Episode 1-Rise of the Nazi Party

[0] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[1] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.

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[9] Hello, and thank you for listening to The History of World War II.

[10] Episode 1, post -World War I Europe.

[11] and the early years of the Nazi Party.

[12] World War II will certainly go down as one of the pivotal events of the 20th century.

[13] It redefined human cruelty, but also embodied amazing courage and compassion.

[14] It gave rise to some of the greatest villains and their atrocities, but it also allowed heroes to demonstrate immeasurable depths of kindness.

[15] This is the story of the people who endured and those who did not.

[16] Between Hitler mindlessly slaughtering the people held in German -occupied countries and the Allies bombing the civilians who made Germany's war machine possible, I hope to convey the sheer tragedy that is war.

[17] War will never again be as clear -cut to its participants or as controllable by those who sit around a table of maps.

[18] As amazing as the story itself is, the effects of it stretched out for many years after.

[19] While an unbelievable 60 million people died during World War II, it was followed by and in part caused the Korean War, where another 4 million people died.

[20] At the end of this Second World War, with the Allied armies facing each other across the city of Berlin, their common enemy destroyed, the Republic and Communist governments distressed of each other, led quickly to the Cold War.

[21] which meant 50 years or so of everyone waiting for the next world war with its new and deadlier weapons.

[22] The Third Reich of Nazi Germany lasted just over 12 years, from January 1933 to May 1945, and it was called the Thousand -Year Reich by its creators.

[23] And even though it fell far short of that description, those dozen years would necessitate the rebuilding of cities, countries, and hundreds of millions of lives.

[24] So how did Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini come to power, rebuild their armies, and menace the world without being confronted until it was too late?

[25] Why didn't the leaders of the other European countries try to stop them before war broke out, when they were still militarily weak?

[26] Didn't Hitler spell out exactly what he wanted to do in his book Mein Kampf?

[27] His blueprint for a Nazi revolution?

[28] He had already tried to take control of the government by force in November of 1923 in the infamous Beer Hall Putsch.

[29] And even when it failed and he was tried, convicted, and imprisoned in April of 1924, he used the courtroom as a pulpit to attack the German Republic's government and the Versailles Treaty with such passion that he became a hero to many.

[30] and a national figure.

[31] To attempt to get an understanding, one must know what Germany and Europe were like in the pre -World War II era, or more correctly, the post -World War I era.

[32] U .S. President Woodrow Wilson and the European leaders assumed that bringing democracy to Germany after World War I would end future German aggression.

[33] The autocrat Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate his German throne, which was fine with many different political parties in Germany who were ready for a change.

[34] The Social Democrats, a moderate, middle -class political party, was put in charge of the government by the German army leaders, Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff, at the end of World War I, to appease the victorious allies.

[35] A republic was announced by the Social Democrats, quickly apparent that the leading officers in the army, upper castes in society, and the industrial leaders would not support a republic.

[36] Honestly, it never had a chance.

[37] Since things remained unstable politically, there was a real fear of a communist revolution.

[38] Those who desired communism as an answer to the country's problems took their frustrations to the streets, and the army only fought back when asked.

[39] by the Social Democrats, which wasn't always.

[40] The communist threat remained until ruthlessly wiped out by the Nazis when they came to power.

[41] On July 31, 1919, the Weimar Constitution was passed by the German Reichstag, or Parliament.

[42] The Constitution was a very liberal work for its time.

[43] It borrowed ideas like a cabinet government from Britain, a strong president, from the United States, and representation of minorities in a parliament.

[44] One reason for such a constitution was Germany's attempt to deal with their defeat as best they could.

[45] They assumed that getting rid of the Kaiser, defending against communism, and drafting a modern constitution would help their cause when it came time for the victorious allies to draw up their demands.

[46] who still had mobilized armies facing Germany.

[47] Those demands were listed in the Treaty of Versailles and were very reasonable, considering that they had to fight German aggression twice within living memory.

[48] It was released in Berlin on May 7, 1919 to an outraged Germany.

[49] It must be said that Germany could have been dealt with much more harshly, like they dealt with Russia.

[50] and other countries who were defeated by them in World War I. But what brought huge crowds of Germans together, demanding the treaty not be signed, was a clause that Germany would admit guilt in starting the war, and that the Kaiser would have to be handed over to the Allies.

[51] Reparations would be figured out in the future, but another deal -breaker for German pride was that Germany would be mostly disarmed.

[52] a very reasonable clause from the other nations tired and still fearful of a strong Germany.

[53] The German provisional government at Weimar did not want to sign this humiliating document, and they had the support of the people.

[54] But when the German generals were asked if they could defend Germany if the treaty was not signed, they admitted they could not.

[55] The politicians, relieved that the decision was made by the military, voted.

[56] and told the German delegation to sign the treaty.

[57] But it would not be too long before this was forgotten, and the republic that signed the treaty received all the blame and anger of its citizens.

