Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

Chapter XVIIIDEFEATON JANUARY 6, HITLER CONFERRED WITH GROENER, thefollowing day with Bruning. Two years ago he had been an almostunknown figure. Now the future of the Reich was to be shaped by theseconferences. The outward pretext for the meetings was that Presidentvon Hindenburg's seven-year term was due to elapse in May, 1932. Anew president had to be elected. The most powerful political figure nextto Hindenburg was already Hitler, but an electoral battle around theperson of Hitler was bound to release violent inner conflicts, and innerconflicts could be fatal for Germany at the moment when she wasfighting for recognition as a great power. Groener and Bruning had notbeen mistaken in thinking that Hitler would understand the situation. Asalways in such conferences, he was not quite sure of his own position.Both men hinted that he would doubtless come to power in the not toodistant future; they hoped he would realize that until then Bruning couldobtain more easily than he himself those foreign concessions withoutwhich Hitler could not hope to govern. What Bruning wanted of Hitlerwas his support in a kind of peaceful coup d'etat. The presidentialelections would simply be suppressed. The Reichstag couldtheoretically prolong the present President's term as long as it likedwithout elections; it could suspend the entire constitution, provided thattwo thirds of its members were present, and that two thirds of thosepresent decided for the suspension. Hitler could give Bruning thismajority, for the Chancellor thought he could count on most of the otherparties. Hitler made counter-