Sat 7 Sep 2019, 08:29 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER by Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot Labour Party member.
BBC 2 are running a 3-part series on Hitler’s rise to power in 1933. Historians and other experts explain how a ‘liberal democracy’ was destroyed in a space of four years. The programme begins with the general election of 1930. Economically, Germany was on its knees and people were seeking change. The results of the election saw a parliament of 14 parties with no overall control. The only party to make gains was Hitler’s National Socialists, who were previously regarded as part of the lunatic fringe.
A key player in the rise of Hitler was General Kurt Schliecher. He regarded Bruening, the existing Chancellor, as to close to the Socialists and sought the assistance of Hitler to replace him with a new right-wing coalition. Schleicher was a keen observer and saw the paramilitary arm of the Nazis as a useful tool in defeating the left and the trade unions. Schleicher arranged a meet between Hindenburg, president and head of state, and Hitler, with the view of replacing Bruening with Von Papen in a new right-wing coalition.
Hitler demanded fresh elections in return and the Nazis increased their vote share from 18% to 37 % and became the largest party in the Riechstag. Hitler demanded to be Chancellor, but support for the Nazis fell in a further election in 1932 and Schleicher became Chancellor. Von Papen met with Hindenburg with the idea of making Hitler Chancellor and him vice-chancellor, as a means of getting power back and dismissing Schleicher. Hindenburg agreed and Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933.
The historians in the programme pointed to the fact that the aim of the aristocratic elite, such as Hindenburg, Schleicher and Von Papen, was to use Hitler as a means of crushing the German labour movement and in fact looked down on him. Hindenburg was a former WW1 general, as opposed to Hitler, a corporal. As it turned out, it was Hitler who was able to manipulate them. Schleicher was shot by the SS in 1934 and the German ruling class had unleashed a man full of hate and violence as head of one of the world’s major powers.
The British ruling class were of the same opinion as the Germans. The establishment saw the Nazis as a ‘bulwark against Bolshevism’, including the ‘great war leader’, Churchill. In my opinion, the best book to read about this period is Trotsky’s book on Fascism, What is it, and how to fight it, but I’m still looking forward to parts 2 and 3 of this series.
You can still catch up the first episode and others later on BBC i-player.
