Hitler Gradually Consolidated Power, Part Three
For Part Two, here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/05/hitler-gradually-consolidated-power_20.html
Little more than a month after President von Hindenburg thanked Hitler for taking action against Ernst Röhm and the SA, the 86 year old president died. The day before Hindenburg's death, Hitler had the German Cabinet agree to a law combining the chancellorship with the presidency (notice how well having conservatives in the cabinet worked... FOR HITLER!). With this new law, when von Hindenburg died, Hitler became the supreme commander of the armed forces, the "Reichswehr," which he soon renamed the "Wehrmacht." Hitler was now truly "der Führer" ("the leader") of Germany. By March of 1935 Hitler openly announced conscription for the army, which was as good as his tearing up the military limitations imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty. Hitler was now well on his way to becoming an even more dangerous man, as he was a man with an expanding military force under his control.
By March of 1936 Hitler was ready to test the waters on an aggressive foreign policy move. After the end of what would come to be called "World War One," the Rhineland part of Germany in western Germany was demilitarized; that is, no troops or fortifications were allowed in the area. On March 7, 1936 Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, thus demonstrating that the region was once again a militarized area of Germany, and symbolically extending a "middle finger" to the French and British, who stamped their feet and shook their fists, but actually did nothing. Hitler's popularity rose.
In early 1938, Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, married a much younger woman. Hitler and Hermann Göring attended the wedding; but afterwards, it was reported that the young woman had a police record, with the implication being that she was a prostitute (the police also had evidence her mother had been a prostitute). This was all played up to be a major affront to Hitler, and von Blomberg was asked to have the marriage annulled, something he would not do. Göring threatened to make the information on the woman and her mother available for release to the public. Von Blomberg resigned to avoid a total scandal. Hitler did not appoint a new commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht, he simply took over the position himself. Hitler was now both supreme commander and commander-in-chief.
Within days of von Blomberg's resignation, the commander-in-chief of the army, Colonel-General Werner von Fritsch, faced charges that he was homosexual. Von Fritsch resigned, but he chose to go before a court to argue his case, and he was acquitted. Hitler appointed Colonel-General Walther von Brauchitsch to replace von Fritsch.*
In March 1938, after various maneuverings, German troops and Austrian border guards removed barriers from the Austro-German border, allowing German troops to move into Austria. Not long thereafter, Hitler crossed the border into his native Austria to cheering crowds. Austria was incorporated into Germany. Britain and France did nothing. Hitler was more popular than ever among Germans.
Meanwhile, within the German government, Franz von Papen, the vice chancellor (Vizekanzler), and one of those "conservatives" appointed to help keep a check on Hitler, was lucky to remain alive after the "purge," although he was arrested. Afterwards Hitler sent him to Vienna as his ambassador. By the way, von Papen was fluent in English (and I "believe" French). Alfred Hugenberg, another conservative, was both the Minister of Economics and the Minister of Agriculture and Nutrition/Food (Reichsminister für Wirtschaft, Reichsminister für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung). Hugenberg was a leader of the German National People's Party (Deutschnationale Volkspartei),** a partner of the Nazis in the coalition government, but within just a few months of Hitler becoming chancellor, Hitler and the Nazis went after the DNVP, and Hugenberg drew critical attention when the backward looking government minister publicly advocated for German colonies in Africa. Hugenberg resigned in June of 1933 and he was replaced as Minister of Economics by Kurt Schmitt (an insurance executive and a member of the Allgemeine SS, "the General SS"), and by Walther Darré as Minister of Agriculture.*** Konstantin von Neurath, a conservative, was in the diplomatic service of Germany for a number of years and he was named Minister of Foreign Affairs (Reichsaußenminister) before Hitler was appointed chancellor, a position von Hindenburg kept him in when the president appointed Hitler as chancellor. Over time, Hitler moved more and more aggressively in foreign policy, and by late 1937 he laid out a plan for war at a meeting with Field Marshal von Blomberg (commander-in-chief of the armed forces), Colonel-General von Fritsch (commander-in-chief of the army), Admiral Raeder (the commander-in-chief of the navy), Hermann Göring (commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe/air force), Foreign Minister von Neurath, and Hitler's adjutant Colonel Friedrich Hossbach (usually written as "Hoßbach" in German). Blomberg, Fritsch and Neurath all had concerns about Hitler's war plans, and Blomberg and Fritsch were replaced within two months (see above), and Neurath was replaced right after that. His replacement was Joachim (von) Ribbentrop, an arrogant man who had been a wine salesman.****
* Von Fritsch is not in any way a sympathetic figure. He believed a lot of the anti-Jewish nonsense espoused by Hitler, Himmler, etc, and he continued to support Hitler after his own resignation. Von Fritsch served during the Polish Campaign in September 1939, and he was killed by gunfire in Warsaw during the battle for the Polish capital.
