the President!”
"Betrayed by the Social Democrats. Vote Communist!" (Victor Slama, Germany, 1930). This poster illustrates the "ultra-left" line pursued by the Comintern from 1928 to 1934, according to which the Social Democrats should be denounced as "social fascists." SOURCE: Art of Persuasion, p. 126.
»Mehr Macht dem Reichspräsidenten!«
»Weg mit der Alleinherrschaft der Parlamente (Artikel 54)«
»Wählt Deutschnational«
DNVP campaign poster from
SOURCE:

9. “Red Warfare” (1930): “Man or machine. ” “God or devil” “Blood or gold
“Red Warfare” (1930): “Man or machine?” “God or devil” “Blood or gold?” “Race or half-breed?” “Folksong or jazz?” “National Socialism or Bolshevism?”
Poster of NSDAP in Weimar Republic saying "The red war" ("Der rote Krieg"), 1930 apr.
Text: "The red war - mother or comrade? - Human being or machine? - God or devil? - Blood or gold? - Race or bastard? - Folksong or jazz? - National Socialism or Bolshevism?"
(orig. German:
"Der rote Krieg - Mutter oder Genossin? - Mensch oder Maschine? - Gott oder Teufel? - Blut oder Gold? - Rasse oder Mischling? - Volkslied oder Jazz? - Nationalsozialismus oder Bolschewismus?")
The term "The red war": In Weimar Republic there was an eternal propaganda war between the right wing parties (Loyals (to the Emperor) and National Socialists) against the communist parties. Both sides had the most aggressive colors making war also with color psychology. So, there was defined a "red war".
The poster presents National Socialist characteristics in comparison with communists and "USA". National Socialists try to present their racist ideas as positive elements representing communists generally as comrade or machines saying that a mother in communism would be no mother any more but a "comrade", and that humans in communism would be no humans any more but "machines". This communism would be from "devil", and National Socialism would be from "God". Then are listed some elements against "USA": "Full-blooded" humans would be stronger than "mixed-blooded", this means that one would be on the winner's side with the racists. There is listed the "full-blooded" folk song against jazz music of the "mixed-blooded", as an allusion of the black musicians in white sex clubs in the "USA". The comparison between "full-blooded" blood and gold is an allusion to the international stock exchange with it's clans making millions of dollars with insider knowledge and financial tricks (there were also some Jewish persons winning with stock exchange speculations in the "USA", the allusion is headed against them). So, the poster is mixing communist and "US" structures but is asking at the end only about "communism or Bolshevism". So, the poster is equating communism and "USA", resp. the energy against communism also should fight against "USA". Some terms like "machine" or "gold" also will be terms of National Socialism in Second World War (soldiers as machines, looted gold etc.), and the "full-blooded" are mentally always limited compared with the "mixed-blooded"...
SOURCE:

10. THE SPD RESOLVED TO “TOLERATE” GOVERNMENT BY EMERGENCY DECREE AFTER SEPTEMBER 1930
Alarmed by the rise of the Nazis, the SPD offered to accept Brüning’s emergency decrees, if he agreed not to give power to the Nazis and to cooperate with the SPD-led Braun-Severing government in Prussia
Thus Brüning gained the power in 1931 to decree cuts in wages bound by collective labor contracts, cartel prices, government salaries, and welfare benefits, to balance the budget and lower production costs.
He also pursued the abolition of reparations through diplomatic talks in Paris, London, Berlin, and Rome.

11. Alfred Hugenberg APPEARED to forge a united front of all rightist organizations at Bad Harzburg in October 1931
Alfred Hugenberg addresses the monster rally of the "National Opposition" in Bad Harzburg, October From FRAGEN AN DIE DEUTSCHE GESCHICHTE, #206.

12. Hugenberg told Hindenburg that only Brüning stood in the way of a grand alliance of Catholics, nationalists, and Nazis
The "Harzburg Front" of October 1931, a rally designed by Alfred Hugenberg to proclaim the formation of a united “National Opposition” to the moderate government including all Nationalists and Nazis. The politics of German conservatism was being profoundly transformed, as Hugenberg attempted to imitate the militant tactics of Mussolini and the Italian Fascists. Second from the left is Franz Seldte; turned toward him, Theodor Duesterberg; and the civilian with the bristly hair is Alfred Hugenberg. From Matthias & Morsey, ENDE DER PARTEIEN, p. 545.

