Nazism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Contemporary events and views === After the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, and his subsequent trial and imprisonment, Hitler decided that the way for the Nazi Party to achieve power was not through insurrection, but through legal and quasi-legal means. This did not sit well with the brown-shirted stormtroopers of the SA, especially those in Berlin, who chafed under the restrictions that Hitler placed on them, and their subordination to the party. This resulted in the [[Stennes Revolt]] of 1930–31, after which Hitler made himself the Supreme Commander of the SA and brought Ernst Röhm back to be their Chief of Staff and keep them in line. The quashing of the SA's revolutionary fervor convinced many businessmen and military leaders that the Nazis had put aside their insurrectionist past, and that Hitler could be a reliable partner {{sfn|Bracher|1970|pp=231–232}}{{sfn|Evans|2003|p=274}} After the Nazis' "[[Machtergreifung|Seizure of Power]]" in 1933, Röhm and the Brown Shirts were not content for the party to simply carry the reins of power. Instead, they pressed for a continuation of the "National Socialist revolution" to bring about sweeping social changes, which Hitler, primarily for tactical reasons, was not willing to do at that time. He was instead focused on rebuilding the military and reorienting the economy to provide the rearmament necessary for invasion of the countries to the east of Germany, especially Poland and Russia, to get the ''[[Lebensraum]]'' ("living space") he believed was necessary to the survival of the Aryan race. For this, he needed the co-operation of not only the military, but also the vital organs of capitalism, the banks and big businesses, which he would be unlikely to get if Germany's social and economic structure was being radically overhauled. Röhm's public proclamation that the SA would not allow the "German Revolution" to be halted or undermined caused Hitler to announce that "The revolution is not a permanent condition." The unwillingness of Röhm and the SA to cease their agitation for a "Second Revolution", and the unwarranted fear of a "Röhm putsch" to accomplish it, were factors behind Hitler's purging of the SA leadership in the Night of the Long Knives in the summer of 1934.{{sfn|Kershaw|1999|pp=501–503}}{{sfn|Bracher|1970|pp=300–302}} Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]], the last [[German Emperor]], was appalled at the [[Kristallnacht]] of 9–10 November 1938, stating "For the first time, I am ashamed to be a German":{{Sfn | Balfour | 1964 | p = 419}} {{blockquote|There's a man alone, without family, without children, without God ... He builds legions, but he doesn't build a nation. A nation is created by families, a religion, traditions: it is made up out of the hearts of mothers, the wisdom of fathers, the joy and the exuberance of children ... For a few months I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it as a necessary fever. And I was gratified to see that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he has got rid of or even killed ... He has left nothing but a bunch of shirted gangsters! This man could bring home victories to our people each year, without bringing them either glory or danger. But of our Germany, which was a nation of poets and musicians, of artists and soldiers, he has made a nation of hysterics and hermits, engulfed in a mob and led by a thousand liars or fanatics.|Wilhelm on Hitler, December 1938<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Kaiser on Hitler|magazine=[[Ken (magazine)|Ken]]|date=15 December 1938 |url=http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/Kaiser_Wm_and_Hitler.pdf |access-date=2 October 2016}}</ref>}} [[Otto von Hapsburg]], the last [[List of heirs to the Austrian throne|Crown Prince]] of [[Austria-Hungary]], denounced Nazism, stating:<ref name="gunther1936">{{cite book | url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16059565W/Inside_Europe | title=Inside Europe | publisher=Harper & Brothers | last=Gunther |first=John | date=1936 | pages=321–323}}</ref> {{blockquote|I absolutely reject [Nazi] Fascism for Austria ... This un-Austrian movement promises everything to everyone, but really intends the most ruthless subjugation of the Austrian people ... The people of Austria will never tolerate that our beautiful fatherland should become an exploited colony, and that the Austrian should become a man of second category.}} Following the German annexation of Austria, Otto was sentenced to death by the Nazi regime; [[Rudolf Hess]] ordered that Otto was to be executed immediately if caught.<ref name="guardian-obit">{{cite news|author=Dan van der Vat | author-link = Dan van der Vat |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/04/otto-von-habsburg-obituary |title=Otto von Habsburg obituary |work=The Guardian |date= 4 July 2011|access-date=6 July 2011 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=https://habsburgottoalapitvany.hu/en/biography/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=Otto von Habsburg Foundation |date=12 August 2019 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>Omeidl "Rudolf Hess, der Stellvertreter des Führers, hatte den deutschen Invasionstruppen für das neutrale Belgien den Befehl erteilt, Otto von Habsburg und seine Brüder, falls sie gefasst würden, ohne jedes weitere Verfahren sofort zu erschießen." {{cite web |url=http://www.omeidl.com/monarch.html |title=Monarch |access-date=2011-11-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005080553/http://www.omeidl.com/monarch.html |archive-date=5 October 2010}}</ref> As ordered by [[Adolf Hitler]], his personal property and that of the House of Habsburg were confiscated. It was not returned after the war.<ref>{{cite news|last=Zoch |first=Irene |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1455082/Habsburgs-demand-return-of-estates-seized-by-Nazis-in-1938.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1455082/Habsburgs-demand-return-of-estates-seized-by-Nazis-in-1938.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Habsburgs demand return of estates seized by Nazis in 1938 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=22 February 2004 |access-date=6 July 2011 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The so-called "[[Habsburg Law]]", which had previously been repealed, was reintroduced by the Nazis.<ref name="newser">{{cite web |url=http://www.newser.com/article/d9o8qcb00/otto-von-habsburg-oldest-son-of-austria-hungarys-last-emperor-dies-at-age-98.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026093053/https://www.newser.com/article/d9o8qcb00/otto-von-habsburg-dies-at-age-98.html |archive-date=26 October 2019 |title=Otto von Habsburg dies at age 98 |website=[[Newser]] |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |access-date=4 February 2024}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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