Perspective on Hitler in relation to his connection to the upper class extra reading Flashcards
What does Hitler or Hohenzollern say:
- Hitler’s first open alliance with the Junkers took place in October of 1931 when he made a political compact wit two monarchist groups, the German National Party led by Dr. Alfred Hugenberg and the Stahlhelm (Steel helmets), a legion of War veterans led by
Franz Seldte. The three groups pledged themselves, though maintain ing their separate identities and programmes, to work in harmony toward the common goal of reawakening German nationalist sentiment. This coalition was popularly known as the Harzburg Front, from the name of the town where the bargain was struck - During his first seventeen months of office from his appointment in January 30, 1933, to the “purge” 30, 1934, Hitler’s regime dis pronounced anti-monarchist bias During this period the influence Joseph Goebbels, who belongs wing of the Nazis which is strongly opposed to a restoration, was in the ascendant. He has on several occasions voiced his outspoken hostility to the idea. Associated with Dr. Goebbels holding this point of view are Dr D W Darre, Minister of Agriculture who advocates a break-up of the landed estates of the Junkers, and Dr Rosenberg, the “philosopher,” of the National Socialist movement. This group fears that a restoration would be a piece of flummery that would only serve to antagonize those section working masses which were lured to the swastika standard by pro radical changes
- Monarchist societies were expelled to dissolve in company other non-Nazi organizations. Monarchist propaganda was forbidden. The Hugenberg press was muzzled to a degree unknown under the rule of the avowedly republican parites
- He was filled with a dislike of the monarchist leaders and a suspicion of their motives - especially to those in Germany
- Napoleonic approach towards the SA during the night of the long knives
- Prince Augustus William of Prussia, a younger son of the ex-Kaiser, has been a Nazi Storm Trooper for many years. Ex-Crown Prince Frederick William provoked a minor political sensation during the presidential campaign of 1932 when he announced that he intended to vote for Hitler against Hindenburg. Indeed, it was even bruited abroad that Hitler had invited Frederick William to become the Nazi candidate for president, but that the wily Crown Prince, foreseeing defeat, prudently declined. Recently the Crown Prince has given circulation to photographs of himself and his sons ostentatiously clad in Storm Troop uniform. At the time of the “purge” of the Storm Troops, there were rumors that both Frederick William and his brother had been implicated and had fallen from grace, but Hitler absolved them of all suspicion in his speech to the Reichstag on July 13: “Of whole cloth is the news concerning the participation of any German princes or their prosecution,”
- links between the monarchy through the concept of heir and hitler’s rise to power as he did it politically
Who wrote Hitler or Hohenzollern:
Johnson
What does Hitler and Hitlerism say:
- Published in 1933 when Hitler was rising in power - What kind of a man is Hitler, and what does he desire for Germany?
- Young Germany has found in him an outlet for its inherent hero worship. To them, only
Hitler can bring the Fatherland back to a status resembling the former glory of Germany - Dr. Joseph Goebbels, one of the chief advisers to Hitler, or as he is called by the Nazis, “Mouse-General,” postulated some of the doctrines of Hitlerism in his “Ten Commandments” which follow - structured around a religion with mein kampf with a similar purpose to a bible
- When Hitler was asked what form of government would rule Germany in the Third Reich, he declared that the question was foolish. “Wait until we are free, then we can decide upon a form of government.” That was obviously political expediency. He
wanted to satisfy two groups, the Nationalists and the Monarchists. He straddled the fence so that no one knew exactly what he meant - a very common method used by clever politicians in our own country
Who wrote Hitler and Hitlerism:
Jones, D. D., & Meltzer, S. L
What does Studying the Nazi Party: “Clean Models” Versus “Dirty Hands” say:
My principal hypothesis is that individuals who joined the Nazi Party calculated that the benefits of joining would exceed the costs”. The decision to join a political party is
a two-stage process: first, individuals identify the political party they perceive as most beneficial relative to their needs; second, given the compatibility of interests, they will decide to join if incentives and potential rewards outweigh disincentives and costs
Who wrote Studying the Nazi Party: “Clean Models” Versus “Dirty Hands”:
Anheier
What does The NSDAP as Volkspartei? A Look at the Social Basis of the Nazi Voter say:
A number of factors aided this Nazi penetration of the urban lower middle class of artisans, retailers, shopkeepers and pensioners. Clearly significant, according to both Childers and Larry E Jones, was the erosion of traditional political loyalties with the inflation and harsh stabilization of the early 1920s served to destabilise middle class voting patterns. Depleted savings, valueless bonds and investments, a lack of credit, fact bankruptcies, an increased tax burden and a harsh revalorisation all contributed to resentment and frustration among the lower middle classes. Still, most lower middle class vote solutions preferred by the Nazis but to Bourgeoise special interest groups.”
Who wrote The NSDAP as Volkspartei? A Look at the Social Basis of the Nazi Voter:
Fritz
What does THE SOCIAL CLASS ORIGINS OF NAZI PARTY MEMBERS AS DETERMINED BY OCCUPATIONS, 1919-1933 say:
- Advertising in Nazi newspapers in 1933, Abel announced an essay contest on the theme “Why I became a Nazi” with a cash prize for the winner. He received 687 entries in his contest, 83 of which were excluded from the ensuing statistical study (most because their authors were statistics thus derived by Abel are interesting but of very little value for determining the social composition of NSAP membership as a whole. That Abel’s sample was not representative of the entire membership is obvious from the fact that an overwhelming majority of Nazis did not respond to the contest. Nevertheless, Abel made a number of sweeping generalisations concerning the party based on his data which still influence scholarly opinion about the social bases of Nazism
- Bendix (1952:357-72) argued along with several others that membership drew its rank and file members not from a specific social class, but from the disenchanted of Weimar society of whom there were many. Bendix and those who agree with him have argued that most people were attracted to the NSDAP because of “a severe social and economic crisis” which “blurred or obliterated the conflicting interests between different social groups.”
- Propaganda alone cannot account for the sizable percentage of workers in the NSDAP. Other factors which must have attracted some workers into Hitler’s movement include nationalism, anti-Semitism, and despair over the perceived failure of the Social Democrats and the Communists to adequately address the problems of workers
- The super-nationalism of the NSDAP was attractive to workers who had been infused with patriotism since childhood (Langsam)
Who wrote THE SOCIAL CLASS ORIGINS OF NAZI PARTY MEMBERS AS DETERMINED BY OCCUPATIONS, 1919-1933:
Madden
