How Hitler Rose to Power

a reply to: crazyewok

Here's the thing though, the government was ineffective, yes, but it was also able to fix things. It conquered the hyperinflation problem for one. It seems that a significant part of the discontent of the people is from an overall distrust of democracy in general. How much of those problems were real and how many were just hyperbolic imaginings I wonder?

Hitler rose to power by lying his ass off. And yes he used the word socialist in his own party… even enlisting the aid of the communists at one point to help destroy the Weimar Republic. I know because I'm reading that part right now in "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".

National Socialist German Workers Party. Covers all the bases, gets everyone on board so he can get what he wants, total control…

But never really cared about anyone but himself. A narcissist sees other people as objects to use to get what he wants.

originally posted by: intrptr
But never really cared about anyone but himself. A narcissist sees other people as objects to use to get what he wants.

They certainly do and that's why I wrote the thread.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Yes, lots of history needing to be told/retold.

I apologize if I missed this as one of your links, but I wanted to share this link as a companion to your link.
The Führer Myth: How Hitler Won Over the German People

And if I might add, for those of you who like WW2 history, here is an excellent book dealing with the year immediately after, Year Zero: A History of 1945 by Ian Buruma.
There were many parts I read then had to put the book down to digest the horrors of both the war and the year after. It is a year in time nobody talks about.

a reply to: desert

Yea, that was one of the links I got a good deal of my information from. Thanks though. Even Hitler was a human and we need to understand how he thought to understand how he accomplished his goals.

a reply to: ken10

I have not seen it, no. I tend to avoid documentaries as I prefer reading my information so it is unlikely I will have seen a documentary on any given subject.

a reply to: intrptr

I remember that little spear he ran to in Austria

A very long preamble just to compare Trump to Hitler?

Godwins Law usually needs some back and forth opinions first, in order to set the trigger, but that just leaps right on in there!

I find it funny that at that time in history, Americas movers and shakers, the elite industrialists and bankers, also wanted to align themselves with the fascist movement and it's greater control apparatus, even to the point or plotting a military overthrow of the elected government. It failed, none went to jail and those same crime families behind it still run America today!

originally posted by: Anansi
a reply to: intrptr

I remember that little spear he ran to in Austria

Hi Anansi. Yah the spear of Destiny. Hitler believed he was protected by what he referred to as "Providence". Most megalomaniacs think they are better than everyone else. In fact, he had miraculous escapes in his life, surviving near miss assassination attempts on several occasions.

The Nazi's had ties to English corporations/companies before the two countries went to war. I found an old photo album of a car racing event sponsored by BP, in which Nazi insignia were proudly being displayed all over, as well as the British Petroleum logo of the time period.

Needless to say, it disappeared from the antique shop...

Just as in any event in history, there were a LOT of things going on behind the scenes that the average rank-and-file German didn't know about.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Yea, Introvert pointed out that a thread on those connections would be a good idea. Maybe in a week or so, I'll do a followup thread to explore those links. Though I do want to point out, that the connections you mentioned are rather common conspiracy topics that we hear about regularly (since they have to do with the US and all). My intention with this thread was to shed light on an aspect of the Hitler debate that isn't as talked about.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
The Nazi's had ties to English corporations/companies before the two countries went to war. I found an old photo album of a car racing event sponsored by BP, in which Nazi insignia were proudly being displayed all over, as well as the British Petroleum logo of the time period.

Needless to say, it disappeared from the antique shop...

Just as in any event in history, there were a LOT of things going on behind the scenes that the average rank-and-file German didn't know about.

I don’t think at that time the UK really had any idea of what he was to become.

Even the USA would pretty supportive of him at the beginning.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Nicely done. It's difficult to encapsulate a complex topic in the span of a few forum posts. I would add two things myself to flesh out the context of the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Völkisch movement - an umbrella term for numerous related romantic ethnic nationalist movements that developed in the late 19th century as a part of the greater Conservative Revolutionary movement. While there are some important differences, there are quite a number of parallels to the turn American conservatism has taken in recent years.

