Is History repeating itself? Please read this letter carefully and then form your own opinion! Adolph Hitler was a gifted orator who captivated many with his emotional speeches. He honed his skills by giving speeches to soldiers during 1919 and 1920. He became adept at telling people what they wanted to hear. (Do you see the parallel?) Hitler perfected his delivery by rehearsing in front of mirrors and carefully choreographing his display of emotions. Hitler was above all else an actor.When Hitler is photographed the camera shoots from on high and below, but only twice head-on. These camera angles gave Hitler a Christ-like aura. (He has become an idol of the uninformed, again, another parallel.) Hitler acquired the belief in the superiority of the “Aryan race” which formed the basis of his political views. (Leans towards and refers to Muslim beliefs. Another Parallel?) Hitler began to take full part in the party’s activities. He soon became its leader and changed its name to the National Socialists German Workers Party. (Garnering financial support from Unions and major corporations i.e., bailouts, and again, another parallel.) He dictated a book called Mein Kampf (My Struggle) to his faithful deputy Hess. This ponderous work contained Hitlers views on race, history and politics, including plenty of warning of the fate that awaited his enemies, particularly the Jews, should he ever attain power. The prospects of Hitler attaining power seemed so remote at the time that no-one took his writings seriously. Hitlers success was based on winning over the bulk of the German middle-class, who had been hard hit by the inflation of the 1920s and the unemployment of the Depression. Farmers and war veterans were other groups who supported the Nazis. The urban working classes generally ignored Hitlers appeals, and Berlin and the Ruhr towns were particularly hostile. But in these cities the Communists were strong, and the Communist Party also opposed democratic government and refused to co-operate with other parties to block Hitlers rise. Hitler issued the Reichstag Fire Decree of February 28 1933. The decree suppressed several significant civil rights in the name of national security. The Communist leaders, along with all other opponents of the regime, soon found themselves in prison. In only a few months Hitler had achieved authoritarian control without ever suspending or violating the Weimar constitution. But he had undermined democracy to do so. By 1925 the Nazi party was in much better straits both organizationally and financially, as it had secured the backing of a large group of wealthy conservative German industrialists, who funneled huge amounts of money into the organization. Hitler amassed a personal fortune at the expense of Germany and other European nations. He surrounded himself with cronies who enforced his beliefs to benefit themselves. Hitler used his position as chancellor to form a de facto legal dictatorship. The Reichstag Fire Decree, announced after a suspicious fire at the Reichstag, suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. Hitler also engineered the passage of the Enabling Act, which gave his cabinet full legislative powers for a period of four years and allowed deviations from the constitution. Hitler at BerghofHaving secured supreme political power without winning support from the majority of Germans, Hitler in fact did go on to win it, and he remained overwhelmingly popular until the very end of his regime. He was a master orator, and with all of Germanys mass media under the control of his propaganda chief, Dr Joseph Goebbels, he was able to persuade most Germans that he was their savior—from the Depression, the Communists, the Versailles Treaty and the Jews. To consolidate his regime, Hitler needed the neutrality of the Army and the industrial magnates. They were alarmed by the socialist component of National Socialism, which was represented by the mainly working-class Brown shirts of June 29-June 30, 1934. The event is remembered as the Night of the Long Knives. When Hindenburg died on August 2 1934 Hitler merged the offices of President and Chancellor, appointing himself Leader of Germany, and extracting an oath of personal loyalty from every member of the armed forces. The enlistment of vast numbers of men and women in the new military seemed to solve unemployment problems, but seriously distorted its economy. Having achieved full control over the legislative and executive branches of government, Hitler and his political allies embarked on a systematic suppression of the remaining political opposition. Hitlers ability to act as a figurehead of the Nazi machine was long gone by late 1944. Many of his closest advisers and handlers had already fled to other countries, been imprisoned. Hitler, by the beginning of 1945, was a frail, shaken man who had almost totally lost touch with reality. Do you see what direction America is heading?
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 16:38:07 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015