The German Question, Part One Hundred Nineteen

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

The Nazis held annual rallies in the city of Nuremberg (Nürnberg). In 1935, Hitler convened a session of the Reichstag in Nuremberg, where it had not met since the 1500s! The purpose? To pass laws aimed at Germany's Jews. The two laws passed by the Reichstag in Nuremberg were collectively called "The Nuremberg Laws" ("Die Nürnberger Gesetze"), and they passed by (surprise, surprise) a unanimous vote. These absolutely racist laws stripped German Jews of citizenship and prevented marriage between Jews and Germans. The Nazis also laid out the definition of a Jew: a person with three or four Jewish grandparents, while those people with one or two Jewish grandparents were termed "Mischlinge;" that is, "mixed," or in plain old racist American English, "half breeds."*

Around that same time, Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy, sent troops into the East African nation of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The League of Nations voted sanctions against Italy, these sanctions essentially being a ban on weaponry being sold to Italy (and Abyssinia) and the prohibition of loans to Italy. The two powerhouses of the League of Nations, Britain and France, kept any sanctions from being too severe, as they wanted to remain on good terms with Mussolini, and to continue to use him to maintain a firewall, so to speak, against Hitler moving into Austria or southeastern Europe.** The League of Nations, however, still wanted to show it opposed Mussolini's aggression. This attempt "to have it both ways" failed miserably. The League, along with leaders Britain and France, was seen as too feeble to prevent aggressive wars, yet the sanctions against Italy, mild though they were, coupled with Hitler's verbal support of Mussolini's war in Abyssinia, moved Mussolini and Hitler closer together. The next time, the two fascist dictators worked in conjunction with one another to support Spanish fascism (the Falangist Party) and right wing strongman, General Francisco Franco, in the Spanish Civil War.

* For non-American readers, a bit of an explanation: When white American settlers came to this country, dating back to colonial times and through the westward expansion, some had children with the native population here. For quite some time these children were very much looked down upon by many (but not all), and the term "half breed" was essentially a derogatory term. We've come a long way since those times, and "many" Americans are now proud to claim "American Indian" heritage, at least many people I've talked with over the years, but I'm sure there are still some holdouts. They probably want to get even for "Custer's Last Stand," not being satisfied with the sweep of the Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series.

** In 1934, the Austrian Chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuss, actually a dictator and a fascist himself, wanted to model Austria after Mussolini's Italy. Dollfuss stood in the way of any attempt to merge Austria with Germany (the term in German for this merger was "Anschluss," which means "merger, joining"). Mussolini guaranteed Austria's independence, and when Austrian Nazis assassinated Dollfuss in 1934, Mussolini sent Italian military reinforcements to the border with Austria to discourage any attempt by Hitler to achieve an "Anschluss." So it is important to remember, Hitler and Mussolini were not always "friends," but that was about to change.

Next... "Spain Brings Hitler and Mussolini Together" or alternate title, "Tapas and a Bullfight For Two?"

WORD HISTORY:
Luftwaffe-English got this compound from German, as it was the name for the German air force. Its component parts, "Luft" and "Waffe," both have related words in English, so I'll begin with "Luft," and its closely related English words "lift" and "loft." The ancient origin of "Luft" (and also therefore of "lift" and "loft") is unknown. Old Germanic had "luftuz," which meant "air, atmosphere, sky, heavens, even roof." This gave Old High German (the direct ancestor of modern German) "luoft," then "luft," and meaning "air," which then later was spelled with a capital "L," as all German nouns are capitalized. The same Old Germanic "luftuz" gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "lyft," and with the same meanings. "Lyft" then "seems" to have altered under the influence of the related Old Norse (North Germanic) word "lopt" (the "p" was pronounced "f"), which had the same general meaning, but also with more emphasis on the extended meanings "roof, ceiling, and then upper room, room by the ceiling." By the 1200s, English had borrowed the word "air" from Old French (from Latin, which it got from Greek), and it overtook "loft" in that meaning, leaving "loft" with its secondary meaning "room by the ceiling, upper room." Besides German "Luft" and English "loft," some Low German has "Loft" and some have "Luft," Dutch has "lucht," Frisian has "loft," Danish, Norwegian and Swedish have "luft," Icelandic has "loft." Of all these related Germanic words, only English "loft" no longer means "air," in general usage; however, Scottish English dialect still has "lift" for "air." German also has the verb "lüften," which means "to air out, ventilate;" just as English uses the verb form of "air" (air out a room). Lift, the verb, traces back to the same Old Germanic word "luftuz" (see above). This then gave off a verb form, "luftjaz." German has the verb "lüften," as noted above, Old Norse "lypta," seems to have used the notion of "air rising" to give its form of the Germanic verb the meaning "raise," and this then was borrowed into English in the late 1100s or early 1200s.^ Dutch has "lichten," which means "to empty out;" apparently the notion being "to lift items out of something." Low German Saxon has "lüchten," Norwegian has løft, Danish has "løfte," Swedish and Icelandic have "lyfta." The "Waffe" part of "Luftwaffe" will be in the next article.

