Status
Available
Call number
Publication
The Penguin Press
Pages
622
Description
Publisher description: From one of the world's most distinguished historians, a magisterial new reckoning with Hitler's rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. In 1900 Germany was the most progressive and dynamic nation in Europe, the only country whose rapid technological and social growth and change challenged that of the United States. Its political culture was less authoritarian than Russia's and less anti-Semitic than France's; representative institutions were thriving, and competing political parties and elections were a central part of life. How then can we explain the fact that in little more than a generation this stable modern country would be in the hands of a violent, racist, extremist political movement that would lead it and all of Europe into utter moral, physical, and cultural ruin? There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand, and Richard Evans has written the definitive account for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly work integrated with important new research and interpretations, Evans's history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis, even as he shows how ready Germany was by the early 1930s for such a takeover to occur. With many people angry and embittered by military defeat and economic ruin; a state undermined by a civil service, an army, and a law enforcement system deeply alienated from the democratic order introduced in 1918; beset by the growing extremism of voters prey to panic about the increasing popularity of communism; home to a tiny but quite successful Jewish community subject to widespread suspicion and resentment, Germany proved to be fertile ground in which Nazism's ideology of hatred could take root. The first book of what will ultimately be a complete three-volume history of Nazi Germany, The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian's art and the book by which all others on this subject will be judged.… (more)
Description
There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand than Hitler's rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. With The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans, one of the world's most distinguished historians, has written the definitive account for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly work integrated with important new research and interpretations, Evans's history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis, even as it shows how ready Germany was by the early 1930s for such a takeover to occur. The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian's art and the book by which all others on the subject will be judged.
From one of the world's most distinguished historians, a magisterial new reckoning with Hitler's rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany.
In 1900 Germany was the most progressive and dynamic nation in Europe, the only country whose rapid technological and social growth and change challenged that of the United States. Its political culture was less authoritarian than Russia's and less anti-Semitic than France's; representative institutions were thriving, and competing political parties and elections were a central part of life. How then can we explain the fact that in little more than a generation this stable modern country would be in the hands of a violent, racist, extremist political movement that would lead it and all of Europe into utter moral, physical, and cultural ruin?
There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand, and Richard Evans has written the definitive account for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly work integrated with important new research and interpretations, Evans's history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis, even as he shows how ready Germany was by the early 1930s for such a takeover to occur. With many people angry and embittered by military defeat and economic ruin; a state undermined by a civil service, an army, and a law enforcement system deeply alienated from the democratic order introduced in 1918; beset by the growing extremism of voters prey to panic about the increasing popularity of communism; home to a tiny but quite successful Jewish community subject to widespread suspicion and resentment, Germany proved to be fertile ground for Nazism's ideology of hatred.
The first book of what will ultimately be a complete three-volume history of Nazi Germany, The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian's art and the book by which all others on this subject will be judged.
From one of the world's most distinguished historians, a magisterial new reckoning with Hitler's rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany.
In 1900 Germany was the most progressive and dynamic nation in Europe, the only country whose rapid technological and social growth and change challenged that of the United States. Its political culture was less authoritarian than Russia's and less anti-Semitic than France's; representative institutions were thriving, and competing political parties and elections were a central part of life. How then can we explain the fact that in little more than a generation this stable modern country would be in the hands of a violent, racist, extremist political movement that would lead it and all of Europe into utter moral, physical, and cultural ruin?
There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand, and Richard Evans has written the definitive account for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly work integrated with important new research and interpretations, Evans's history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis, even as he shows how ready Germany was by the early 1930s for such a takeover to occur. With many people angry and embittered by military defeat and economic ruin; a state undermined by a civil service, an army, and a law enforcement system deeply alienated from the democratic order introduced in 1918; beset by the growing extremism of voters prey to panic about the increasing popularity of communism; home to a tiny but quite successful Jewish community subject to widespread suspicion and resentment, Germany proved to be fertile ground for Nazism's ideology of hatred.
The first book of what will ultimately be a complete three-volume history of Nazi Germany, The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian's art and the book by which all others on this subject will be judged.
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2003
Physical description
622 p.; 9.5 inches
ISBN
9781594200045
User reviews
LibraryThing member kant1066
Richard Evans cites some fascinating numbers in the introductory book of his trilogy on the rise and fall of Nazi power in Germany: the continued output of accounts of Germany’s part in World War II has been nonstop. We can quibble over the technicalities of what might be meant by
Evans suggests that, aside from the consumption of World War II historical as pulp with no properly historical academic value, accounts of it are often riddled with the subjective moralizing of its authors. For Evans, this tends to get in the way of the proper obeisance to history that all historians should pay. In a way, he also wrote the book for the mind-bogglingly stupid “historian” David Irving who claimed during a trial for libel (that he lost) that there was “no general history of Nazi Germany” he [Irving] could recommend - which is of course not to say that a book of clear-minded history has ever disabused a mindless ideologue of his willful abuse of history and disgraceful rape of the public record.
The scope of the book is gigantic, covering pre-Weimar Germany through the beginning of 1933, so it covers approximately fifteen years of German history – culture, art, politics and political opinions and society. In the introductory chapter, Evans attempts to trace certain trends back to the end of the nineteenth century. While it two generations of history doesn’t sound like a tremendous amount, it makes for awfully portentous reading especially when that history, despite the avidity of the historians trying forever anew to revisit it, seems raw and fresh. In tackling so much, however, Evans does a uniquely good job in abbreviating the national “German character” of the time – if such a thing can be imagined divorced from the Nazis’ sense of the term.
While this volume does not cover the gas chambers or the labor camps that the Nazis built, it does show the careful way in which they destroyed the few legal protections that the Weimar Republic had put in place for all citizens. They then used their combined power of both the police state and their mass media/propaganda machine to destroy long-time political friendships and bonds. Over time, social life in the public sphere consisted of fewer and fewer activities that we not explicitly affiliated with the National Socialist Party. Evans also covers the complicated history of the Church’s role (Protestant and Catholic) in sharing Nazi sympathies.
It would be easy for a book like this to turn into simply a critical biography of Hitler’s rise to power, but to its credit it is so much more than that. It presents, in a word, a “zeitgeist” – not necessarily the only one that could have built up to World War II, but one that allowed history to run the course that it did. Is there a lot of new unearthed information here? No. Is it particularly brilliantly written or historically insightful? I didn’t find it to be either. In fact, it highly resembles many other histories of the time period in subject matter, form, and tone. This doesn’t, however, I think detract from its value as an authoritative, exhaustive historical account by an established scholar with impeccable credentials who has made it his job to fight against the ideological bigotry and hatred of willed historical blindness that can be the only causes of Holocaust denial.
