The Nazis: Total Power

Hitler is chancellor, but he is not yet all-powerful. How does he go from becoming the leader of the Reichstag, to an unshackled dictator with nothing to check his power?
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[@ComedyJakob]

I believe that communism is viewed as less odorous of an ideology than Nazism due to its longevity. Communism lasted long enough for it to become an accepted reality of international politics, for western leaders to have summits and meetings and cultural exchanges of dubious sincerity. Nazism came and went in a very short span, and never matured beyond its violent and intense youth. If communism had collapsed after Stalin's death in 1953, we would probably think of it and Nazism in like terms. We never got to see a version of Nazi ideology which, in the absence of its malevolent founders, may have evolved and moderated, as Soviet style communism did under Khrushchev and Chinese communism did under Deng. I dare say, also, that communism likely DID appear much closer to Nazism is the public consciousness of the west in the 1940s - 1970s. We only now see them as different thanks to 1) communism failing and becoming less threatening and 2) gradual moderation of communist regimes over many decades.

[@cihankartal354]

Communism was drawn from Marxism i.e. Marxist Leninism or Bolshevism... its main essence is based on workers uniting i.e. the working class which is not exactly a inhumane idea.. where as Nazism is based on race and ethnicity at its core... that is why it was ruled out as a abhorrent regime... the communist party of the soviet union did very bad things as the single party in power.. those things may be representative or a product of the ideology or maybe not, argument is required... so long story short to compare the two ideologies as equally inhumane is a bit of a fantasy.

[@rexfordmorgan7552]

To be fair, the Communists while authoritarian, and led by Stalin, murderous to personal political enemies. But the ideology itself was never a death cult like Nazism. I mean, any true believing Nazi has particular beliefs that are just not viable without external wars and/or massive civilian murder for absolutely delusional reasons. At least with communist Soviets the killing was for a logical class war that Russian society had sharpened for centuries.

[@jaronneutronix3231]

@@cihankartal354Okay but communism has resulted in terrible tragedies and mass death in many places it's been tried to, particularly China and Cambodia. It wasn't only terrible with Stalin in charge, but also pretty much everywhere that it thrived. To clarify: I also don't like seeing the 2 compared as if they're the same thing, as the Nazis motivations are so fucking wretched and I can sympathize with the motivations for communism, but communism has been tried and has resulted in the widespread suffering and deaths of many many innocent people. Horseshoe theory has shown that extremism on the left or right wing is terrible.

[@Stuartnuss]

You don’t think WWII and the Holocaust had anything to do with the German character? Are you crazy? War was good to Germany with Frederick the Great in 1740’s to the 3 wars for independence in 1862-1870 . Germany took land from the war with Denmark , they took land from the Austrian-Hungarian empire and finally they took Alssse and Lorrain from France in the Franco-German war in 1871. Blood and Iron , that is the German character and German philosophers like Nieschze and Fricht and Hegel would agree. Might I remind you that the Germans murdered 100,000 Herero people ( they wanted their land) in Namibia in 1905 without an Adolph Hitler (Kaiser Whilhelm II). Social Darwinism is also a German philosophy . The German mentality was all about war, aggression and domination of lesser people-including the Jews.

[@peterdollins3610]

In the UK we are going down the same road now

[@richardcopnall8306]

Just because Britain implemented concentration camps during the Boer War does not mean they invented them. Rounding up people in a time of conflict is quite common. US civil ear for example. Nazis did it when there was no civil war by Jews. The British did not turn them into forced labour camps or extermination camps. Perhaps worth a podcast.

[@inigoromon1937]

We Spanish tried them for the Cuban and Filipine rebels during the last half of the XIX century. We also performed the first state -led and organised ethnic cleansing against Jews and later on against the remaining moslems about a century later. Not a History to be happy about.

[@jonathonjubb6626]

We English don't invent much, (the Scots are much better inventors) but we use other people's ideas, the nastier the more we love it!!

[@noblemann4898]

Good try. But before Nazi Germany stripped German Jews of their citizenship, aborigines and the original tribes of the Americas were denied citizenship in their own ancestral.

[@daydays12]

@@inigoromon1937 indeed! Honest of you.

[@barbararice6650]

Julius Caesar had concentration camps in Switzerland of all places 🌚

[@Stuartnuss]

HELP. Someone please answer my question about Why Hindenburg did not Fire Hitler for all the violence and chaos Hitler and the Nazi’s were guilty of since Hitler was chosen to be Chancellor on January 30, 1933. Hindenburg fired Von Poppen and Von Schliecher and maybe Brunning-for not performing as Hindenburg wanted them to. Hindenburg had 19 months to fire Hitler before He died, but He refused to do it. WHY?

[@barbararice6650]

Economics 😑

[@JC-KeepSmiling]

Absolutely fascinating and mirrored to lesser extents in populist leaders everywhere today - which is worrying!

[@carlossaraiva8213]

Not populists, demagogues.

[@daydays12]

SO scary in the USA - Trump leading in the polls 😞

[@TimLeandro]

Horrible title. Here's an alternative, "The Nazis: Total Wankers". That's much better.

[@niambhs]

Wonderful podcast, any chance you guys would come over to Ireland...

[@derekhough-jm9gc]

Eloquently stated bull sheet

[@jdavies1296]

Given the pop you take at Timothy Snyder in this episode, would love to see him invited on the show to respond. I double dare ya!

[@daydays12]

Well said! Timothy Snyder's the man!

[@falcondark5338]

50:52 👀

[@cmisita]

Super interesting! Thank you! 🙏

[@cmisita]

Min 49:40- “Do you think it could happen again?.” Yes, absolutely.

[@jdavies1296]

As I read it, when Tom said it couldn't happen again, he was talking specifically about a new Nazi regime arising, with it's ideological underpinnings of survival of the fittest and racism / antisemitism. He wasn't talking about autocracies in general. Taking this narrow viewpoint he may be right, but that's almost no comfort in a world populated by an increasing number of autocrats. They may not be racist but they're still destabilising international affairs..

[@datdavid]

@@slowraceultra Imagine being this delusional.

[@carlossaraiva8213]

It IS happening.

[@davidcoleman2796]

The left wing media and governments are now the real enemy.

[@daydays12]

it IS happening again..Manafort and co in the USA

[@Celtic2Realms]

Democracy is the best form of government but is the most fragile form of government.

[@Ty-nm6qb]

The claim that Nazism is more detestable and ultimately more dangerous to a scoiety because of its ideology of racism and the superiority of the strong over the weak undermines any notions of quantitative proportionality when it comes to war and conflicting idoeologies; since Communism has led to the death of far more people than Nazism. It suggests that all the clunching of pearls at quantitative differences between Israel and Hamas/Palestine, the talk of proportionality, is utterly misplaced. It is the ideology at the heart of Hamas that represents the repugnance and justification - not the quantity of dead - for their current war.

[@geraldbutler5484]

No!

[@bankiey]

Wow, never heard of the boer war, its rabbit hole time