The best explanations I've seen of the social and political roots of that period are Richard Evans's "The Coming of the Third Reich" [1] (going from 1870 to the

The best explanations I've seen of the social and political roots of that period are Richard Evans's "The Coming of the Third Reich" [1] (going from 1870 to the establishment of Nazi power in 1933-34) and the later volumes of his series. The main points he hits are: a) The fact that by 1933, the majority of the population was voting for parties that were explicitly against the democratic system. Even if there was no majority for the Nazis, there was also no majority in defense of protection of constitutional limits on power. b) The government bureaucracy and much of the elite (including the then President, Hindenburg, and old military man) were loyal to the State/Realm (Reich) to which they swore their oaths, but not to the democratic order and the constitution, and so were not functional impediments to Nazi power. I was also struck, when reading about their actions and motivations, how little they realized that democratic protections and limits on power protected them as well - when the Nazis took power, the conservative establishment was removed from civilian power by force or the threat of force, using powers that the conservatives had originally intended for use against the Left. c) Once the Nazis came to power, they succeeded in instilling in the German public apathy and an unwillingness to get involved in political opposition (though not necessarily active devotion to Nazi ideology). A fanatical minority can do a lot of damage if the majority is apathetic or is distracted by more popular policies (like national greatness and revenge on the WWI Allies). [1] http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Third-Reich-Richard-Evans/dp/0143034693/ http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Third-Reich-Richard-Evans/dp/01...