^ The noun use of "lift" for elevator goes back to the 1850s.

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.

The German Question, Part One Hundred Three

"Germany's Weimar Republic" Part Six
"The Great Depression Shakes The Republic"

The Weimar Republic essentially stabilized for a period during the mid to late 1920s and it looked as if democracy would firmly take root in former authoritarian Germany, which was granted admission into the "League of Nations" in September 1926,*/** and German prestige was on the rise. Germany and the Soviet Union signed a treaty ("Treaty of Rapallo," named for the Italian city where it was signed) in 1922. The treaty had several clauses and it provided for extensive trade between the two nations. The "public" aspects of the treaty appeared to be relatively benign, but a secret agreement permitted the Germans to test new military technology (which was forbidden by the Versailles Treaty) in the Soviet Union.

The Wall Street Crash and the beginning of the Great Depression led to the beginning of the end for the German Republic. While the political right had scorned the Republic from its inception, linking the democratic government to the far left, this was untrue. The German government was certainly left-leaning, but it also was just as certainly not connected with the far left. In fact, when far leftist elements led rebellions in various parts of Germany during the 1920s, the government actually used right wing militias to help quell the disturbances. So much for the government being connected to the far left, but that didn't stop the right wing from the same accusations all the same. The problem was, by relying upon these right wing groups, the government only gave such groups credibility, and these groups were NOT democratic, nor did they fight the communists to save the republic. They fought to keep the communists out of power, with the hope of gaining power for themselves eventually. It was a pretty strange relationship to say the least.

The electorate was fractured, as a multitude of political parties appeared on the ballots, and delegates to the Reichstag (parliament) were apportioned by percentage of the vote; thus making majority rule almost impossible. The moderate Social Democrats continued as Germany's largest political party, but as the economy tumbled, so did the vote for moderation. The communists on the left and the National Socialists (Nazis) on the right began to garner increasing shares of the vote in regional and national elections. The Nazis, led by the man with the funny looking, Charlie Chaplin-like mustache, were suddenly becoming a political party to be reckoned with.

Next...."The Rise of Hitler and The Nazis"

* The League of Nations was the forerunner of the United Nations.

** Since Austria will be re-emerging as a part of this series, it should be noted that Austria joined the League of Nations in 1920.

WORD HISTORY:
Hide-This is the noun now meaning "skin of an animal," although it is also related to "hide," the verb, meaning "to conceal." These words are related to a number of other English words,^ as well as to words in the other Germanic languages. (I plan to do the verb form in the next article.) The word goes back to Indo Eurpean "(s)keut." which had the notion of "cover, covering." This gave Old Germanic "hudiz," which meant "skin, hide," which then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hyd," which meant "skin." Later it came to be spelled "hide" and it also took on the more specific meaning "animal skin." Quite common in the other Germanic languages as the general term for "skin" (although some Low German dialects use a form of "pelt" for "skin"): German has "Haut," pronounced "how-t," from Old High German "hut," with a long "u;" some Low German dialects have "Hüt;" West Frisian has "hud;" Dutch has "huid;" Norwegian, Swedish and Danish all have "hud;" and Icelandic has "húð," which is much like "huth."

^ "Hide" is related to "hoard" (noun and verb) and to "hose," words from the Germanic roots of English.