The Nazi Capture of Power

Abstract

The capture of power by Hitler and the nazi movement in 1933 was one of the great turning-points in modern history. Yet its significance is usually seen to rest less upon what occurred in 1933 than upon what happened later. This article is an attempt to integrate the history of the nazi capture of power into what followed from it by examining four themes: war, racism, violence and order. Each of these themes was central to what happened in 1933. The first world war cast a long shadow over the politics of Weimar Germany, and this helped to create a climate conducive to nazism; racism inspired nazi activists and acceptance of racist assumptions was generally widespread; violence, both in word and deed, characterized nazi politics and helped the nazis to consolidate power rapidly in 1933; and a (misplaced) desire for order drove many Germans — among both the èlites and voters — into the arms of the nazis. Thus these broad themes, which frame the history of the Third Reich generally, also frame the history of the nazi capture of power.