** The "DNVP," as it was commonly known, was a reactionary political party, which had many anti-Jewish supporters, racists and even supporters of bringing back Kaiser Wilhelm II. Even before Hitler took power, some of the DNVP party members switched to the Nazis.
*** Darré was heavily involved in the "Blut und Boden" philosophy; that is, "Blood" equals "race/ethnicity," specifically, "Nordic/Germanic," and "Soil" equals "land/territory (of the Nordic/Germanic people)." Interestingly, Darré had partial French and Spanish ancestry, besides German and Swedish. In the Nazi/White Nationalist marches in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, marchers periodically chanted, "Blood and soil." Counter protesters outnumbered the Nazis, but the President of the United States, Donald Trump, publicly said, "There were good people on both sides." He has periodically whined that some people call him "a fascist," but we see and hear, what we see and hear, you fascist!
**** While I don't recall all of the details at the moment, Ribbentrop's name was somewhat controversial, as I believe he later added the "von" (designating nobility), and I'm relatively certain he was not born with that designation. Ribbentrop was not all that well liked by the other Nazi leaders, especially Göring, who, as I recall, was able to irritate Ribbentrop by raising the subject of his family name, or by deliberately leaving out the "von" when mentioning the name.
WORD HISTORY:
Crony-This word is related to "chronicle" and "chronic," words derived from Greek, borrowed by Latin, then passed to Latin-based French and eventually borrowed by English. While not a word from many hundreds of years ago, it goes back to transliterated Greek "khronios," which meant "long lasting, enduring," which was derived from transliterated Greek "khronos," which meant "time." The origin of the Greek form is not known. It developed from Greek "khronios" in the mid 1600s at Cambridge University, initially as, "chrony" with the meaning, "long time friend," and it only later developed the negative meaning, "close associate or subordinate to a criminal boss or in a criminal enterprise."
Little more than a month after President von Hindenburg thanked Hitler for taking action against Ernst Röhm and the SA, the 86 year old president died. The day before Hindenburg's death, Hitler had the German Cabinet agree to a law combining the chancellorship with the presidency (notice how well having conservatives in the cabinet worked... FOR HITLER!). With this new law, when von Hindenburg died, Hitler became the supreme commander of the armed forces, the "Reichswehr," which he soon renamed the "Wehrmacht." Hitler was now truly "der Führer" ("the leader") of Germany. By March of 1935 Hitler openly announced conscription for the army, which was as good as his tearing up the military limitations imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty. Hitler was now well on his way to becoming an even more dangerous man, as he was a man with an expanding military force under his control.
By March of 1936 Hitler was ready to test the waters on an aggressive foreign policy move. After the end of what would come to be called "World War One," the Rhineland part of Germany in western Germany was demilitarized; that is, no troops or fortifications were allowed in the area. On March 7, 1936 Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, thus demonstrating that the region was once again a militarized area of Germany, and symbolically extending a "middle finger" to the French and British, who stamped their feet and shook their fists, but actually did nothing. Hitler's popularity rose.
In early 1938, Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, married a much younger woman. Hitler and Hermann Göring attended the wedding; but afterwards, it was reported that the young woman had a police record, with the implication being that she was a prostitute (the police also had evidence her mother had been a prostitute). This was all played up to be a major affront to Hitler, and von Blomberg was asked to have the marriage annulled, something he would not do. Göring threatened to make the information on the woman and her mother available for release to the public. Von Blomberg resigned to avoid a total scandal. Hitler did not appoint a new commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht, he simply took over the position himself. Hitler was now both supreme commander and commander-in-chief.
Within days of von Blomberg's resignation, the commander-in-chief of the army, Colonel-General Werner von Fritsch, faced charges that he was homosexual. Von Fritsch resigned, but he chose to go before a court to argue his case, and he was acquitted. Hitler appointed Colonel-General Walther von Brauchitsch to replace von Fritsch.*
In March 1938, after various maneuverings, German troops and Austrian border guards removed barriers from the Austro-German border, allowing German troops to move into Austria. Not long thereafter, Hitler crossed the border into his native Austria to cheering crowds. Austria was incorporated into Germany. Britain and France did nothing. Hitler was more popular than ever among Germans.