Show More
“well-understood history,” but most historians would say that we more or less understand the dynamics of the breakdown of Weimar democracy and the rise of the Nazism; some more speculative observers might even suggest that we can definitively account for the rise of a Hitler-like demagogue. Why, then, the constant deluge of historical accounting and recounting? Evans suggests that, aside from the consumption of World War II historical as pulp with no properly historical academic value, accounts of it are often riddled with the subjective moralizing of its authors. For Evans, this tends to get in the way of the proper obeisance to history that all historians should pay. In a way, he also wrote the book for the mind-bogglingly stupid “historian” David Irving who claimed during a trial for libel (that he lost) that there was “no general history of Nazi Germany” he [Irving] could recommend - which is of course not to say that a book of clear-minded history has ever disabused a mindless ideologue of his willful abuse of history and disgraceful rape of the public record.
The scope of the book is gigantic, covering pre-Weimar Germany through the beginning of 1933, so it covers approximately fifteen years of German history – culture, art, politics and political opinions and society. In the introductory chapter, Evans attempts to trace certain trends back to the end of the nineteenth century. While it two generations of history doesn’t sound like a tremendous amount, it makes for awfully portentous reading especially when that history, despite the avidity of the historians trying forever anew to revisit it, seems raw and fresh. In tackling so much, however, Evans does a uniquely good job in abbreviating the national “German character” of the time – if such a thing can be imagined divorced from the Nazis’ sense of the term.
While this volume does not cover the gas chambers or the labor camps that the Nazis built, it does show the careful way in which they destroyed the few legal protections that the Weimar Republic had put in place for all citizens. They then used their combined power of both the police state and their mass media/propaganda machine to destroy long-time political friendships and bonds. Over time, social life in the public sphere consisted of fewer and fewer activities that we not explicitly affiliated with the National Socialist Party. Evans also covers the complicated history of the Church’s role (Protestant and Catholic) in sharing Nazi sympathies.
It would be easy for a book like this to turn into simply a critical biography of Hitler’s rise to power, but to its credit it is so much more than that. It presents, in a word, a “zeitgeist” – not necessarily the only one that could have built up to World War II, but one that allowed history to run the course that it did. Is there a lot of new unearthed information here? No. Is it particularly brilliantly written or historically insightful? I didn’t find it to be either. In fact, it highly resembles many other histories of the time period in subject matter, form, and tone. This doesn’t, however, I think detract from its value as an authoritative, exhaustive historical account by an established scholar with impeccable credentials who has made it his job to fight against the ideological bigotry and hatred of willed historical blindness that can be the only causes of Holocaust denial.
Show Less
LibraryThing member wildbill
This is the first volume in a three volume series. The author has succeeded in writing a comprehensive history that in my opinion will replace The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich as the most authoritative source for an horrific and fascinating era. This book can easily be read by the general
The book begins with a discussion of the unification of Germany in 1871. This was brought about by Bismarck whose conservative nationalism set the tone for German politics for years to come. The author shows how these ideas served as the foundation for the Third Reich.
The humiliation of the German defeat in World War I was an important factor in the rise of the Nazis to power. I have always thought it was significant that when Germany signed the armistice in 1918 there were no foreign troops on German soil. The German people never felt that they had been defeated and the myth of the "November criminals" and the "stab in the back" crippled the legitimacy of the Wiemar Republic from it's beginning.
Beginning with the Spartacist uprising in 1919 Germany experienced a series of crises until the end of the Wiemar Republic in 1933. In 1923 French and Belgian troops occupied the leading industrial district because Germany had fallen behind on reparation payments. The inflation that began mildly in 1918 became hyperinflation by 1923. The price of a rail ticket could go up while you stood in line. The Great Depression devastated the German economy. The growth of the German economy had been based on borrowing and when there was no money to borrow the economy collapsed.
Beginning in the early 1920's the Nazis had a simple message. Down with the Wiemar Republic, overthrow the Versailles Treaty, make Germany strong again. The Nazis opposed the Communist Party who gained strength in Germany from the ranks of the poor. Beginning in 1930 the country was in constant crisis. The governments of the Republic ruled by Presidential decree further weakening the process of democratic government.
The last third of the book is a detailed narrative of how the Nazis came to power. In the elections of 1930 and 1932 extremist parties, Communists and Nazis gained seats while those in the center lost. All during this time violence increased as the political parties bully boys engaged in pitched battles in the streets. The government was disintegrating and President von Hindenburg, a relic from World War I, allowed his cronies to rule by decree. On January 30, 1933 Franz von Papen persuaded von Hindenburg to form a government with Hitler as Chancellor. The conservative nationalists planned to manipulate Hitler and use the power of the Nazis.
On February 27, 1933 Marinus van der Lubbe a young Dutch construction worker, who was quite insane, set fire to the Reichstag. The Nazis portrayed this as an act of the Communists and Hitler used it to grab for power. Immediately a decree was signed and the stormtroopers and SS took over the streets of Germany. The Communists were outlawed and when the jails became full the first concentration camp at Dachau was created to hold the excess prisoners. One more election without the Communists and on March 23, 1933 an Enabling Act was passed by the Reichstag and Hitler became the dictator of Germany. The Nazis became the sole political power in Germany. As the book ends they are imposing their ideology upon the country.
In his summing up the author shows how the elites in Germany were predisposed to accept the nationalistic ideas of the Nazi Party. The Nazis were a party of protest. From the end of World War I and throughout the period of the Weimar Republic the German people felt humiliated and betrayed. They still sought their "place in the sun" and that is what Hitler and the Nazis promised them.
This was an excellent book. The author told a fascinating story with great skill. He artfully portrayed the tension and suspense of the final days of the Nazi takeover.
Show More
audience with little knowledge of the topic and at the same time is full of detail based upon the extensive research shown in eighty pages of footnotes and a fifty page bibliography. The author's analysis of the factors that brought the Third Reich into power is best part of his achievement.The book begins with a discussion of the unification of Germany in 1871. This was brought about by Bismarck whose conservative nationalism set the tone for German politics for years to come. The author shows how these ideas served as the foundation for the Third Reich.
The humiliation of the German defeat in World War I was an important factor in the rise of the Nazis to power. I have always thought it was significant that when Germany signed the armistice in 1918 there were no foreign troops on German soil. The German people never felt that they had been defeated and the myth of the "November criminals" and the "stab in the back" crippled the legitimacy of the Wiemar Republic from it's beginning.
Beginning with the Spartacist uprising in 1919 Germany experienced a series of crises until the end of the Wiemar Republic in 1933. In 1923 French and Belgian troops occupied the leading industrial district because Germany had fallen behind on reparation payments. The inflation that began mildly in 1918 became hyperinflation by 1923. The price of a rail ticket could go up while you stood in line. The Great Depression devastated the German economy. The growth of the German economy had been based on borrowing and when there was no money to borrow the economy collapsed.
Beginning in the early 1920's the Nazis had a simple message. Down with the Wiemar Republic, overthrow the Versailles Treaty, make Germany strong again. The Nazis opposed the Communist Party who gained strength in Germany from the ranks of the poor. Beginning in 1930 the country was in constant crisis. The governments of the Republic ruled by Presidential decree further weakening the process of democratic government.
The last third of the book is a detailed narrative of how the Nazis came to power. In the elections of 1930 and 1932 extremist parties, Communists and Nazis gained seats while those in the center lost. All during this time violence increased as the political parties bully boys engaged in pitched battles in the streets. The government was disintegrating and President von Hindenburg, a relic from World War I, allowed his cronies to rule by decree. On January 30, 1933 Franz von Papen persuaded von Hindenburg to form a government with Hitler as Chancellor. The conservative nationalists planned to manipulate Hitler and use the power of the Nazis.
On February 27, 1933 Marinus van der Lubbe a young Dutch construction worker, who was quite insane, set fire to the Reichstag. The Nazis portrayed this as an act of the Communists and Hitler used it to grab for power. Immediately a decree was signed and the stormtroopers and SS took over the streets of Germany. The Communists were outlawed and when the jails became full the first concentration camp at Dachau was created to hold the excess prisoners. One more election without the Communists and on March 23, 1933 an Enabling Act was passed by the Reichstag and Hitler became the dictator of Germany. The Nazis became the sole political power in Germany. As the book ends they are imposing their ideology upon the country.
In his summing up the author shows how the elites in Germany were predisposed to accept the nationalistic ideas of the Nazi Party. The Nazis were a party of protest. From the end of World War I and throughout the period of the Weimar Republic the German people felt humiliated and betrayed. They still sought their "place in the sun" and that is what Hitler and the Nazis promised them.
This was an excellent book. The author told a fascinating story with great skill. He artfully portrayed the tension and suspense of the final days of the Nazi takeover.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Narboink
This is a deftly constructed, comprehensive survey of German history from approximately the First World War to the ascension of Hitler as chancellor in 1933. Writing for the general reader with little or no familiarity with the subject, Evans has set out to synthesize a variety of historical
Evans constructs a clear, persuasive account of the Nazi's rise to power that contextualizes and explains (rather than dismisses) certain misconceptions and displaced emphases of prior histories. It is often alleged that the simplest explanation of a phenomenon is often the correct one, and Evans' telling of the political complexities of the Weimar Republic tends to reinforce the truth of this axiom. Abstract theorizing on the nature of evil gives way to a cold (and profoundly sad) reality: dictatorship and war would likely have occurred even in the absence of Hitler and his Nazi machine. This is not a book about Hitler, or the Weimar Republic, or the culpability of any specific segment of the German population; it is, instead, a panoramic history that touches on a multitude of causal factors in the story of the Third Reich. As a popular history, it's hard not to view it as the best - and perhaps most definitive - overview on the subject. I highly recommend it.
Show More
perspectives in the existing literature on the subject. The consequence is a welcome achievement. If nothing else, this compendium ("The Coming of the Third Reich" is the first of three books in a narrative series) promises to provide a calmer, more studious and comprehensive alternative to William Shirer's classic tome, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." Evans constructs a clear, persuasive account of the Nazi's rise to power that contextualizes and explains (rather than dismisses) certain misconceptions and displaced emphases of prior histories. It is often alleged that the simplest explanation of a phenomenon is often the correct one, and Evans' telling of the political complexities of the Weimar Republic tends to reinforce the truth of this axiom. Abstract theorizing on the nature of evil gives way to a cold (and profoundly sad) reality: dictatorship and war would likely have occurred even in the absence of Hitler and his Nazi machine. This is not a book about Hitler, or the Weimar Republic, or the culpability of any specific segment of the German population; it is, instead, a panoramic history that touches on a multitude of causal factors in the story of the Third Reich. As a popular history, it's hard not to view it as the best - and perhaps most definitive - overview on the subject. I highly recommend it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member iwpoe
Beautiful. This book is by far the most interesting and informative general survey of the rise of the Third Reich I've ever encountered. It avoids pedantic moralization and takes Nazi ideas seriously in such a way that the reader is able to judge for themselves the political ethos of Germany at the
Also, I would like to add that the prior review by gmicksmith is entirely insane (particularly given that, nearly two years later, nothing like what he's predicting panned out) and is, unfortunately, an example of a very common misuse of history (both on the left and the right). What happens is that people take the old adage "history repeats itself" far too literally and, building upon one or a few similarities, they look for the recurrence of a formally equivalent scenario. We don't usually see that at all. History is only cyclical in the sense that historic potentialities can be retrieved: we can take a second look at democracy after Greece and Rome and "do it again" in a sense, but when we found the American Republic, we should not be on the lookout for Julius Caesar himself nor even from someone, say President Obama, who will perform formally equivalent deeds. History isn't the execution of certain programmatic commands on a platform: we're not running the democracy operating system and Hitler, Bush, or Obama aren't all the same application running again under different names.
To say it again in a more traditional form: The study of history hooks you up with a consciousness of how different possibilities can work out: it is a repository of human possibilities. It is *not* a catalog of human actualities.
Indeed, I think this book has numerous examples of the bad use of history I'm bringing out. The mythologization of Bismarck and then the subsequent search for a strong uncompromising leader to "do what he did" detailed by Evans was problematic not only because it worked with a mythologized history but also because it treated history as a catalog of types or programs which can be found and executed in the present in the very same way they were executed in the past: it sees that A B C D happened in the past and it searches for A again in the certainty that B C and D will follow. That kind of certainty only makes sense if A (the historic individual) is treated as a thing which necessitates the series A B C D: sort of like the strong correlation between 'Water hitting boiling point' and 'water boils' or the necessary correlation between 'All As are Bs' 'All Bs are Cs' and 'All As are Cs', but historic individuals are complexes entirely unlike any of these simple examples. We can reason historically, and use historic example, but we don't get anything like the strong correlation of 'water at boiling point & water boiling' or the necessary deduction of the syllogism. Too much is going on in a thing like Hitler to treat him like 'Water reaching the boiling point' never mind to try and superimpose that logic on top of another complex thing like, say, Obama in order to predict similar results. History *does not* do that, sorry, and if there *are* basic laws of history, they don't look like that.
Show More
time.Also, I would like to add that the prior review by gmicksmith is entirely insane (particularly given that, nearly two years later, nothing like what he's predicting panned out) and is, unfortunately, an example of a very common misuse of history (both on the left and the right). What happens is that people take the old adage "history repeats itself" far too literally and, building upon one or a few similarities, they look for the recurrence of a formally equivalent scenario. We don't usually see that at all. History is only cyclical in the sense that historic potentialities can be retrieved: we can take a second look at democracy after Greece and Rome and "do it again" in a sense, but when we found the American Republic, we should not be on the lookout for Julius Caesar himself nor even from someone, say President Obama, who will perform formally equivalent deeds. History isn't the execution of certain programmatic commands on a platform: we're not running the democracy operating system and Hitler, Bush, or Obama aren't all the same application running again under different names.
