The German Question, Part One Hundred Eighteen

The Word History was edited 11/5/2015


"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/A
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" (Part One)

Well, we've seen how Germany's first attempt at democracy was circumvented and then destroyed. Now comes the part where Hitler and the Nazis tried to turn the clock back, not just a bit, or to right, even what some in other countries believed to be, recent wrongs, but to essentially turn the clock back to ancient times; to the time of the old Germanic tribes, and to try to unite these Germanic peoples under one leader. Generally, fascism tends to glorify the past, the distant past, and in Italy, Fascist leader Benito Mussolini also looked to the distant past and to the days of the Roman Empire. To achieve their extreme nationalist goals of returning to ancient times, the two fascist dictators had to deal with more recent history first.

One of the first signs of Hitler's intentions to pursue an aggressive foreign policy took place in the fall of 1933 (during his first year in power), when he took Germany out of the League of Nations (essentially the forerunner to the United Nations). By 1935, Hitler announced that he would no longer abide by the Versailles Treaty's limits on the German military. Conscription (a "draft") was reintroduced and Hitler announced that the German army would be expanded beyond the one hundred thousand man limit of the treaty. He further announced that there would be expansion of the navy and that a military air force (the "Luftwaffe") would also be established. While many countries protested, nothing happened.

Also in 1935, a plebiscite (referendum) was held in the Saarland region, as per the agreements made after World War One. The region had been under French (primarily) and British occupation since after the war. More than 90% voted for a return to German rule. In March of 1936 Hitler sent German troops into the Rhineland. The Rhineland had been demilitarized since the end of the First World War, but it was a part of Germany, simply no military forces had been permitted to be deployed there. Again, lots of protests and denunciations, but no action against Hitler's bold move.

We have to remember, the 1930s were the years of the Great Depression, and many nations were turned inward to deal with their own economic matters. Many Europeans were far more worried about the advance of communism in their own lands, rather than Hitler's or Mussolini's moves. Further, the 1914-1918 war and its aftermath had been so traumatic for many, they didn't exactly long to see a new war break out; thus Hitler was able to push the envelope relatively quickly, and get away with it.

WORD HISTORY:
Lead (Leader)-The origin of "lead" goes back to an Indo European form "leith," with the overall notion of "forward movement." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "lithjan," with the notion of "go," and it had a variant form, "laithjan(an)," which meant "cause to go;" thus the meaning of "lead" (Get it? "Cause to go;" thus "lead"). This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "laedan," meaning "to lead, to guide, bring along with." Later the verb was spelled "leden," before the modern spelling. Very common in the other Germanic languages: German "leiten," Low German Saxon "laiden/leiden," some other Low German has "leide," Dutch "leiden," Frisian "liede," Norwegian and Danish "lede," Swedish "leda," and Icelandic "leitha." Leader-comes from an alteration of the verb, with the common "er" ending, and Old English had "laedere." Also quite common in the other Germanic languages: German "Leiter," Frisian "lieder," some Low German has "Leida," Dutch "leider," Norwegian and Danish "leder," Swedish "ledere," and Icelandic "leithogi." German has both "Leiter" and "Führer," which are synonyms.