President Hitler, 1932 - ?

Hindenburg goes senile earlier, refuses to work with the socialists, whatever it is the POD needs. He loses the '32 election: Hitler narrowly beats him in round 1 and is elected in the runoff. What happens next?
 
probably a bigger millitery build up, earlier victories, a chance to improve weapons, and possibly an earlier WWII, with the allies in a bad situation.
 
Correct me if I´m wrong, but wasn´t the chancellor actually far more powerful than the president?

Yeah, he was. That's what makes it so interesting.

Once Hitler becomes Fuhrer it's probably convergent with OTL; it's the getting there that's interesting.
 
Correct me if I´m wrong, but wasn´t the chancellor actually far more powerful than the president?

No, the Reichspräsident appointed the chancellor, he could declare martial law, dissolve the Reichstag, was supreme commander of the Reichswehr, could suspend the bill of rights and pass emergency laws.
 
Correct me if I´m wrong, but wasn´t the chancellor actually far more powerful than the president?

But would Hitler therefore not simply be able to position someone in his own Party who he knew would follow orders into the Chancellor position?
 
No, the Reichspräsident appointed the chancellor, he could declare martial law, dissolve the Reichstag, was supreme commander of the Reichswehr, could suspend the bill of rights and pass emergency laws.

Yep, Hitler becomes god of Germany.
 
Hess was deputy leader of the Nazi Party and Hitler may want to formalise the Party control over parliament by appointing him. You would be hard pressed to find anyone more compliant to Hitler's wishes.
 
Hess was deputy leader of the Nazi Party and Hitler may want to formalise the Party control over parliament by appointing him. You would be hard pressed to find anyone more compliant to Hitler's wishes.
Yeah ...

Until that Flight to England Beckoned, That is ...

Perhaps Franz von Papen would be a Better Choice, Plus he could Always be Placed Under House Arrest as per OTL!

:p
 
Correct me if I´m wrong, but wasn´t the chancellor actually far more powerful than the president?

Very simplistic answer: at this precise point in time, no. By 1932 power was increasingly shifting away from the Reichstag, where after 1930 it was difficult to get anything done because of the surge in support for the anti-Weimar parties. Brunning et al increasingly relied on the President's power to sign into law emergency legislation.

Add to that the fact that the President could appoint pretty much whoever he liked as Chancellor (and Hindenburg increasingly did just that - Hitler had to beg him for months to appoint him, despite the NSDAP being by far the largest party in the Reichstag) and Hitler would be in an impregnable position as President. It's irrelevant who Hitler would appoint as Chancellor (And personally I think he would probably appoint a conservative/Junker nonentity, dismiss them at a later date, and then simply absorb the Chancellorship into his position as President - a simple reversal of OTL) - whoever it was they would be no more than a puppet. Hitler would then either just coup the entire democratic apparatus, or call fresh Reichstag elections, in the hope of a Nazi majority (which he would almost certainly get) to allow him to do precisely that with a bit more legitimacy.

Of course, all this depends on Hindenburg and the people around him accepting the result, which I think they very like would do, but its by no means a given. Papen, after all, simply permanently dismissed the elected government of Prussia when it started to get on his nerves.

If they don't, then the bottom line would be OTL's 1934 power arrangement two years earlier. That could have all sorts of interesting butterflies down the line but I can't think of any absolutely direct consequences.
 
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oberdada

Gone Fishin'
Don't make this so easy.

There would be a much stronger opposition, since the presidents term was 7 years.
Nobody could have really thought, like in OTL, that Hitler wouldn't last long.
A legalisation policy from the SPD like in OTL in the first half of 1933 is very unlikely in this scenario.
Hitler would have also a much harder time with conservative monarchists in theis Scenario, since the Handshake Hindenburg-Hitler in January 1933 was very important bringing them in line.
And there still is a Social democratic Government in Prussia.

Just a couple of thoughts.
 
Don't make this so easy.

There would be a much stronger opposition, since the presidents term was 7 years.
Nobody could have really thought, like in OTL, that Hitler wouldn't last long.
A legalisation policy from the SPD like in OTL in the first half of 1933 is very unlikely in this scenario.
Hitler would have also a much harder time with conservative monarchists in theis Scenario, since the Handshake Hindenburg-Hitler in January 1933 was very important bringing them in line.
And there still is a Social democratic Government in Prussia.

Just a couple of thoughts.

That's the spirit!

Yah - Hitler's a lot more powerful constitutionally here, but at the same time has a lot more opponents left - the republic is pretty much dead but the communists aren't, and the other parties of the right may be more worried since (unlike in early 33) Hitler clearly has no need of them.

I suspect Hitler would go right into rule-by-decree from day one, and the communists might panic and start an uprising (although - given the extent to which they were dominated by Moscow - you never know).
 
but at the same time has a lot more opponents left

Yeah. And they were soo effective at opposing him in OTL once he became Chancellor, weren't they?

Simple fact is, once the Nazis effectively got their hands on the police and the army and all the other coercive instruments of the state, all opposition was doomed, unless the Nazis sufficiently alienated the army itself. That would be the same situation here.
 
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