[scarmig]

German Nazis and German Communists (who were very much not the fluffy Euro-Communists of the Cold War) made up a majority of the German population. The ends to which people were forming active, violent militias were different, but when massive groups of people are taking up arms, a society has chosen the path of violence. German elites, conservatives, and moderates actively chose to let the Nazis take power, because it seemed superior to the alternative at the time.