Well, in simpliistic terms, I guess you are right.
However, the reason for Hitlers rise to power is a little more complex than Germany was starving and here comes Hitler. I would be happy to supply the forum with this information once my writing is complete, look for it around this Friday-Monday (long deadline, but hey, I am only a university student :) )
Long story short, Hitler was no Napoleon, for the simple fact that Napoleon was a great general, and had a great understanding for military logistics, Russia not withstanding.
Napoleon, however, did rise to power in France during a time of great unstability and danger in France. He promissed France security, and the French supported him in his endavours, much like the situtation with Hitler in the 1930s. We have to remember that, not only was Germany defeated in 1918, but the conditions of Versailles were created to punish Germany unfairly after World War One. I don't want this to turn into a World War One dicussion, if you want to challenge my point on the harshness of Versailles, email me at [email protected], and we will dicuss it futher there. These conditions, along with the Second Reich policy of printing money to pay for the war, lead to MASSIVE inflation, to the point of 17,000 Reich Marks to 1 US dollar by 1923.(If you want a refernce, I'll be happy to provide one) The average German person blaimed the Weimar Republic for this problem, among others, and by the late 1920s, hardly anyone in Germany was willing to support the idea of a democracy. (Again, want a refernce, ask)
In comes Hitler, promissing a Germany that isn't held back by the Western powers, isn't weak, and isn't broke. Anyone living in the conditions of Germany would have jumped on board with his policies. (You have to remember that anti-semitisim was abound in Germany) This lead to the rise of Hitler. Yes he was "lucky" in the fact that the depression, Versailles, and the inability of the Weimar Republic to control the streets of Germany, but he was also intelligent. You give Hitler too little credit. (Not a sentence, as a German historian, I am used to typing :) )
Anyway, further dicussion is always welcome, espically if you don't agree with something I wrote. An argument, as long as it is intelligent, is always fun.
P.S I don't want "Hitler was an *beep* so we should all hate him" replys. If you have something meaningful to add, by all means, but if it is just Hitler bashing, forget a reply from me. Yes he was an *beep* idiot, we don't need to be remindend of it every two bloody seconds.
P.P.S Hitler was nothing like Geroge W. Hitler was smart, charasmitic, and understood what his people wanted.
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tmf_scipio
18 years ago
Very interesting post. I also like the parallel with Napoleon. One thing that Napoleon had going for him besides the chaos were his victories during the Directory Period and the Reign of Terror. These victories made him very popular, plus helped solidify the allegiance of the army. Something he would definitely need. Interesting how that also happened to people like Caesar and Augustus.
Hitler would parallel this. He gained popularity with the people by telling them what they wanted to hear... Most Germans didn't believe that they had won the war. Hitler used the end of the war to his advantage, saying that the people were betrayed by their leaders. Then that dreadful Treaty of Versailles, plus the depression.
How did Hitler gain the trust of the Army? Was it because Goering was one of his top advisers? Goering had 22 kills as a fighter pilot. Or was it simply because he said, and proved that he would restore Germany to glory?
What are your thoughts?
I also agree with you about Bush. He's just a puppet. Couldn't manage his way out of a wet paper bag with both ends open.
Protovision, I have you now!
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cowboy_brendan
18 years ago
Hitler's initial relationship with the army came from his early post war work. He was a "political" spy used by the army to investigate start-up political movements. This led him to the National Socialist party, which Hitler took over yadda yadda yadda.
Once the NSDAP became a somewhat viable political movement, Hitler, ulitizing the Freikorp, created the SA for "security", and an increased presence. These Freikorp unites were mostly retired WWI soldiers who had no work, and were quite good at fighting.
As Hitler gained more political power, he created stronger ties to the military, through promisses of greater power in the reich, as well as increasing its size from the tiny Versailles allotment to a massive fighting force. The military, for their own part, believed that they could use Hitler as a puppet, and control the reichstag through him. This didn't happen of course, but by the time Hitler became chancellor, the army was too "indebted" to him to challenge him.
From here, the relationship would initally be a good one, as Hitler supplied the wermarcht with quick decisive victories over Poland, France, Denmark, and Norway. However, as Hitler took more control over the army, finally taking over all aspects of military matters, the wermarcht, at least the old guard, were beginning to become fed up with him. By this time, however, there were too many Nazi hardliners in the higher ranks for much to be done.
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wtl471629
12 years ago
I don't approve any of the crimes committed by the Germans but this movie needs to be watched so that effective propaganda does not fool us again. The World was fooled by this movie and the favorable impression that they made when they hosted the 1936 Olympics. Many people know of Jesse Owens success but still Germany won more medals there than any other country and Mr. Owens made a then comdemnation of our society when he was quoted as being better treated in Germany than in his own country. This propaganda was effective because when war crimes were reported the world refused to believe it until later.
It is best to study these type of films and tactics in order to not be deceived again.
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