Ben Wilson

He wants to be the leader of all of Germany.

And so his message to the rank and file of the SPD is very different.

To them, he says, quote, I will shake hands with anyone who is committed to Germany.

All right.

So look, he's like, hey, for you people who are leftists.

If you were just a rank and file, a normal person, a normal SPD member, I get it.

This is just what you thought was best for Germany.

Turns out you were wrong.

But if you love Germany, we would love to have you on our side.

Now, the Enabling Act passed on March 23, 1933, by a vote of 441 to 94.

The 94 were the SPD deputies who voted no, and they knew they had no shot, but they wanted to register their opposition to the end of democracy in Germany.

the zentrum party that's the centrist catholic centrist party who might have been expected to resist it voted for it after hitler made promises to respect the rights of the catholic church and the conservative parties they also voted for it they were still operating under the delusion that

that they were managing Hitler and that this was going to expand their power and not his.

The NSDAP moved with extraordinary organizational smoothness into governmental positions.

As author C.J.

Miller notes, during its rise, quote, the party had formed something like a state within a state, designating its top members as ministers of government-like ministries.

So basically, they had been practicing.

They knew their roles.

When the moment came to govern, they were ready with policies and with people to slide into place to do exactly what they wanted to do.

They really hit the ground running faster than anyone expected.