13. But Hitler reviewed his Stormtroopers alone at Harzburg
Hitler reviews the Stormtroopers at the rally of the National Opposition in Bad Harzburg, October Although he agreed to participate in this joint rally, Hitler did everything he could once there to distance himself from the monarchists and old-fashioned nationalists present and associate only with his own followers. Leaders of the DNVP and Stahlhelm complained bitterly of his arrogance after this rally, and the factions of the Right remained unable to agree on a common course. From FRAGEN AN DIE DEUTSCHE GESCHICHTE, #207.

14. Thousands of Stormtroopers march the streets of Brunswick in October 1931
The symbolic conquest of the streets in Braunschweig, October The caption reads, "And so we march through the dawning day, with trumpets and the beat of drums...." From Paul, AUFSTAND DER BILDER, p. 11.

15. Hitler reviews the SA columns, Brunswick, October 1931
Hitler exemplifies the use of one's own body as a symbol of determination and discipline, at the Braunschweig SA rally of October From Gerhard Paul, AUFSTAND DER BILDER, p. 18.

16. All cartel prices were reduced by 10%.
BRÜNING RESOLVED TO PERSEVERE WITH DEFLATION IN HIS 4TH COMPREHENSIVE EMERGENCY DECREE OF DECEMBER 1931
All wages bound by collective labor contract returned to the level of January 10, 1927.
All cartel prices were reduced by 10%.
All long-term interest rates on bonds and mortgages of 8% and higher were reduced by 25%.
All government salaries were cut by 9%.
The national sales tax was raised by 2%.
But the autonomous Reichsbank rejected Brüning’s demand to lower the discount rate to 6%; the military rejected any budget cuts; and the cabinet decided that it could not launch a public works program until after reparations were abolished.
See Patch, pp. Heinrich Bruening, pp

17. Brüning united a broad front from the SPD to moderate conservatives to secure Hindenburg’s reelection against Hitler in March-April 1932
Heinrich Bruening addresses a Hindenburg rally in Berlin Sportpalast, in March From Erich Matthias & Rudolf Morsey, DAS ENDE DER PARTEIEN, p. 305.

18. Hitler was not even a German citizen when he chose to run for President but claimed that right as a combat veteran
This campaign poster by Hans Schweitzer contrasts an image of Adolf Hitler at the end of the Great War, wearing his Iron Cross and recovering from his wounds, with a statement in March 1932 by the Social Democratic chief of police of Berlin, Albert Grzesinski: "It is shameful for the German people that this foreigner Hitler is permitted to speak about Germany's future without being driven off with a whip!" The poster comments: "Combat veterans, German men and women!! GIVE YOUR ANSWER! Hitler for Reich President." From the German National Archive, Koblenz (
"A combat veteran has earned German citizenship. All German combat veterans who have like Adolf Hitler earned and defended their citizenship by shedding their blood and risking their lives should read the newspaper of their comrade, Adolf Hitler, the VOELKISCHEN BEOBACHTER. Fight for the truth! Death to the lie! Every German man and every German woman, vote for Adolf Hitler!" Campaign poster published in Munich, apparnetly for the presidential election of March 1932, responding to criticism in the republican press of the legal maneuvers through which Hitler formally switched his citizenship from Austrian to German in February 1932.
From the German National Archive in Koblenz (

19. “Workers of the Head and of the Fist: Vote for the Combat Veteran, HITLER!” (March, 1932).
This poster from the presidential election campaign is a prime example of Nazi efforts to bridge the social chasm between workers and the middle classes. The two men are almost identical twins and obviously “racial comrades,” despite the difference in occupational status indicated by their clothes. From the German National Archive, Koblenz (

20. “We choose Hindenburg. -- We choose Hitler
“We choose Hindenburg! -- We choose Hitler! Look at these faces, and you will known where you belong!” (Hitler won the endorsement of many monarchists, including Crown Prince William of Hohenzollern.)
In this Nazi poster from the presidential election of 1932, the especially ugly (and therefore presumably Jewish) politicians of the left who have endorsed Hindenburg are contrasted with the patriotic supporters of Hitler, many of them heroes of the Great War. Source: Rainer Rother, ed., _Der Weltkrieg Ereignis und Erinnerung_ (Berlin: German Historical Museum, 2004), p. 287.

21. THE FALL OF BRÜNING, MAY 1932
Hindenburg had long desired a rightist majority cabinet stretching from the Center to the NSDAP; Brüning sought to demonstrate that this was not feasible.
Hindenburg was deeply wounded when most of his monarchist friends endorsed Hitler for President.
In April 1932 Brüning banned the SA and sought to partition bankrupt agricultural estates for homesteaders.
Hindenburg appointed the right-wing Catholic monarchist Franz von Papen to replace Brüning at the end of May, hoping that his government would be tolerated by the Center Party and NSDAP.

