# Paul von Hindenburg German field marshal and president of the [[Weimar Republic]] (1925–1934) who appointed [[Adolf Hitler]] as chancellor in January 1933, fatally believing that conservative elites could control the Nazi movement. Hindenburg's decision — made under pressure from right-wing industrialists and Junker aristocrats — is the paradigmatic case study in how establishment conservatives enable authoritarian takeover by treating radical populists as useful tools. His signing of the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act dissolved the constitutional order he had sworn to protect. *Stub — expand with: WWI mythologization, presidential elections, Article 48 emergency powers abuse, Osthilfe scandal, parallels to modern conservative enabling of authoritarianism.*