Seeing History

As long as you asked...yes, I do like to fancy that I know a little bit about history.

Do you know about Neville Chamberlain?

Neville Chamberlain was the British Prime Minister before our friend Winston Churchill...and Chamberlain is the one most associated by many as Hitler's appeaser. Of course, Great Britain was in no shape to go to war with anybody at the time. WWI had left its mark, and the Depression didn't help matters. Besides simply allowing Hitler to reoccupy the Rhineland, reunite with Austria, and annex the Sudetenland, Great Britain entered into trade agreements with Eastern European countries. These agreements allowed the countries into the British market if they would restrict trade with the Germans. So while there was appeasement, there was also an attempt right from the beginning to contain Germany. These measures, though unsuccessful, were occurring while Great Britain frantically rearmed itself.

Do you know how the Nazis came to power?

Well, let's see. That's a pretty broad topic. Let's just start with the exile of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Germans weren't familiar with democracy. They lived under a monarchy with actual power, rather than a constitutional monarchy where the royal family only shows up to have their picture taken at important events. Kaiser Wilhelm II was important to Germans and their national identity. His exile created a vacuum. The Weimar era after WWI didn't fill that vacuum. Democracy was introduced to a country with no history of democracy. Americans in particular tend to take for granted that there will be support for democracy anywhere it is introduced, but that's just not true. When Hitler billed himself as a new version of Kaiser Wilhelm II, he was able to garner support from nationalistic Germans.

Of course, democracy meant there were political parties in play. The left was deeply divided between the Social Democrats and the Communists. Many of these people had suffered during the Depression and had little money. The right, on the other hand, was made up of big businesses with plenty of cash. The industrialists, tired of labor unions, wanted a return to a strong authoritarian nationalist rule that would bring labor down. Once the Nazis gained support from big business, they had plenty of money at their disposal. The fractured left wing couldn't keep the Nazis from rising to power. It's also interesting to note that the Social Democrats were more than happy to turn the Communists in to the Nazi leaders as the Nazis began taking over. Once the Communists were destroyed, the Nazis focused on the Social Democrats. The left was gone.

Quickly the Nazis suppressed civil liberties. Freedom of speech and the press were eradicated. Police could read private letters and search or seize whatever they wanted, and arrest whomever they wished. All the rights that had been ushered in after WWI were ushered right back out as Hitler worked towards silencing anyone who could challenge his supremacy--Jews, the Catholic Church, the Lutheran leadership, labor unions, intellectuals, etc.

Do you know how they were able to kill tens of millions of people before being stopped?

As I mentioned, Hitler ruthlessly suppressed dissent. The "Night of the Long Knives" illustrates his style vividly. Disloyal SA officers were killed, as well as all of his previous political opponents. Despite the heavy-handed tactics, Hitler was popular with German nationalists. He said he'd get rid of the left and he did. He reoccupied the Rhineland, reunited Austria with Germany, and annexed the Sudetenland. His rearmament provided jobs for Germans. When he was victorious against Poland, his popularity soared. Germans, dispirited after the Treaty of Versailles, were proud once more.

Do you know how they were stopped?

Let's dig slightly deeper than "Our grandfathers went to Europe and kicked his ass!"...a big reason Hitler was stopped was because he stopped himself. Not on purpose, mind you, but because his priorities were a little skewed. Conquering territory is all well and good, but it does create problems with resources. You need them. You need men and food and transportation and a million other things. Hitler's resources were spread thin, and they should have been concentrated on the front lines. Instead, resources were diverted away from the war effort. Where were they diverted to? The concentration camps. Officers and trains and supplies were pulled off the front lines to assist in the killing of Jews. Killing Jews was a higher priority than protecting Germany.

History is a funny thing. You'd think it would be pretty straightforward: this happened on this date, followed by this other thing that this guy did at a later date. But for something so many high school students see as static, history is actually quite fluid. People can see it in different ways. They can read what I've written and apply it to different situations. The "Bush is Hitler" camp can pull out the suppression of civil liberties part and apply it to the Patriot Act. People horrified by Iraq's mass graves can see similarities to Germany's concentration camps. The pro-war group can look at Neville Chamberlain and see Hans Blix. There are many different interpretations of history, and often what you see depends on what you want to see.

Posted by Jennifer at October 18, 2004 09:00 AM

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