Sunday, November 10, 2013

Lead Up to WWII: The Platform of the Nazi Party

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/25points.htm
An important consideration in thinking about the lead up to WWII is to look at the platform of the Nazi Party first presented in 1920.  This platform had 25 points, many of which, particularly those putting down industry and assuring health benefits, were never taken seriously.  However the first two articles in the platform give us an idea of the assumption of power, and other articles talk about the Jew and the foreigner. 
1. We demand the union of all Germans in a Great Germany on the basis of the principle of self-determination of all peoples.
2. We demand that the German people have rights equal to those of other nations; and that the Peace Treaties of Versailles and St. Germain shall be abrogated.
These two premises explain many of the early moves made by the Germans under Hitler.  The re-militarized the Rhineland in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.   They forced the inclusion of Austria into  Czechoslovakia had a similar goal, of united German people.  In pursuing this goal further, they assumed more and more of Czechoslovakia.  First they set themselves up as a protectorate, and when the government of Czechoslovakia came to them for protection instead of protection they were forced to sign under threat and duress the rest of the country over to Germany.  The threat was that Germany would send bombers to bomb the cities.  The duress was that they leader was forced to stay up most of the night until he signed the agreement. 
It also portended poorly for Poland, where many German people also lived.  Germany began making demands that these areas also become part of Germany, as many Germans lived there.
This platform expresses the antisemitism which was part of the party rhetoric. 
4. Only those who are our fellow countrymen can become citizens. Only those who have German blood, regardless of creed, can be our countrymen. Hence no Jew can be a countryman.
8. Any further immigration of non-Germans must be prevented. We demand that all non-Germans who have entered Germany since August 2, 1914, shall be compelled to leave the Reich immediately. 
24. We demand freedom for all religious faiths in the state, insofar as they do not endanger its existence or offend the moral and ethical sense of the Germanic race.
The party as such represents the point of view of a positive Christianity without binding itself to any one particular confession. It fights against the Jewish materialist spirit within and without, and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our folk can only come about from within on the pinciple:
COMMON GOOD BEFORE INDIVIDUAL GOOD
Then to carry out these goals, and talks about the type of government necessary.  
25. In order to carry out this program we demand: the creation of a strong central authority in the State, the unconditional authority by the political central parliament of the whole State and all its organizations. 
It advocates a strong central government.  The power being centralized in the hands of a few is not always a good thing.   Different parties and beliefs need to work together rather than calling each other traitors or other derogatory terms.

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