Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town 1922-1945 (Social Studies: History of the World)
by William Allen
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Book Summary Information
Author: William AllenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1984-05
ISBN: 0531056333
Number of pages: 388
Publisher: Childrens Press
Book Reviews of Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town 1922-1945 (Social Studies: History of the World)
Book Review: Skilled organizers
Summary: 5 Stars
>The Nazi Seizure of Power< is a solid history book, good enough for use in a college-history syllabus, which is where I came across it. It is something of an eye-opener. Nazism, i.e. "National Socialist German-worker Party" is as enigmatic at the working level as its name is long, which helps it hoodwink German voters and prove that you can establish a dictatorship as easily with ballots as you can with bullets.
Nazism in "Thalburg," Professor Allen's sample pseudonym city, was never an overnight sensation but the result of tireless effort by legions of party workers, who were ignorant of Nazism's true intentions:
1) A housewife put it clearly: "The ranks of the (Nazis) were filled with young people. The people who joined did so because they were for social justice, or opposed to unemployment."
2) Others joined because it looked as though the Nazis would be victorious, and they hoped to profit.
3) "Most who joined did so because they wanted a hard, sharp, clear leadership. They were disgusted with the internal political strife of parliamentary party politics."
One cannot read >The Nazi Seizure of Power< and not be impressed at the sophisticated organizing technique that the Nazis employed to sway the elections:
1) In the early months of 1930, the (Nazis) held a meeting nearly every week, advertised with such titles as "The German Worker as Interest-slave of Big International Capitalists," or "Saving the Middle Class in the National Socialist State."
2) In newspaper advertisements, Thalburgers were urged to give deeply. "Sacrifice" was the key word.
Before the Nazis could succeed, they had to break the hold of private organizations:
1) There is a proverb, "Two Germans, three clubs." This was almost true of Thalburg where, in 1930, there were no fewer than 161 clubs.
2) There were 21 sports clubs, 47 with an economic or occupational function, 23 religious or charitable societies.
3) With hardly an exception, they followed the town's class lines.
The Nazis also had to abolish distinctions between schools:
1) There were three public primary schools, arranged so that children could also secure religious orientation.
2) Burgerschule 1 was Lutheran; the Katholische Volksschule served Catholic children; Burgerschule 2 was non-denominational.
3) Each school had its own School Advisory Council, elected by the pupils' parents.
The abolition of private or exclusive spaces by the Nazis was a process they called "Gleichschaltung," i.e. linking to one source:
1) Eventually no independent social groups were to exist. All of society would exist whereby each individual related not to his fellow man but only to the State.
2) What social cohesion there had been in the town existed in the club life, and this was destroyed in the early months of Nazi rule.
3) With their social organizations gone and with terror a reality, Thalburgers were isolated from one another. By reducing the people to unconnected social atoms, the Nazis could move the resulting mass in whatever direction they wished.
The Nazi leader in Thalburg was "Kurt Aergeyz," not his real name. Aergeyz was "cynical, ruthless, and brutal." Indeed his name means "ambition" in German:
1) It is possible to construe the actions of Kurt Aergeyz, after he came to power, as expressive of class divisions. Nothing is more difficult than discovering the truth about personal motivation, but many of the actions taken by Aergeyz suggest they were a product of social resentment.
2) Kurt Aergeyz was possibly attempting to triumph over the environment in which he had grown up and which condemned him to the condescension of his social betters.
With an Presidential election coming up, >The Nazi Seizure of Power< is a worthwhile read.
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