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I would say the suffering, hyper-inflation and widespread poverty imposed on Germany by the allies after World War I was a stronger proximate cause for the rise
by eloff 7y ago
I would say the suffering, hyper-inflation and widespread poverty imposed on Germany by the allies after World War I was a stronger proximate cause for the rise of the Nazis and the war in Europe. A very depressing illustration of the proverb that you reap what you sow. WWI was a complex jostling for power of the kind that had always happened in Europe, but on a scale and devastation never before seen. If not sparked by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, it would have likely been sparked by something else. WWII, on the other hand, was probably entirely avoidable, if not for the Treaty of Versailles. At least in Europe.
- axguscbklp 7y agoNot sure about that. From what I understand, the German economy was recovering nicely and the Nazis were doing poorly in elections in the late 1920s. Then the Great Depression hit. Nazi share of the vote in German federal elections from 1924 to the Nazi seizure of power in 1933: May 1924 - 6.5% Dec 1924 - 3.0% May 1928 - 2.6% Sep 1930 - 18.25% Jul 1932 - 37.27% Nov 1932 - 33.09%
- redis_mlc 7y agoI study WW2, so I'll delay my detailed comment and give a chance for somebody else to provide context for those stats. Hint: There's lies, damned lies and statistics.
- marcusverus 7y agoThe Great Depression began with the crash of the American stock market in September of '29[0]. Your stats sure make it look like that was a major tipping point for support for the Nazis. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression
- unhomedcoder 7y agounemploymemt in Weimar 1932 was 30%. umemploymemt in the Reich in 1936 was 1%. like some wise economist said "it's the economy, stupid." i hear today US unemployment is 30+% and will hit 45% by July. i guess if America was ever going to repeat the steps from Weimar to Reich, that time is now. what was Hitler's formula for his economic miracle? it was dead simple. 1. default on the War Debt (owed to America) 2. pour over 50% of GDP in the re-armament in preparation to go to War. America is -$27 trillion in debt now. if we start ramping up the war machine to test drive the eagle against, oh, say, Chy-na, then start to worry about the new Weimar to Reich tramsition. may you live in interesting times.
- eloff 7y agoWow, that's pretty marked. I think there could be something to that theory then. I'd like to see more context around that before I'm convinced though.
- gremlinsinc 7y agoSounds like how we're treating IRAN/Cuba/others w/ sanctions during a pandemic. I guess we'll reap what we sow again if we keep it up. Seems when you do bad things it comes back to bites you in the ass.