Beginning to WW II: Reichstag Fire and Assault on Democracy in Germany

H-War Beginning to WW II: Reichstag Fire and Assault on Democracy in Germany

Discussion published by Wyatt Reader M.A. on Friday, August 6, 2021

Beginnings to WW II actually started befoe 1939 invasion by Germany of Poland; as early as the elections in 1930s, which brought Nazi Germans to the Govt. of Germany formed after WW I and its attempts to establish a Democracy within German following the loss during WW I and rule by an autocratic Monarchy in the Age of European Monarchies.

Democracy suffered its first blows from the economic chaos created during the Great Depression and attempts to deal with economic collapse out of WW I.

No attempt here to be the definitive recount to 20th Century History and its battle with despotism and dictatorship. However, it is worth relating these few online sources[3 of them] concerned with the Reichstag Fire, 4 months after the non-conclusive election in Germany created a need for coalition government due to lack of a clear political victory for Democracy's political leadership during the 1930s. Out of that shortfall, Nazi political party goals turned Germany on end by staging a false fire in the German Parliament of that day. The excuse claimed by Nazi's was Communist inspired threats had cause the burning of Germany's Parliament building[all too parallel to 1/6 US events].

This History of German internal political challenge to Democracy became the very Dictatorship that plunged the Nations and Peoples of the World into WW II and its murderous consequences for the US and beyond; it, also result in the consequences leading to shaping postwar 20th Century History down tto the very present times and latest generations.

Reichstag fire - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Reichstag_fire

The True Story of the Reichstag Fire and the Nazi Rise to Power https://www.smithsonianmag.com › history › true-story...

The Reichstag Fire: The Shift from Democracy to Dictatorship

Posted by Jason David on February 21, 2018

'On February 27, 1933, the German parliament building known as the Reichstag was set on fire. The government falsely portrayed it as part of a Communist effort to overthrow the state. The Nazi Party soon passed a decree, "For the Defense of the Nation and State," which removed many of German citizens' civil liberties and made it possible to imprison anyone who opposed Nazi rule. The Reichstag Fire is often seen as a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy and the struggle to keep it intact.

Looking to the past provides valuable lessons about the ways individuals and societies have met these struggles with resilience, courage, and determination. We also, however, must encounter and confront reflections of our own frailties and liabilities as human beings.'

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https://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/the-reichstag-fire-the-shift-from-democracy-to-dicta...

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"In the 1920s, democracy was brand new to Germany, recently born after the end of World War I. It suggested great promise in expanding constitutional rights, ushered in cultural shifts, and even

Citation: Wyatt Reader M.A.. Beginning to WW II: Reichstag Fire and Assault on Democracy in Germany. H-War. 08-06-2021. https://networks.h-net.org/node/12840/discussions/8023407/beginning-ww-ii-reichstag-fire-and-assault-democracy-germany Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2 H-War seemed able to weather economic crisis. And yet, by the end of the decade, it was under fire and at great risk. Many believed democracy weakened the country and they sought the return of national prestige and power they thought only strong, autocratic leaders could restore.

After only 11 years of the democratic experiment, progress was halted in the midst of the Great Depression when President Hindenburg invoked emergency powers to bypass the Reichstag and rule directly by decree. Three years after that, Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor and Hitler used those emergency powers to dismantle the remnants of German democracy."

Written by Jason David

Jason David is a program associate in the Facing History and Ourselves Los Angeles office. He is a former high school Humanities teacher who has worked in both public and independent school settings. He has taught curriculum focusing on United States and world history through an interdisciplinary lens, led advisory programming and been a member of a formal multicultural leadership team tasked with developing curriculum to explore issues of identity and diversity, responding to bias incidents, and working proactively to develop an inclusive school climate. Outside of formal education spaces, he has helped lead a local racial justice organization for the last decade.