To say it again in a more traditional form: The study of history hooks you up with a consciousness of how different possibilities can work out: it is a repository of human possibilities. It is *not* a catalog of human actualities.
Indeed, I think this book has numerous examples of the bad use of history I'm bringing out. The mythologization of Bismarck and then the subsequent search for a strong uncompromising leader to "do what he did" detailed by Evans was problematic not only because it worked with a mythologized history but also because it treated history as a catalog of types or programs which can be found and executed in the present in the very same way they were executed in the past: it sees that A B C D happened in the past and it searches for A again in the certainty that B C and D will follow. That kind of certainty only makes sense if A (the historic individual) is treated as a thing which necessitates the series A B C D: sort of like the strong correlation between 'Water hitting boiling point' and 'water boils' or the necessary correlation between 'All As are Bs' 'All Bs are Cs' and 'All As are Cs', but historic individuals are complexes entirely unlike any of these simple examples. We can reason historically, and use historic example, but we don't get anything like the strong correlation of 'water at boiling point & water boiling' or the necessary deduction of the syllogism. Too much is going on in a thing like Hitler to treat him like 'Water reaching the boiling point' never mind to try and superimpose that logic on top of another complex thing like, say, Obama in order to predict similar results. History *does not* do that, sorry, and if there *are* basic laws of history, they don't look like that.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Speesh
'The Coming Of The Third Reich' is definitely not one for the faint-hearted. It's probably the book the word 'thorough' was invented for. If you've read Ian Kershaw's 'The End', as i did recently, you know the kind of thing I'm talking about. If you've read that and thought it went into the most
This book, the first in a trilogy, covers the period from the unification of Germany and the formation of the second 'Reich' in 1871, to the Nazis full assumption of power and declaration of the 'Third Reich' in 1933. Any investigation into 'why' has to of course look a lot further back than the period after WWI and the manufactured feeling of being 'stabbed in the back' and being hard done by, by the terms imposed upon Germany by Britain and France at Versailles. Why the Germans felt so wounded, so determined to exact revenge and so determined it should never happen again, requires some pretty exceptional vision and scholarship - and Richard J Evans provides it. And then some.
'The Coming Of The Third Reich' covers everything before, after and during the Nazis rise to power. He looks at every level and aspect of German society. Sounds like tough going, eh? It isn't. Despite the book's dry-sounding thoroughness, Richard Evans' style of writing is always open and inviting - the only way I can think of describing it. Reading never feels like a chore. It is presented in a satisfyingly logical manner and interesting details and insights are always just around the corner. The clear, patient and concise style is never tiring and never feels like it's saying 'Academics Only.' Just thinking about how he began researching this and how he managed to hold control of the whole in his mind, is just awe-inspiring. This really is, setting the subject matter aside, an incredible work of art. However you want to look at it.
It isn't going to be a book for everyone. It isn't a book you're going to read in one or two sittings and say 'a real page turner - couldn't put it down.' The range and amount of information is very nearly overwhelming. But stick with it and it will reward you in the end. To use a cliche, it reads rather like watching a car crash. Where you know the outcome. And you know the outcome is bad. But you can't take your eyes off it.
If anyone wants to go deeper, much deeper into the background surrounding and the history behind the Nazi's becoming the dominant party in German government in 1933, then this is the book for them. There is so much here to wonder at, marvel at, puzzle over and understand, that it will surely help make reading of other World War II histories more rewarding.
The second in Richard Evans' series is 'The Third Reich in Power 1933-1939, How The Nazis Won The Hearts And Minds Of A Nation', the third 'The Third Reich at War, How The Nazis Led Germany From Conquest To Disaster.' As this one is so rewarding, it seems churlish not to follow on with the others.
It is impossible to give this anything other than five stars. Though this feels nowhere near enough for such a book.
Show More
minute detail, wait until you get to grips with this one. But it has to be a huge book, dealing as it does with hugely difficult themes; like trying to tie down just why in Germany after the First World War, the circumstances were ready to let the Nazi Party firstly, come into being and secondly, come to power. As anyone with even the most limited knowledge of this period might instantly suspect and this book proves; there are no simple, short, easy answers when trying to get inside the minds and psyche of a people in a time that seems here to be so staggeringly different from ours' now. We hope. This book, the first in a trilogy, covers the period from the unification of Germany and the formation of the second 'Reich' in 1871, to the Nazis full assumption of power and declaration of the 'Third Reich' in 1933. Any investigation into 'why' has to of course look a lot further back than the period after WWI and the manufactured feeling of being 'stabbed in the back' and being hard done by, by the terms imposed upon Germany by Britain and France at Versailles. Why the Germans felt so wounded, so determined to exact revenge and so determined it should never happen again, requires some pretty exceptional vision and scholarship - and Richard J Evans provides it. And then some.
'The Coming Of The Third Reich' covers everything before, after and during the Nazis rise to power. He looks at every level and aspect of German society. Sounds like tough going, eh? It isn't. Despite the book's dry-sounding thoroughness, Richard Evans' style of writing is always open and inviting - the only way I can think of describing it. Reading never feels like a chore. It is presented in a satisfyingly logical manner and interesting details and insights are always just around the corner. The clear, patient and concise style is never tiring and never feels like it's saying 'Academics Only.' Just thinking about how he began researching this and how he managed to hold control of the whole in his mind, is just awe-inspiring. This really is, setting the subject matter aside, an incredible work of art. However you want to look at it.
It isn't going to be a book for everyone. It isn't a book you're going to read in one or two sittings and say 'a real page turner - couldn't put it down.' The range and amount of information is very nearly overwhelming. But stick with it and it will reward you in the end. To use a cliche, it reads rather like watching a car crash. Where you know the outcome. And you know the outcome is bad. But you can't take your eyes off it.
If anyone wants to go deeper, much deeper into the background surrounding and the history behind the Nazi's becoming the dominant party in German government in 1933, then this is the book for them. There is so much here to wonder at, marvel at, puzzle over and understand, that it will surely help make reading of other World War II histories more rewarding.
The second in Richard Evans' series is 'The Third Reich in Power 1933-1939, How The Nazis Won The Hearts And Minds Of A Nation', the third 'The Third Reich at War, How The Nazis Led Germany From Conquest To Disaster.' As this one is so rewarding, it seems churlish not to follow on with the others.
