The Mandate to Govern

I find it interesting how it was nearly impossible to form a coalition during the latter part of Weimar Germany. As the nation became increasingly fragmented the more established poltiical parties were abandoned by many in favor of several more radical parties who were more in line with their specific agendas. This allowed for a climate where Hitler was able to become Chanellor without what could be considered a clear mandate from the electorate. Instead he
simply relied on the Nazis being the most supported party in an extremely fragmented country where the other main parties were having a difficult time working together.

When thinking about this it is interesting to compare the Weimar situation to situations where you have fewer competing political parties that try to have broader interests, and are less focused on individual groups. Safer more established parties such as the the old liberals, the SPD, and the Center Party were being abandoned for more radical parties which were more specializded in their target constituencies. The effect of this was that the Nazis were eventually able to take power without a mandate and with alliances that were of necessity not of idealogical compatability.

This problem is especially interesting to compare to the American two party system where you have parties that can draw from extremely varied constituencies and tie together different types of issues which shouldn't necessarily be tied together. However forcing groups to operate under one big tent can have a moderating effect. In order to have success as a party it is necessary to have broad appeal, and to come together to resolve matters within the party even when there are differences or they run the risk of losing power altogether.

This is not to say that the reason for Germany's problems was that it had too many competing political parties because given that multi-party systems are far more common than two party systems and it clearly does not create instability in many of these countries. However it did have a very interesting effect in what was already an extremely fragmented poltiical situation. When voters continually splintered off from moderate political parties in favor of more radical groups the anymosity proved to make it impossible for a governable majority. The result was the Nazis emerging without a clear mandate. However not having clear control of the Reichstag did not prevent Hitler from solidifying his power in other ways once he was established.

Modern War and Nationalism

Compared to previous wars, the scale of World War I required complete commitment from the nations involved in terms of troops and resources. In Germany this helped promote a sense of nationalism, and all Germans began to consider themselves as having a stake in the success of the war. Frietsche describes 1914 as a turning point where Germany was not united behind the Kaiser or the German state, but that the country began to rally together as a nation of the German people.

Support for the war was not universal. Many groups had opposed the war, and Frietzsche notes that there were attempted protests, and that while many took to the streets in 1914 there was not a universal sense of the glory of war, and that many were not excited about fighting. However it was clear that they were all Germans, and that they were in it together.

We've spent the last month talking about different groups in German society, and how thPoey effected the direction of Germany. The successes and failures of political leaders, and political parties had played large roles in getting to 1914. However with Burgfrieden it seemed there was a temporary new order where everyone had to work together for the good of the country. Fears of socialism were put on hold, and all groups worked together to support the troops, and there families who were frequently in dire straits. War bonds were bought, and at least early on there was relatively little unrest until famines, and failures started to turn the tide of popular attitudes. World War I was the people's war even if they didn's start it.

Politically Germans would not continue to agree. Later on some wanted to pull back, and some felt that the elites had sold the German army out by pulling back. The Conservatives and Social Democrats would continue to fight, and the party that later became the Nazis was formed even if it didn't have full traction during this period. What had been established though was that everyone had a stake in Germany. From this point there weren't Prussians, or Bavarians, or Wurtenbergs. German unification was complete, and the German people would suffer together because of the war. There was a power vacuum for a new Germany, and the people would have a say in Germany's future for better or for worse.