The Coming of the Third Reich

While the narrative Richard Evans presents in The Coming of the Third Reich reveals how vulnerable the Weimar Republic was to both internal and external forces, he also argues that “[d]evelopments that seem inevitable in retrospect were by no means so at the time” (xx). While some historical narratives about the rise of the Nazi Party present the Weimar Republic as doomed, Evans disagrees, writing that in “other circumstances” the Weimar Republic “might have survived” (96). It was not a matter of basic and uncomplicated causes. Instead, the Weimar Republic was defeated in a complex series of causes both inside and outside of Germany such as having a large number of delegates who questioned the very legitimacy of the republic, attitudes toward Germany’s defeat in World War I, and the Great Depression. Evans also highlights that even if Hitler had not come to power, Germany would not necessarily have remained democratic; authoritarian forces existed across the political spectrum, and anti-democratic elements had already taken root in German institutions.

One weakness in the Weimar Republic is that there was a thin line between legal and illegal political actions. To achieve and consolidate power, the Nazis committed acts that skirted the law while claiming that they were acting within the Weimar constitution.