When Democracy Doesn't Work
The Weimar Republic's electoral system seemed fair on paper but created chaos in practice. Proportional representation meant that parties got seats based on their exact vote percentage, which sounds democratic but rarely produced a clear winner.
This led to unstable coalition governments that constantly argued and achieved very little. Germans grew increasingly frustrated watching their government change hands repeatedly whilst their problems got worse, making Hitler's promise of "one strong leader" incredibly appealing.
Even worse, the system legally allowed extremist parties like the Nazis and Communists to participate, despite both groups openly planning to destroy democracy from within. The Weimar Republic was essentially providing a platform for its own enemies.
Economic disasters delivered the final blows: hyperinflation in 1923 wiped out middle-class savings, whilst the 1929 Wall Street Crash triggered mass unemployment that peaked at 6 million by 1932.
Key Insight: The Great Depression marked the moment when many Germans completely lost faith in democratic government, seeing politicians as the cause of rather than the solution to their problems.