Hitler told millions of Germans that they were Aryans and therefore "special" and racially "better" people than everyone else, something that helped cement the charismatic connection between leader and led. He did not hide his hatred, his contempt for democracy or his belief in the use of violence to further political ends from the electorate. But, crucially, he spoke out only against carefully defined enemies like Communists and Jews. Since the majority of ordinary Germans were not in these groups, as long as they embraced the new world of Nazism, they were relatively free from persecution - at least until the war started to go badly for the Germans.
This history matters to us today. Not because history offers "lessons" - how can it since the past can never repeat itself exactly? But because history can contain warnings. In an economic crisis millions of people suddenly decided to turn to an unconventional leader they thought had "charisma" because he connected with their fears, hopes and latent desire to blame others for their predicament. And the end result was disastrous for tens of millions of people. It's bleakly ironic that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was greeted in Athens recently with swastika banners carried by angry Greeks protesting at what they see as German interference in their country.
Hitler therefore asked his party members in Braunschweig to get him citizenship. Politics in the state of Braunschweig was more polarized than national politics. The state included a substantive urban working class, traditional small businesses, and large rural districts. Nationally, German politics of the s was characterized by a succession of multi-party governments bringing together social democrats SPD with parties of the center and center right.
The centrist and center-right parties and representatives of small businesses in the state formed an alliance. They viewed the SPD as their main opponent in the state election, and resented, among other things, the appointment of SPD members to positions in state administration, schools, and the university. This coalition government gave the Nazi party the position of speaker of Parliament and minister of the interior. The Nazis used these positions to effectively promote their interests, and despite various crises, the coalition held on until Dietrich Klagges , the minister of the interior from , used his position to harass political opposition, undermine democratic processes, intervene in internal matters of the university, and—critically—to give Hitler his German citizenship.
The Technical University of Braunschweig found itself at the center of political conflicts of the time, while struggling to assert its autonomy from the state government. The conflict started in with an incident in which Nazi students accused a Bulgarian student of insulting a female German student and demanded his expulsion.
When the university did not comply with their racially charged demands, university leaders themselves became the focus of Nazi attacks. The conflict escalated in March when Klagges, the minister of the interior, prepared to appoint Hitler as a professor at the university.
The school strongly opposed the idea, not only because Klagges was interfering in university autonomy, but also because Hitler lacked the academic qualifications. Klagges found another route, namely to appoint Hitler to a governmental position with the Braunschweig representation in Berlin, which would automatically entail German citizenship.
Coalition partners reluctantly agreed on the assurance that Hitler would actually work in that role which he never did. After the First World War, Germany was in chaos. Once the German emperor had gone, rebellions erupted everywhere. Left-wing groups tried to seize power in many places. In Munich, for instance, a 'People's Republic' of Bavaria was proclaimed during a brief revolution.
It provoked a right-wing reaction, which in turn resulted in bloodshed. Hitler was very much impressed by these events. At that point, he was still in the army, and that was where he discovered his oratory talents. Before long, the army had him give training courses, intended to warn soldiers of the communist danger and to stir up feelings of nationalism. It was the start of his political career. Against the backdrop of revolution and violence, Hitler's antisemitism was becoming increasingly radical.
It is noteworthy that he said he did not support uncontrolled 'emotional' pogroms outbursts of anti-Jewish violence.
As early as August , Hitler compared the Jews to germs. He stated that diseases cannot be controlled unless you destroy their causes. The influence of the Jews would never disappear without removing its cause, the Jew, from our midst, he said. These radical ideas paved the way for the mass murder of the Jews in the s. Hitler blamed the Jews for everything that was wrong with the world.
Germany was weak and in decline due to the 'Jewish influence'. According to Hitler, the Jews were after world dominance. And they would not hesitate to use all possible means, including capitalism. In this way, Hitler took advantage of the existing prejudice that linked the Jews to monetary power and financial gain. Hitler was not bothered by the apparent contradictions in his thinking. Throughout this time he made passionate speeches about expanding German territory. These words and deeds worried foreign observers.
Use the sources in this lesson to find out how he was viewed by some of these commentators. Or an odd eccentric who was rebuilding Germany? They thought he would stop once he had reversed the terms the Treaty of Versailles which limited the power and strength of Germany. Others feared that this was only the beginning of a far more aggressive foreign policy. Germany then invaded Poland, bringing about the beginning of the Second World War. How the British government dealt with Hitler in the run up to the outbreak of the Second World War has come under close scrutiny.
Of course at the time, Winston Churchill, no longer in Government from the early s, was a significant critic of the Munich Agreement which allowed Germany to take over Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia an attempt to prevent a war. Churchill continued to criticize Hitler and call for Britain to rearm.
When war was declared with Germany in he returned to power as First Lord of the Admiralty and later became wartime Prime Minister of a national government on 10 May It was closely linked to the Prime Minister at the time, Neville Chamberlain and was popular although is now regarded as a policy of weakness.
Appeasement found support with the British public who wanted to avoid the huge losses of the First World War. There was a strong anti-war or pacifist sentiment. Of course to have stopped Hitler might have meant declaring war — a massive decision when most countries wanted to avoid war at all costs.
Britain kept a close watch on developments in Germany. They wanted to find out what he was like, what he wanted to achieve for Germany, what kind of leader he was and, strangely enough, if he was sane.
The purpose of this lesson is to encourage students to handle conflicting evidence on the character and personality of Hitler and assess their reliability. The first source is an extract from a report by Mr. Law, a British businessman, who worked in Germany provided to the Foreign Office.
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