Harzburg Front - Aftermath

Aftermath

A motion of no confidence against Chancellor Brüning, jointly initiated in the Reichstag on 16 October, failed. In reaction to the events in Bad Harzburg, the left-wing Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Free Trade Unions forged the Iron Front alliance on 16 December 1931. Ultimately the Harzburg Front failed to produce an effective or united right-wing opposition to the Weimar Republic, mainly due to the intransigence of the Nazis and the differences in political aims and opinions of the varying groups approached by Hugenberg. Negotiations between the Nazis, the DNVP and Stahlhelm over a shared presidential candidate broke down in February 1932, with Hitler accusing Hugenberg of pursuing "socially reactionary policies", and eventually Hitler himself (quickly naturalized by the Free State of Brunswick) stood as the NSDAP candidate for President, while Hugenberg and his conservative allies presented Theodor Duesterberg in the first round and in the second round backed incumbent President Paul von Hindenburg.

However, when Brüning's government finally collapsed in May with Hindenburg appointing the "Cabinet of Barons" under Centre politician Franz von Papen, both sides again approached, culminating in the formation of a coalition government in the course of the Machtergreifung on 30 January 1933. In view of the federal election scheduled for March, the DNVP together with the Stahlhelm and the Agricultural League on 11 February once again formed a united Kampffront Schwarz-Weiß-Rot ("Struggle Front Black-White-Red" named after the colours of the German Empire) electoral alliance, before all right-wing organizations were dissolved by the Nazis as part of the Gleichschaltung process.