While the world was talking about the Ukrainian famine, Germany was mired in political turmoil.
In early November 1931, Hindenburg met with Hitler. Hindenburg did not have any good impression of this "Bohemian corporal" and later told his close associates: "He can only be a post minister at best."
Since all the democratic parties in the parliament at that time, including the German Social Democratic Party and the German Center Party, supported Hindenburg in order to prevent Adolf Hitler from becoming Chancellor of Germany, Hindenburg was able to appoint Brüning as Chancellor again in 1932.
In the spring of 1932, Hindenburg's seven-year term expired, and the old president originally wanted to retire. However, due to the ridicule and ridicule of the Communist Party followers, Hindenburg, who was already in his eighties, decided to come out again, and he was nominated as a candidate again.**
The Party nominated Hitler as its candidate. The Communist Party's candidate was Thälmann.
In the first round of elections, Hindenburg had 49.6% of the votes and Hitler had 30%. No candidate received an absolute majority. The second round of elections was held on April 10, and Hindenburg defeated Hitler with 53%.
36.8% were elected. However, a few weeks later, his old comrade Groener was framed by Schleicher's conspiracy and was forced to resign as minister.
During the election, Hitler knew that his prestige among the people was lower than Hindenburg's, so he put forward the slogan "Respect Hindenburg, vote for Hitler" in an attempt to use Hindenburg's momentum to boost his own popularity.
worth.
As a result, Hitler lost the election, but he left a good impression on Hindenburg. After Hindenburg was re-elected as president, he ignored the opposition of the general public and prepared to use Hitler. He said to those who advised him to be wary of Hitler: "I should put poachers on the spot."
He becomes a forest guard."
In 1932, Hindenburg was 85 years old. Due to his old age and physical and mental failure, Hindenburg increasingly relied on his own small group of right-wing friends and comrades for advice. These people included his son Oscar.
Von Hindenburg, his estate's neighbors, Lieutenant General Kurt von Schleicher and Franz von Papen.
These people persuaded him to fire Brüning and nominate Papen as chancellor because they wanted Papen's policies to move to the right. After this plan failed, these people considered a coup to achieve this goal, but Schleicher refused to provide troops for this purpose.
Coup, so this plan was abandoned. It was later proposed that Franz von Papen organize a "cabinet of nobles", and Papen had close ties with the Nazi forces. In order to fulfill his "miracle of taming the Nazis"
"An attempt to invite ** Party members to join the cabinet.
Hindenburg was very fond of Papen, so he particularly respected his authority, but Papen failed to tame the Communist Party. At this time, Hitler did not buy Hindenburg's account at all. Hitler saw his German workers in the election
The party had a certain strength, so it categorically rejected Hindenburg's request for him to form a cabinet with Papen. It also stated: "As the leader of the largest political party in Germany, I am responsible for the entire power, including all aspects."
Not only did Hitler despise Papen, but he was also hostile to Schleicher, who succeeded Papen as prime minister in December, and insisted that he form his own government. Hindenburg, on the other hand, thought Hitler was domineering and refused to agree. He saw that Hitler might threaten his own government.
Political status, I couldn't help being angry, and immediately changed 180°, publicly stating: "Out of my obligation to the motherland and conscience, I have no right to hand over the power of the entire government only to the ** movement that wants to monopolize power."
In November 1932, a group of industrialists and bankers submitted a petition to Hindenburg, requesting the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor. However, on December 2, 1932, Hindenburg dismissed Papen, who had close ties with the Nazi forces.
Chancellor, Schleicher asked Schleicher to form a cabinet. This move directly threatened Hitler's plan to seize power comprehensively, because the Nazi power was still in its infancy at that time, and Schleicher had a plan to split the Communist Party.
So, on the one hand, Hitler asked Papen to "apologise", and on the other hand, he invited the top figures of the German monopoly consortium to submit a petition to Hindenburg to accommodate him. Hindenburg, who was originally a representative of the right wing, saw that Hitler had "changed his mind"
", was willing to cooperate with him, and then came up with the idea of using this "forest guard".
At this time, Schleicher made a move that made Hindenburg extremely angry. He planned to confiscate the bankrupt Juncker's estate in East Germany. As a spokesman, Hindenburg naturally opposed this plan and supported Juncker.
Although Schleicher could not get the support of Hindenburg, he made a surprising move. Not only did he refuse to have any further contact with the opposing Junckers, he also openly declared war on them.
In this way, Hindenburg's living room was filled with representatives of the Juncker family, angrily demanding the dismissal of Schleicher's government. Not only that, Schleicher also brought the wrath of the military on himself. Schleicher
As a Prime Minister with a military background, you should remember that Juncker and the officer corps have been closely linked for two hundred years.
The beneficiary of Schleicher's folly was Adolf Hitler, who cleverly took advantage of the growing dissatisfaction. In order to make a comeback from the defeat in November and regain his authority among the masses, he made a desperate move and almost
Lipper gave a speech in every city and village. Wherever he went, he was warmly welcomed. On January 15, he received 39.6% of the popular vote, an increase of 17%. This proved that his personal speech
Quite attractive.
Logically speaking, Hitler should be the prime minister at this time, but Hindenburg was still dissatisfied with him. The biggest obstacle was not the president himself, but the president's son, who openly despised Hitler. However, Oscar Hindenburg's
This feeling was due to hubris rather than ideological differences. In order to resolve their differences, Oscar accepted the invitation and met at Ribbentrop's house on the evening of Sunday, January 22.