22. Papen & Schleicher at the racetrack, September 1932
Franz von Papen’s “Cabinet of Barons” was supported by only one party, the DNVP. Many regarded the new chancellor as the puppet of Defense Minister Kurt von Schleicher.
The Papen Cabinet (June 3, 1932)
Sitting from left to right: Magnus von Braun (Food and Agriculture), Wilhelm von Gayl (Interior), Chancellor Franz von Papen, Konstantin von Neurath (Foreign).
Standing from left to right: Franz Gürtner (Justice), Hermann Warmbold (Commerce), Kurt von Schleicher (Army)
SOURCE:
Chancellor Franz von Papen and Defense Minister Kurt von Schleicher, attending the horse races in Berlin Grunevald, September 18,
[Bildersammlung: Protagonisten. The Yorck Project: Das große dpa-Bildarchiv, S. 586
(vgl. dpa, S. 175) (c) 2005 The Yorck Project]
Papen & Schleicher at the racetrack, September 1932

23. Papen made huge concessions to the Nazis when he lifted the SA ban and dissolved the Reichstag, and he then removed the Prussian state government led by Otto Braun in July 1932, blaming it for the upsurge in street violence caused by the SA.
A symbolic show of force at the Prussian state capitol building, July 20, 1932

24. A SAALSCHLACHT: Nazi rally in Bavaria, April-May 1932
After political opponents stormed the podium, the police dissolved the meeting as a threat to public order
SA rally in Bavaria, 1932, during the ban on the wearing of uniforms (Paul, AUFSTAND DER BILDER, #3).

25. Campaign posters flooded urban space in 1932
The battle of the posters in Berlin in July 1932: Nazis, Centrists, Social Democrats, and Communists vie for the attention of the voters. SOURCE: Susanne Everett, _Lost Berlin_ (New York: Gallery Books, 1979), p. 122.
From Lewis & Paret, Persuasive Images, p. xvii.

26. “We workers are now awake
“We workers are now awake. We vote National Socialist” (July 1932): The Communist bum exalts the Soviet Union and class warfare; the SPD labor boss, “agitation and mass rallies.”
"We workers have woken up! We vote for the National Socialists." Campaign poster for the Reichstag election of July 1932, The Communist bum to the left exalts the Soviet Union and class warfare. The Social Democratic labor boss at the Center (with a Jew whispering in his ear) denounces "Hitler barons" and proclaims that the people lives in misery while the bosses live high on the hog. Between the worker's legs, a nondescript figure (representing either the Center Party or Franz von Papen) brandishes Article 48. But the manly German worker ignores them all.

27. “The Final Blow!” (1932)
This poster from the Nazis’ most successful election campaign promises to liberate Germany from the twin yoke of the red labor bosses and the Catholic clericalists, a reference to the coalition between SPD and Center Party that had long governed the state of Prussia, and which Nazis blamed for the foundation of the Weimar Republic. The fat cleric is associated with the “emergency decrees,” with which the Brüning cabinet had imposed painful austerity measures, while the labor boss with an arrow in his buttocks is associated with “manure propaganda.” From Federick Grunfeld, The Hitler File: A Social History of Germany and the Nazis, (New York: Random House, 1974), p. 48.

28. Ernst Thälmann at a Communist rally in Berlin in 1932
The ex-prizefighter Ernst Thaelmann ( ) addresses a Communist rally in the Lustgarten of Berlin in From Matthias & Morsey, UNTERGANG DER PARTEIEN, p. 689.

29. SOCIAL DEMOCRATS WERE PREPARED TO FIGHT TO DEFEND THEIR RALLIES
March by the Republican Reichsbanner, founded in 1925
March by the republican "Reichsbanner," ca This paramilitary league was founded in 1925 to defend the campaign rallies of Wilhelm Marx in the presidential elections, and for a time it enjoyed a fair amount of support from the DDP and Center Party as well as the SPD. Marx himself resigned from the organization in 1927, however, after the outbreak of bloody fighting between Social Democrats and the police in Vienna. By 1930 the Reichsbanner depended almost entirely on the support of the SPD and functioned in effect as a party militia opposed to those created by the Nazi Party and the KPD. From FRAGEN AN DIE DEUTSCHE GESCHICHTE, #208.
Carl Severing addresses a mass rally of the "Iron Front" in the Reichstag election campaign of July The Iron Front was a new umbrella organization founded in late 1931 by the SPD, Free trade unions, and republican Reichsbanner to coordinate their efforts to defend democratic rallies against Nazi intimidation tactics. Its services proved more necessary than ever in July 1932, because the new chancellor, Franz von Papen, had rescinded the ban on the SA at the same time that he called for new Reichstag elections, two decisions which led to an epidemic of political violence. From Matthias & Morsey, ENDE DER PARTEIEN, p. 128.
Carl Severing addressed SPD rally in July 1932

