[Nothing like spending a Sunday reading undigitized, bound periodicals at your local university library…]
Time Magazine began 1933 by declaring Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the president-elect, as Man of the Year. The country (and the world) was in the midsts of the Great Depression and, President Herbert Hoover was held to account for allowing it to happen. Roosevelt overwhelming won the presidential election in the faith that his New Deal would lift the country out of the Great Depression. By this time, Hoover had no credibility and the country was ready to move on.
As part of its Man of the Year article, Time followed-up previous winners to see what he had achieved since. While some continued their upward trajectory, others saw less success following their win, almost like the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.
More interestingly is the name Time threw out as a hypothetical Man of Next Year: Kurt von Schleicher, last chancellor of the Weimar Republic.
In 1932 Adolph Hitler was Germany’s rising star. In 1932 he and his Nazis slipped back to to the tune of 2,000,000 lost votes. His thunder was largely stolen by General Kurt von Schleicher, the new Chancellor to whom many a German looks as Man of Next Year.
On January 2, 1933, Time Magazine announces that Hitler is on the decline, yet on January 30, 1933 President Hindenburg dismisses von Schleicher and appoints Hitler the new chancellor. Wow, what a major misread of international politics. Von Schleicher’s final ignominy was to be murdered by the SS in June 1934.
The same issue indicates that perhaps Von Schleicher was not as naive.
Jail Delivery. Under the widest amnesty granted in Germany since the Revolution of 1918, more than 10,000 political jailbirds — mostly Communists and Fascists — were let out of the Fatherland’s jails on Christmas Eve or earlier in the week. This liberal gesture, designed to win popularity for the Cabinet of essentially unpopular and aristocratic General Kurt von Schleicher, was complete in able Santa-Claus fashion by giving each jailbird enough money to pay his carfare home and buy a Christmas dinner. Prisoners arrested in summer were given a winter overcoat, mittens.
Pages prior, von Schleicher was candidate for Man of the Year 1934; now, Time admits that he is unpopular and aristocratic, aristocratic almost used as a slur.
In its January 16 issue, the Nazi’s are mentioned but not necessarily as the most important opposition to the government:
Brasses & Plots: The “Christmas Truce” in German politics ended las week with a blatant, blaring parade of Berlin’s largest party, the Communists. Miles of marching Reds snarled the capital’s traffic for hours. … The parade was Berlin’s most harmless Red spree in years. No one was hurt.
Political intrigue does continue.
… the news-organ closest to Chancellor von Schleicher carried surprising news of a conference in Cologne the night before between two Germans who a few weeks ago were bitter foes and have since been shelved by the sure, soft hand of the Chancellor. The former foes, Adolf Hitler and the ex-Chancellor Franz von Papen, conferred fot an hour and a half. … [T]hey conferred for the purpose of hatching a plot to oust von Schleicher.
From this point, the sequence of events leading to Hitler’s rise to power are well known, documented in innumerable books. The de factor end to the Weimar Republic. The rise of political violence. The introduction of antisemitic legislation. And, ultimately, World War II.
After his ascension to Chancellor, Hitler needed to play down the revolutionary nature of National Socialism, claiming that the constitution remained in effect and that the rule of law would be maintained. The irony of what was said and what occurred was captured by this anonymous comment written in: Thanks for the reassurance. Touché!
Obviously I have the hindsight of knowing what actually occurred, but am still amazed at how Time totally misread the situation. In each issue, Time dedicated pages to overseas and foreign news, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect better insight than what they provided, not necessarily 100% correct but at least understanding the groundswell of support for the Nazis to take power.
