Today, August 2 In History

[HammerDown]

Hitler becomes dictator of Germany | August 2, 1934 | HISTORY

With the death of German President Paul von Hindenburg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler becomes absolute dictator of Germany under the title of Fuhrer, or “Leader.” The German army took an oath of allegiance to its new commander‑in‑chief, and the last remnants of Germany’s democratic government were...

www.history.com

Make no mistake, von Hindenburg's death made then Chancellor Adolf Hitler absolute dictator under the title Fuhrer.

That's not true at all. Not even close.

He was entirely constrained by parliament for several weeks. Dude was kissing ass all over the empire. He was a figurehead for weeks, not even close to a dictatorship and doing everything he could to assure everyone that he would maintain Hindenburg's status quo. The Nazi party wasn't even close to a majority.

If history.com is saying otherwise, they're wrong.

 

[Kburjr]

That's not true at all. Not even close.

He was entirely constrained by parliament for several weeks. Dude was kissing ass all over the empire. He was a figurehead for weeks, not even close to a dictatorship and doing everything he could to assure everyone that he would maintain Hindenburg's status quo. The Nazi party wasn't even close to a majority.

If history.com is saying otherwise, they're wrong.

Get 'im, hammer

 

[douggie]

That's not true at all. Not even close.

He was entirely constrained by parliament for several weeks. Dude was kissing ass all over the empire. He was a figurehead for weeks, not even close to a dictatorship and doing everything he could to assure everyone that he would maintain Hindenburg's status quo. The Nazi party wasn't even close to a majority.

If history.com is saying otherwise, they're wrong.

I get what you're saying Hammer. Everybody needs a specific date to mark the exact moment Hitler rose to power. I think what the History Channel is saying is that nothing was standing in his way to become Seig Fuhrer of the Empire from the date of August 2, 1934, when von Hindenburg passed away.

Personally I believe there were still a handful of influential old-time conservatives in Germany who hoped for a return of the monarchy or perhaps some kind of non-Nazi nationalist government after Hindenburg's death. Although they loathed democracy, they also loathed the excesses of the Hitler regime. These were proud men from the 1800s reared in the days of princes and kings and ancient honor codes. And they knew their beloved Fatherland was now in the hands of murderous fanatics such as Himmler and Heydrich who cared nothing about their old-fashioned notions.

 

[HammerDown]

I get what you're saying Hammer. Everybody needs a specific date to mark the exact moment Hitler rose to power. I think what the History Channel is saying is that nothing was standing in his way to become Seig Fuhrer of the Empire from the date of August 2, 1934, when von Hindenburg passed away.

Personally I believe there were still a handful of influential old-time conservatives in Germany who hoped for a return of the monarchy or perhaps some kind of non-Nazi nationalist government after Hindenburg's death. Although they loathed democracy, they also loathed the excesses of the Hitler regime. These were proud men from the 1800s reared in the days of princes and kings and ancient honor codes. And they knew their beloved Fatherland was now in the hands of murderous fanatics such as Himmler and Heydrich who cared nothing about their old-fashioned notions.

Yeah, absolutely.

This is the exact topic of the book I mentioned. It's actually a two-part book by Ullrich and the first one I just finished is Ascent which leads up to the outbreak of hostilities (which began before the invasion of Poland, despite common belief). Again, I highly recommend it.

My main point was the death of the Field Marshal didn't anoint Hitler as a dictator. He had a major minefield to navigate from both parliament and the monarchists and he did it with insane discipline and skill.

 

[douggie]

Yeah, absolutely.

This is the exact topic of the book I mentioned. It's actually a two-part book by Ullrich and the first one I just finished is Ascent which leads up to the outbreak of hostilities (which began before the invasion of Poland, despite common belief). Again, I highly recommend it.

My main point was the death of the Field Marshal didn't anoint Hitler as a dictator. He had a major minefield to navigate from both parliament and the monarchists and he did it with insane discipline and skill.

WW2 Nazi shit is truly fascinating.

 

[HammerDown]

WW2 Nazi shit is truly fascinating.

...and Hitler was the madman at the middle, playing everyone from his inner circle out like a fiddle. He used everybody and kept all the top guys fighting each other as he stayed safe from the fray.

Reading about the first few months of what they accomplished with blitzkrieg leaves you wondering how the hell he actually managed to lose it because he had it won if he had just listened to his generals.

