"Though the facts you cite to support it seem a little weak - "
Good God, Brumar. Read a book, why don't you?
Ok, try to follow along. Germany, going into WWI was the German Empire. They had some colonies in Africa and had expansionist goals. Kaiser Wilhelm, note the title "Kaiser" which means "Caeser" to show you where his head was, felt that Germany was due the spotlight on the world stage and was challenging France and England for dominance. Now Germany lost that war, I hope this doesn't come as a shock. Yhe German labor movement was very strong and very socialistic, starting back in the 1800s. Now, Marx and Engels were a product of their time, they were hardly lone wolves, writing in the basement of their parents house. With the defeat of Germany, many Germans felt betrayed. Hence the whole back stabbing sentiment that Hitler played on. The aristocracy also got blamed along with the large companies who worked hand in glove with the aristocracy. Now, there was an event in 1917 that involved deposing an aristocracy. That was the Russian Revolution. In the wake of WWI, this was a hugely popular idea. Within a few years, most of the aristocracies in Europe were gone, usually replaced with a socialist government of varying degrees of seriousness. In Germany, the socialists were very strong for a number of reasons and they very nearly went communist. Just google "German Revolution". The Weimar Republic was basically a compromise worked out by the Social Democrats to keep communism at bay. Now, the SPD was very overtly socialist, having its roots in the labor movement. However, as they grew in influence they naturally moved to the center. In addition, in their opposition to the Empire had been pushing democracy as the vehicle. So while they had certain sympathies towards the Bolsheviks, they were not interested in replacing one autocratic government with another.
So, at the end of the war, the Social Democrats came out on top and socialism itself was very popular. However, the reparations demanded by the Entente Powers bankrupted the country. And the policies of the Weimar Republic to inflate their way out of reparations didn't help. And, especially during those days, any major economic pain was viewed as a failure of capitalism. And that bred socialistic sympathies. Especially when the back stabbers were identified as the Jews, the aristocracy and the large companies.
This was the environment that the Nazis operated in. The German people were angry, felt betrayed and had no real history of democracy. Their economy was in tatters and people were desperate. All of their institutions, save possibly the Church, had failed them. In that environment, socialism looked pretty good. They had heard it as a counter to the established power structures all of their lives. Socialism promised to put them in control of their lives, something that was distinctly lacking.
Now, countering the pro-socialist sentiment was the perception that worker strikes contributed to the loss. In addition, socialists were viewed as suspiciously international in their orientation. So the stabbed in the back crowd were not totally in the socialist camp. However, the Jews wound up with much of the blame for the strikes and not the socialists.
But, don't take my word for it. Google German Revolution, Weimar Republic and the stabbed in the back legend. These were the important factors leading to the rise of the Nazis. Now, the German Revolution and the stabbed in the back legend were in opposition, only someone like Hitler could have gotten them both under the same tent. |