30. “The People Will Die from this System!” (SPD, July 1932)
“The Worker in the Realm of the Swastika!”
(SPD, July 1932)
"THE PEOPLE WILL DIE FROM THIS SYSTEM! Vote for the Social Democrats," SPD campaign poster for the Reichstag election of July This poster denounces the decision by the monarchist Chancellor Franz von Papen to rescind the SA ban and hold new elections in hopes of securing the goodwill of the Nazi Party. SOURCE: Frederic Grunfeld, _The Hitler File_ (New York: Random House, 1974), p. 47.
"The Worker under the Rule of the Swastika! Therefore, Vote for the Social Democrats!" Campaign poster for the Reichstag election of July 1932, when the SPD finally promoted the Nazi Party to target #1 of its campaign. To be "broken on the wheel" was a medieval form of capital punishment, and the SPD here predicts a revival of such methods of government should Hitler come to power. SOURCE: Frederic Grunfeld, _The Hitler File_ (New York: Random House, 1974), p. 52.

31. Heinrich Brüning at a rally of the “People’s Front” (Berlin, July 1932): Catholic youth and Christian trade unionists guarded the hall
Heinrich Bruening at a Center Party rally in the Berlin Sportpalast, July By now young men recruited from the Christian trade unions, Windhorst League, and Catholic youth groups formed a "People's Front," loosely modelled on the Social Democrats' Iron Front, to protect Center Party rallies from disruption by the Stormtroopers. Note the confusion among the participants over how many fingers to hold up. From Matthias & Morsey, ENDE DER PARTEIEN, p. 320.

32. The last Bastion of Freedom and Order“ (Center Party, July 1932)
“What have you promised, and what have you brought us, you Papens and Hitlers? We trust Brüning!” (Center Party, 1932)
„Brüning:
The last Bastion of Freedom and Order“ (Center Party, July 1932)
»Brüning«
»Der Freiheit und Ordnung letztes Bollwerk«
»Wahrheit – Freiheit – Recht«
»Wählt Zentrum – Liste 4«
Center Party election poster from July 1932.
SOURCE:
"What have you promised, and what have you given us? You Papen? You Hitler? We trust in Bruening!" Center Party political poster from the summer of 1932, from Matthias & Morsey, ENDE DER PARTEIEN, p. 449.

33. “German People’s Party: Against Civil War and Inflation
“German People’s Party: Against Civil War and Inflation!!” (DVP campaign poster, July1932)
"Every vote will count! German People's Party against Civil War and Inflation" (Germany, 1932). Here a muscular National Liberal defends Germany against the street violence provoked by Communists and Nazis, and against the politicians who jeopardize the currency by squandering the taxpayers' money. This poster represents an absurd attempt to project an air of militance by a party that was in collapse and found that none of its supporters were prepared to put their lives on the line to defend a party meeting from attack. From PERSUASIVE IMAGES, p. 127.

34. Hitler with young Stormtroopers in the Munich Party Headquarters, 1932: Tomorrow belongs to us!
Adolf Hitler receives young Stormtroopers at the Brown House in Munich, Photograph from the Collection Roger-Viollet.
SOURCE:

35. SA “Storm Center” [Sturmlokal], Berlin, 1932
SA “Storm Center” [Sturmlokal], Berlin, “Hot lunches” are offered beneath the banner, “Death to the Reactionaries!”
SA "Sturmlokal" in Berlin, This restaurant has been taken over by the Stormtroopers, who have plastered it with swastikas and established a soup kitchen to feed the poor. Their banner reads, "Death to the reactionaries!" The SA had a significantly larger proportion of blue-collar workers in its ranks than did the Nazi Party at large, and it supported a variety of confused anti-capitalist and quasi-socialist programs. Stormtroopers fought mostly against leftists on the streets, but their political aspirations were directed at least as much against the traditional Right. From FRAGEN AN DIE DEUTSCHE GESCHICHTE, #217.

