Reddit reviews The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945, Revised Edition

OK, that's it. A few weeks ago I bought a few books about how it was that German seems so cool these days but gave rise to power the de-facto Hitler of all Hitlers.

They're next in my reading queue. This is insane.

• Nazi Seizure Of Power The Experience of a Single German Town 1922 1945
  
• Origins Of Totalitarianism

The Nazi Seizure of Power is a great look at how average Germans (in the town studied) came to embrace the Nazis and reject other options.

It's a bit dense (I read it in a graduate course last semester) if you're just looking for an overview, but it really explained a lot to me, as someone with no real background in modern German history.

I just want to point out a few things :

• Hindenburg was President of the Wiemar Republic. Not, I repeat not, Chancellor. ^1
  
  
• As president Hindenburg could call for new elections every six weeks. This power is given to him under the Wiemar Constitution. It was used regularly in order to take out unpopular governments. This can be seen with the replacement of Brüning by Von Papen. (It should be noted that the Brüning government was an austerity government.)^2
  
  
• An argument can be made against Hitler having a 'plan'. I would argue that Hitler was the luckiest man in the world. Hindenburg had suspended the government and called for the elections. Six weeks had to pass before the elections could be held. In those six weeks Hindenburg died. This allowed Hitler to push over the government without killing the hero of the First World War. ^3
  
  I can expand on any of this if anyone wants.
  
  Sources:
  
  1.)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Germany_%281919%E2%80%931945%29#List_of_officeholders
  
  2.)http://www.amazon.com/Defying-Hitler-Memoir-Sebastian-Haffner/dp/0374161577
  
  3.)http://www.amazon.com/The-Nazi-Seizure-Power-experience/dp/0531056333
  
  
  
  

There is also:

http://www.amazon.ca/Nazi-Seizure-Power-Experience-1922-1945/dp/0531056333/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375909280&sr=8-1&keywords=the+nazi+seizure+of+power

My understanding is that this book is a classic in the literature about the Nazis. It is harder going than "Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth", but has lots of interesting information about the rise of the Nazi party and its internal workings at the grass roots level.

There are plenty of books about the German populace's complicity in the Holocaust and many do make some controversial and arguable claims, but I think the book that stays closest to historical fact is this one. I understand you're not going to just order this book and read it because I disagree with your claims, but if you really want to understand how the Holocaust happened and why the Germans did it, read this. The book basically documents how the Nazis persuaded the German populace to along with its genocidal ideology. Thuggery, scapegoating, and good old fear were the main tools the party used.

This is also a fascinating read: The Good Old Days: The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders

Instead of touching this, perhaps you should try some reading. I promise it's worth the $5 with shipping.

This is going to be simplistic: The Nazis believed in socialism FOR ITS OWN PEOPLE (citizens of the German Nation, this includes Germans in other countries, hence the justification for invading). Socialists believed in socialism for everybody! It was an international movement, and was devoid of the chauvinism that's inherent in Nazi ideology. It's not really the socialist part that made the Nazis abhorrent, it was the extreme nationalism. Also the only opposition to the Nazi take over of Germany came from the SPD (the socialist party), basically. Reichsbanner (the militarized section of the SPD) men and the SA would actually battle each other in the streets.

And Hitler mostly focused on the nationalism parts of the ideology while his socialist political rivals within the party faded out (eta: the Strasser bros! Thanks higher up comment!)

I recommend reading The Nazi Seizure of Power by William S Allen.