How Did It Happen?
“HOW was it possible for such a barbaric regime as the Nazi Third Reich to gain power in one of the most economically advanced and culturally sophisticated countries in the world?” This thought-provoking question was posed by historian J. Noakes, writing in the magazine History Today. It can perhaps be answered with a little background information.
The Nazi Party was not founded by Adolf Hitler. In 1919 Anton Drexler, a Munich locksmith, founded the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Workers’ Party). A year later its name was changed to Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers’ Party), and in 1921 Hitler became its leader. Drexler later withdrew from the party out of opposition to Hitler. The word “Nazi” was derived from the first word of the party name.
In 1923 Hitler and the party failed in an attempt to overthrow the government and Hitler was imprisoned. During that time he wrote his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle). In it he set out the party’s main goals and teachings, calling its supreme goal “the nationalization of the masses.” In order to reach this goal, he declared that “no social sacrifice is too great.” The State must prove itself to be “the defender of a thousand-year future,” he wrote.
At first, Hitler and his party were not taken seriously. His bombastic style of speaking led German writer Kurt Tucholsky to say at the time: “The man does not exist; he is only the noise that he generates.” Tucholsky no doubt spoke for many. But the man did exist, and he was due to generate much more than noise.
Factors in Nazi Takeover
The Germans were disillusioned after their defeat in World War I. They viewed the heavy sanctions imposed upon them by the Treaty of Versailles as being overly burdensome and unjust. Strong political leadership was lacking. The economic situation worsened from week to week. A global depression helped put millions out of work. A heavy atmosphere of despair and a feeling of insecurity stifled the joy of living.
Through a skillful propaganda campaign, the Nazi movement succeeded in forming the masses into a willing instrument to carry out its political goals. Its grandiose promises concerning the future appealed to the nation. It exploited for its own purposes the fear the populace had of communism. It provided Prussian militarism with a new outlet. The party offered young people excitement, adventure, comradeship, and the heady feeling of personal involvement in the rebirth of a mightier German nation.
Only six years after coming to power, Hitler, in a speech delivered on April 28, 1939, spoke about his successes. These included restoring order, increasing production, putting an end to unemployment, and casting off the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. He then added: “The provinces of which we were robbed in 1919 I have given back to the Reich . . . I have restored the thousand-year historical unity of the German people and I have . . . achieved this without the shedding of blood and therefore without subjecting my people or others to the miseries of war.”
Sebastian Haffner, in his book Anmerkungen zu Hitler (Remarks About Hitler), explains that for the Germans “Hitler was a wonder—‘someone sent by God.’” Thus Hitler’s successes, plus clever propaganda, allowed the Nazi Party to gain such control over the people that the movement began taking on religious overtones. Support of the party’s goals soon became a “sacred” duty.
This helps us to understand better what William L. Shirer wrote in his book The Nightmare Years: “The frenzy of the crowds fascinated me even more than my first glimpse of the dictator . . . When he appeared on the balcony for a moment and waved, they went mad. Several women swooned. Some, men and women, were trampled as the crowd surged to get a closer look at their messiah. For such he appeared to be to them.”
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The Nazis formed the masses into a willing instrument
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For many, Hitler was “sent by God,” says a German writer