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."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Twenty-Three

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" (Part Four/3)
"Hitler Goes Home; Austria Joins Germany" (Part 3)

Just a little over a week after Hitler and Schuschnigg signed their agreement in February 1938,* Hitler gave a speech to the Reichstag (the German Parliament).** He thanked Chancellor Schuschnigg for his efforts over their recent agreement, but he also threw in lines about how Austrian sentiment to join Germany after the Great War (World War I) had been stopped by the Versailles Treaty, and how "ten million" Germans were being kept separate from other Germans.*** The speech brought more calls by Austria's Nazis for joining with Germany. By March, Schuschnigg made a decision that brought everything to a head. He announced on March 9th that a plebiscite (referendum) would be held on March 12th! Whether such a vote could have even been held on such short notice is questionable, but he cleverly worded the ballot issue to make it almost impossible for anyone to vote "No."****

Having thus tweaked Hitler's nose, Schuschnigg now paid the price. Hitler met with his military commanders and ordered them to cross the border into Austria early on March 12. German forces, aided by Austrian border guards, took down the barriers and streamed into Austria, to the jubilation of much of the populace. Hitler followed soon afterwards, driving through hysterical crowds who presented him with bouquets of flowers. He visited his birthplace just over the, now previous, border in Braunau-am-Inn and the city of Linz where he had spent much time as a boy. German radio and press reports (controlled by the Nazis) stated that German troops were only helping to restore order, but during a speech in Linz, Hitler announced that Austria was being incorporated into Germany. It was then on to Vienna and ecstatic crowds, and ringing church bells. The call to German nationalism was strong, and in Austria, where unemployment was high, people hoped for a better life. They got it in many ways, as unemployment dropped dramatically in less than a year, but they also got the ugly side; Jews beaten and arrested, anti-Nazi politicians (including Schuschnigg*****) arrested, and worse was to come.

Just a few weeks later, Hitler, in an ironic turn of events, used a national plebiscite to sanction Austria's absorption into Germany, with more the 99% voting "Ja." (Interestingly, the "Ja" vote in what had been Austria was a couple of tenths of a point higher than in the rest of Germany.)

* Schuschnigg later claimed he had been bullied into signing the agreement, and that is undoubtedly true, but he also signed the agreement undoubtedly to keep himself in office.

** Hitler kept the Reichstag to use for important speeches and ceremonial purposes. It was really no longer a true legislative body, and of course, it had only one party represented, the Nazis. After the damaging fire to the Reichstag Building in 1933, the Reichstag met in the Kroll Opera House ("Krolloper," in German) in Berlin, but only when summoned by Hitler.

*** Austria had about 6.5 million people and the German population of Czechoslovakia was about 3.5 million. He seems to have already been setting up a situation to deal with Czechoslovakia.

**** He used terms like "independent, German Austria," and "Fatherland."

***** Schuschnigg was not freed from captivity until the end of World War II. He later went to America, where he was a teacher, but returned to Austria where he died in 1977, just short of his 80th birthday.

WORD HISTORY:
Hail-This is the noun meaning "frozen rain/frozen precipitation/ice pellets." It goes back to an Indo European word for "pebble," which was "khaglo/kaghlo." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "hag(a)laz," which meant "hail." This gave Anglo-Saxon "haegl" and "hagol" (according to dialect). The "g" sound eventually died out, leaving English with "hail." The verb came from the noun and in Anglo-Saxon was "hagolian," and meant "to hail." Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German has "Hagel" (originally "hagal"), Low German also has "Hagel," and some dialects "hoagel," West Frisian has "heil" (notice the missing "g," as in English), Dutch has "hagel," Norwegian, Icelandic and Danish have "hagl," and Swedish has "hagel."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Twenty-Two

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" (Part Four/2)
"Hitler Goes Home; Austria Joins Germany" (Part 2)

Kurt (von)* Schuschnigg, the Austrian chancellor, cracked down on the Austrian Nazis, and he had a number of them imprisoned. Seemingly, the sentiment, however, in a good deal of Austria, and in much of Germany, was for "Anschluss;" Austria joining with Germany, and this was NOT just among Nazis. Schuschnigg met Hitler in 1936 and an agreement was the result. Schuschnigg agreed to release Nazis from prison and to permit Austrian Nazis and other political opponents into his government** and he agreed that Austria was a "German nation;" thus attempting to keep Italy at arms length. Hitler, for his part, agreed that Austria was an "independent nation." Hitler undoubtedly assumed that once Nazis and other proponents of "Anschluss" entered the Austrian government, Austria's joining Germany would soon follow, in spite of his stating that Austria was an "independent nation" in the agreement.

