collapse of democracy 1928-33

• The Wall Street Crash 1929

  • In October 1929, the Wall Street stock market crashed.
  • Thousands of American firms and banks went bankrupt. 
  • In response, the USA withdrew loans and investments from around the world and in 1930 slapped protectionist tariffs on trade.
• Impact on the world

  • In 1930, world trade fell by more than 60%. 
  • The total wealth of nations, measured by GDP, fell by 15%. 
  • This caused a catastrophic, global fall in demand.
• The Impact of the Depression

  Due to Germany's reliance on the Dawes and Young plans, the Weimar Republic was badly affected by the Wall Street Crash.

  Political extremism

  • In the 1930s the Müller, SPD-led Coalition collapsed over failure to agree where cuts in welfare budget should be made. Such crises reduced belief in democracy.
  • People were dissatisfied with the Weimar Republic and sought more radical solutions to their problems.
• Unemployment

  • Unemployment rose from 600,000 in 1928 to 1,600,000 in 1929. 
  • By 1930 it had doubled to three million and by 1933 it doubled again to six million.
  • There were regional variations. Depressed industrial areas like Thuringia said especially badly.
  • The social ramification of this was that people lost their sources of income.
  • This meant that many were in poverty.
  • Crop prices fell by up to 60% as poverty reduced demand.
• Recalled Loans

  • The greatest withdrawal of investment from Germany was in late September 1930 at least partly because extremist parties did so well in the election.
  • Loans were an important source of finance for industry and agriculture, but German banks could not fill the gap and there was no credit to be had elsewhere.
  • This led to the Great Depression and hit the middle classes hard. 
  • Germany still had to pay reparations.
• Government efforts to combat the Depression

  • Legal restrictions made it impossible for the Reichsbank to print more money (to prevent inflation).
  • Governments cut back their spending as tax revenues had fallen. Coalitions found it difficult to agree where the cuts should be made.
  • From 1928-33 war victims pensions were cut by a third, angering thousands.
  • Brüning pursued protectionism, raising the cost of imports
• Bankruptcy

  • By 1932 18,000 farmers had gone bankrupt. In industry 50,000 businesses went bankrupt between 1930 and 1932.
  • In 1931 five major banks closed down
• Elections after the Depression


  There were five national elections (four Reichstag and one presidential) between 1929 and 1933
• Voters turned to extremist parties on both the left and right wings and coalition government became all but impossible
• Difficulty of coalition government

  Political parties in Müller's coalition government represented different interest groups with conflicting demands
• Conflicting demands of interest groups

  • Farmers wanted high food prices
  • Workers wanted low food prices
  • Businesses that exported wanted free trade
  • Businesses supplying domestic markets wanted protectionism
• Müller's attempt to pass a finance bill


  1. Müller could not get his finance bill through the Reichstag

  2. He asked Hindenburg to use Article 48

  3. The President refused

  4. Müller was forced to resign
• Use of presidential government

  • From March 1930 the government was using presidential decree. 
  • Chancellor Brüning depended on Hindenburg's use of Article 48.
  • This reflects the inability of coalition government to agree on policies.
• • May 1928:
  • The Nazis saw the biggest increase from 2.6% of the vote in May 1928 to 18.3%. They were the second biggest party in the Reichstag.
  • September 1930:
  • The KPD vote rose from 10.6% to 13.1%. The SPD vote fell from 29.8% to 24.5%. The DVP and DNVP saw their vote roughly halved
• • March 1933:
  • Hitler was already Chancellor. All parties’ votes declined but the Nazi party whose vote was 43.9%. Anti-Weimar parties controlled the Reichstag.
• Müller and Brüning's coalition governments


  Fragile, Chancellors struggled to get through their policies
• Article 48


  The only way to circumvent the internal divisions within the Weimar governments
• Müller's government


  • Political parties represented different interest groups with conflicting demands
  • Parties wanted to protect their voters from cuts in government spending
  • Farmers wanted high food prices, workers wanted low
  • Businesses that exported wanted free trade, those supplying domestic markets wanted protectionism
• Müller's government