Meanwhile, within the German government, Franz von Papen, the vice chancellor (Vizekanzler), and one of those "conservatives" appointed to help keep a check on Hitler, was lucky to remain alive after the "purge," although he was arrested. Afterwards Hitler sent him to Vienna as his ambassador. By the way, von Papen was fluent in English (and I "believe" French). Alfred Hugenberg, another conservative, was both the Minister of Economics and the Minister of Agriculture and Nutrition/Food (Reichsminister für Wirtschaft, Reichsminister für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung). Hugenberg was a leader of the German National People's Party (Deutschnationale Volkspartei),** a partner of the Nazis in the coalition government, but within just a few months of Hitler becoming chancellor, Hitler and the Nazis went after the DNVP, and Hugenberg drew critical attention when the backward looking government minister publicly advocated for German colonies in Africa. Hugenberg resigned in June of 1933 and he was replaced as Minister of Economics by Kurt Schmitt (an insurance executive and a member of the Allgemeine SS, "the General SS"), and by Walther Darré as Minister of Agriculture.*** Konstantin von Neurath, a conservative, was in the diplomatic service of Germany for a number of years and he was named Minister of Foreign Affairs (Reichsaußenminister) before Hitler was appointed chancellor, a position von Hindenburg kept him in when the president appointed Hitler as chancellor. Over time, Hitler moved more and more aggressively in foreign policy, and by late 1937 he laid out a plan for war at a meeting with Field Marshal von Blomberg (commander-in-chief of the armed forces), Colonel-General von Fritsch (commander-in-chief of the army), Admiral Raeder (the commander-in-chief of the navy), Hermann Göring (commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe/air force), Foreign Minister von Neurath, and Hitler's adjutant Colonel Friedrich Hossbach (usually written as "Hoßbach" in German). Blomberg, Fritsch and Neurath all had concerns about Hitler's war plans, and Blomberg and Fritsch were replaced within two months (see above), and Neurath was replaced right after that. His replacement was Joachim (von) Ribbentrop, an arrogant man who had been a wine salesman.****
* Von Fritsch is not in any way a sympathetic figure. He believed a lot of the anti-Jewish nonsense espoused by Hitler, Himmler, etc, and he continued to support Hitler after his own resignation. Von Fritsch served during the Polish Campaign in September 1939, and he was killed by gunfire in Warsaw during the battle for the Polish capital.
** The "DNVP," as it was commonly known, was a reactionary political party, which had many anti-Jewish supporters, racists and even supporters of bringing back Kaiser Wilhelm II. Even before Hitler took power, some of the DNVP party members switched to the Nazis.
*** Darré was heavily involved in the "Blut und Boden" philosophy; that is, "Blood" equals "race/ethnicity," specifically, "Nordic/Germanic," and "Soil" equals "land/territory (of the Nordic/Germanic people)." Interestingly, Darré had partial French and Spanish ancestry, besides German and Swedish. In the Nazi/White Nationalist marches in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, marchers periodically chanted, "Blood and soil." Counter protesters outnumbered the Nazis, but the President of the United States, Donald Trump, publicly said, "There were good people on both sides." He has periodically whined that some people call him "a fascist," but we see and hear, what we see and hear, you fascist!
**** While I don't recall all of the details at the moment, Ribbentrop's name was somewhat controversial, as I believe he later added the "von" (designating nobility), and I'm relatively certain he was not born with that designation. Ribbentrop was not all that well liked by the other Nazi leaders, especially Göring, who, as I recall, was able to irritate Ribbentrop by raising the subject of his family name, or by deliberately leaving out the "von" when mentioning the name.
WORD HISTORY:
Crony-This word is related to "chronicle" and "chronic," words derived from Greek, borrowed by Latin, then passed to Latin-based French and eventually borrowed by English. While not a word from many hundreds of years ago, it goes back to transliterated Greek "khronios," which meant "long lasting, enduring," which was derived from transliterated Greek "khronos," which meant "time." The origin of the Greek form is not known. It developed from Greek "khronios" in the mid 1600s at Cambridge University, initially as, "chrony" with the meaning, "long time friend," and it only later developed the negative meaning, "close associate or subordinate to a criminal boss or in a criminal enterprise."
Labels: Alfred Hugenberg, Anschluss, Austria, English, etymology, Franz von Papen, Greek, Hermann Göring, Hitler, Konstantin von Neurath, Paul von Hindenburg, Werner von Blomberg, Werner von Fritsch
posted by Randy at 7:35 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home