f Versailles can be overstated. With hindsight we can see that the economy did collapse following the Wall Street Crash, 1929, but economic failure was not inevitable. Had the current convalescence continued, Germany may well have found its feet.
             "Looking back at the grim situation of the 1923, it seemed that Germany had experienced a remarkable economic recovery."
             AJ Nicholls, from Weimar and the Rise of Hitler 1968
             As well as a seemingly strengthened economy, German politics also seemed to undergo a stage of relative stability. When Hitler came out of prison in 1924, he found a "sad little party" that had only managed to hold on to 14 seats in the 1923 election. The number of right wing paramilitary organisations dwindled between 1924-7 and support for moderate, Weimar parties grew. The 1928 election especially indicated "grounds for optimism"; the constitution parties won a stomping victory, the SPD entered the government for the first time since 1923, and Müller - an SPD – became Chancellor. The right- and left-wing extremists lost much support, gaining less than 30% of the national vote. EJ Feuchtwanger argues that the coalition governments, which are normally perceived as weak and inconstant, in fact managed a degree of stability. He argues that important ministers, like Stresemann, kept the same post between different government, and they were supported by a strong department of civil servants who supplied "continuity of policies." The local governments enjoyed stability, especially the Prussian Lander. Even the Bavarians lost support for right-wingers in 1928.
             "It was therefore not so much the case that the German parliamentary democracy was exceptionally weak and unstable, but that so many Germans would still have preferred a more authoritarian system."
             EJ Feuchtwanger from Germany 1915-19
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