  1. Could not get his finance bill through the Reichstag

  2. Asked Hindenburg to use Article 48

  3. President refused

  4. Müller was forced to resign
• Brüning's government

  • Brüning from the Zentrum Party succeeded Müller.
  • He was supported by the army and leading German industrialists. 
  • Brüning used Article 48 to pass his finance bill.
  • Brüning continued in government, despite massive gains by the Nazi party in September 1930.
• Brüning's Policies after the Depression

  Brüning tried to reduce the impact of the Depression on German society. Ultimately, he lost support from the elite and was forced to resign because Hindenburg disagreed with his policies.

  Attacking paramilitary groups

  • As unemployment grew so did political violence. Brüning banned both the SA and the RF (The Nazis and Communist paramilitary groups.)
• Deflation

  • Brüning’s other policies led to further deflation: prices, wages, welfare payments and rents all decreased. 
  • Business profits fell, losing him industrialists’ support.
• Land to the unemployed

  • Brüning’s policy of giving land from bankrupt Junker estates to unemployed workers lost him even more – his chancellorship.
  • Hindenburg was a Junker and refused to sign Brüning’s emergency decrees.
  • Brüning resigned in April 1932.
  • Ultimately Brüning’s government fell not because of a no-confidence vote in the Reichstag but because Hindenburg did not approve of his policy.
• Following the Depression

  Many were disappointed with the Weimar government and sought more radical solutions
• The extreme left offered radical solutions
• Communist message

  • Used fighting talk and militarism as part of its appeal
  • Paramilitary organisation, the Red Front, was often involved in street violence
• Communist slogans

  • 'Peace, Unity, Freedom!'
  • 'Together We Conquer Them'
  • 'Down With The Warmongers!'
• KPD presidential campaign slogan

  • 'A vote for Hindenburg is a vote for Hitler, a vote Hitler is a vote for war'
• The anti-war slogan had limited appeal
• Who supported the KPD?

  • It’s total membership in 1931 was 260,000. Its highest share of the vote was 16.9% in November 1932. Its links with the USSR alienated many voters.
  • As a radical, left wing, working-class party the communists appeal was limited. It would never gain the cooperation of the elite and the authorities.
  • It could have only gained power legally by working with the SPD, but the two left wing parties were bitter enemies.
• Communist propaganda

  • Communist parties saw the depression as proof that capitalism as a system was over. 
  • Willi Münzenberg was head of KPD propaganda. He understood the propaganda potential of film, founding the VFV (People’s Film Association).
  • Funding film was a problem for the KPD, although they helped produce one feature film and several documentaries.
  • The VFV published a magazine, People and Film.
  • Münzenberg established a range of publishers, newspapers, cinemas and theatres in Germany.
• Topics for propaganda

  • Münzenberg focussed on uncontroversial, single issue campaigns that would attract liberal and left wing people who might then join the KPD.
• Nazism

  A radical right-wing political ideology
• As people sought a radical solution, they had to decide between left wing or right wing parties
• The Nazi Party, whilst disguising itself as a party for everyone, was politically right wing
• Nazi 25 point programme

  The basis of the Nazi message
• Nazi party under Hitler

  1. Wanted to undo Versailles

  2. Pursue Lebensraum (expansion)

  3. Do away with Weimar democracy
• Nazi party

  • Used nationalism to bring Germans together as a Volksgemeinshcaft
  • Used the rhetoric of unity, strength, a return to greatness
• Nazi messages were targeted against

  • Jews
  • Versailles Treaty
  • Communists
  • 'November Criminals'
  • Pacifists
• Targeting groups of society

  • The 25 point program had something for everyone, except Jews and foreigners. The Nazis were good at targeting their message to the audience, especially locally.
  • Nazis realised most people were won over by other locals, so they targeted key individuals, like teachers or shop owners, who knew their communities well.
  • Nazis used direct mailing and the publication of pamphlets. Posters were focused on specific groups: workers, women, farmers, mothers, small business owners.