 

[fordman84]

Anyone note that the Delta flight at DFW crashed on Aug 2, 1985.

 

[fordman84]

...and Hitler was the madman at the middle, playing everyone from his inner circle out like a fiddle. He used everybody and kept all the top guys fighting each other as he stayed safe from the fray.

Reading about the first few months of what they accomplished with blitzkrieg leaves you wondering how the hell he actually managed to lose it because he had it won if he had just listened to his generals.

Had he just partnered with Russia to keep not fighting them, Hitler would have won.

 

[steelerssb]

Reading about the first few months of what they accomplished with blitzkrieg leaves you wondering how the hell he actually managed to lose it because he had it won if he had just listened to his generals.

 

[outofyourmind]

In College, I took a History course 'Hitler and Nazi Germany'

Interesting stuff.

Reading about the first few months of what they accomplished with blitzkrieg leaves you wondering how the hell he actually managed to lose it because he had it won if he had just listened to his generals.

The last few years, the Allies knew that Hitler was their greatest asset and had to stay in power, he was so inept.
So, they didn't assassinate him

 

[HammerDown]

Had he just partnered with Russia to keep not fighting them, Hitler would have won.

...and the same, exact thing can be said about the Jews! Instead of allocating massive resources to liquidating them, he would have had hundreds of thousands of loyal fighters on his side.

But yeah, his generals told him if he invaded Russia the war was lost. That was the dagger.

 

[dbldwn711]

I think Hosmer vetoed the Bell portion of that trade.

I think he vetoed his part of it because they are on his no-trade clause...

but I think Bell and Soto are still heading to SD

Red Sox to pay Hosmer minimum, Padres owe more than $43.56M

The Red Sox will be responsible for paying Eric Hosmer only the major league minimum salary after acquiring him from the Padres. As part of Tuesday's trade, San Diego agreed to pay Boston up to $43,566,713, according to details of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press. San Diego will...

news.yahoo.com

 

[HammerDown]

In College, I took a History course 'Hitler and Nazi Germany'

Interesting stuff.



The last few years, the Allies knew that Hitler was their greatest asset and had to stay in power, he was so inept.
So, they didn't assassinate him

There are many firsthand accounts of near-fistfights at Wolfsschanze between Hitler and at least one of the generals. In the end, Churchill was constrained by his generals and Hitler wasn't.

 

[RoyMunson]

There are many firsthand accounts of near-fistfights at Wolfsschanze between Hitler and at least one of the generals. In the end, Churchill was constrained by his generals and Hitler wasn't.

 

[RoyMunson]

fuck you, youtube content owner

 

[outofyourmind]

Hitler was too impatient.
If he had stopped at Dunkirk and not pursued England across the Channel, consolidated his forces for the next 2 years; kept building his military, and secret weapons, he would have had a much better chance against the Russians.

Especially if he could have kept Japan from attacking the United States.



But none of that happened

 

[douggie]

...and Hitler was the madman at the middle, playing everyone from his inner circle out like a fiddle. He used everybody and kept all the top guys fighting each other as he stayed safe from the fray.

Reading about the first few months of what they accomplished with blitzkrieg leaves you wondering how the hell he actually managed to lose it because he had it won if he had just listened to his generals.

Bottom line is Germany lost WW2 because politics allowed them to become a dictatorship and that dictator was Hitler. And, Hitler was an idiot.

 

[PnkPanther]

Germany didn't have the industrial capacity to take on England, Russia, and the US

while Hitler made mistakes along the way, they were never going to win

 

[HammerDown]

Bottom line is Germany lost WW2 because politics allowed them to become a dictatorship and that dictator was Hitler. And, Hitler was an idiot.

You can call him every name in the book except idiot. What he accomplished was unparalleled in human history. He seized total power and came very close to pulling off world domination.

 

[HammerDown]

Germany didn't have the industrial capacity to take on England, Russia, and the US

while Hitler made mistakes along the way, they were never going to win

I'd argue that's an extremely simplistic viewpoint. They had the European war won and then hesitated at the Channel. Germany would have still won easily in 1940/41 if Hitler wasn't bent on invading Russia.

I agree with Shirer's bottom line on why Germany lost. You can say that the invasion of Russia was the dagger but Shirer said it all boiled down to this fact: Churchill was constrained by his generals and Hitler was not.

Let the Jews fight for you, honor the pact with Russia and let the generals wage war and Germany wins easily.