https://doi.org/10.31261/ZDP.2019.20.24
The crisis of parliamentary democracy in the Weimar Republic reached its peak in 1932. Successive governments, especially of Brüning and von Papen, took steps towards inde- pendence of the executive from parliamentary power. Their activity was supported by the policy of the President of the Hindenburg Reich. This alliance was supposed to theoretically ensure strong executive rule and consolidate the political superiority of conservative forces. The instru- ment of these actions was Article 48 of the Constitution, under which Hindenburg could issue emergency ordinances by bypassing the parliament. Conservatives were also supported by rep- resentatives of the legal sciences, who saw Article 48 as an effective instrument of dictatorship.
The opposition was relatively weak and, what is more, it saw a political interest in support- ing conservative governments. The conservatives, united occasionally against the left, fought for power against the Nazis.
The conflict between the Reich and Prussia, which ended with the judgment of 25 Octo- ber 1932, was the quintessence of this process. It aimed at the subordination of Prussia to the Reich and relied on a policy of applying the facts made justified by normative acts contrary to the constitution. Proceedings before the Supreme Court also revealed the political attitudes of representatives of the science of law. A group of conservative professors legitimized without any resistance the illegal order established in Prussia.
The breakup of democracy in Prussia opened the way to the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. In most cases, the representatives of the legal science started to legitimize the new order against the traditions and values of the rule of law.
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Vol. 12 (2019)
Published: 2020-04-16
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