36. THE POLARIZATION OF THE GERMAN ELECTORATE IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION: In the election campaign of July 1932, many felt that Germany was on the brink of civil war.
Figures derived from J. Falter, Th. Lindenberger, and S. Schumann, Wahlen und Abstimmungen in der Weimarer Republic (Munich: C.H. Beck Verlag, 1986), pp

37. “Bravo Herr von Papen! Just continue with your emergency decrees: You are giving us Communists our best chance!” (Nazi campaign poster, November 1932)
"Bravo, Herr von Papen! Just continue with your emergency decrees, your cuts of wages and welfare benefits, your undermining of collective bargaining: You are giving us Communists our best chance.
--Shall this come true? NO! Only ONE MAN can save us from Bolshevism, ADOLF HITLER!"
Campaign poster for the Reichstag election of November 1932, from Grunfeld, THE HITLER FILE, p KPD gains in the elections of November 1932 benefited Hitler enormously among the wealthy in Germany by lending plausibility to his argument that Germany must choose between Fascist and Bolshevik methods of government, that there was no third alternative.

38. Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher addresses a rally in Berlin on January 15, 1933
Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher addresses a mass rally in the Berlin Sportpalast on 15 January SOURCE: Ian Kershaw, _Hitler, : Hubris_ (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999), plate #41.

39. The “Cabinet of National Renewal,” appointed on January 30, 1933: Only 3 of 11 ministers are Nazis, but Papen allowed Hitler to control the Prussian police & hold elections
SOURCE: “Der Tag von Potsdam zum 21. März 1933,” special illustrated edition of the magazine Die Woche, March pp. 2-3.

40. THE NAZI LEADERSHIP IN THE HOUR OF VICTORY
Ernst Röhm and Rudolf Hess featured prominently in the original….
Left to right: Otto Wagener, Wilhelm Kube, Hans Kerrl, Wilhelm Frick (seated), Joseph Goebbels, Hitler, Ernst Ro”hm, Hermann Goering, Walter Darre’, Heinrich Himmler, Rudolf Hess. SOURCE: Henry Turner, Hitler’s Thirty Days to Power: January 1933 (Reading, Mass., 1996).
…but the photo had to be retouched in June 1934 and November 1940

41. “In our deepest need, Hindenburg chose Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor. You too should vote for List #1”
“The Reich will never be destroyed – if you remain united and faithful”
"In our deepest need, Hindenburg chose Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor. You too should vote for List #1." Campaign poster from February 1933, from the German National Archive, Koblenz (
"The Reich will never be destroyed-- if you remain united and faithful," campaign poster from February Note that President Hindenburg had never allowed any previous chancellor to make use of Hindenburg's image for partisan political gain. From the German National Archive, Koblenz (

42. The Reichstag burns, 27 February 1933: The Nazis falsely depicted Marinus van der Lubbe as a KPD agent
Hermann Goering, Reich Commissar for the state of Prussia, had already issued a circular to all Prussian police on February 17 urging them to use their firearms against all disturbers of the public order, and on February 22 he deputized an additional 50,000 “auxiliary” policemen, recruited from the SA and SS, in a decree that nearly doubled the size of the Prussian police force overnight. Thus the burning of the Reichstag provided a most welcome pretext for a Presidential Emergency Decree on February 28 that outlawed the Communist Party and suspended all the civil rights guaranteed by the Weimar constitution. The Nazi authorities presented firm evidence that the arsonist was a Dutch artist named Marinus van Lubbe but never produced any evidence whatsoever of a link between him and the Comintern. SOURCE: Fragen an die deutsche Geschichte, #218.

43. SA round-up of Communists after the Reichstag Fire
A photograph from the first major round-up of leftists, following the Reichstag Fire of February 27, 1933, and the enrollment by Goering of 40,000 Stormtroopers as “auxiliary police” in the state of Prussia (Grunfeld, p. 154).

44. A newly deputized SS trooper patrols the streets with a Prussian policeman on election day, March 5, 1933, when the Nazis won 44% of the vote
Here a newly deputized SS trooper partols the streets of Berlin alongside a regular policeman and a muzzled police dog on election day, 5 March From Michael Berenbaum, THE WORLD MUST KNOW: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLOCAUST AS TOLD IN THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM (Boston & New York, 1993), p. 20.

45. Stormtroopers guard the new concentration camp at Oranienburg, 1933
German Historical Museum, Berlin (

46. THREE POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Blunders by Heinrich Brüning, mainly his failure to organize any public works program that would spur economic recovery and offer hope for the future.
Hostility toward democracy among Germany’s conservative elites – army officers, civil servants, industrialists, and big landowners – who did not believe that the policies necessary to “save” Germany would ever gain support from an electoral majority.
Political immaturity among the voters at large, most notably displayed in July 1932, when 37% voted Nazi and another 15%, Communist.