In 1932, President Paul von Hindenburg was a sickly eighty-four years old. However, the prospect of Adolf Hitler being elected President of the Weimar Republic persuaded the reluctant incumbent to seek a second term.
In the 1925 election, Hindenburg had been the candidate of Germany's right wing, and had been strenuously opposed by much of the moderate left and political center. However, in 1932, this part of the political spectrum decided to unite with the moderate right in supporting Hindenburg to prevent Hitler's election. The support of the moderate Weimar coalition was also encouraged by the fact that, contrary to fears expressed at the time of his election in 1925, Hindenburg had not used his office to subvert the constitution, as Hitler now aimed to do.
Hitler was nominated Chancellor of Germany two years later, and the rest, as they say, is World War II. But what if he won the 1932 election? Would anything be altered from OTL? Would the Second World War come early? Or would Hitler, for whatever short amount of time, have to pander to the centrist moderates that teamed up against him, perhaps making a more reasonable figure Chancellor of Germany? I realize his goal was to subvert the Weimar constitution and establish a dictatorship anyways, but would it have gone differently?
In the 1925 election, Hindenburg had been the candidate of Germany's right wing, and had been strenuously opposed by much of the moderate left and political center. However, in 1932, this part of the political spectrum decided to unite with the moderate right in supporting Hindenburg to prevent Hitler's election. The support of the moderate Weimar coalition was also encouraged by the fact that, contrary to fears expressed at the time of his election in 1925, Hindenburg had not used his office to subvert the constitution, as Hitler now aimed to do.
Hitler was nominated Chancellor of Germany two years later, and the rest, as they say, is World War II. But what if he won the 1932 election? Would anything be altered from OTL? Would the Second World War come early? Or would Hitler, for whatever short amount of time, have to pander to the centrist moderates that teamed up against him, perhaps making a more reasonable figure Chancellor of Germany? I realize his goal was to subvert the Weimar constitution and establish a dictatorship anyways, but would it have gone differently?