Post. Some questioned it's validity as we knew some would. As always we encourage people to research what they read. For those that need them or want them here are the links from which the post evolved:
Following civil unrest, the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s spurred by the stock market crash in the US, the counter-traditionalism of the Weimar period, and the rise of communism in Germany
(we inserted the word terrorism next to communism as during the McCarthy era in this country the word alone struck terro into the hearts of many).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany
Gleichschaltung [ˈglaiçʃaltʊŋ] (meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line") is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control over the individual, and tight coordination over all aspects of society and commerce. The historian Richard J. Evans offered the term "forcible-coordination" in his most recent work on Nazi Germany. One goal of this policy was to eliminate individualism by forcing everybody to adhere to a specific doctrine and way of thinking and to control as many aspects of life as possible using an invasive police force. (we applied "political correctness" to "eliminate individualism by forcing everybody to adhere to a specific doctrine and way of thinking and to control as many aspects of life as possible")
The parties referred to were: National Socialist German Workers' Party, (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei and the Third Reich.
The famous building that was burnt down was:
On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was subject to an arson attack and, as a result, seen as the pivotal event in the establishment of Nazi Germany. At 21:25hrs (UTC +1), a Berlin fire station received an alarm call that the Reichstag building, the assembly location of the German Parliament, was ablaze. The fire was utilized as evidence by the Nazis that the Communists were beginning a 'plot' against the German government.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire
One day after this fire: One day after the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933, President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg, acting at Hitler's request, issued the Reichstag Fire Decree. This decree suspended most human rights provided for by the 1919 constitution of the Weimar Republic and thus allowed for the arrest of political adversaries, mostly Communists, and for general terrorizing by the Sturmabteilung (SA) to intimidate the voters before the upcoming election.
Prior to the last Presidential election and to some extent this one, the terrorism card has been played with much success. Probably only superceded by "lipstick on a pig."
- In this atmosphere the Reichstag general election of March 5, 1933 took place. These yielded only a slim majority for Hitler's coalition government and no majority for Hitler's own Nazi party.
- When the newly-elected Reichstag first convened on March 23, 1933, (not including the Communist delegates, since their party had already been banned by that time) it passed the Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz), transferring all legislative powers to the Nazi government and, in effect, abolishing the remainder of the Weimar constitution as a whole. Soon afterwards the government banned the Social Democratic party, which had voted against the Act, while the other parties chose to dissolve themselves to avoid arrests and concentration camp imprisonment.
- The "First Gleichschaltung Law" (Erstes Gleichschaltungsgesetz) (March 31, 1933) gave the governments of the Länder the same legislative powers that the Reich government had received through the Enabling Act.
- A "Second Gleichschaltung Law" (Zweites Gleichschaltungsgesetz) (April 7, 1933) deployed one Reichsstatthalter (proconsul) in each state, apart from Prussia. These officers were supposed to act as local presidents in each state, appointing the governments. For Prussia, which constituted the vast majority of Germany anyway, Hitler reserved these rights for himself.
- The trade union association ADGB (Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund) was shattered on May 2, 1933 (the day after Labor Day), when SA and NSBO (Nationalsozialistische Betriebszellenorganisation) units occupied union facilities and ADGB leaders were imprisoned. Other important associations including trade unions were forced to merge with the German Labor Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF)), to which all workers had to belong.
- The Gesetz gegen die Neubildung von Parteien ("Law against the establishment of political parties") (July 14, 1933) forbade any creation of new political parties.
- The Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reiches ("Law concerning the reconstruction of the Reich") (January 30, 1934) abandoned the concept of a federal republic. Instead, the political institutions of the Länder were practically abolished altogether, passing all powers to the central government. A law dated February 14, 1934 dissolved the Reichsrat, the representation of the Länder at the federal level.
- In the summer of 1934 Hitler instructed the SS to kill Ernst Röhm and other leaders of the Nazi party's SA, former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and several aides to former Chancellor Franz von Papen in the so-called Night of the Long Knives (June 30, 1934/July 1, 1934). These measures received retrospective sanction in a special one-article Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defense (Gesetz über Maßnahmen der Staatsnotwehr) (July 3, 1934).
- At nine o'clock in the morning of August 2, 1934, Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg died at the age of 86. Three hours before, the government had issued a law to take effect the day of his death; this prescribed that the office of the Reichspräsident should be united with that of the Reichskanzler and that the competencies of the former should be transferred to the "Führer und Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler", as the law stated. Hitler henceforth demanded the use of that title. Thus the last separation of powers was abolished. Following the Reichswehr purge of 1938, Hitler could be described as the absolute dictator of Germany until his suicide in 1945.
It wasn't against just Jews (though they suffered worse), that the Nazi Germany engaged in
mass murder campaigns against. It was also:
Hitler's henchmen also carried out a campaign of ethnic extermination against Europe's Roma/Sinti and murdered thousands of homosexuals, mentally disabled people, and opposition figures.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/de-drittes-reich.htm
Note the words "opposition figures"!
Through 1937 Hitler's foreign policy had the approval of traditional conservatives. However, because many of them were skeptical about his long-range goals, Hitler replaced a number of high military officers and diplomats with more pliable subordinates.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/de-drittes-reich.htm
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Before the war the Nazi propaganda strategy stressed several themes. Their goals were to create external enemies (countries that allegedly inflicted the Treaty of Versailles on Germany) and internal enemies (Jews).
Or in our case how about Iraq or a whole religion? How about the expense and rapidity of passing laws in America to protect us from internal enemies without even identifying who those enemies might be?
Should we take this further? Following is a small exercise similar to the post alluded to at the beginning of this post:
Economic and imperial competition and fear of war prompted military alliances and an arms race, which further escalated the tension contributing to the outbreak of war.
At the settlement of the Congress .........., the principle of nationalism was ignored in favor of preserving the peace.
Three Countries needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the ........................... These countries competed for economic expansion in............... Although two countries resolved there differences, one did not. That country went on to form an alliance with two other countries. Other countries signed neutrality agreements in exchange for protection.
Countries began distrusting other countries and as a result countries normally at odds with each other over economic expansions were entering into alliances to protect themselves against "arms" escalations."
Conflicts were narrowly avoided in hot spots such as Africa, Turkey, Bosnia, Serbia, etc.
on June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, by a Serbian nationalist belonging to an organization known as the Black Hand
And like Dominos the rest of the world fell into WWI. The outcome of which the Germans were never happy with which contributed to WWII.
You ever break an arm? For awhile you favor that arm. Avoiding risks that may re injure it. After awhile the pain leaves. The memory fades and you begin engaging in the same activities that broke the arm in the first place. Eventualy you break something else. Probably exlains why I got a lot of broken bones.
I presented the links for the first scenario. You find the links for the second. Stay tuned for the rest of the story because it is not done.Add to Technorati Favorites
