The Bookworm: The Coming of the Third Reich

The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J. Evans. 656 pages. Penguin Books. 2003.

A woman sitting down in a café might order a cup of coffee for 5,000 marks and be asked to give the waiter 8,000 for it when she got up to pay an hour later. A kilo of rye bread, that staple of German daily diet, cost 163 marks on 3 January 1923, more than ten times that amount in July, 9 million marks on 1 October, 78 billion marks on 5 November and 233 billion marks a fortnight later, on 19 November.

Not only is the above quote an excellent illustration of how hyperinflation affected Germans on a daily basis, it is a great example of how Richard J. Evans carefully and knowledgeably recounts the toxic stew of cultural, political, and economic outrage that primed Germany for the rise of Nazism.

The first of three books on the history of the Nazis, The Coming of the Third Reich, in the words of Evans in the preface, “tells the story of the origins of the Third Reich in the nineteenth-century Bismarckian Empire, the First World War and the bitter postwar years of the Weimar Republic.” Written for non-specialists and non-historians who want to know more about the subject, Third Reich provides a riveting, well-written, and thorough account of the events leading to Hitler’s appointment to Reich Chancellor and the Nazis’ coordination of every aspect of German society under a one-party dictatorship.

Though the Nazis are the despised antithesis of my personal beliefs, as I hope they are for everyone, they are interesting as hell. Hitler, the Third Reich, and World War II have developed a morbid cult status in culture and academics. I am willing to bet there is at least one World War II or Nazis related program or movie airing on extended cable at all hours of the day. If it’s not a documentary about the Battle of the Bulge, the Allied invasion of Normandy, or the tanks and vehicles used in the war, it is Kelly’s Heroes, The Great Escape, or Inglourious Bastards. However, you cannot deny the significance of World War II or the Nazis. European fascism represented the western Axis in the bloodiest conflict in human history, and the horrific crimes it committed are still being uncovered today. With an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a particular interest in history, I long ago succumb to the obsession. Blame Indiana Jones.

My friendship with Zee German deepened my curiosity about the Nazis and the logistics of their rise, rule, and wrath. The impression he gave me is that the Third Reich is still a large and festering wound on the German psyche. His hatred of all things fascist and nationalistic made the Nazis, both past and present, a morbid favorite subject for our lunchtime discussions. How had they risen so quickly? How did they manage to do all they did in 12 years? And who funded it all? Needless to say, I have bought Evans’ Third Reich trilogy in an effort to augment the basic knowledge I ready have of how it happened. After all, those who know history can avoid repeating it.

Third Reich is far from your average, one- or two-week high school history lesson on World War II. It is an intense and engrossing backstory. Starting with Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian military general who united the many German-speaking states following the collapse of the German Confederation, Evans lays bare the cultural and political foundations the Nazis and their beliefs were built on. He outlines the roots of anti-Semitism, racial eugenics, the idea of German hegemony in Europe, and the desire for “living space.” He explains how World War I united a generation of young men with the kinship of combat, effectively making them soldiers for life, and how the Treaty of Versailles and the humiliation of defeat it represented were inextricably linked with the founders of the Weimar Republic. Much of the book deals with the almost unimaginable social, political, and economic chaos that plagued German democracy in the 1920s, illegitimating it in the eyes of many Germans who pined for a return to a kind of Bismarckian authoritarianism and national unity. Needless to say, they got what they wished for.

Third Reich delivers an exhaustive and understandable history of the Nazis’ rise just as Evans promised in his preface. Though on the longish side (the main text is 461 pages), I believe it is a prerequisite primer for all those interesting in learning more about Nazi Germany.

New words I learned: All definitions courtesy of my MacBook dictionary. Aphorism: “a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, ‘if it ain't broke, don't fix it.’” Primacy: “the fact of being primary, preeminent, or more important.” Adduced: “cite as evidence.” Spoliation: in this context it means “the action of taking goods or property from somewhere by illegal or unethical means.” Gainsaid: “deny or contradict (a fact or statement).” Suzerain: “a sovereign or state having some control over another state that is internally autonomous.” Cut the Gordian knot: “solve or remove a problem in a direct or forceful way, rejecting gentler or more indirect methods.” Lignite: “a soft brownish coal showing traces of plant structure, intermediate between bituminous coal and peat.” Internecine: “destructive to both sides in a conflict.” Ultramontane: “advocating supreme papal authority in matters of faith and discipline.” Scurrilous: “making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation.” Abrogate: “repeal or do away with (a law, right, or formal agreement).” Foment: “instigate or stir up (an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action).” Emolument: “a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office.” Rag-and-bone man: “an itinerant dealer in old clothes, furniture, and small, cheap secondhand items.” Busk: “play music or otherwise perform for voluntary donations in the street or in subways.” Pogrom: “an organized massacre of a particular ethnic group, in particular that of Jews in Russia or eastern Europe.” Orotund: “(of the voice or phrasing) full, round, and imposing.” Factotum: “an employee who does all kinds of work.” Hustings: “a meeting at which candidates in an election address potential voters.” Intransigent: “unwilling or refusing to change one's views or to agree about something.” Bowdlerize: “remove material that is considered improper or offensive from (a text or account), esp. with the result that it becomes weaker or less effective.” Cashier: the verb, which means “dismiss someone from the armed forces in disgrace because of a serious misdemeanor.” Fillip: “something that acts as a stimulus or boost to an activity.” Knuckleduster: “a metal guard worn over the knuckles in fighting to increase the effect of blows.” Presage: “(of an event) be a sign or warning that (something, typically something bad) will happen.” Abortifacient: “(chiefly of a drug) causing abortion.” Gadarene: “involving or engaged in a headlong or potentially disastrous rush to do something.” Opprobrium: “harsh criticism or censure.” Excrescence: “a distinct outgrowth on a human or animal body or on a plant, esp. one that is the result of disease or abnormality.”