The Rise of the Nazis

In class we have discussed how Fascism can flourish when democracy fails. Mussolini and Hitler both rose to power in political vacuums, and were able to capitalize on disintegrating order, but how much of it was the fault of the people who supported their rise?

Before the collapse of the Weimar, Germany wasn't doing so bad. There still existed some strains and tensions due to the end of the Great War (repartations, loss of territory, and the war guilt clause), but in the period from 1918 to 1933 the Republic was able to draft a constitution, suppress right and left wing militancy (specifically by 1923), improve the economy, and be admitted into the League of Nations. Though the world depression hit in 1929, why were Germans so unhappy with the Weimar Republic, and what made Nazisim so appealing?

Hyperinflation and the death of Streseman could be seen as pitfalls for the Republic. And a coalition needed to be formed to ensure the continuance of a smooth government, but why, despite heading the largest party in the Reichstag, would von Hindenburg form a coalition with a political dissenter? There is the lesser of two evils theory: Hitler's conservativism was better than radical leftists who were vocally dissenting. But, this still appears to be a poor choice for leaders in the Weimar because he had already proven that he was against the governement in 1923 with the Beer Hall Putsch.

German citizens could also be blamed for Hitler's rise. They backed a man who since the early twenties had played off hatred for minority groups (hatred that had arguably been instilled in Germany since the massacres of Jews during the marches to the Crusades). But, even after he assumed the chancelorship, his policies directly reflected meglomania and militancy. His school policies were blantant attempts to indoctrinate children into racially motivated militancy, the creation of Hitler youth and the Nazi control of early motherhood showed their desires to cradle children into Fascist society from a young age while limiting the power and influence of the family, and the gradual decrease in privacy coupled with the increase of paranoia would yield the conclusion that the government was on a wrong path. This having been said, is it the entire German people's fault for the atrocities of World War II, or were the Nazis just that good at indoctrinating and propagating?