I taught this stuff so I forgot how complicated it is.

Let me know if this does not explain it.

Some BUGSERS have trouble with how Germany’s government was formed in 1932.

In the United States the president and congress are elected separately. 

However, in most places there is a single election for the single ruling House, like the House of Commons in Britain.

Americans are used to an orderly, timed changes of government. Our elections are in November, but the old congressmen and the old president stay in office until January, the “transition” period.   It used to be that those elected only took office in March, four months after the election.

This makes the way they change governments in Europe very confusing to us.

In Britain, there is only one election, and that election is for every Member of Parliament on the same day. If that election goes against the party in power, every office from Prime Minister down to MP (Member of Parliament) changes.

Right after Election Day, if the party in power loses, a new government must be formed.

This has happened many, many times. The moment the Labor Party got a majority in the House of Commons in 1945, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, suddenly had to leave Number Ten Downing Street, their White House.

In the European form of government, the old government disappears at the top and a complete new government must be formed.

Here is the part that confuses Americans: The new government must be supported by a majority of members of the one elected House selected in that one election.

Nowadays, no one party ever gets a majority in the British Parliament. So they have to form a coalition in order to form any government or elect any prime minister. I have long since lost track, but the last British Government I remember was a coalition of Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties.

Back in the fifties, the Governments of France and Italy were standing jokes. They would form a new Government every few DAYS, as members of Parliament formed new coalitions and then fell out with each other.

To Americans, this would be a weird way to run a country store, much less a GOVERNMENT!

I repeat: in this Bizarro way of running a government, there is no government unless it is backed by a MAJORITY of the one elected house.

There is no end to the number of disasters this can lead to. One of these disasters occurred in the Weimar Republic after the election of 1932.

Between the two, the Communists and the Nazis, they had a MAJORITY of the total membership of the newly elected ruling House.

The ONLY House Germany has forms a government!

You could not form a government without a majority.

Basic arithmetic: If two (2) parties hold a majority, one of the two must be included if you are to form ANY new government. So the 1932 election meant that ANY new government must include either Nazis or Communists.

I did NOT say the Nazis and Communists got together. What I said was that those people who voted Communist caused this situation, as Nazi voters did.

The new government HAD to include either Communists or Nazis.

Hitler owned a third of the Reichstag. A government required a majority vote. Hitler formed a coalition with other right-wing German parties.

No, the Nazis and the Communists did not come together. When Hitler took power his coalition then Hitler formed a coalition with the tiny right-wing National Party. Kicking out the Reds made the Reichstag arithmetic even better. With a sixth of its members kicked out, Hitler’s third got even closer to a majority. There were 83% of the delegates left, and Hitler owned 33% of those delegates.

A snap election was called, during which the Reichstag burned down and the Communists got blamed. The Nazis ran against politically handicapped opponents in March. This further improved their numbers.

Hitler was at last able to declare a State of Emergency and he then threw all the other parties out of the Reichstag and Germany was run by the Nazis in that State of Emergency until May of 1945.

Is this understandable?