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The Nazi Voter: The Social Foundations of Fascism in Germany, 1919-1933
The first study based on a large national sample of both urban and rural districts examines the Nazi constituency -- how it was formed, from which social groups, under what conditions, and with what promises. Using advanced statistical techniques to analyze each national election of the Weimar era, Childres offers a new and challenging interpretation of who voted for Hitler's NSDAP and why. He also provides a systematic examination of Nazi campaign strategy.
383 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 14, 2020
On the morning of September 15, 1930, early issues of newspapers across Germany reported that Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ party (NSDAP) had scored a stunning electoral triumph. While only two years before the party had languished in obscurity, unable to secure even 3 percent of the votes, when the polls closed on the evening of September 14, 1930 the NSDAP had become the second largest party in the Weimar Republic. This abrupt breakthrough was a portentous milestone in German politics, marking the first of series of impressive electoral performances that within two years would transform the NSDAP into the most popular and powerful party in Germany. The author confronts such questions as Where had this Nazi constituency come from? and How had the Nazi done it? by transcending the narrow geographic and chronological parameters of the traditional analyses and examining the issue on a broader scale. He assesses that the Nazi electoral support was more varied than traditionally assumed, drawing votes not only from the middle class but also from the substantial bourgeoise, the working class, and the Catholic population.
The Nazi policies were often deliberately vague, so that they could appeal to as many voters as possible. Hitler’s promise to remilitarize Germany would bring in massive industrial contracts and thus, secure the support of many industrialists, while his promises of increased employment and better pensions appealed to the traditional socialists and many common men. Many landowners and businessmen supported the Nazis because of the mutual opposition to communism; the NSDAP was seen as the only credible right-wing alternative to left-wing parties. Hitler’s fanatical belief in the supremacy of the German race pleases the nationalists. In those hard years of economic crisis, Hitler’s hatred of Jews struck a chord with many people, especially the working class: the Jews were a convenient scapegoat for all Germany’s problems. Also, the aim to annul the Treaty of Versailles and the idea that the reparations were the main cause of the economic crisis were popular with most Germans.
In general, Thomas Childers has created quite an extensive and meticulously compiled study, which analyses a large national sample (approximately five hundred cities, towns, villages from every area of the Reich), the print media of the time, the widely used campaign literature, the interaction between parties and organizations representing social and occupational groups, and the expanding literature of the NSDAP. The Nazi Voter is a very detailed book on the subject, and with its dry style and abundant statistics, it is not an easy read. Yet, in my opinion, it will prove to be useful to everyone interested in Nazi Germany and Hitler’s ascend to power.
The Nazi policies were often deliberately vague, so that they could appeal to as many voters as possible. Hitler’s promise to remilitarize Germany would bring in massive industrial contracts and thus, secure the support of many industrialists, while his promises of increased employment and better pensions appealed to the traditional socialists and many common men. Many landowners and businessmen supported the Nazis because of the mutual opposition to communism; the NSDAP was seen as the only credible right-wing alternative to left-wing parties. Hitler’s fanatical belief in the supremacy of the German race pleases the nationalists. In those hard years of economic crisis, Hitler’s hatred of Jews struck a chord with many people, especially the working class: the Jews were a convenient scapegoat for all Germany’s problems. Also, the aim to annul the Treaty of Versailles and the idea that the reparations were the main cause of the economic crisis were popular with most Germans.
In general, Thomas Childers has created quite an extensive and meticulously compiled study, which analyses a large national sample (approximately five hundred cities, towns, villages from every area of the Reich), the print media of the time, the widely used campaign literature, the interaction between parties and organizations representing social and occupational groups, and the expanding literature of the NSDAP. The Nazi Voter is a very detailed book on the subject, and with its dry style and abundant statistics, it is not an easy read. Yet, in my opinion, it will prove to be useful to everyone interested in Nazi Germany and Hitler’s ascend to power.
November 17, 2024
Read it for school but it was on my to-read list anyway, excellent methodically structured work, solid data, well written.
One issue though, Childers' thesis is that the NSDAP was not just a party of the petit-bourgeoisie, but had generally broad class appeal, yet consistently through each of the chapters (which focus on different key elections) the core constituency remains the p-b. The NSDAP made in-roads with the civil service and the declassè rentnermittelstand so it could maybe more properly be called the party of the middle strata writ large but I think anything more than that seriously overstates the success Nazis had with the working class, even using Childers' own data, and he says as much in the book.
Childers, I suppose, was reacting to a milieu which said the NSDAP was exclusively a party of the p-b, which he demonstrates is not true, but they clearly were a petit-bourgeois party at the core, with other classes/strata flocking to the party in the economic crises, but not sticking around very long. Absolutely solid work on his part, and my quibble with his thesis is relatively minor.
One issue though, Childers' thesis is that the NSDAP was not just a party of the petit-bourgeoisie, but had generally broad class appeal, yet consistently through each of the chapters (which focus on different key elections) the core constituency remains the p-b. The NSDAP made in-roads with the civil service and the declassè rentnermittelstand so it could maybe more properly be called the party of the middle strata writ large but I think anything more than that seriously overstates the success Nazis had with the working class, even using Childers' own data, and he says as much in the book.
Childers, I suppose, was reacting to a milieu which said the NSDAP was exclusively a party of the p-b, which he demonstrates is not true, but they clearly were a petit-bourgeois party at the core, with other classes/strata flocking to the party in the economic crises, but not sticking around very long. Absolutely solid work on his part, and my quibble with his thesis is relatively minor.
April 15, 2008
Slightly dry, considering it contains a fair bit of statistical data, but also a very interesting analysis of who voted for Hitler and brought the Third Reich to power.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews