In Germany, after the newly elected Prime Minister pledged to the Congress, the President, the states and the church not to infringe on any of their rights, Hitler ended his speech with strong words, canceling these guarantees. If the Congress refused to grant him "friendly
opportunities for cooperation" and the new regime is ready to fight for its own principles.
"Members and gentlemen, whether it is war or peace, it is up to you to decide."
During the break, the enemies of the measure mobilized. As soon as the meeting resumed, the leader of the Social Democratic Party spoke bravely in protest amid the rhythmic shouting of the brownshirts in the corridor.
Despite Papen's remonstrance, Hitler responded in a manner reminiscent of the earlier Munich Beer Hall Uprising. He attacked the Social Democrats with sarcasm and invective.
"I don't need your votes. Germany will be free, but not through you. Don't mistake us for the bourgeoisie. The German star is rising, you are indeed falling. Your death knell has sounded.
Hitler's surprise attack not only destroyed the futile rebellion of the Social Democrats, but also frightened the Center Party. The voting began. When Goering announced the election results, 441 votes were in favor and 94 were against, far exceeding the required number.
After the two-thirds majority, the National Socialists jumped to their feet and cheered loudly, as if their team had scored the winning goal in the final seconds of a football match. They stretched out their arms and raised their heads.
Sing "Song of the Wiesel Forest":
“Hold the flag high!
stand closely together,
Stormtroopers advance,
Steady pace, calm..."
Democracy was eliminated from the Reichstag with little opposition. Only the Social Democrats voted against it. The other parties handed Hitler the power that he had sworn not to relinquish and gave it to his opponents.
His useful powers are seldom given up.
The leader of the Center Party received a letter from Hindenburg expressing support for Hitler.
"I would like to tell you that the Prime Minister has made it clear that even in the absence of formal constitutional obligations, he is willing to consult with me before taking measures on the basis of the authorization law." These words were spoken with sincerity, which temporarily affected the public.
The betrayed Center Party members regained their confidence. Most Germans were eager to regain their confidence, and many rushed to join the Nazi Party. Many others supported it in more subtle ways. Civil servants and officials stayed at their posts, allowing the regime machinery to
Smoothly turning, as if the most conservative party had won.
The victory in the Reichstag made many industrialists who had secretly supported Hitler reveal their identities. The steel giant Krupp openly greeted acquaintances on the street. In his congratulatory letter to Hitler, he said that he and his colleagues firmly believed that
Germany finally obtained "the basis for a stable government." In return, Krupp was elected czar of German industry, thereby approving the marriage of big business and National Socialism.
It was no accident that Hitler chose Hergalmar Schacht as president of the Reichsbank. This outstanding financier had helped Hitler get in touch with industry. Like him, he also hated democracy and parliamentarism.
Before this choice, Hitler had asked Schacht how much money the banks could come up with to support his public works program and his plan to rearm Germany. Schacht refused to give specific figures. But announced that "the last unemployed person will be removed from the
The Reichsbank would provide as much money as needed to "clear the streets". After he obtained this position, he issued "Meifu" coupons as soon as he took office - a portrait model company "Metal Research" formed by four arms dealers.
The abbreviation of "Limited Company" - the state is responsible for its debt obligations. Meifu bonds are mainly drawn by government contractors. They are actually no different from promissory notes. They are a short-term loan with a term that can be extended to 5 years. Shahit
The original intention of the plan was to provide unlimited loans to the government so that Hitler could arm Germany on a large scale.
It is not only officials and industrialists who are willing to serve the Führer. Many intellectuals and writers are also serving the revival of Germany. Among these people are the philosophers Crick and Nanny, the poets Bronk and Binding, and the most outstanding Germans.
The dramatist Gerhard Haupmann refused to abandon his honor no matter which government was in power.
Early that spring, Rudolf Binding wrote: "We have to serve our fatherland and there is no reason to leave the Academy because of a change of government. Haupmann agrees with me, which makes me sincerely happy. The Academy should protect creation rather than research.
Political freedom!”
In this spirit of cooperation, Haupmann hung the swastika flag outside his window a few weeks later; a few months later he assured Harold Nicholson that Germany would do what Italy had done
, "liberate yourself".
The revolution is going on. But because there seems to be no bloodshed on the surface, many Germans do not understand, or do not want to understand, that in the early stages of this "brown revolution", there was a very unobtrusive name called "coordination."
It seems that the process of reunifying the motherland is proceeding smoothly and does not cause much panic. What it does is nothing more than placing Germany's political, economic and social life under Nazi rule and sowing the seeds for dictatorship.
The reason why the resistance was not fierce was mainly because Hitler insisted on the law. Therefore, the opposition believed that what he wanted to establish was a government similar to the Weimar Republic.
