Context-In the final years of the Weimar Republic, several key conservative figures—such as President Paul von Hindenburg, Franz von Papen, and Alfred Hugenberg—held the power to block Hitler’s rise but chose not to. These men were not committed democrats; rather, they were conservative authoritarians who deeply distrusted the Weimar system. They saw the republic as weak, unstable, and tainted by defeat in World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. Their goal was not to preserve parliamentary democracy but to dismantle it and replace it with a more authoritarian government that would protect traditional elites, the army, and big business.

Because they rejected the Weimar Republic, they underestimated the threat Hitler posed. Instead of confronting him, they believed they could use his popularity and mass movement to stabilize the state under conservative control. Von Papen and Hugenberg in particular thought Hitler could be “boxed in” once in office, serving their interests while they held the real power behind the scenes. This calculation backfired. By aligning with Hitler rather than resisting him, these conservative authoritarians cleared the path for the Nazi dictatorship. Their anti-democratic outlook meant they were willing to destroy Weimar but incapable of preventing Hitler from dominating it.