Weimar Germany's Right-Wing Establishment Allied with Nazis, Mistakenly Believing They Could Be 'Tamed'

In the late 1920s, the right-wing Establishment of Weimar Germany formed an alliance with the Nazi movement, hoping to use the Nazis' popular support to banish left-wing parties from government. The Establishment mistakenly believed that the Nazis could be 'tamed' by being given governmental responsibility, ignoring signs of their extreme radicalism. Key figures such as Hjalmar Schacht, Alfred Hugenberg, General Kurt von Schleicher, and Franz von Papen collaborated with Hitler, thinking they could control him. Schacht, a former liberal who drifted right, urged coalition with the Nazis after meeting Hitler in 1931. Hugenberg, a media magnate and leader of the DNVP, worked with the Nazis against reparations and in the Harzburg Front. Schleicher, a military man, argued against banning the SA, seeing the Nazis as a 'counterweight' to the Left. Papen, appointed Chancellor in 1932, sought Nazi support. However, the Nazis refused to be junior partners; after winning 37% of the vote in July 1932, Hitler demanded full leadership. The taming strategy failed, and Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933, later consolidating dictatorial power. Schleicher and his wife were assassinated in the Night of the Long Knives. The Establishment's collaboration enabled the Nazi rise, leading to the destruction of the Weimar Republic.