1942: Hitler takes full control over every German life

[mogster]

I'm (still) reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer, from which the following page is taken:



After his armies failed getting control over Moscow in the bitter winter cold in November/December 1941, Hitler took the opportunity to fire several of his generals and took control of the Army himself. The failed thrust against Moscow (and other fronts) was his first major setback in WWII, destroying the myth of the invincible German army. It was also the point when he became a megalomaniac who stopped listening to advice. He became the national socialist God, bound to his nation by a fate greater than life itself; the survival of the German (Aryan) 'race'.

Compared to today's situation, it sends a chill down my spine.

"In the present war, in which the German people are faced with a struggle for their existence or their annhillation, the Fuehrer must have all the rights postulated by him which serve to further or achieve victory. Therefore - without being bound by existing legal regulation - in his capacity as Leader of the nation, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Head of the Government and supreme executive chief, as Supreme Justice and Leader of the Party - the Fuehrer must be in a position to force with all means at his disposal every German, if necessary, whether he be common soldier or officer, low or high official or judge, leading or subordinate official of the party, worker or employer - to fulfill his duties. In case of violation of these duties, the Fuehrer is entitled after conscentious examination, regardless of so-called well-deserved rights, to mete out due punishment and to remove the offender from his post, rank and position without introducing prescribed procedures."

[JDPriestly]

1. Thank you! We need to heed .the essons of history

[hobbit709]

6. Unfortunately, those in charge never heed the lessons.

They always think it doesn't apply to them because the situation is "different" now. "Let them eat cake", "Little Father, give us bread", "The 1000 Year Reich", etc.

[Blackhatjack]

2. A few substitutions and you have Bush and this Administration....

American for 'German'

Commander in Chief for 'Supreme Commander'

President for 'supreme executive chief' and 'the Fuehrer'

And there you have it! An all powerful Executive Branch and President utilizing the 'unitary theory of executive power'

[mogster]

16. Yeah

And also the way this goes down without the attention of the mass media. The tone and feel of Bush' foreign policy, the urge to conquer. The way the 'allies' appeases him.
There are many signs, without overdramatising it.

[Kagemusha]

3. Being older and wiser now, I now recognize such power was a throwback

to the days of the old Germanic chieftains with the power of life and death... that's the sort of power Bush claimed for himself with "enemy combattants". Then again, "impeaching" an unpopular German chieftain was a hell of a lot easier.

[JVS]

4. chieftains didn't have power to execute, that was reserved for the priestly class

unless we're talking iceland, where anyone could try to be the executor of legal sentences

[Kagemusha]

7. I'm sorry, I can't exactly claim to be an expert.

It seems I've made a serious historical error and I apologize publicly.

[JVS]

10. LOL you've got style and class

[doublethink]

5. A quote from Al Gore .....

"A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government. Our Founding Fathers were adamant that they had established a government of laws and not men. Indeed, they recognized that the structure of government they had enshrined in our Constitution - our system of checks and balances - was designed with a central purpose of ensuring that it would govern through the rule of law. As John Adams said: "The executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them, to the end that it may be a government of laws and not of men."

An executive who arrogates to himself the power to ignore the legitimate legislative directives of the Congress or to act free of the check of the judiciary becomes the central threat that the Founders sought to nullify in the Constitution - an all-powerful executive too reminiscent of the King from whom they had broken free. In the words of James Madison, "the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."


Al was speaking on 'The Unitary Executive Theory' as it pertains to Bush's signing statements, and the way Bush is implementing them. Of course the unitary executive theory (in theory) is only supposed to pertain to the Executive Branch of our government. But that is not how Bush is practicing the theory. He's practicing it like Al states above.

Also we all know too well the hidden agenda that keeps surfacing in the 'Patriot Act'. Hitlers 'Enabling Act' anyone? But of course not all comparisons in two ages are ever completely the same, just uneasy similarities. "They Thought They Were Free" a book by Milton Mayer is another relevant thought that comes to mind when reading your excerpt in the OP. K&R and Peace.

[mogster]

17. Thanks for that post

I agree very much to your last sentence. We need to see this without seeing history through the goggles of the post-war world, and look afresh at the signs of dictatorship as it would have looked inside Germany back then. They didn't start with killing millions in death camps, that came later.
Peace.

[K8-EEE]

8. He could label people "enemy combatants"

at will and strip them of his rights, oh wait, that's Bush.

[NewJeffCT]

9. I'm reading another book on WW2 & Hitler right now

The whole invasion of Russia was a colossal fuck-up that can be laid almost entirely at Hitler's feet. Even before not seizing Moscow, Hitler went against the advice of many of his top generals:

1) He invaded Russia in the first place
2) His policy was to basically kill any Russian on sight. If Hitler came in as a liberator, instead of a destroyer, he likely could have greeted with far less hostility because much of the populace had suffered greatly under Stalin. Instead, once the Russians knew it was kill-or-be killed, their resolve was hardened and they had the entire populace working against the invaders.
3) Hitler divided his forces into a 3 pronged attack (south towards the oil fields, center towards Moscow and north). If he had concentrated his forces, like in France, they could have easily seized any one of the three objectives instead of stalling out on the way to all three.
4) The no retreat policy - hold every inch of ground.

and, so on and so forth

[Neecy]

11. This is an excellent book

It's a long read, but well worth the time.

How German society came under the boot of Hitler is an important issue to study in light of Bush's America. Another book by Shirer I'd recommend is the lesser known but excellent The Collapse of the Third Republic that deals with the political events preceding the fall of France and the Vichy regime that arose after that event.

In both books, weak, cowardly or corrupted political opposition led to disaster for both nations. I thought of these lessons frequently during the Congressional debates over the IWR and Patriot Act. Europe learned this lesson the hard way - I suppose we're going to as well.

[mogster]

18. I have both, very good reading

Reading both at the same time, lol.
I think the differences between the 1930's Germany and the 2007 US is greater than the likeness, but all things considered, you can't be to careful. The most striking likeness is the need for war as a means to control the population, to drive policy.

[Double T]

12. History just keeps repeating itself over and over again..............

too bad the USA got stuck with the psychopath wannabe dictator.

[Hubert Flottz]

13. Yes it does!

And here we are surrounding StalinDad or is that...BaghGrad surrounding us?

[mile18blister]

14. If the Dems hadn't taken back Congress

the Rubber-Stamp Repugs would have happily given BushCo absolute power. :scared:

[bdamomma]

15. we seem to be following in the same footsteps as the German people

those who do not history will only relive it. We have to stop this maniac we have in abuse of power.

[tabasco]

19. It can't happen here! It can't happen here! It can't happen here!

? :shrug: ?

Can it?

[Cleita]

20. That whole book should send a chill down everyone's spine.

I'm on my third reading to find what I missed in the first two readings. Now more than ever the parallels between what happened then in Germany then and what is happening in America now, with the government, army and press should really make all Americans sit up and take notice.