When we think of the Nazi movement, we think of a sea of brown uniforms, men and women raising their arms straight up in the air, screaming, “Heil, Hilterl!”. Allen, however, wants us to imagine the movement from a new perspective. In “The Nazi Seizure of Power – The Experience of a Single German Town”, Allen forces his audience to take a close look at every single person in the movement: “The actual seizure of power in the spring of 1933 occurred largely from below (…) The Fuehrer reached the pinnacle of power because his followers were successful at the lowest level, at the base.” (Allen 1965: XII) He takes the masses apart and shows us, who these people were that supported Hitler enthusiastically. Allen claims, that Nazi ideology attracted town such as “Northeim”. In Allen’s book followers have name, like, Ernst Girmann, Wilhelm Spannuns, Heinrich Boehme or Rudolf Ernst, and occupations. It is always easier to talk about something that happened in history while reporting in vague terms – staying anonymous. But here we become part of this town. Allen shows us where it started and how and he makes us realize that the local level ideologies were important to establish this totalitarian regime.
What I believe is most interesting about the first Nazi followers in Northeim is that they all seem to be insignificant ‘outsiders’ – as in, they don’t seem to have ever been in important political positions. The Nazis finally gave them some responsibilities and powers. Furthermore, we can identify a clear transformation of consent: first, people in Northheim did not even know who the Nazis were and identified them as some rural, aggressive ‘outsider’ clique. However, later on, once the consequences of the Great Depression kick in, more and more Northeimers aspire change. Since the Nazis have established an entire propaganda apparatus in Northeim, the people were more and more convinced that the Nazis could help them out of this economic crisis: “Northeim Nazis had established themselves as both respectable and radical (…) the Nazis appeared to be vigorous, determined and above all, ready to use radical means to deal with the crucial problems – the depression.”
Depression let to obsession. People felt like the Nazis cared about them, unlike other political groupings. Propaganda was successful and let to the Nazi movement ‘seizing power’ in an act akin to democratic tactics – on a national level. However, Allen makes sure that we, as an audience today, realize that it all started in small towns, such as Northeim.
Depression absolutely does lead to obsession. Economic populism is the key to capturing the hearts and minds of a public traumatized by unemployment and financial crises. This reminds me of economic populists in America during the 1930s, particularly Senator Huey Long of Louisiana, the Kingfish, who wanted to cap personal income at one million dollars and redistribute anything more. Here indeed, as you say, was an outsider from a comparatively rural background with a thoroughly accented and enormously impassioned rhetoric who came into the popular political conversation out of nowhere (quite literally in this case from way out in left field) with a radical platform to seize power with a group of fiercely loyal supporters in tow and stick it to those rich folks whose fault it was that the country has a host of problems.
ReplyDeleteSamantha mentions a good point in that depression breeds obsession. When people in society feel lost, without a strong sense of identity or belonging, they cling to a group so they can feel like they are a part of something bigger than their individual problems. Nationalism was on the rise even before the Nazis came to power. Different community groups came together such as "The Gun Club" or "The Gardeners' Club" and "while these were strictly apolitical, many of the most innocent clubs became infused with nationalism" (19). While devotion to their nation was already instilled in Germans, following the crash of the stock market, a sense of restless disparity grew among the land… “In this situation, the voice of the Nazi began to be heard” (25).
ReplyDeleteObsession arises when people feel they cannot control something. With Germany’s rocky economic climate, in addition to all the various political parties competing during elections, citizens could have perceived their time as chaotic and felt useless, with no real power over their situation. Obsession helps people feel in control, and while this will not solve the real problem (in fact, it generated a whole other mess), being in charge of something makes people feel better. The Nazis provided that sense of authority and obsessive control.