Five Brothers and a War

Hitler’s Rise to Power

election, the Chancellor outlawed both the SA and SS. But Kurt von Schleicher, an army officer who intended to become the next chancellor, went to Hitler to create an alliance to restore the SA and the SS, in exchange for Hitler’s support for von Schleicher to become chancellor. Hitler agreed, as it would mean that von Schleicher would do a lot of the dirty work that would ultimately result in Hitler taking over. Von Schleicher’s maneuvering was successful. He forced the resignation of Chancellor Heinrich Brüning on May 30. He then installed a puppet chancellor, Franz von Papen, a person who quickly became liked by von Hindenburg. Von Hindenburg wanted to call new elections, and asked Hitler for his support of von Papen. Hitler agreed, and von Hindenburg dissolved the Reichstag on June 4. Immediately thereafter, the SA and the SS were restored by von Schleicher, as promised. The month leading to the July election was extremely violent, with the SA involved in massive intimidation. One of their song’s lyrics was, "Blood must flow, blood must flow! Blood must flow as cudgel thick as hail! Let's smash it up, let's smash it up! That goddamned Jewish republic!” Von Papen decided to take matters into his own hands, and declared martial law, putting himself in charge. By now, Hitler was speaking to enormous crowds—some in excess of 100,000. In the resulting elections, the Nazis got 230 seats in the Reichstag, making them the largest party. In early August, Hitler presented von Schleicher and von Papen a list of demands, which included making Hitler chancellor. By mid-August, they instead offered to make him the vice-chancellor, a move that enraged Hitler. A month later, the Reichstag passed a vote of no confidence in von Papen. However, moments before the vote was taken, von Papen dissolved the Reichstag. By now, everyone was tired of the electioneering, and enthusiasm all around had waned. The November elections saw the Nazis lose two million votes, and 30 seats in the Reichstag. Germany was thrown into chaos as no government could be formed, and nothing could be done. Finally, in December, von Hindenburg told von Papen to step down, and von Schleicher became chancellor. Hitler then began working behind the scenes with von Papen to oust von Schleicher. After a false rumor was circulated that von Schleicher intended to arrest von Hindenburg, von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor on January 30, 1933.

nazi germany

Five Brothers and a War

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