Ah, democracy. That brilliant, wonderful, fragile little thing. So delicate, in fact, that if you don’t tend to it properly—water it, give it plenty of sunlight, make sure it doesn’t fall into the hands of raving lunatics—it has the nasty habit of, well, dying.
And if you need an example of how spectacularly a democracy can self-destruct, you really can’t do much better (or worse) than March 5, 1933—the day Germany held an election that didn’t quite kill democracy immediately but did hand it a bottle of sleeping pills, tuck it in, and say, “Shh, just relax now, it’s all going to be fine…”
Step 1: Take a Weimar Republic. Make It Sad.
The setting? Germany. The time? The early 1930s. And Germany, poor thing, was having a bit of a nervous breakdown. See, after World War I, Germany had tried this newfangled experiment called democracy, but it wasn’t going terribly well. It turns out that when you saddle a country with crushing war reparations, financial ruin, hyperinflation so bad that people are wallpapering their homes with banknotes, and a level of political bickering that makes a British Christmas dinner look harmonious, people tend to get a little testy.
In this mess, everyone with a political theory—whether it involved the glorious rise of international communism or the sudden and violent deportation of all the people you don’t like—decided that they alone had the answers. Among them? A loud little Austrian fellow with a Chaplin mustache who really, really wanted people to know how cross he was.
Adolf Hitler, leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), was a man on a mission. A mission to get into power and then make sure nobody else ever got a go.
Step 2: Find a Convenient Fire and Blame the People You Hate
Now, Hitler had a bit of a problem. He’d been appointed Chancellor in January 1933, but the Nazi Party didn’t actually have a majority in the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament. This meant Hitler had to, you know, compromise with other political parties, which—spoiler alert—wasn’t really his style.
And then, like divine intervention, the Reichstag building burned down on February 27, 1933. Oops!
No one is entirely sure who started the fire (one poor Dutch communist got the blame, though evidence was, shall we say, flimsy at best). But did that stop Hitler from pointing at the smoking ruins and shrieking, “IT WAS THE COMMUNISTS!” like a toddler blaming the dog for eating their homework? No, no it did not.
He took this golden opportunity to persuade President Hindenburg to sign the Reichstag Fire Decree, which was a delightful little document that did things like suspend civil liberties, allow mass arrests of communists, and essentially throw democracy in a bag and take it for a swim in the river.
Step 3: Hold an Election, But Make It a Bit… One-Sided
With the communists out of the way (in jail, mostly), the Nazis were feeling very confident going into the March 5 elections. The plan was simple:
- Ban the opposition from campaigning.
- Terrorize voters with armed stormtroopers.
- Pretend it’s all completely normal.
The result? The Nazis won 43.9% of the vote. Which, by the way, wasn’t actually a majority! Apparently, even with all the intimidation, people still weren’t totally sold on the whole “let’s give absolute power to the angry man with the megaphone” idea.
No worries, though. The Nazis teamed up with a smaller right-wing party to get their majority, because democracy is all about making deals… until you make a deal that ends democracy forever.
Step 4: Pass an Enabling Act (Which Enables You to Do Whatever You Want)
Having technically “won” the election, Hitler did what any reasonable leader would do: He got rid of the Reichstag entirely.
Enter the Enabling Act, March 23, 1933. The name is ironic, because the only thing it enabled was Hitler’s absolute power. This little piece of legislation, passed in a vote under the watchful and slightly menacing gaze of Nazi paramilitary forces, basically said: “Parliament? Pfft. Who needs it? We’ll just let Hitler rule by decree instead!”
And with that, Germany’s democratic institutions were officially dead.
Step 5: Call It “National Unity” While You Crush All Opposition
Over the next few months, Hitler banned opposition parties, dissolved trade unions, silenced the press, and turned the entire country into a propaganda machine. Everything was now coordinated (or as the Nazis called it, Gleichschaltung, which sounds like something a Bond villain would say before pressing a big red button).
Germany was now a dictatorship. And it had all happened legally.
Now, About Today…
Now, at this point, you might be thinking, “Well, thank goodness we’ve learned our lesson and democracy is perfectly safe now!” And to that, I say: Have you looked at the news lately?
Germany, Present Day: The Far Right is Making a Comeback (Again!)
Turns out, history has a nasty habit of repeating itself. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, a delightful collection of nationalists and hard-right populists, is now polling higher than ever before. And in some areas, they’re actually winning elections.
What’s their secret? Oh, just economic anxiety, immigration fears, and a general distrust of politicians. Sound familiar? It should, because it’s the exact same climate that gave rise to extremism in the 1930s.
Meanwhile, in the U.S.: Democracy is Having a Bit of a Wobble
Over in America, things aren’t looking too peachy either. The 2024 election saw Donald Trump return to power with a party that has embraced voter suppression, conspiracy theories, and the occasional flirtation with authoritarian rhetoric. Consider the parallels:
- Suppressing political opponents? The Nazis jailed the communists. Trump? Well, he’s promised to prosecute his enemies if given the chance.
Undermining free elections? The Nazis made sure the March 5 election was unfair. In the - U.S., gerrymandering, voter suppression, and “Stop the Steal” nonsense are making fair elections harder than ever.
- Dehumanizing rhetoric? Hitler painted enemies as existential threats. Trump? “Vermin,” “Poisoning the blood of America”—sound familiar?
The Moral of the Story? Pay Attention!
The elections of March 5, 1933, didn’t end democracy overnight. It was a slow, creeping erosion of institutions, norms, and rights. And the truth is, this could happen anywhere—so long as people allow it to.
So, if you’re looking for a simple guide on how to lose a democracy, just follow the steps above.
Or, and this is just a thought—maybe don’t.
