Editing Weimar Republic (section)

====Brüning and the first presidential cabinet (1930–1932)====
{{Further|First Brüning cabinet|Second Brüning cabinet}}
On 29 March 1930, at the instigation of General [[Kurt von Schleicher]], President [[Paul von Hindenburg]] appointed finance expert [[Heinrich Brüning]] as successor to [[Hermann Müller (politician, born 1876)|Hermann Müller]] (SPD),<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 June 2024 |title=The end of the Weimar Republic |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Weimar-Republic/The-end-of-the-Weimar-Republic#ref1257412 |access-date=8 July 2024 |website=Britannica online}}</ref> whose five-party coalition had broken down on 27 March over how to finance the increased costs of unemployment compensation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vogt |first=Martin |date=1997 |title=Müller (-Franken), Hermann |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118584979.html#ndbcontent |access-date=8 July 2024 |website=Neue Deutsche Biographie 18 (1997), [Online-Version] |pages=410–414}}</ref> The new government was expected to lead a political shift towards conservatism.

As Brüning had no majority support in the Reichstag, he became, through the use of [[Article 48 (Weimar Constitution)|the emergency powers granted to the Reich president by Article 48]] of the [[Weimar Constitution|constitution]], the first Weimar chancellor to operate independently of parliament.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Adam |first=Thomas |title=Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2005   |isbn=978-1-851-09633-6 |location=New York |page=185}}</ref> After a bill to reform Germany's finances was opposed by the Reichstag, it was made into an emergency decree by Hindenburg. On 18 July, as a result of opposition from the SPD, [[Communist Party of Germany|KPD]], [[German National People's Party|DNVP]] and the small contingent of NSDAP members, the Reichstag again rejected the bill by a slim margin. Immediately afterward, Brüning submitted a decree from the President to dissolve the Reichstag.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morsey |first=Rudolf |date=26 October 2010 |title=Heinrich Brüning |url=https://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/portal/Internet/finde/langDatensatz.php?urlID=1585&url_tabelle=tab_person |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=Internet-Portal Westfälische Geschichte |language=de}}</ref> The consequent [[1930 German federal election|general election on 14 September]] resulted in an enormous political shift within the Reichstag: 18.3% of the vote went to the NSDAP, five times the percentage it had won in 1928.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reichstagswahl 1930 |trans-title=Reichstag Election 1930 |url=http://www.gonschior.de/weimar/Deutschland/RT5.html |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=gonschior.de |language=de}}</ref> As a result, it was no longer possible, even with a [[grand coalition]], to form a pro-republican majority that excluded the KPD, DNVP and NSDAP. The situation led an increase in the number of public demonstrations and instances of paramilitary violence organized by the NSDAP.

Between 1930 and 1932, Brüning enacted a policy of austerity including drastic cuts in state expenditures, tax increases, mandated wage reductions in both the public and private sectors, and credit restrictions.<ref name=":0" /> Among other measures, he completely halted all obligatory public payments to the unemployment insurance program introduced in 1927, resulting in higher contributions from the workers and fewer benefits for the unemployed. Benefits for the sick, invalids and pensioners were also sharply reduced.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wisch |first1=Fritz-Helmut |title=Europäische Probleme und Sozialpolitik |last2=Martin |first2=Paul |last3=Martinson |first3=Marianne |last4=Schruth |first4=Peter |publisher=Frank & Timme |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-86596-031-3 |location=Berlin |page=151 |language=de |trans-title=European Problems and Social Policies}}</ref> Since the [[Young Plan]] did not allow the ''[[Reichsmark]]'' to be devalued, he triggered an [[internal devaluation]] by forcing the economy to reduce prices, rents, salaries and wages by 20%.<ref name="Büttner" />

By late 1931, Hindenburg and Schleicher had begun to contemplate dropping Brüning in favor of accommodating [[Alfred Hugenberg]] of the DNVP and Adolf Hitler. On 30 May 1932, Brüning finally lost Hindenburg's support over the question of [[Eastern Aid]] and resigned as chancellor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grevelhörster |first=Ludger |title=Kleine Geschichte der Weimarer Republik 1918–1933 |publisher=Aschendorff |year=2000 |isbn=978-3-402-05363-8 |location=Münster |page=172 |language=de |trans-title=A Brief History of the Weimar Republic 1918–1933}}</ref>

The consensus today is that Brüning's policies exacerbated the German economic crisis and the population's growing frustration with democracy, contributing considerably to the increase in support for Hitler's NSDAP.<ref name=":0" />