Quote:
Originally Posted by jobseeker2013
I was wondering what was Hindenburg's attitude towards Hitler when he came into power. Why didn't he do more to stop him as President? Was it political will, old age?
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The answer is that Hindenburg seemed remarkably prescient that Hitler presented a danger to Germany.
Paul von Hindenburg was part of the old Prussian military clique. During World War I, Paul was already in his sixties. Yet, he and General Eric Ludendorff essentially directed most German military and even civilian affairs, running Germany as virtual dictators. The fact that Germany held out for four years against Britain, France, Russia, and finally the USA was a tribute to the leadership that these men provided. In fact, the Germans actually defeated Russia before the war ended.
Hindenburg was selected because of his fame to become President of the Weimar Republic which was proclaimed in Germany after the armistice, abdication and exile of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The post of President was largely a ceremonial post in the Weimar Republic as the new government was a parliamentary system with a Chancellor and the Reichstag as a parliament. The Chancellor held all the executive political power. Governments came and went during the fifteen years that the Weimar Republic existed. The job of the President was to formally ask the winner of an election with a majority of votes to form a new government. When a party failed to obtain a majority of votes, generally the President asks the head of the party with the most votes, or a plurality, to attempt to form a new government. Hitler was in this position and Hindenburg attempted to resist asking Hitler to form a new government. He clearly saw Hitler as an unscrupulous person with no moderating influences on his power. Hindenburg, as a former military officer, who had exercised near dictatorial powers, during World War I must have found functioning in a democratic form of government difficult. Yet, he did the job reasonably well.
There were several problems though. Hindenburg was a very old man by 1933, he was well in his eighties in an era where the average life expectancy was not more than sixty years of age. His health was failing. Also, the ceremonial role of President that he occupied did not allow him to do enough to oppose Hitler. People around Hindenburg pressured him and he found it hard to resist their pressures. Ultimately, Hindenburg ended up caving in and Hitler became the German Chancellor.
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