the consistent failure¶

By 1932, following the consistent failure of the ruling liberal government coalition to address the needs of the people, both the fascists and the communists were in the midst of surging support. Incumbent president Paul Von Hindenburg barely eked out a victory... https://t.co/17NBx0YsxP ... largely due to support from social democrats seeking to avert the election of Hitler, but who absolutely despised the communists. Hindenburg tried to rule mainly by emergency decree, due to how fragmented the Reichstag was, but failed to achieve anything. He replaced Center Party chancellor Heinrich Brüning with an even more right-wing reactionary, Franz von Papen, as a bridge to bring the Nazis on board. This government was just as ineffective as the previous, prompting even more deal-making with the Nazis. The Nazis demanded new parliamentary elections, radio access, and a reverse on the ban of the SA and SS. Papen and Hindenburg acquiesced, dissolving the Reichstag and giving the Nazis room to run rampant with campaigning, street demonstrations, and mass political violence. In July 1932, the newly reinvigorated SA led a 7,000-man "recruitment march" through Antola, which strongly supported communists and social democrats. Protestors threw things at the Nazis, who proceeded to swarm into the crowd and beat them. Deadly conflict broke out... ... which Papen blamed on communists, and used as pretext to suspend the Prussian government.

At the end of July, the election showed even higher support for both the Nazis and the Communist Party. Yet again, the Nazis refused to work with the center without more concessions. Another election was scheduled for November.

In the interim, the Hindenburg-Papen government implemented a series of decrees meant to "balance the budget," including lowering the minimum wage, means testing that tossed millions off unemployment, and tax cuts for businesses. Crackdowns on both communist and social democrat local governments and organizations ramped up, under the false claim that they were planning to merge. They weren't: the SPD despised the KPD so intensely that they worked with fascist paramilitaries to kill KPD leaders. The crackdowns on communists and the political mainstreaming of the Nazis did nothing to dissuade the steady rise of support for the communists. In the November election, the Nazis and the SPD lost several seats, while the KPD gained ground, even as overall turnout declined. Fearing an unstoppable communist ascent buoyed by flagging support for both the "centrist" and far-right parties, and totally opposed to any policies that would harm the capitalist class, the liberals made overtures to the "left flank" of the Nazi party, under Gregor Strasser. Hitler moved quickly to ostracize the Strasserists, and began negotiating with the recently replaced, but still influential Papen, to work on a new coalition.

By January, Papen, Hindenburg, Hitler, and a host of capitalists had come to a deal: Hitler would be chancellor. We all know what happened next.

At no point in that rapid ascent did Hitler or the Nazi party win an election on the backs of disaffected leftists refusing to vote for the "lesser of two evils." Rather, every step of the way, liberals chose fascists over communists.