1933

Overview

The coming to power in Germany of Hitler’s National Socialists in 1933 was possibly the biggest political disaster of the 20th century. But the victory of Hitler was by no means inevitable: the German labour movement was the strongest in the world, with mass Socialist and Communist Parties, each with an armed militia, and a powerful trade-union movement. Yet the Nazi rabble came to power almost unopposed, with barely a shot being fired against them.Peter and Irma Petroff, authors of the title piece in this book, offer an eye-witness report on the terrible events of 1933. They tell of the defeat of the German labour movement and explain why the organisations of the German working class failed miserably to confront the enemy that threatened — and was to carry out — its destruction. As the danger of new authoritarians increases, these texts are once again required reading for people who wish to learn the grim lessons of that catastrophic defeat and who are determined not to allow history to repeat itself.

Reviews

"Peter and Irma Petroff's book [The Secret of Hitler's Victory, on of the texts included here] is unlike anything else available in English. For, rather than portraying Hitler's success as the product of some evil genius on his part, they cast an unforgiving light on Hitler's socialist opponents. They accurately convey the enormous opportunities the German left enjoyed prior to 1933, and the mass support for left-wing ideas. Brimming with vivid and specific details, their book describes a kind of moral sickness that infected the German left, a collapse of hopefulness, a cynicism which left its victims incapable of resistance. Read this book and learn from it, and resist the same weakness wherever you encounter it." —David Renton, author of The New Authoritarians: Convergence on the Right

Author Biography

Paul Flewers is the author of The New Civilisation? Understanding Stalin’s Soviet Union 1929-1941 and lives in London.