It is impossible to give this anything other than five stars. Though this feels nowhere near enough for such a book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
OK, in one sense this is kind of reassuring, in that one of Evans’ central arguments is that Weimar democracy was never strong—it never had large parties fully committed to the democratic experiment; it never had a truly independent civil service or court system that was fully committed; it
And yet. Here are some parallels to make you nervous: “Voters were not really looking for anything very concrete from the Nazi Party in 1930. They were, instead, protesting against the failure of the Weimar Republic. Many of them, too, particularly in rural areas, small towns, small workshops, culturally conservative families, may have been registering their alienation from the cultural and political modernity for which the Republic stood …. The vagueness of the Nazi programme, its symbolic mixture of old and new, its eclectic, often inconsistent character, to a large extent allowed people to read into it what they wanted to and edit out anything they might have found disturbing.” Also, a timely quote from one of Hitler’s opponents: “Referring to Hitler’s constantly reiterated assurances that he intended to come to power legally, Brüning said: ‘If one declares that, having come to power by legal means, one will then break the bounds of the law, that is not legality.’”
Goebbels, soon after coming to power, told newspapermen attending his first official press conference, “You are to know not only what is happening, but also the government’s view of it and how you can convey that to the people most effectively.” Goebbels also mocked “The stupidity of democracy. It will always remain one of democracy’s best jokes that it provided its deadly enemies with the means by which it was destroyed.” The Nazis opposed academic freedom because, as Heidegger told academics, “this freedom was not genuine, because it is only negative.” It didn’t have anything to do with the mission of following the leader. When the Chairman of the Board of I.G. Farben, the Nobel-winning chemist Carl Bosch, met Hitler in 1933, he complained about the damage that dismissal of Jewish professors did to German science, Hitler told him that “Germany could go on for another hundred years without any physics or chemistry at all” and kicked him out.
Show More
began haunted by the “betrayals” of WWI and with a whole lot of former soldiers committed to German militarism who thought that violence solved things. On the other, there are way too many other parallels to the current US for any comfort. Evans emphasizes the Nazis’ ability to create a movement sweeping the German people into the future, without concrete solutions to Germany’s actual problems but a promise of future greatness. Also, the Nazis’ use of violence created perceptions of public disorder that they then capitalized on, successfully blaming Communists for stormtroopers’ violence. There were already deep-seated vulnerabilities on which the Nazis were able to capitalize. Hitler came to power in significant part because of mistakes made by other people and parties; the Germans didn’t elect him Reich Chancellor—what Evans calls “political suicide rather than political murder.”And yet. Here are some parallels to make you nervous: “Voters were not really looking for anything very concrete from the Nazi Party in 1930. They were, instead, protesting against the failure of the Weimar Republic. Many of them, too, particularly in rural areas, small towns, small workshops, culturally conservative families, may have been registering their alienation from the cultural and political modernity for which the Republic stood …. The vagueness of the Nazi programme, its symbolic mixture of old and new, its eclectic, often inconsistent character, to a large extent allowed people to read into it what they wanted to and edit out anything they might have found disturbing.” Also, a timely quote from one of Hitler’s opponents: “Referring to Hitler’s constantly reiterated assurances that he intended to come to power legally, Brüning said: ‘If one declares that, having come to power by legal means, one will then break the bounds of the law, that is not legality.’”
Goebbels, soon after coming to power, told newspapermen attending his first official press conference, “You are to know not only what is happening, but also the government’s view of it and how you can convey that to the people most effectively.” Goebbels also mocked “The stupidity of democracy. It will always remain one of democracy’s best jokes that it provided its deadly enemies with the means by which it was destroyed.” The Nazis opposed academic freedom because, as Heidegger told academics, “this freedom was not genuine, because it is only negative.” It didn’t have anything to do with the mission of following the leader. When the Chairman of the Board of I.G. Farben, the Nobel-winning chemist Carl Bosch, met Hitler in 1933, he complained about the damage that dismissal of Jewish professors did to German science, Hitler told him that “Germany could go on for another hundred years without any physics or chemistry at all” and kicked him out.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jerry-book
Hitler won. He almost came to power by legitimate means. The Nazis won out over the Social Democrats, the Centre Party (the Catholics), the Communists, etc. in 1932 the Nazis won 37.4% of the vote and became the largest party in the Reichstag. As a result Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor. The
Show More
author argues the Depression was the major reason the Weimar Republic failed. The Depression weakened the Social Democrats and the Centre Party who were the main supports for the Republic. The other parties like the Communists and Nationalists hated the Republic as did the Nazis. When the center parties lost favor in 1932, the author argued the country had two choices: an Army dictatorship or takeover by the Nazis. It didn't help that the papacy talked the Centre Party into dissolving itself. This was an ill-fated attempt to obtain a Concordat with the Nazis (in order to protect the Church in Germany). Perhaps, this was what Egypt recently faced: the Muslim Brotherhood or the Military. The author argues the military failed to take over and allowed the Nazis in thinking they could control Hitler. Also, the author notes Hitler was the most charismatic leader of the time. In writing the book the author wanted to answer the question: how did the most educated and advanced European country end up being taken over by a bunch of gangsters? I think the author provides a plausible response to this question. Show Less
LibraryThing member 5hrdrive
This book brilliantly answers the question, "Just how did the Nazi's come to power?" The answer surprised me in many ways. It lost some steam for a while there in the latter third of the book, but picked up again at the end. Very glad to have read this.
LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This is the first volume of a trilogy on the Third Reich. It is expertly done, and the author ahs a sure command of his subject. But one cannot really enjoy the reading since it is so doleful and sad. That I suppose is why I will have to read the next two volumes--so I can enjoy the destruction the
Show More
Nazi evildoers. Show Less
LibraryThing member jorgearanda
This, the first volume of Evans' history of the Third Reich, tracks its rise to power from the fringes of German society. It's an absorbing and nearly impeccable book, written for the general public but without compromising the complexity of the story.
LibraryThing member FPdC
This book is the first of a three volume work on the history of the Third Reich. It covers the pre-history of the Nazi regime, namely Germany before the Great War, the loss of the War, the revolution, and the Weimar regime, and the Nazi party history, from its very beginning, the Beer-Hall putsch
Show More
of 1923, and the reorganization of the party during the second half of the 1920s. The second half of the book, dealing with the final ascent to power in the wake of the deep crisis brought about by the Great Depression and of the behind the scenes manipulations by a reactionary and utterly preposterous political elite, and with the dramatic changes in every aspect of life in Germany during the first few months of Nazi rule, are absolutely outstanding. If the remaining volumes in this oeuvre will be of the same high level, this work will probably become the standard general work, in English, of this disastrous Era in world's history. Show Less
LibraryThing member fist
Fascinating read. Very well-researched, well-written, without ever losing momentum. "The Weimar Republic" would actually have been a more accurate title (but would probably have attracted less of a readership). How a democracy can be undermined from within by anti-democratic elements, and how
Show More
well-meaning citizens and politicians let it happen. One is reminded of certain contemporary politicians who obviously must have studied this period closely, because they are copying many of the exact same mechanisms that were used to make citizens dislike democracy and to bring these politicians to power (I'm talking about you, Silvio, and yes, you Rita V.) Show Less
LibraryThing member pajarita
......................................