On the day the enabling law came into effect, the Social Democratic Party issued a set of instructions to its local branches. The instructions showed how slow the Social Democratic Party was. It gave detailed instructions on how to answer various questions and other mundane questions, except that
There is only one paragraph about how the ongoing Nazi revolution should be viewed. While the Nazis were searching the homes of their leaders for weapons at night, thousands of communists and suspected communists were being thrown into prison.
, the Social Democratic Party, which is supposed to be a bulwark to defend democracy, is warning party members not to keep wrong accounts again!
“The whole city is in the grip of a terrible contagion, and everyone is careful in their words and deeds,” Isherwood wrote of Berlin that spring: “I feel it in my bones, like influenza.” The whole city “is.”
They whispered that people were being arrested illegally at night, and that the stormtroopers were hanging prisoners in the barracks and forcing them to spit on the Lenin statue, swallow castor oil, eat old socks, etc. They were followed by the government's angry shouts
Submerged. The government retorts through its thousands of mouths.”
Outside the capital, especially in the small towns, people were dazzled by a series of mass rallies, parades and spectacular scenes. Mass organizations were voluntarily "collaborated" into the National Socialist Party organization.
Slowly, every citizen found himself involved with the authorities. Familiar old streets were given new names. For example, in Herna, Radosplatz became Adolf. Hitlerplatz and Beberstrasse became
Hermann Göring Strasse. There are new organizations almost every Sunday:
There are countless mothers' country schools, mother-child welfare organizations, children's camping groups, food supply welfare organizations, etc.
In January, after Hitler's efforts to persuade voters to vote for him failed, he used a gradual and collaborative approach to temporarily win the trust of most Germans. Isherwood saw these friendly citizens looking at the young man with approval.
Stormtroopers. These young men wore big leather boots and swaggered through the streets, determined to overthrow the Treaty of Versailles. They were full of joy because summer was coming again, because Hitler had promised to protect small traders, because their newspapers told
Their good days are coming... They are like schoolchildren, secretly happy and excited because their business rivals, the Jews, and a so-called minority of Marxists who have nothing to do with them, are guilty of bringing down the country.
Failure and inflation are crimes and are punishable."
Since the change of government, both Jews and Marxists have been systematically persecuted. Because a bread knife was found in the room, it was arbitrarily said to be a murder weapon.
In Germany, this was framed as foreign propaganda, while in the United States, Secretary of State Hull assured American Jewish leaders that the physical persecution of German Jews was "virtually over."
Even so, the voices of liberals abroad troubled Hitler even more. He declared that unless the Jews in Britain and the United States stopped their malicious propaganda, the Jewish business community in Germany would suffer greatly.
However, the calls did not end.
On April 1, Hitler resisted with this sentence: "I believe that my actions today are consistent with God's will: opposing the Jews is fighting for God."
This was only a tentative step. Hitler seemed to be testing to see how far his compatriots would let him go. On the eve of the boycott, the Italian Ambassador Serruti persuaded Mussolini to soften his attitude towards the Jews.
Hitler replied that there were only a handful of Jews in Italy and that the president did not understand the Jewish problem. He himself had "studyed this problem from various angles for many years, and no one has done so." He was "absolutely sure."
"Earth" predicted that in 500 to 600 years, the name Hitler will be revered in every country, "because this man will eliminate the Jews from the world forever in one fell swoop!"
Brownshirts were posted at the entrances of most Jewish shops and offices. Violence was rare; the young stormtroopers were mostly polite when reminding customers that they were visiting a Jewish shop.
Hindenburg himself expressed opposition to the continuation of anti-Semitic measures. He wrote a strongly worded letter to the Chancellor, condemning discrimination against Jewish veterans of the war.
"If they are worthy of fighting and bleeding for Germany, they are also worthy of dying for their motherland in their respective positions."
However, the old man was no match for that man. Hitler replied that the Jews, who monopolized 80% of the legal and medical fields, were now working their way into government departments.
"One of the reasons why the old Prussian state was so clean was that only a limited number of Jews were allowed in the civil service. The officer corps was almost absolutely pure."
This argument could not help but convince the old marshal.
This, and his vague promise that some consideration would be given to veterans of the war, allowed him to impose a decree on April 7 that removed Jews from public service and restricted their freedom to serve in the legal sector. The same
Today, Hitler told the Doctors' Union that he personally understood their current difficult situation, especially young doctors.
In this way, he subtly exposed his dual worldview.
"It is precisely for these young people that we need to use strong methods to suppress aliens and create living space and possibilities for them to practice medicine and find employment... This ongoing national purification work may take centuries.
can be completed. It is important that we lay the foundation for future political development!"