3 ms·

surely, you meant WWII?

• rurban 6y ago
  No, WW1 explicitly. The society totally opened up after, with all its social reforms. Even if military pressed for "total war" (ie civilian support as in the USA), society largely liberalized in the golden 20ies. And if you look at culture, the 20-40ies were THE golden age. (much more golden than the 60/70ies)
  • hiram112 6y ago
    This is quite an interesting perspective. What I've read on more 'right' leaning sites, is that post-WW1 Weimar became so 'degenerate', it directly led to support for the Nazi party. Had it not gone so liberal, it's unlikely Germans would have supported such an authoritarian regime.
    • rurban 6y ago
      IMHO the nazis won their support in the end by two major events. The French occupying the Ruhr area, and Black Friday, with extreme unemployment. And of course US money backing the Nazis and the German war industry to fight communism. Communism was the major threat to fight. The US still has this same mindset. The Nazi party were not thought to be so authoritarian really, more a fresh new modern party solving a lot of problems. The military and some other parties were more authoritarian. Just the SA and SS were considered a problem. Before, the right and left had their own private armies also, and there were constant street fights. Nazis were softer than the military in the total war efforts. (before 33 of course, but even until 43 it was only military penalizing the famous Treachery Act, which came directly from WW1 stab-in-the-back myth). Antisemitism was extremely widespread because of the Black Friday crash.