William Tyler
The Rise of Nazism
Summary
How, and why, did Democracy fail in Germany after World War One? And, how did the Nazi Party emerge victorious in 1933? These are the perennial questions asked of Germany in the first half of the 20th century. How could a sophisticated and educated people so easily fall to the lies and horrors of Nazism?
Firstly, there was the failing economy, a hurdle that The Weimar Republic could not surmount. Secondly, there was the fact that many ex-soldiers of World War One gave the Nazis the brute force they needed on the streets of Germany. Thirdly, there was the fact that Germany, despite Weimar, remained deeply divided between the communist far left and The fascist far right. Both extremes attempted coups which failed, and the irony is that the leading party of the far right, the Nazis, finally gained control in 1933 by way of a democratic vote. This is arguably the first lesson the Nazis taught liberal democracies- that their democratic processes can lead to an extremist takeover.
Once in power, Hitler was never going to acquiesce in the vote of the people. He was from the start only ever going to be removed by force. His choice to go to war meant that it would only be defeat in that war which would break him and his party. Thus, once he seized power in 1933, he began quickly to turn Germany into an absolutist autocracy, forever staining German and European history with the blood of nations in war and in the death camps of the Shoah.
William Tyler
William Tyler has spent his entire professional life in adult education, beginning at Kingsgate College in 1969. He has lectured widely for many public bodies, including the University of Cambridge and the WEA, in addition to speaking to many clubs and societies. In 2009, William was awarded the MBE for services to adult education, and he has previously been a scholar in residence at the London Jewish Cultural Centre.
Yes, correct. They, they didn’t have the means to do so. They had been crushed by them.
Because there was a view that the biggest threat was Marxism, that’s true. And that Marxism would’ve destroyed them. Secondly, there was a deep antisemitism amongst the British upper classes. When it comes to Edward VIII, he was German. He was certainly lent towards Hitler. But remember that the real fascist in that relationship was Mrs. Simpson. And so it isn’t entirely British. Shelly, I, I’m guessing you are American. So there is an American involvement there. It’s basically that they feared communism more than they feared fascism. They thought fascism was an answer to the bad politics of the 1920s and thirties, because Britain had suffered economically as well, and so on and so forth. They also had this anti-Semitic, anti-Semitism deep within the upper classes in Britain.