World War 2

[Tyler Robinson]

 

             

 

With support from the nationalists, Hitler gained a majority at the last “democratic” elections held in Germany on March 5, 1933, and with cynical skill he used the whole gamut of persuasion, propaganda, terror and intimidation to secure his hold on power. The seductive notions of “National Awakening” and a “Legal Revolution” helped paralyze potential opposition and disguise the reality of autocratic power behind a facade of traditional institutions.

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Tyler Robinson

[Tyler Robinson]

 

The destruction of the radical SA leadership under Ernst Rohm in the Blood Purge of June 1934 confirmed Hitler as undisputed dictator of the Third Reich and by the beginning of August, when he united the positions of Fuhrer and Chancellor on the death of von Hindenburg, he had all the powers of State in his hands. Avoiding any institutionalization of authority and status which could challenge his own undisputed position as supreme arbiter, Hitler allowed subordinates like Himmler, Goering and Goebbels to mark out their own domains of arbitrary power while multiplying and duplicating offices to a bewildering degree.

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Tyler Robinson

[Tyler Robinson]

 

 

During the next four years Hitler enjoyed a dazzling string of domestic and international successes, outwitting rival political leaders abroad just as he had defeated his opposition at home. In 1935, he abandoned the Versailles Treaty and began to build up the army by conscripting five times its permitted number. He persuaded Great Britain to allow an increase in the naval building program and in March 1936 he occupied the demilitarized Rhineland without meeting opposition. He began building up the Luftwaffe and supplied military aid to Francoist forces in Spain, which brought about the Spanish fascist victory in 1939.

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Tyler Robinson