Though often depicted as a rapid political transformation, the Nazi seizure of power was in fact a process that extended from the appointment of the Papen cabinet in the early summer of 1932 through the Röhm blood purge two years later. Across fourteen rigorous and carefully researched chapters,From Weimar to Hitleroffers a compelling collective investigation of this critical period in modern German history. Each case study presents new empirical research on the crisis of Weimar democracy, the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship, and Hitlers consolidation of power. Together, they provide multiple perspectives on the extent to which the triumph of Nazism was historically predetermined or the product of human miscalculation and intent.
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: The Nazi Seizure of Power in Historical and Historiographical Perspective
Hermann Beck and Larry Eugene Jones
Chapter 1. Taming the Nazi Beast: Kurt von Schleicher and the End of the Weimar Republic
Larry Eugene Jones
Chapter 2.Ausnahmezustand,Staatsnotstandsplan, andErmächtigungsgesetz: Reappraising Carl Schmitts Political Constitutionalism and the Demise of Weimar
Joseph W. Bendersky
Chapter 3. Ludwig Kaas and the End of the German Center Party
Martin Menke
Chapter 4. The Nazi Seizure of Power in Bavaria and the Demise of the Bavarian Peoples Party
Winfried Becker
Chapter 5. German Big Business and the Nazi Revolution, 193334
Peter Hayes
Chapter 6. Violence against Ostjuden in the Spring of 1933 and the Reaction of German Authorities
Hermann Beck
Chapter 7. The SA in theGleichschaltung: The Context of Power and Violence
Bruce B. Campbell
Chapter 8. Nationalist Socialism against National Socialism?: Perceptions of Nazism and Anti-Nazi Strategies in the Circle of theNeue Blätter für den Sozialismus, 193034
Stefan Vogt
Chapter 9. Nationalism, Socialism, and Organized Labors Response to the Dissolution of the Weimar Republic
William L. Patch, Jr.
Chapter 10. From Collegiality to theFührerprinzip: The 1933 Introduction of the Episcopacy in the HamburgLandeskirche
Rainer Hering
Chapter 11. Friedrich von Bodelschwingh and the Protestant Appeasement of the Nazi Regime, 193334
Edward Snyder
Chapter 12. In Search of Allies: Catholic Conservatives, the Alliance of Catholic Germans, and the Nazi Regime, 193334
Larry Eugene Jones and Kevin P. Spicer
Chapter 13. German Youth between Euphoria and Resistance: Political Coercion and the Coordination of German Youth
André Postert
Chapter 14. German Youth, Your Leader!: How National Socialism Entered Elementary Schools in 1933
Katharine Kennedy
Conclusion: Reaffirming the Value of Political History
Hermann Beck and Larry Eugene Jones
Index