[58] Hitler certainly did his part in this.

[59] The conservative elements in Germany used their power, money, and influence to support political parties and newspapers that sought to bring down the republic.

[60] never really had across -the -board support to deal with their post -war problems, like unemployment, a wounded national pride, a reduced army, the threat of communism, as well as secession or civil war.

[61] They were never allowed to be a stable government, despite moments of handling Germany's problems effectively.

[62] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[63] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in Laden.

[64] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[65] What do they know?

[66] What are their skills?

[67] And what would you do in their position?

[68] Vengeance felt good.

[69] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.

[70] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.

[71] Wherever you get your podcasts.

[72] Paul von Hindenburg, a hero of World War I, was made president of Germany, and numerous elections were held under him, which tried to find a chancellor and a republican government to solve the problems without restoring the monarchy or allowing a military dictatorship.

[73] And although his mental ability was deteriorating at the time when he was needed most with the Nazi party vying for control, he was respected until his death.

[74] and a majority of the country was behind his efforts to find men with solutions.

[75] So he would spend his final years trying to hold elections to see which party could win the most seats in the Reichstag and therefore create a cabinet to run the government.

[76] Between 1925 and 1931, Germany and the rest of the world enjoyed prosperous economies.

[77] American loans to Germany, America's policy was based on the idea that since Germany was the largest European nation, if their economy could be made strong, Europe in general would enjoy financial prosperity.

[78] As can be imagined, this was a dark time for Hitler and the Nazis.

[79] His message of hate and blame took a back seat.

[80] to the citizens happy to have a job.

[81] Although fearful of being deported back to his homeland of Austria and not allowed to speak in public for two years when released from prison after the Beer Hall pushed, Hitler spent his time using his other talents.

[82] He finished his book Mein Kampf and reorganized the Nazi party to put as much power in his hands as possible.

[83] He slowly built up the party, of dues -paying members and started newspapers espousing the party's view on the Versailles Treaty while attacking whoever was running the government at the time.

[84] Equally important, he had street gangs organized to break up the communist rallies.

[85] The Nazi street brawlers were almost always better organized and certainly more vicious than the communists.

[86] However, for the moment, The Nazis were just one more radical party shouting at the people.

[87] But Adolf Hitler knew, by studying history, that the good times could not last.

[88] So he waited.

[89] From the failed putsch or military takeover, Hitler learned it was a mistake to use open force to take over the government.

[90] Marching on the Capitol with thugs in tow would never work.

[91] So he would pursue his dream of power legally.

[92] He wanted power handed to him by those already in authority.

[93] He knew that he must align himself and his party with an established power base.

[94] Having control of the Nazi party and believing it was only a matter of time until he obtained national leadership, Hitler created the SS or Schutzstaffel.

[95] It started out as a bodyguard for him, as well as for confronting his enemies.

[96] But when Heinrich Himmler took over, His dedication and organizational skills to this twisted enterprise shone, and the SS grew in its numbers and responsibilities.

[97] Its size would one day rival Germany's army.

[98] Hitler surrounded himself with criminals, degenerates, and perverts.

[99] These were his Nazi officials and leaders.

[100] And as can be imagined with this lot, there was a tremendous amount of infighting.

[101] But Hitler enjoyed the internal division.

[102] as long as it did not become public.

[103] He personally hated many of them, and their distrust of each other meant that they would never come together against him.

[104] But, for now, they brought him much -needed numbers and organization, so they were tolerated.

[105] For Hitler and his followers, democracy was not right for Germany.

[106] Democracy was a disease that would only weaken Germany further and keep it from its rightful place of power.

[107] He was convinced it would not last and weathered the storm of financial prosperity.

[108] Hitler's patience paid off with the stock market crash in October of 1929 in the United States.

[109] The American loans that fueled German prosperity were gone.

[110] Germany could no longer afford to make payments on its loans that had bought materials for food for the 80 million Germans.

[111] Their exports slowed.

[112] and millions of Germans lost their jobs, along with the other Europeans.

[113] There was misery and fear throughout Germany once again.

[114] The people were uncertain about their future.

[115] Hitler's time had come.

[116] Next time, we'll cover the rise of the Nazi party, looking to take advantage of the financial downturn.

[117] Hitler's success was not guaranteed by any means, but his brilliance, cunning, and nerves of steel.

[118] would allow him to ride the wave of despair closer to his goal of power and his first real chance to save his beloved adopted country from those who would keep it from its destiny.

[119] Thank you for listening.

[120] I would like to thank my wife Heather for all her hard work to make this podcast possible.

[121] Welcome to True Spies.

[122] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

[123] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in lab.

[124] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

[125] What do they know?

[126] What are their skills?

[127] And what would you do in their position?

[128] Vengeance felt good.

[129] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.

[130] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.

[131] Wherever you get your podcasts.