Papen, Hitler, Goering and Frank were already waiting in the living room. The atmosphere was very tense. After a while of awkward greetings, Hitler suddenly suggested to Oscar that they go to the next room. The result of the secret conversation between the two, according to Oscar later, was:
Hitler monopolized the topic. Only he, Hitler, could save Germany from the Red elements, and only he, Hitler, could be a strong chancellor. Because without the support of the National Socialist Party, no other government could stand.
Later, Oscar also agreed to let Hitler serve as chancellor. So the biggest obstacle was removed. Now Hitler only needed to wait for Hindenburg to be appointed as chancellor. Although Hindenburg agreed to Hitler becoming chancellor, he required that the new government must be led by Varner von
General Blomberg served as Minister of Defense, and Papen served as Deputy Prime Minister.
In the morning of the next day, Papen met with Hitler and presented Hindenburg's request. Hitler agreed to Hindenburg's request. However, Hitler also made his own request, which was to hold a new election and issue an authorization law to grant him
In the afternoon, Papen reported to Hindenburg that all parties had agreed to the new government. Only at this time did Papen mention Hitler's demand for new elections, and made it sound reasonable.
He emphasized Hitler's promise: this was the last election.
Now that everything was settled, Hindenburg then signed an order ending Schleicher's position as chancellor, and then Volksdolf Hitler became chancellor.
At this point, Hitler finally ascended to the throne of Chancellor. The man who could not even graduate from high school, the man who failed to pass the Academy of Fine Arts, the man who had been a homeless man on the streets of Vienna, now, on January 30, 1933,
But he became Chancellor of Germany.
When Adolf Hitler suddenly became Chancellor, the biggest surprise was Berlin's Communist Party members. For years, they had lived in poverty, risking their lives on the streets of the capital, often going against the Führer's wishes. Now, their
The dream came true in one fell swoop. However, most people only learned about the torch parade that night through newspapers.
Every able-bodied storm trooper and SS member went out in uniform. Many people thought they would get into trouble with the police again, but they were surprised to find that even the police were smiling, and some even wore
Swastika. The stormtroopers held torches and set off from Tiergarten at dusk. They marched past the Brandenburg Gate in good order to the sound of military music. Thousands of Wehrmacht troops joined them.
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Hour after hour passed, they were still singing the "Wesel Forest Song" and other war hymns, and lined up along Wilhelmstrasse. They first greeted Hindenburg - he stood in front of a window of the Presidential Palace.
After a while, they greeted Hitler. Hitler stood in front of a window of the Chancellery, looking down at them affectionately.
The trees on both sides of William Street were covered with young men, and the children were like "bunches of grapes" hanging on the iron fence. On a cold winter night, the fire lit up the night, and the intoxicating and warm atmosphere became more and more intense.
.All of this was rehearsed by the performance master Goebbels.
Even Hitler asked inexplicably: "Where did he get these tens of thousands of torches in just a few hours?"
The reason was that Goebbels controlled the radio station and through live broadcasts, the whole of Germany enjoyed the spectacular scene of the torch parade.
Papen stood behind Hitler and watched the torch procession. He noticed that as the procession approached Hindenburg, people shouted to him with respect. As soon as they saw Hitler, they cheered wildly.
“The contrast was striking and seemed to highlight the transition from a dying regime to a new revolutionary force… It was an extraordinary experience, the never-ending cry of victory, ‘Hail! Hail! Hail! Victory!
It's like an alarm bell ringing in my ears."
On that intoxicating night, lawyer Hans Frank also stood behind Hitler. "Only God knows how pure our hearts were that day."
Under the windows, people celebrating the victory were so happy that they burst into tears. "Everyone felt the same - life would be better," recalled a brownshirt who had rebelled with Stennis. "
From a practical point of view, although there is no reason to believe that life will improve, they do believe it. They have hope again. I think that Germany cannot find another person who can bring us hope and trust like Hitler did at that time.
and love.”
"Some of the strange feelings I had that night have stayed with me to this day."
Merida Mahiman, who participated in the parade with her parents, wrote: “The extraordinary sound of footsteps, the grand scene of red and black flags, the dancing fire on people’s faces, and the atmosphere that was so lively and so
Sentimental, and such melodious singing today..."
In the eyes of most foreign observers, this was an ominous omen. "A river of fire flowed in front of the French Embassy," French Ambassador François Bense wrote. "I watched with a heavy heart and foreboding.
This fire stream."
Hitler was eating night crumbs in a hut with Hess, Goering, Goebbels, Röhm and Frank. He couldn't help but keep talking: "Today, some foreigners say that I am against Jesus. The only thing I am against is Lenin."
"
Hitler kept talking and turned the topic to communism in one breath. "Tonight marks the end of the so-called Red Berlin. People only become red when there is no way out. Those who often rely on the so-called wisdom of the people always
It’s rude to the masses. People’s feelings are more or less like women’s feelings.”
As everyone walked through the garden, Hitler kept talking. "This Chancellery is like a cigar box. It is not the way to receive guests. We must completely change it."
That night, Goebbels, who was full of joy, wrote in his diary: "It's really like a dream...like a fairy tale...the new empire has come into being. After 14 years of hard work, it won once and for all. The German revolution has begun!"
Few Germans realized this that night, and perhaps no one thought of it.