This work of history takes on the task, in the author’s words: “to recount the Nazi’s rise to power through a combination of electoral success and massive political violence”. It also sets out to clarify “how the Nazis managed to establish a one-party
I, for one, have many times puzzled over the moral and philosophical quandaries presented by the existence and early “success” of the Nazis in 20th century Germany. The Germans that produced Brecht and Kant, Goethe and Hesse, Beethoven and Bach also produced and developed Hitler and the Nazis and Buchenwald and Auschwitz. I’d hoped that a well-written and well-documented history, such as this book, would help me to better understand questions that are, after all, more metaphysical, ontological, and moral--than historical.
But I think that the eternal puzzles posed by any essentially metaphysical or moral question always seem to present “answers” that are so enigmatic, contradictory, and frightening that one is frequently left with a feeling of deep dissatisfaction, fear, and confusion. That, unfortunately, is my problem here.
Richard Evans has indeed produced a formidable work. It is well presented, well documented, and fills a seriously needed gap in modern historical writing. It is not difficult reading; and it clearly places the Nazi’s rise to power in the context of European and World Historical Events of the early twentieth century. It provides an almost step-by-step recounting of each of the events that not only made the Nazi’s rise to power possible, but almost inevitable. Many of my own questions surrounding the facts of importance, such as the Reichstag Fire, are dissected and displayed for “viewing”. This is a service to the historical record that is difficult to overestimate.
And, perhaps, my hope for answers to those metaphysical questions have been confused in my own mind by my hope to better know the chronology of the events as well as facts as they are able to be known. This is a result of a confusion between the metaphysical and the physical.
But the chronology is not the same as the cause. Ontogeny does not really recapitulate phylogeny as expressed in that now discredited theory. In other words one cannot really understand the “cosmic why” of an event by knowing the when of an event. This is why this work is so dissatisfying to me through no flaw in the considerable talents of Richard Evans.
But if a better understanding of the historical record, and the economic tensions of the times, and the historical background of the German peoples’ predispositions, and the pandemic political climate afflicting post-World War One Germany, etc. is your goal—then you can hardly do better than this very admirable work.
But if you want to understand better why we as humans can behave in an organized, barbaric, racist, and criminally political fashion—then maybe God can tell us. But maybe even He (She) doesn’t know.
This work of history takes on the task, in the author’s words: “to recount the Nazi’s rise to power through a combination of electoral success and massive political violence”. It also sets out to clarify “how the Nazis managed to establish a one-party
Show More
dictatorship in Germany within a very short space of time, and with seemingly little real resistance from the German people.” In this it does an admirable job.I, for one, have many times puzzled over the moral and philosophical quandaries presented by the existence and early “success” of the Nazis in 20th century Germany. The Germans that produced Brecht and Kant, Goethe and Hesse, Beethoven and Bach also produced and developed Hitler and the Nazis and Buchenwald and Auschwitz. I’d hoped that a well-written and well-documented history, such as this book, would help me to better understand questions that are, after all, more metaphysical, ontological, and moral--than historical.
But I think that the eternal puzzles posed by any essentially metaphysical or moral question always seem to present “answers” that are so enigmatic, contradictory, and frightening that one is frequently left with a feeling of deep dissatisfaction, fear, and confusion. That, unfortunately, is my problem here.
Richard Evans has indeed produced a formidable work. It is well presented, well documented, and fills a seriously needed gap in modern historical writing. It is not difficult reading; and it clearly places the Nazi’s rise to power in the context of European and World Historical Events of the early twentieth century. It provides an almost step-by-step recounting of each of the events that not only made the Nazi’s rise to power possible, but almost inevitable. Many of my own questions surrounding the facts of importance, such as the Reichstag Fire, are dissected and displayed for “viewing”. This is a service to the historical record that is difficult to overestimate.
And, perhaps, my hope for answers to those metaphysical questions have been confused in my own mind by my hope to better know the chronology of the events as well as facts as they are able to be known. This is a result of a confusion between the metaphysical and the physical.
But the chronology is not the same as the cause. Ontogeny does not really recapitulate phylogeny as expressed in that now discredited theory. In other words one cannot really understand the “cosmic why” of an event by knowing the when of an event. This is why this work is so dissatisfying to me through no flaw in the considerable talents of Richard Evans.
But if a better understanding of the historical record, and the economic tensions of the times, and the historical background of the German peoples’ predispositions, and the pandemic political climate afflicting post-World War One Germany, etc. is your goal—then you can hardly do better than this very admirable work.
But if you want to understand better why we as humans can behave in an organized, barbaric, racist, and criminally political fashion—then maybe God can tell us. But maybe even He (She) doesn’t know.
Show Less
LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
Important survey of how a society as brilliant yet troubled as Germany could succumb to the threat of Nazism. Evans believes that German militarism and economic catastrophe made an extremist takeover inevitable, with only too disastrous effects for the world.
LibraryThing member bke
First of three volumes on Nazi Germany, incorporates new research, powerfully written and compelling, his interpretation is that the Weimar Republic had failed, the Kanzlers ruling by decree in the final years of the repulic, Germany was headed toward authoritarian rule (as was much of eastern
Show More
Europe already). If not the Nazis, then a military dictatorship. Will probably be the definitive history of the Third Reich. Show Less
LibraryThing member sharonk21
This book is well worth reading for anyone who wants to get an idea of the historical roots of Fascism and/or Nazism. What I like about it is that it does not concentrate on the more dramatic and flamboyant later years--with jackboots in the street and all that--but instead focuses on how that
Show More
situation came to be. I find that most people have a skewed view of the Fascist-Nazi years, honing in on the exciting revolutionary-democratic seizure of power and the awful holocaust period and forgetting what led up to it. Concentrating on the wrong time period can be dangerous in that it leads to invalid comparisons when contemplating potential modern-day developments. Show Less
LibraryThing member ffifield
The first of a three book survey of the Third Reich. This book covers the conditions in Germany that led to the Nazi regime up to the circumstances that put them in power. It's not just the political machinations but also the art, culture, economics, and sociological aspects that conspired to
Show More
create the atmosphere that allowed this government to be. Show Less
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
The prose isn't incandescent, but the overall book is a very solid addition to the literature on Hitler's Germany. Evans has a relatively objective approach in this first volume of a trilogy that argues well for the rest of the work. The portrait of the German state is very informative, and enough
The maps are useful, and though a little sparse, the material doesn't easily lend itself to a graphics-heavy approach.
Show More
space is used to define the pre-Nazi atmosphere, and the conditions of Germany and the other political parties are well presented. i'm up for the other two volumes, though the second one, on the Nazi state prior to the outbreak of the war is bound to be a bit of a slog for the war buff in me.The maps are useful, and though a little sparse, the material doesn't easily lend itself to a graphics-heavy approach.
