The
subtitle tells the story -- Hitler's rise to power and the downfall of the
Weimar Republic. Experiments in democracy seem rational, if not easy, until
things get tough. One of the most egregious examples is Hitler’s rise to
dictatorship in Germany. Professor Hett details the circumstances that bred German
resentment of the Weimar Republic and enabled the rise of the Nazis. Hyperinflation,
massive unemployment, famine and epidemics are all elements that can crush
republics. Hett walks us methodically toward the precipice; deliberate
dishonesty, public irrationality: anti-intellectualism, scapegoating,
conspiracies, distrust, and greed. The Nazis called this confluence Gleichschaltung,
or coordination. All the switches are flipped to the same circuit. Aside from
the unspeakable horror of totalitarian regimes, the slow walk towards the acceptance
of evil is the most disturbing.
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