When Hitler got out of prison

This is a cautionary tale.

Most folks know how Adolph Hitler’s career as an autocratic dictator ended, but many do not know how it began. It is important to know about the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party because those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

So, how did this evil little man with little formal education and no military experience beyond being a corporal in Germany’s army in World War I become powerful enough to drive the entire world into chaos, war and disaster?

After Germany’s defeat in World War I, one of the conditions of its surrender to the Allies under the Treaty of Versailles was a set of very heavy financial obligations to pay for the destruction it had caused during the war. These obligations were disastrous to Germany’s economy and jobs were hard to find. Hitler, uneducated, unskilled and having no other prospects, remained in the German army.

The army made Hitler an intelligence agent and, in 1919, assigned him to spy on the German Workers’ Party (DAP). The DAP was an extremely nationalistic, anti-Semitic and anti-Marxist organization. But instead of working to dismantle the DAP, Hitler became a believer while still drawing his army pay for the spying he was supposed to be doing. As a DAP member, he sought to appeal to the German working class to create a “people’s community,” where German identity took precedence over class, religion or other characteristics.

By October 1919, Hitler gave his first speech for the DAP and quickly became the party’s most popular speaker. He ceased being a spy for the German army in 1920 and, using his charisma and the politics of grievance, became the party’s chief of propaganda. One of his main targets was the Treaty of Versailles, which placed a heavy financial burden on Germans. His new goal was to bring ultranationalism to the German public. In February 1920, the German Workers’ Party was renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP). We all know the NSDAP as the Nazi Party.

By July 1921, Hitler was the leader of the Nazi Party.

In November 1923, Hitler and his Nazi followers attempted a failed takeover of the government in Bavaria, a state in southern Germany. This coup attempt, known as the “Beer Hall Putsch,” involved the Nazis storming the Bavarian government building, leaving 16 party members and four police officers dead. Hitler was arrested and tried for high treason, and in April 1924, he was sentenced to five years in prison.

In December 1924, over the objections of his prosecutors, Hitler was released from prison. He immediately began to rebuild the Nazi Party. He met with the prime minister of Bavaria in January 1925 and promised to respect the state’s authority. He claimed he would seek political power only through the democratic process.

This meeting led to the lifting of the ban on the Nazi Party that had been in place since the Beer Hall Putsch. But one month after the meeting, Hitler was barred from public speaking by the Bavarian authorities after making an inflammatory speech.

Undeterred by the ban, Hitler continued organizing and enlarging the Nazi Party. And when the stock market in the United States crashed in October 1929, the impact in Germany was catastrophic. Millions became unemployed and banks began to collapse. Doubling down on their platform of grievances, Hitler and the Nazi Party took advantage of the crisis to gain greater support. They promised to lift the burdens of the Treaty of Versailles, strengthen the economy and provide jobs.

By 1930, the Nazi Party had become the second-largest political party in Germany. It became the largest in 1932. Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933 and chancellor and president in 1934. And as is often said, “The rest is history.”

This is a cautionary tale because what happened in Germany during the first half of the 20th century could happen anywhere in the world, given the right ingredients.

Ultranationalism in the form of identity politics that promotes notions of supremacy and a baseless sense of entitlement are essential to the recipe for the type of authoritarian leadership that set Germany on its self-destructive path. Grievance politics and a tendency to blame the most vulnerable among us are also key ingredients. This devil’s brew is toxic to any democracy and there are those who today are concocting a poisonous serving of hate, discord and chaos to illegitimately gain the power to create a world to their advantage and their advantage alone.

We need not be so polite as to shy away from calling out a liar for being a liar. We should never be so timid as to hold back from calling a would-be autocrat a would-be autocrat. A twice impeached, four times criminally indicted, adjudged sexual abuser stands at the threshold of once again gaining the Republican Party nomination to carry their banner to the highest office in this land, and we must not be so “mannerly” as to not call him out for what he is. Germany chose a leader in the first half of the 20th century that brought their country to ruin. It is not impossible that America can do the same.

Donald Trump has shown the world what he is capable of. His MAGA followers have shown us the depths of their depravity. America is in a very dangerous place at this moment. It serves no purpose and makes no sense to be civil with the uncivil or to be courteous with the discourteous. One does not accept a dinner invitation from cannibals. You will either be forced to eat your neighbor or be served up yourself.

I do believe Donald Trump will be sent to prison. If he is not, then this country is in worse shape than I imagined. But setting aside the absolute worst, the most important question before the American people is, once he is sent to prison, what happens after that?

Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activist who practices law in Virginia. His earlier commentaries may be found at https://oblayton1.medium.com/