I have put together a synopsis (below) of how Hitler and the Nazi party gained dictatorial control of Germany. Only MAGA true believers will fail to recognize the similarities in Donald Trump‘s attempts to greatly increase his power. The biggest difference is twofold. First, the United States was in nowhere near Germany’s tragic economic state when Trump was elected for the second time. Secondly, our Constitution and the federal judiciary has mostly prevented Trump from seizing all of the power he desires, even though the Republicans who control Congress are too frighten of his power to end their political careers to try to stop him.
How Hitler and the Nazi Party were able to destroy democracy in Germany step by step:
After the end of WWII: Germany was parliamentary democracy. Its constitution guaranteed equality of all citizens before the law. It also guaranteed civil liberties such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion. However: the stringent requirements of the treaty that ended World War II hurt the pride of many Germans.
Early 1920’s: The Nazi party, then called the German Workers Party, was very small and unpopular.
The Great Depression beginning in 1929: Germany, which had never really recovered from WWI, was hit extremely hard, its economy was in tatters. Though the economic disaster was a worldwide phenomenon, Hitler and the Nazi Party blamed it on the democratic government. They claimed that if Hitler was given the necessary power, he would “MAKE GERMANY GREAT AGAIN”. They also presented the German people a scapegoat, not immigrants, but the Jews, especially blaming Jewish businessmen for Germany’s economic problems.
1929 – early 1933: The Nazi Party used cleaver political strategies to get their messages across to the German population and gradually its popularity increased.
1/30/33: Though the Nazi party still didn’t have the support of the majority of the German people, Hitler was popular enough for right wing President Hindenburg to appoint him Chancellor following a period of political instability and failed attempts to form a stable coalition government.
3/5/33: In the general election the Nazi party won 44% of the seats in the German parliament. The right wing German National People’s Party won 8% of the seats. Together, they formed a majority coalition that controlled the German parliament.
3/5/33: Once in power Hitler used the fire set in the Reichstag (parliament) building to persuade Hindenburg to pass an emergency law restricting personal liberty.
3/23/33. Hitler then had parliament to pass by The Enabling Act which gave Hitler the right to make laws without the parliament’s approval for four years.
Once in power the the Nazis implemented Gleichschaltung. It was the process of the Nazi Party for taking control over all aspects of Germany, including:
4/7/33: Parliament passed the Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service – it allowed the removal of civil service personal who opposed the Nazis including the removal of any judges that were deemed non-compliant with Nazi laws or principles. It also barred Jews from holding civil service, university, and state positions
4/13/33: Joseph Goebbels was appointed as Minister for Public Engagement and Propaganda makin him responsible for controlling the national media, film, theatre, arts, and other cultural aspects. The repression Goebbels soon radicalised each of these areas, ensuring that they advocated Nazi ideas.
4/13/33: the Nazis passed the Enabling Act which eliminated all political parties except the Nazi Party.
5/2/33: Labor unions were banned.
5/10/33: The Nazis held public burning of books written by Jews, political dissidents, and others not approved by the state
10/4/33: Censorship was heightened. Any person publishing actively anti-Nazi material was threatened or imprisoned. By 1935, over 1,600 newspapers had been closed.
3/10/36: Jewish doctors barred from practicing medicine in German institutions.
7/20/36: Sachsenhausen concentration camp opens.
Cajun (Rick Guilbeau)