Ben Wilson

And the old field marshal acknowledged the sentiments with a single sentence.

And now, gentlemen, forward with God.

Goebbels wrote in his diary that night, quote, Hitler is Reich Chancellor, just like a fairy tale.

And imagine, it must have felt that way.

Imagine how far they had come.

a starving artist a literally starving artist in homeless shelters on the streets of vienna to a soldier dodging shells in world war one to a fringe speaker in a minor political party on the fringes of the scene of munich to one of the smallest parties in the reichstag to a large party that was still nevertheless not taken seriously by the true decision makers

At every step of the way, there had been opposition.

There had been reason to believe that it would never happen.

This just couldn't happen.

These weren't serious people, that this was all a dream.

But now the dream was finally real.

The conservatives expected a tame partner, someone who would be awed by the position that he was now occupying and would be willing to defer to them who had experience in government.

But they were very surprised by what they found.

Brendan Sims, a historian, writes, quote, To the surprise of many, Hitler rose quickly to the challenge of government.

Those who dealt with him during the first years of his chancellorship were impressed by his command of the issues.

Hitler gripped the cabinet, which was full of experienced and hard-bitten rivals, from the start.

He made no attempt to monopolize proceedings and, with a few exceptions, refrained from launching into the kind of lengthy tirades which he famously indulged in later.

Likewise, the military were astonished by the speed with which this ex-soldier from the ranks asserted his superiority over them at their first encounter only days after the takeover of power.

Photographs and footage from the time show a dapper man who appeared physically fit, trim, and very much in charge.

Rudolf Hess wrote to his wife the day after the appointment, quote, the chief is performing here with unbelievable authority and his new punctuality was such that I have even decided to buy myself a watch.