Show Less
LibraryThing member konrad.katie
Quite a project-read. Lots of information and facts with good sequencing. I enjoyed it but can't say I have the energy or stamina to read the remaining two volumes.
LibraryThing member maneekuhi
Because we are marking the 100th anniversary of WWl and because I knew little about the War and its causes I embarked on a reading journey about a year ago to fill the gap. I began with Christopher Clark's excellent "The Sleepwalkers" to learn of pre-War events and causes, followed with Tuchman's
But which book to read about the intervening years between WWl and WWll? Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" was clearly the most popular (over 1660 Amazon reviews), but Evans book (200+ reviews) appeared to be favored by critics and students of 20th century world history. One of the most significant criticisms of Shirer seemed to be that he traced origins from Hitler's early years to explain how the third Reich came to be whereas Evans believed that events must be traced back further(Bismarck, 1870s) into German history to explain the German mindset post- WWl. Another reason I did not choose Shirer was that his book concludes with the end of WWll and the scope I was interested in was pre-WWll. Therefore Shirer's book is more than twice the length of Evan's 461 pages.
Evans book is very comprehensive. Much of the emphasis is on the political parties, and their ups and downs. There were many of them and hence coalitions changed constantly. Leadership was weak, elections were frequent. Economic conditions were appalling, unemployment was high, hyperinflation set in and citizens purchased bread, when it was available, with wheelbarrows full on marks; the next day the same loaf of bread might cost twice as much. And the Bolsheviks were attempting to get a foothold in German Government. And so Hitler's Nazi party was able to gain control of the government after a 10 year battle though winning less than 38% of the vote in every election. And Germany was bound to pay reparations to the WWl victors. Hitler as we all know didn't win because he ran a slick campaign. Violence grew more and more each year. Many opponents were beaten to death by stormtroopers. Many were sent to concentration camps, mostly for months at a time although others had long sentences for their political opposition. Many died in the camps, forerunners of the camps of the Holocaust.
The story of course is not just about Hitler's political successes. It covers the economic problems and recovery made by Germany, Germany's focus on nationalism, the origins of eugenics, and of course the steadily increasing portrayal of German Jews as the enemy, an enemy to be driven out of Germany. But not all Jews, at least not right away. Apparently, Hitler was a bit of a pragmatist, and did not want the country to suffer economically with a devastating loss of doctors, bankers and some other professions, at least not immediately. A complex story, told in great detail by Evans. This book ends mid 1933. Evans has two companion books, one on the 3rd Reich in power, and the third at war.
I found it difficult to hold my concentration with this book for very long. Lots and lots of text. At times it felt nothing was left out. There were some charts, but most showed how well political parties did from one election to the next. I would like to have seen more economic data, particularly over the 1920-40 span. I would like to have seen less about political parties #6,7,8,and 9 and more about the economy. Especially how a country who lost a major war and owed millions in reparations, suffered hyperinflation, yet managed to have resources in place to launch another major war 20 years later.
Show More
"The Guns of August" and I was off to the races - but things quickly bogged down. Tuchman's book was literally about the month of August 1914, but hey, there was still another 4 years of war to follow. What happened? So I read more books, and noted references to the forthcoming and flawed Versailles Treaty. Well, you get the picture. But which book to read about the intervening years between WWl and WWll? Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" was clearly the most popular (over 1660 Amazon reviews), but Evans book (200+ reviews) appeared to be favored by critics and students of 20th century world history. One of the most significant criticisms of Shirer seemed to be that he traced origins from Hitler's early years to explain how the third Reich came to be whereas Evans believed that events must be traced back further(Bismarck, 1870s) into German history to explain the German mindset post- WWl. Another reason I did not choose Shirer was that his book concludes with the end of WWll and the scope I was interested in was pre-WWll. Therefore Shirer's book is more than twice the length of Evan's 461 pages.
Evans book is very comprehensive. Much of the emphasis is on the political parties, and their ups and downs. There were many of them and hence coalitions changed constantly. Leadership was weak, elections were frequent. Economic conditions were appalling, unemployment was high, hyperinflation set in and citizens purchased bread, when it was available, with wheelbarrows full on marks; the next day the same loaf of bread might cost twice as much. And the Bolsheviks were attempting to get a foothold in German Government. And so Hitler's Nazi party was able to gain control of the government after a 10 year battle though winning less than 38% of the vote in every election. And Germany was bound to pay reparations to the WWl victors. Hitler as we all know didn't win because he ran a slick campaign. Violence grew more and more each year. Many opponents were beaten to death by stormtroopers. Many were sent to concentration camps, mostly for months at a time although others had long sentences for their political opposition. Many died in the camps, forerunners of the camps of the Holocaust.
The story of course is not just about Hitler's political successes. It covers the economic problems and recovery made by Germany, Germany's focus on nationalism, the origins of eugenics, and of course the steadily increasing portrayal of German Jews as the enemy, an enemy to be driven out of Germany. But not all Jews, at least not right away. Apparently, Hitler was a bit of a pragmatist, and did not want the country to suffer economically with a devastating loss of doctors, bankers and some other professions, at least not immediately. A complex story, told in great detail by Evans. This book ends mid 1933. Evans has two companion books, one on the 3rd Reich in power, and the third at war.
I found it difficult to hold my concentration with this book for very long. Lots and lots of text. At times it felt nothing was left out. There were some charts, but most showed how well political parties did from one election to the next. I would like to have seen more economic data, particularly over the 1920-40 span. I would like to have seen less about political parties #6,7,8,and 9 and more about the economy. Especially how a country who lost a major war and owed millions in reparations, suffered hyperinflation, yet managed to have resources in place to launch another major war 20 years later.
Show Less
LibraryThing member vlodko62
The first of three volumes of Richard J. Evans' History of the Third Reich. If the other two volumes are of the same caliber as this one, it may turn out to be amongst the best histories I've ever read. This volume covers the development of the Nazi party and it's rise to power (1918 through 1933).
The Nazi's rise to power and the tactics they used to achieve it contain both similarities and important differences with the situation today. Those are not called out in the book (it was originally published in 2003), but a careful reading will nonetheless provide an important cautionary tale. Highly recommended!
Show More
The level of detail is impressive - especially given that it covers a broad range of topics (from party politics and the economy to art and culture) during a period with massive upheavals in all parts of German life.The Nazi's rise to power and the tactics they used to achieve it contain both similarities and important differences with the situation today. Those are not called out in the book (it was originally published in 2003), but a careful reading will nonetheless provide an important cautionary tale. Highly recommended!
