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Isn't that comparison a bit overdone? Even people who (seriously) know their history know not make facile comparisons, and draw more interesting/plausible paral

Isn't that comparison a bit overdone? Even people who (seriously) know their history know not make facile comparisons, and draw more interesting/plausible parallels: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/normalization-lesson-munich-post/ https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/normalization-lesson-mun...

anigbrowl 10y ago
It's broadly accurate notwithstanding its summary nature. One under-appreciated fact about the rise of Nazism is that it proceeded by technically legal means. Even though Hitler eventually sent the German parliament on an almost-permanent holiday, he never suspended the Weimar constitution and could have made a credible argument for the legality of what he was doing at any given time. Our constitution is subject to similar abuses; ultimately a great deal of governance is based on mutualism in the political class rather than strict rules, and departures from this mutualism often result in crises - such as the slowly-unfolding one over the vacant Supreme Court seat right now, or FDR's threat to pack the court with judges favorable to him in the 1930s if they didn't support his administration - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Procedures_Reform_Bill_of_1937 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Procedures_Reform_Bil... The constitution is quite vague in many respects. If I were Steve Bannon I'd be mapping out my route for driving a monster truck through it right now.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > The constitution is quite vague in many respects. If I were Steve Bannon I'd be mapping out my route for driving a monster truck through it right now. Bannon did that a while ago, but there are some signs the public, Congressional, and judicial push back to various parts of that (which he seems to have failed to have prepared Trump for) may be in the process of shifting the Bannon/Priebus balance of power in the White House.
munificent 10y ago
I admit I was being kind of cheeky here. I'm not enough of a historian to make any actual claims about parallels between Hitler and Trump. But the original question was just about speed and I think Hitler's rise to power is a frightening example of that. Just three months to get a democratic country to vote for the dissolution of democracy. Less than a hundred days for a dictator to take over a seemingly modern, stable country.
- ams6110 10y ago
  Germany was not really a stable country at that time. It was suffering hyperinflation and other hardships under the terms of the Versailles Treaty.
  - conistonwater 10y ago
    Weimar hyperinflation was in the early 20's, but Hitler came to power on the back of Bruning deflation in early 30's, which was due to the Great Depression, not the Versailles Treaty. While you could maybe try to argue that those were all related anyway, it's worth remembering that there was a full decade worth of events there, and hyperinflation is just one episode of many, and not necessarily the most important one.

anigbrowl 10y ago

It's broadly accurate notwithstanding its summary nature. One under-appreciated fact about the rise of Nazism is that it proceeded by technically legal means. Even though Hitler eventually sent the German parliament on an almost-permanent holiday, he never suspended the Weimar constitution and could have made a credible argument for the legality of what he was doing at any given time. Our constitution is subject to similar abuses; ultimately a great deal of governance is based on mutualism in the political class rather than strict rules, and departures from this mutualism often result in crises - such as the slowly-unfolding one over the vacant Supreme Court seat right now, or FDR's threat to pack the court with judges favorable to him in the 1930s if they didn't support his administration - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Procedures_Reform_Bill_of_1937 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Procedures_Reform_Bil... The constitution is quite vague in many respects. If I were Steve Bannon I'd be mapping out my route for driving a monster truck through it right now.

dragonwriter 10y ago
> The constitution is quite vague in many respects. If I were Steve Bannon I'd be mapping out my route for driving a monster truck through it right now. Bannon did that a while ago, but there are some signs the public, Congressional, and judicial push back to various parts of that (which he seems to have failed to have prepared Trump for) may be in the process of shifting the Bannon/Priebus balance of power in the White House.

munificent 10y ago

I admit I was being kind of cheeky here. I'm not enough of a historian to make any actual claims about parallels between Hitler and Trump. But the original question was just about speed and I think Hitler's rise to power is a frightening example of that. Just three months to get a democratic country to vote for the dissolution of democracy. Less than a hundred days for a dictator to take over a seemingly modern, stable country.

ams6110 10y ago
Germany was not really a stable country at that time. It was suffering hyperinflation and other hardships under the terms of the Versailles Treaty.
- conistonwater 10y ago
  Weimar hyperinflation was in the early 20's, but Hitler came to power on the back of Bruning deflation in early 30's, which was due to the Great Depression, not the Versailles Treaty. While you could maybe try to argue that those were all related anyway, it's worth remembering that there was a full decade worth of events there, and hyperinflation is just one episode of many, and not necessarily the most important one.