In March 1932, presidential elections pitted the incumbent Field Marshal Hindenburg, supported by pro-republican parties, against Hitler and the Communist candidate Ernst Thälmann. Hitler gained roughly a third of the vote and was thus defeated in the second round in April by Hindenburg, who gained a narrow majority.[1] However, after this victory Hindenburg increasingly moved towards the political right and at the end of May 1932 was persuaded to dismiss Brüning as Chancellor, replacing him with Franz von Papen (a renegade of the Centre Party) and a non-partisan "Cabinet of Barons". Papen's cabinet had almost no support in parliament and only three days after his appointment, when faced with this opposition, had the President dissolve the Reichstag and called for new elections, to be held on 31 July, so that the Reichstag could not dismiss him immediately.[2]
The election campaign took place under violent circumstances, as Papen lifted the token ban on the SA, the Nazi paramilitary, which Brüning had banned during the last days of his administration. This inevitably led to clashes with the Communist paramilitary. Note: The SA openly carried unsharpened Holbein style parade daggers to maintain compliance with an existing weapon law, while simultaneously using the appearance of an armed force for intimidation. The main purpose of such a strategy was to use Police manpower as a tool, by diverting their attention toward other partisans who armed themselves with functional weapons in response to the ploy, partly disrupting competitors efforts.
The elections resulted in great gains by the Nazi party, who with 230 seats for the first time became the largest party in parliament. Neither the Nazi Party nor President Hindenburg had a governing majority and the other parties refused cooperation. Neither side had a majority on its own and no coalition could be formed to create a governing majority.[2] Hence, Papen's minority government continued, leading to another election in November.