Component 2O Democracy and Nazism: 1918 45

I. The Weimar Republic (1918–1933) Dolchstoßlegende: The "Stab-in-the-back" myth; the belief that the German army remained undefeated on the battlefield but was betrayed by "November Criminals" (socialists, Jews, and politicians) at home. Article 48: The "Suicide Clause" of the Weimar Constitution, allowing the President to rule by decree in an emergency—later used by Hitler to dismantle democracy. Proportional Representation (PR): The electoral system that result...

AQA Component 2O explores the catastrophic collapse of liberal democracy and the subsequent rise of a radical totalitarian state. The board heavily favors the **Functionalist** interpretation, championed by historians like **Hans Mommsen**, which suggests the Nazi state was a chaotic **Polycracy** of competing agencies rather than a streamlined machine. AQA would agree that this structural disorganization led to **Cumulative Radicalization**, as subordinates engaged in **Working Towards the Füh...