Show Less
LibraryThing member thcson
A great book on the social, economic and ideological roots of Nazi Germany. The author explains in close detail how chaotic the political situation was in the Weimar republic. Not only did it suffer from extremely severe economic problems, but several major political parties rejected and undermined
Show More
its weak democratic institutions. As a result, the legitimacy of legal authorities eroded and the Nazi grassroots movement could terrorize its chosen targets at will. Nationalists yearning for a military dictatorship tried to co-opt for their own purposes but misplayed their hand, with terrible consequences. Show Less
LibraryThing member stillatim
Not scintillating, but perfectly solid history. Evans is an awe-inspiring organizer of information, he writes clearly, and he's sceptical towards historical revisionism that hasn't entirely proved its case... but will also let you know what the revisionists say, while cautioning that they're only
Show More
telling part of the story. One of the great public-facing historians of our time. I'm already enjoying the next volume of this one, and can't wait to read his Hobsbawm biography. Show Less
LibraryThing member cyderry
I selected this book for background reading regarding World War II and my ongoing study of the United States presidents. Since I am currently "studying" FDR I felt that I needed to understand what the war was all about. Before reading this book, my total understanding of Nazi Germany was a dictator
This book showed the dangers of following blindly the dictates of a charismatic leader who has his own agenda which may or may not be the best for all. IMO what I saw in Hitler from this book, was a man who originally wanted to free the German people from the penalties that had been inflicted on Germany by the Allies at the end of World War I. And that cause was probably valid, however, once he managed to gain power he went to the extremes of controlling everything forcing the German Jews before the war to leave or buckle under. Those that left survived, those that chose to remain were annihilated. Hitler took a fledgling democratic society and within a few short years, forced those that were not part of the Nazi party (5 major political parties) and wiped them out with violence and intimidation.
Reading of how artists and scientists were treated if they were Jewish or married to a Jew is shocking, but seeing the numbers and names of those who were involved even more so. Three of the displaced scientists—Einstein, Franck, and Schrödinger
had already received the Nobel prize in physics. five more would eventually receive the prize. Artists were also driven out in a "cultural cleansing". Wikipedia states it better than I can. "In 1937 in Munich, two simultaneous events demonstrated the Nazis’ views about art. One exhibition displayed art that should be eliminated (“The Degenerate Art Exhibition”), while the other promoted, by contrast, the official aesthetic (“The Great German Art Exhibition”)." Modern artists were said to be compromising the purity of the German race and lost their jobs at galleries and such while artwork was removed and destroyed. If they remained in Germany, many ended up in concentration camps.
The revelations in this book are alarming. Similarities are noticeable with today's society. We must not let this ever happen again.
Show More
who wanted to rule the world while eliminating the Jewish people and showing the world Aryan supremacy. Wow, did I get an education! And now I know I need more information.This book showed the dangers of following blindly the dictates of a charismatic leader who has his own agenda which may or may not be the best for all. IMO what I saw in Hitler from this book, was a man who originally wanted to free the German people from the penalties that had been inflicted on Germany by the Allies at the end of World War I. And that cause was probably valid, however, once he managed to gain power he went to the extremes of controlling everything forcing the German Jews before the war to leave or buckle under. Those that left survived, those that chose to remain were annihilated. Hitler took a fledgling democratic society and within a few short years, forced those that were not part of the Nazi party (5 major political parties) and wiped them out with violence and intimidation.
Reading of how artists and scientists were treated if they were Jewish or married to a Jew is shocking, but seeing the numbers and names of those who were involved even more so. Three of the displaced scientists—Einstein, Franck, and Schrödinger
had already received the Nobel prize in physics. five more would eventually receive the prize. Artists were also driven out in a "cultural cleansing". Wikipedia states it better than I can. "In 1937 in Munich, two simultaneous events demonstrated the Nazis’ views about art. One exhibition displayed art that should be eliminated (“The Degenerate Art Exhibition”), while the other promoted, by contrast, the official aesthetic (“The Great German Art Exhibition”)." Modern artists were said to be compromising the purity of the German race and lost their jobs at galleries and such while artwork was removed and destroyed. If they remained in Germany, many ended up in concentration camps.
The revelations in this book are alarming. Similarities are noticeable with today's society. We must not let this ever happen again.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lethalmauve
"The death of democracy in Germany was part of a much broader European pattern in the interwar years; but it also had very specific roots in German history and drew on ideas that were part of a very specific German tradition."
In this sweeping and arching chronicle of history, Richard J. Evans
With a myriad of cultural anxieties, from the threat of Communism to the perceived collapse of the traditional family due to the First Wave Feminist movement to the perceived unfairness of the stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles to modernism gaining traction across art, literature, and cinema to the 1929 hyperinflation to the Great Depression era, and most of all the 'stabbed-in-the-back' myth after Germany's defeat in the First World War, and conspiracy theories of Jewish domination, Evans never leaves a stone unturned with his lucid narrative-style, where every section is gripping. No one reason can be attributed as the root cause of Nazi Germany's seizure of power, rather several historical incidents, a tensed political ambience at that time, each of them helped to form its inception and strengthen its hold on the already-feeble Weimar Republic. History is also full of complications and contradictions. And interspersed here and there are excerpts from diaries of German citizens, which share a glimpse of both the panic and fanaticism circulating across the masses. The steadily worsening state in every area of German society, with the brandishing of racial hierarchy and distorted Social Darwinism, in the last chapters was a terrifying read. Absolutely accessible for people who has little to limited knowledge on one of the darkest periods in history, The Coming of the Third Reich is an undeniably definitive work.
In this sweeping and arching chronicle of history, Richard J. Evans
Show More
examines every nook and cranny of German society and culture from the looming spectre of the Bismarckian era to the fall of the Weimar Republic in delineating the causes of the rise of The Third Reich. Indeed, it also takes into account the turmoil, the overall attitude prevalent across the European continent when providing complicated answers to the perhaps most boggling and important questions of the 20th century: why did no one stop the Nazi Regime? Why did the German population engage in such silent acquiescence? With a myriad of cultural anxieties, from the threat of Communism to the perceived collapse of the traditional family due to the First Wave Feminist movement to the perceived unfairness of the stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles to modernism gaining traction across art, literature, and cinema to the 1929 hyperinflation to the Great Depression era, and most of all the 'stabbed-in-the-back' myth after Germany's defeat in the First World War, and conspiracy theories of Jewish domination, Evans never leaves a stone unturned with his lucid narrative-style, where every section is gripping. No one reason can be attributed as the root cause of Nazi Germany's seizure of power, rather several historical incidents, a tensed political ambience at that time, each of them helped to form its inception and strengthen its hold on the already-feeble Weimar Republic. History is also full of complications and contradictions. And interspersed here and there are excerpts from diaries of German citizens, which share a glimpse of both the panic and fanaticism circulating across the masses. The steadily worsening state in every area of German society, with the brandishing of racial hierarchy and distorted Social Darwinism, in the last chapters was a terrifying read. Absolutely accessible for people who has little to limited knowledge on one of the darkest periods in history, The Coming of the Third Reich is an undeniably definitive work.
Show Less
Subjects
Awards
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — History — 2004)
Call number
SOC H.200