Subject: RE: BS: Yanks make a Thatcher film!!!
From:
Little Hawk
Date: 19 Nov 11 - 06:07 AM
It is true that Hitler was not elected Chancellor, but appointed to that position in a parliamentary coalition:
"After two parliament elections—in July and November 1932—had failed to result in a majority government, President Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler chancellor of a coalition government formed by the NSDAP and Hugenberg's party, the German National People's Party (DNVP). As a concession to the NSDAP, Hermann Göring, who was head of the Prussian police at the time, was named minister without portfolio. So although von Papen intended to install Hitler merely as a figurehead, the NSDAP gained key political positions.
On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor during a brief and simple ceremony in Hindenburg's office. Hitler's first speech as Chancellor took place on 10 February. The Nazis' seizure of power subsequently became known as the Machtergreifung or Machtübernahme.
As chancellor, Hitler worked against attempts by his political opponents to build a majority government. Because of the political stalemate, Hitler asked President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag again, and elections were scheduled for early March. On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set on fire,[134] and since Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch independent communist, was found in the burning building, a communist plot was blamed for the fire. The central government responded with the Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February, which suspended basic rights, including habeas corpus. Activities of the German Communist Party were suppressed, and communist party members were arrested, forced to flee, or murdered.[citation needed]
Besides political campaigning, the NSDAP used paramilitary violence and spread of anti-communist propaganda on the days preceding the election. On election day, 6 March 1933, the NSDAP increased its result to 43.9% of the vote, gaining the largest number of seats in parliament. However, Hitler's party failed to secure an absolute majority, thus again necessitating a coalition with the DNVP.
On 21 March 1933, the new Reichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony held at Potsdam's garrison church. This Day of Potsdam was staged to demonstrate reconciliation and unity between the revolutionary Nazi movement and Old Prussia with its elites and perceived virtues. Hitler appeared in a tail coat and humbly greeted the aged President Hindenburg.[136]
In the Nazis' quest for full political control—they had failed to gain an absolute majority in the prior parliamentary election—Hitler's government brought the Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act) to a vote in the newly elected Reichstag. The legislation gave Hitler's cabinet full legislative powers for a period of four years. Although such a bill was not unprecedented, this act was different since it allowed for deviations from the constitution.[136] Since the bill required a ⅔ majority to pass, the government needed the support of other parties. The position of the Centre Party, the third largest party in the Reichstag, turned out to be decisive: under the leadership of Ludwig Kaas, the party decided to vote for the Enabling Act. It did so in return for the government's oral guarantees of the Catholic Church's liberty, the concordats signed by German states, and the continued existence of the Centre Party.[137]
On 23 March, the Reichstag assembled in a replacement building under turbulent circumstances. Several SA men served as guards inside, while large groups outside the building shouted slogans and threats toward the arriving members of parliament. Kaas announced that the Centre Party would support the bill with "concerns put aside", while Social Democrat Otto Wels denounced the act in his speech.[138] At the end of the day, all parties except the Social Democrats voted in favour of the bill—the Communists, as well as several Social Democrats, were barred from attending the vote. The Enabling Act, along with the Reichstag Fire Decree, transformed Hitler's government into a de facto dictatorship."
So, the Nazis in fact never did get a majority mandate from the German people. What they did was to take over the government from within by clever political maneuvering and intimidation, and then establish a dictatorship.
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It is also true that the Royal Navy was THE essential instrument in securing Britain's overseas empire and the wealth of the nation. If you are the dominant sea power in the world, you are also securely positioned to quickly move armies where they are most needed, to dominate trade and commerce, and thus enrich yourself. A number of other nations had a vigorous attempt at doing the same thing...Spain, Holland, Portugal, Sweden, and France, for example, but Britain superceded all of them in that game. After 1588, the Spanish never regained their former naval position of strength. After Trafalgar, no one could seriously challenge British dominance of the sea.
The next really serious threat came in the early 20th century, when the Kaiser of Germany attempted to build a fleet to rival Britain's, and that was probably the key factor in Britain eventually going to war against the German Empire in 1914. Britain won that naval conflict quite handily...and went on as the top naval power...but was having great difficulty affording to maintain such a navy. And the USA was rapidly overtaking Great Britain in that regard...and could afford to do so.
This led to an international naval agreement in the 20s to limit construction of capital ships (and to constrain the ambitious Japanese, who were also building a large fleet of new warships). Those agreements rebounded mainly to the benefit of the USA, as far as I can see, giving the USA naval parity with the UK, but they also gave the British some relief from having to participate in a frightfully costly naval race. The people who were most troubled by the agreement were the Japanese, and they began seeking ways around it (such as converting some new battleship hulls to aircraft carriers...which turned out to be one hell of a good idea...and secretely violating the treaty by concealing the real tonnage and other technical knowledge of some of their new ships).
In any case the naval race presently started up again in the 30s and the British soon found themselves in another world war, one which ended Great Britain's premier position as the greatest naval power in the world, utterly destroyed the very dangerous Japanese Navy, and passed the torch of Number 1 Naval Power to the prosperous USA.
And so it has remained until now. British economic dominance was not ended by the scrapping of most of the British fleet...the fleet's glory days were themselves ended by the decline of British financial power in the wake of 2 terribly costly World Wars, and the USA took over Britain's former role, in effect.
The Pax Britannica of the later 1800s had given way to what might have been termed the Pax Americana...if it had only been more peaceful...but it wasn't, as it involved an almost 50-year Cold War between the Western Alliance and the Communist Bloc.
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sj
