General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Punching Nazis feels good, but it's a selfish act, not something that leads to victory [View all]steve2470
(37,457 posts)He manipulated his way to power via a back-channel deal with Paul von Hindenburg and Von Papen. The theory was that the non-Nazis could control Hitler somehow, which of course turned out to be wrong.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#Appointment_as_chancellor
He got 36.8% of the vote in the 1932 German Presidential election versus 53% for Paul von Hindenburg. Ernst Thälmann of the KPD got the remaining 10.2%
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_presidential_election,_1932
In the election above, the Nazis only gained 33.09% of the total Reichstag seats, but they were the largest party. They were definitely a threat to the democratic regime in power.
The main problem was that the civil authorities in Berlin and other cities allowed the SA to run wild in those street battles. I'm sure the Communists started some. The SA were also allowed into the Reichstag, where they were allowed to intimidate the other deputies. If the SA had been neutralized (and the violent communists), there's a chance Hitler would have never risen to power. A lot of this is from memory, so I don't have precise links at hand. I agree we should not be initiating fights with the Neo-Nazis but fighting them democratically and with armed self-defense if necessary.