Why Germans Supported Hitler

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I sometimes wonder: if Germany had been in the same state of economic collapse, but without the humiliation of Versailles, would Hitler have been able to get people behind him as effectively as he did?

It worked for FDR.

[DanaC]

I see no difference between what BushCo. wants and what Hitler did.

I really think that deserves at least some brand of caveat, rk.

Sure, he does not want genocide... I am talking about what he wants for the nation.

[piercehawkeye45]

Yeah, but FDR needed Pearl Harbor before he could wage war. If Hitler didn't have Versailles, he would most likely still be extremely popular, but would he be able to attack the rest of Europe without question?

[xoxoxoBruce]

From part2 of the same link

Lies and wars of aggression

One might object that, since Germany was the aggressor in the conflict, the German people should have refused to support the war. That objection, however, ignores an important point: that in the minds of many Germans, Germany was not the aggressor in World War II but rather the defending nation. After all, that’s what they had been told by their government officials.

An aggressor nation will inevitably try to manipulate events so as to appear to be the victimized nation — that is, the nation that is defending itself against aggression. In that way, government officials can tell the citizenry, “We are innocent! We were just minding our own business when our nation was attacked.” Naturally, the citizenry can then assume that there was nothing that could have been done to prevent the war and will be more willing to defend their nation against the attackers.

That is exactly what happened in Germany’s invasion of Poland, which precipitated World War II. After several weeks in which tensions between the two nations were heightened, German soldiers on the Polish-German border were attacked by Polish troops. Hitler followed the time-honored script by dramatically announcing that Germany had been attacked by Poland, requiring Germany to defend herself with a counterattack and an invasion of Poland.

There was one big problem, however — one that the German people were unaware of: the Polish troops who had done the attacking were actually German troops dressed up in Polish uniforms. In other words, German officials had lied about the cause of the war.

[piercehawkeye45]

Ah, that makes more sense now.

[xoxoxoBruce]

"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. ...Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
Hermann Wilhelm Göring

[bluecuracao]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

"...All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

And in so many ways...

There was one big problem, however — one that the German people were unaware of: the Polish troops who had done the attacking were actually German troops dressed up in Polish uniforms. In other words, German officials had lied about the cause of the war.

Dubya... is that you?

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Rkzen, I do. Start with the contrasting approaches towards private firearms.