Wikipedia - Völkisch movement

The völkisch movement had its origins in Romantic nationalism, as it was expressed by early Romantics such as Johann Gottlieb Fichte in his Addresses to the German Nation published during the Napoleonic Wars, from 1808 onwards, especially the eighth address, “What is a Volk, in the higher sense of the term, and what is love of the fatherland?," where he answered his question of what could warrant the noble individual's striving "and his belief in the eternity and the immortality of his work," by replying that it could only be that "particular spiritual nature of the human environment out of which he himself, with all of his thought and action... has arisen, namely the people from which he is descended and among which he has been formed and grown into that which he is".[4]

The movement combined sentimental patriotic interest in German folklore, local history and a "back-to-the-land" anti-urban populism with many parallels in the writings of William Morris. "In part this ideology was a revolt against modernity," A. J. Nicholls remarked.[5] The dream was for a self-sufficient life lived with a mystical relation to the land; it was a reaction to the cultural alienation of the Industrial revolution and the "progressive" liberalism of the later 19th century and its urbane materialist banality. Similar feelings were expressed in the US during the 1930s by the populist writers grouped as the Southern Agrarians.

In addition the völkisch movement, as it evolved, sometimes combined the arcane and esoteric aspects of folkloric occultism alongside "racial adoration" and, in some circles, a type of anti-Semitism linked to exclusionary ethnic nationalism. The ideas of völkisch movements also included anti-communist, anti-immigration, anti-capitalist and anti-Parliamentarian principles.[citation needed] The völkisch ideas of "national community" (Volksgemeinschaft) came more and more to exclude Jews.

Some of the parallels in my opinion (most of these overlap):

romantic nationalism - Founding Father worship, tricorne hats and the Tea Party. America as a "Christian Nation" and other revisionist history.
emphasis on the agrarian past - popularity among mid-westerners, anti-progress, anti-intellectual, neoconfederacy in the South.
obsession over cultural identity - anti-immigration, xenophobia, etc.


The Jewish Question - As you noted in the OP:

They'd make Germany great again, get other countries to stop meddling in their affairs, bring jobs back to the people, oh and they blamed a certain religious group for all of their problems (real or imagined).

The way many people, particularly right-wingers, talk about Muslims is reminiscent of what was (and though less popular still is) alleged about the Jewish people; they won't assimilate, their religion makes it impossible for them to exist under secular rule of law, they're invasive, they've infiltrated/are infiltrating governments where they live, they're an impediment to cultural cohesion, etc.

a reply to: theantediluvian

Thanks for the information on the Volkisch movement. I was unfamiliar with it before.

While there are some important differences, there are quite a number of parallels to the turn American conservatism has taken in recent years.

Holy #! I can see what you are saying there. Rejection of knowledge, rejection of advancing society (liberalism), ultra-nationalism, rejection of technology and science, disdain for materialism, and promotion of spiritualism.

It's amazing how with a little bit of exploring history, we can see that many ideas pitched as "new" today are really old and have been tried in the past.

The way many people, particularly right-wingers, talk about Muslims is reminiscent of what was (and though less popular still is) alleged about the Jewish people; they won't assimilate, their religion makes it impossible for them to exist under secular rule of law, they're invasive, they've infiltrated/are infiltrating governments where they live, they're an impediment to cultural cohesion, etc.

Yea, the propaganda used against the Jews back in those days is remarkably similar to the propaganda used against Muslims today. That is why these statements are so worrying. It is also one of the reasons I wrote the thread. I wanted to give an account of the past to show how it is reflected in the present. Naturally, the people with their eyes closed refuse to say. One even went about telling me I was wrong then pitched a point that was anti-Muslim in nature.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Well, the Nazi's and Hitler himself were big into technology...as long as it advanced the agenda of Hitler's Germany.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Yea, that's something that cannot be denied, but it shows that Hitler's rhetoric that got him elected didn't align with his goals and desires. It shows that he was willing to say what ever crap came to mind that would resonate with the most people. Once he was in charge, what were they going to say to make him follow through on words?

a reply to: intrptr

Reading all the posts, I'm wondering who has the sanity left.. Megalomaniacs and assassination attempt makes them neurotic and unpredictable, furthermore believes in an ancient myth of immortality and artefacts.. He was a just a pawn who reached the other side of the table and was sacrificed..

a reply to: MystikMushroom

I think you are missing the bigger picture, think larger..