LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Weimar Republic: Adolf Hitler
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The Weimar Republic fell because the advocates of democracy in Germany were too timid to fight back against the thuggish tactics of Hitler's storm troopers. They passed the "enabling act" after the Reichstag fire (read terrorist act) that gave him virtually omnipotent power to "protect the homeland."
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The federal republican system of government established in Germany in 1919, based on a new constitution drawn up at Weimar. From the start the Republic faced a range of political and socio-economic problems which made the achievement of order and stability extremely difficult. It has often been seen as a ‘democracy without democrats’ in the sense that it seemed to lack a solid basis of liberal support, and was ... unable to secure the allegiance of key elites in German society. As world economic conditions worsened at the end of the 1920s, political disenchantment heightened and extremist movements and parties gained strength. From 1930 onwards the Republic was effectively transformed from a parliamentary to a presidential system, with President Hindenburg appointing cabinets which lacked a parliamentary majority and which made increasing use of powers of decree. Eventually this paved the way for the rise of National Socialism, the appointment of the party leader, Adolf Hitler, as Chancellor in January 1933, and the ensuing suspension of the Weimar constitution.
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It is often assumed that the Weimar Republic was bound to fail due to the harsh terms of the Versailles Settlement. Professor Hiden dispels this simplistic view and shows that it was a complex set of factors which finally brought Hitler to power. This clear and balanced study is now fully revised - for the first time since its publication in 1974 - to take account of the latest research.
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This unit provides an overview of the Constitution of the Weimar Republic. When studying the Weimar era it is important that you are aware of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the constitution as the Parliamentary structure was used by Hitler and the NSDAP as they rose from obscurity to power. As you read through this overview ask yourself whether or not the system was at fault. What, if anything, could have been included in the construction that might have prevented the descent towards the totalitarian state that emerged following Hitler's appointment as Chancellor?
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In it she enumerates ten different fascist modes of attack on the Weimar Republic in the early 1930s which eventuated in the Nazi takeover, still as a minority party, under Hitler. Her list of ten characteristics of fascism directly parallels recent events perpetrated by the Bush administration.
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Adolf Hitler