[Peace-discuss] The Weimar model

[C. G. Estabrook]

from <http://www.truthout.org/remembering-fascism-learning-from-past58724>:


Reading Joe Stack's manifesto and a great deal more like it, I find myself 
recovering childhood memories and much more that I did not then understand. The 
Weimar Republic was the peak of western civilization in the sciences and the 
arts, also regarded as a model of democracy. Through the 1920s, the traditional 
liberal and conservative parties entered into inexorable decline, well before 
the process was intensified by the Great Depression. The coalition that elected 
General Hindenburg in 1925 was not very different from the mass base that swept 
Hitler into office eight years later, compelling the aristocratic Hindenburg to 
select as chancellor the "little corporal" he despised. As late as 1928, the 
Nazis had less than 3 percent of the vote. Two years later, the most respectable 
Berlin press was lamenting the sight of the many millions in this "highly 
civilized country" who had "given their vote to the commonest, hollowest and 
crudest charlatanism." The public was becoming disgusted with the incessant 
wrangling of Weimar politics, the service of the traditional parties to powerful 
interests and their failure to deal with popular grievances. They were drawn to 
forces dedicated to upholding the greatness of the nation and defending it 
against invented threats in a revitalized, armed and unified state, marching to 
a glorious future, led by the charismatic figure who was carrying out "the will 
of eternal Providence, the Creator of the universe," as he orated to the 
mesmerized masses. By May 1933, the Nazis had largely destroyed not only the 
traditional ruling parties, but even the huge working-class parties, the Social 
Democrats and Communists, along with their very powerful associations. The Nazis 
declared May Day 1933 to be a workers holiday, something the left parties had 
never been able to achieve. Many working people took part in the enormous 
patriotic demonstrations, with more than a million people at the heart of Red 
Berlin, joining farmers, artisans, shopkeepers, paramilitary forces, Christian 
organizations, athletic and riflery clubs, and the rest of the coalition that 
was taking shape as the center collapsed. By the onset of the war, perhaps 90 
percent of Germans were marching with the brown shirts.

As I mentioned, I am just old enough to remember those chilling and ominous days 
of Germany's descent from decency to Nazi barbarism, to borrow the words of the 
distinguished scholar of German history Fritz Stern. He tells us that he has the 
future of the United States in mind when he reviews "a historic process in which 
resentment against a disenchanted secular world found deliverance in the 
ecstatic escape of unreason."

The world is too complex for history to repeat, but there are nevertheless 
lessons to keep in mind. There is no shortage of tasks for those who choose the 
vocation of critical intellectuals, whatever their station in life. They can 
seek to sweep away the mists of carefully contrived illusion and reveal the 
stark reality. They can become directly engaged in popular struggles, helping to 
organize the countless Joe Stacks who are destroying themselves and maybe the 
world and to join them in leading the way the way to a better future.

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.