Scary History Lesson
I was reading a geek book about how the German Army developed into the force that kicked the crap out of everybody. (Cross of Iron by John Mosier, Henry Holt and Company, 2006). It’s a fascinating book and it highlights a lot of misconceptions. It even sheds more light on the context of the Munich “appeasement” than I realized. But something he wrote at least ten years ago would probably be printed in italicized, bold, all caps if they were to reprint the thing today:
“Hitler did not seize power. He was elected, he was popular, and initially he governed by relying on the same extensive powers his predecessors had wielded…But Hitler rose to power legally, through votes. He was propelled into office by a population that was both polarized and exhausted, one that had lost faith in the idea of democratic capitalism and was still traumatized by the Bolshevik terror.”
Key words: polarized, exhausted, lost faith, still traumatized. Sound like a country we all know and love?