295: The Rise of the Nazis (Part 1)
This episode examines the rise of Nazism in Germany leading up to Hitler becoming Chancellor in January 1933. The hosts explore how democratic mechanisms were used to destroy democracy itself, and how a sophisticated nation like Germany fell under Nazi control through a combination of post-WWI trauma, economic collapse, and extremist ideologies that had been developing since the 1880s.
Summary
The episode begins by marking the 90th anniversary of Hitler becoming Chancellor on January 30, 1933, when he swore an oath to uphold the constitution before President Hindenburg. The hosts examine two disturbing aspects of Nazi rise to power: how they gained mass support through democratic elections rather than seizing power by force, and how this occurred in one of Europe's most culturally and industrially advanced nations.
The discussion traces various theories for Nazism's origins, including the German 'Sonderweg' (special path) thesis, Marxist interpretations blaming big business, and A.J.P. Taylor's controversial claim that Hitler represented typical German desires. The hosts argue against viewing Nazism as uniquely German, noting similar extremist currents across Europe in the 1880s-1890s.
Key intellectual developments include the reconfiguration of Christian anti-Semitism into racial terms through Darwinian concepts, with figures like Wilhelm Marr coining 'antisemitism' in 1879. International influences included French theories about Aryan master races and British writer Houston Stewart Chamberlain's work on racial competition. The episode details how medical metaphors about hygiene and disease became applied to racial 'cleansing.'
The narrative focuses extensively on Hitler's background as an unremarkable Austrian dropout who discovered his talent for public speaking after Germany's WWI defeat. His experience in Vienna exposed him to virulent anti-Semitism through figures like Georg von Schönerer and Mayor Karl Lueger. The trauma of Germany's unexpected defeat, economic collapse, and political chaos created conditions where extremist explanations gained appeal.
The episode concludes with Hitler's entry into the tiny German Workers' Party in 1919 Munich, which later became the Nazi Party. Despite having all the ideological ingredients in place by 1921, Hitler still saw himself merely as a 'drummer' preparing the way for a future leader, not yet envisioning himself as Germany's dictator.
Key Insights
- The Nazis came to power through democratic means rather than revolution, using mass electoral support to destroy democracy from within, making their rise particularly haunting for modern democracies
- Germany's defeat in WWI was especially traumatic because Germans felt they were winning until the sudden collapse, creating a 'stab-in-the-back' myth since no Allied troops were on German soil when armistice was signed
- Modern racial anti-Semitism emerged in the 1880s-1890s through figures like Wilhelm Marr, who explicitly distinguished it from religious prejudice and coined the term 'antisemitism' in 1879
- Darwinian concepts provided intellectual justification for abandoning Christian ideas about duty to the weak, replacing them with 'survival of the fittest' ideologies that sanctioned domination of others
- Vienna's multi-ethnic tensions exposed Hitler to particularly virulent anti-Semitism through figures like Georg von Schönerer, who originated the 'Heil' greeting and 'Führer' title later adopted by Nazis
- Medical metaphors about disease and hygiene in the late 19th century became powerful tools for racists, with concepts of 'social hygiene' easily morphing into 'racial hygiene'
- Hitler discovered his talent for public speaking only after WWI when assigned to give lectures to soldiers, transforming from a nobody into someone with 'malign genius for rabble rousing'
- The German Workers' Party that Hitler joined was just one of dozens of extremist groups in chaotic post-war Munich, initially attracting him through his army assignment to monitor political groups
- By 1920-1921, Hitler was already using explicitly genocidal language about Jews, calling for their 'extermination' and comparing them to disease bacilli that must be killed
- The Nazi Party emerged from the occultist Thule Society, which used the swastika symbol and promoted Nordic racial theories while being led by a convicted forger posing as nobility
- Despite having all ideological components in place by 1921, Hitler still saw himself as merely 'the drummer' preparing for a future messiah-leader, not yet envisioning himself as Germany's dictator
- Germany's economic devastation during WWI was extreme, with taxation covering only 14% of government expenditure, leading to massive inflation that pauperized the population before military defeat
Topics
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