Over time, the Austrian Nazis grew in strength and stridency and Austrian public sentiment became overwhelming for "Anschluss." In February 1938, Schuschnigg met Hitler at Berchtesgaden,*** which was just over the Austro-German border. Hitler demanded that Austrian Nazis be given important positions in Schuschnigg's government, especially the "Minister of the Interior" position, which controlled the police, and the "Minister of Finance." His goal seems to have been to begin a process of coordinating Austrian policies with Germany, even though Austria would be left sovereign, at that point in time. Schuschnigg agreed, indeed, Schuschnigg signed another agreement, as did the Austrian president.**** Hitler's part of the agreement condemned the rowdy and belligerent tactics of the Austrian Nazis, and he agreed to accept unwanted Austrian Nazis in Germany, which he did.***** "Anschluss" drew closer.

* "Von" is used in German to denote nobility; for example, Rudolf "von" Habsburg; that is, "Rudolf of Habsburg." It means "of or from." If you have read (or seen the movie[s]) "Ivanhoe," then you should recall the equivalent in English, "Wilfred of Ivanhoe." Following World War One, the Austrians terminated the use of "von" in names (Germany did not), even for the Habsburgs; thus, Schuschnigg dropped the "von" from his name. It is also spelled "van" in some northern dialects.

** Austria was ruled, literally, by the chancellor. He issued decrees, and there was only one political party permitted, the "Christian Social Party" (German: "Christlichsoziale Partei"), initially a nationalist party that became ever more a right wing party that gradually assumed some of the characteristics of Mussolini's Fascist Party in Italy. (Note: Austria was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, and there was much "mixing" of religion and politics.) The Christian Social Party formed a sort of alliance with the "Heimwehr" ("Home Defense"), a right wing paramilitary and political group, which provided "muscle" to the alliance. One of the Christian Social Party's weaknesses, however, was its ties to Italy, including Italian support and "protection" of Austria. Remember, Mussolini sent Italian troops to the border to prevent Hitler from sending German forces into Austria in 1934. The reason I say this was a "weakness" is, Italy and Italians were not popular in Austria. Italy had been the major enemy of Austria-Hungary in World War One (and a major enemy even before), and upon the end of the war, for her participation on the Allied side, Italy was given the South Tirol, which contained a substantial German population, with large German majorities in the northern areas and some Italian majority areas in the southern districts.

*** Berchtesgaden is a small Bavarian town in the Alps, literally right near the border with Austria. Hitler had his villa there, called the "Berghof." The city of Salzburg lies less than 20 miles away, and after the Anschluss, the Salzburg airport was used by many of Hitler's visitors to his villa, but Hitler also used Klessheim Palace to host many foreign dignitaries. The palace, still in existence, is just outside the Salzburg city limits.

**** Austria had a president who served as "head of state," and he therefore had to sign all international agreements. Wilhelm Miklas was the president at that time, and he too was a member of the Christian Social Party.

***** Hitler got the Austrian Nazi leaders and lambasted them for their behavior, but apparently even he had trouble controlling them.

WORD HISTORY:
Home-This noun is common in its various forms throughout the Germanic languages. It is related to "hamlet," a word borrowed by English from French, which had it from Germanic Frankish. The ultimate origin of "home" is not agreed upon by everyone, but it "appears" to go back to the Indo European root "tkei/tkey," which meant "to dwell, to settle, to live in a place," which produced the extended form "(t)koimo," which meant "settlement, village, home." This gave Old Germanic "haimaz," or perhaps "(k)haimaz," with the "k" not being prominent, at least in theory, and with the broad meaning of "dwelling, village, settled place." This gave Anglo-Saxon/Old English "ham," not pronounced like the pork product, but with a long "a" sound. Later the spelling/pronunciation had changed to "hom," before the modern spelling. Over time, too, the meaning narrowed to "residence, place were one or a family resides," although the earlier broader meaning of "village, settled place" lives on from those times in place names like "Birmingham" and "Buckingham," which denoted a village. An Old English verb form, "hamian," also developed from the noun, with the meaning "to set up or build a home," then later with the modern spelling, but meaning "to go home," and it still exists, as it was used in refence to pigeons, and with the form "homing pigeon." The verb is now more associated with "signals that guide a missile to its target; that is, "home." German has "Heim" (as do some, but not all, Low German dialects), Dutch has "heem," "West Frisian "hiem," Norwegian has "hjem" and "heim," Swedish "hem," Danish "hjem," and Icelandic "heimur."