February 7, 2025 - Classroom

Snowmelt drips from the window ledge in uneasy rhythm.

Dr. Brenner sets his worn briefcase on the desk. Shoulders loosening. He clicks a thin stack of cards into alignment. Discussion day. Guardrails via questions. He wipes his glasses once, faces the class, and the murmur fades.

"History drill first," he says. "March 5, 1933: the last multiparty election of the Weimar Republic–Nazis won 43.9 percent, the German National People's Party added 8 percent, giving their coalition a slim Reichstag majority."

"March 13, 1933: Joseph Goebbels became Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment, centralizing control of press, film, and radio into one cabinet post."

"April 7, 1933: The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service purged Jews and political opponents from government positions, a key step in Gleichschaltung–coordinating every institution with Nazi objectives."

He writes today's core question across the whiteboard: How did conservative gatekeepers, emergency powers, and economic crisis combine to dissolve Weimar democracy? "That aligns with our three discussion questions from the syllabus. We tackle them one by one."

A triangle appears beneath the prompt: "Elites," "Law," "Crisis."

Dr. Brenner taps the first corner. "Question one: Why did conservative elites believe they could control Hitler?"

Marcus responds. "They saw him as a mass mobilizer who could secure right-wing goals–crush communists, break unions–while they steered policy. Papen and Hugenberg assumed Hindenburg plus non-Nazi ministers could fence him in."

Jake's hand goes up. "And for weeks it looked viable. The cabinet was majority conservative. Hitler needed Hindenburg's signature on decrees."

"Fair," Dr. Brenner says. "Structural illusion: conservatives mistook formal positions for real leverage. They ignored the SA's street power and the propaganda blitz shifting public opinion daily."

Michael Lee asks, "Can we pin down what we mean by 'elites'? Who counted in Germany–and who are we talking about when we say elites now?"

"Good clarifying question," Dr. Brenner replies. "In Weimar, elites were men with institutional leverage: President Hindenburg, Papen and other conservative ministers, industrialists clustered in the Ruhr coal and steel trusts, senior army officers, and big-bank financiers who could make or break cabinets."

He taps the board. "Today, when we say elites in a U.S. context, we're looking at people who shape policy outside the ballot box–party leadership, major donors and corporate executives, agency heads, senior judges, media conglomerate owners. Different era, same idea: actors with enough institutional authority or resources to gatekeep democratic outcomes."

Jennifer's hand goes up. "So who's to blame for Hitler taking over–Hitler himself or those elites who let him in?"

"Historians resist a single culprit," Dr. Brenner says. "Hitler drove the project–ideology, ruthlessness, willingness to use violence–but conservative elites, industrialists, the army, and civil servants enabled him. They supplied legitimacy, resources, and compliance. Without their accommodation, his path would have been far steeper."

Nisha jumps in. "They also underestimated how fast staffing changes matter. The April 7 civil-service purge happened because lists were ready. Once loyalists fill the bureaucracy, cabinet majorities on paper mean nothing."

Billy snorts. "Or they just wanted factories running and communists jailed. They gambled and got what they asked for."

Dr. Brenner nods. "Transactional calculus can blind; short-term wins become long-term capture. Let's park that under 'elite miscalculation.'" He writes it on the board.

He taps the second corner: "Question two: How did the Nazis exploit constitutional emergency powers?"

Sarah offers, "Article 48 normalized governing by decree. Once Hindenburg signed the Reichstag Fire Decree, detention without trial and press suppression were legal. The Enabling Act then transferred that power to Hitler's cabinet."

Jake pushes back. "But Article 48 was constitutional. If the president and parliament authorize it, isn't that still legal governance?"

"Legal, yes," Dr. Brenner says. "The key shift was permanence. The decree never sunset. Emergency powers meant to be temporary became the new baseline, especially once the Enabling Act allowed laws that contradicted the constitution itself."

Nisha scribbles a note. "Look at our week: executive orders firing inspectors general, the Schedule Policy/Career purge, the university funding freezes. All justified as emergency responses. Same pattern–legal tools weaponized to reshape institutions before opposition coheres."

Billy snaps upright. "They're firing bureaucrats who ignored voters! It's cleaning house, not a coup."

Jake nods. "And courts have already blocked parts of those orders. Comparing them to Nazi decrees cheapens history."

Dr. Brenner centers the marker in his fingers. "Diagnostic discipline. Nisha highlights the speed and rhetoric; Billy and Jake underscore continuing checks. We document both realities and keep labels precise."

He taps the third corner. "Question three: What role did economic crisis play?"

Emily says, "The Great Depression shattered faith in Weimar institutions. Six million unemployed by 1932 made radical promises attractive. Conservatives believed only a strong hand could restore stability."

Amir adds, "Investors and industrialists backed Hitler to end strikes and rearm–economic desperation fused with elite self-interest."

Marcus asks, "Is crisis necessary, or just accelerant? Would Gleichschaltung have worked without mass unemployment?"

"Excellent question," Dr. Brenner says. "Depression supplied urgency and legitimized drastic measures. Without it, coercion might have met stiffer resistance."

He divides the board into three columns labeled with the discussion questions. "Let's populate evidence. Talk in pairs: note one concrete example per column. Two minutes."

Chairs scrape; low voices trade citations. Jake and Sarah debate Hindenburg's age and Papen's ego; Nisha and Marcus list decrees and purges; Sofiia and Emily parse unemployment charts; Billy mostly listens while Michael Lee nudges him toward industrial support examples.

Reconvening, Dr. Brenner fills the board: "Elites: Papen's vice-chancellorship, Hindenburg's confidence memos. Emergency powers: Reichstag Fire Decree, Enabling Act. Economic crisis: 43.9 percent Nazi vote in March 1933 built on Depression despair."

He circles the grid. "Now, synthesis. What's the lesson for democratic resilience?"

Marcus answers. "Institutions fail when elites misjudge risk, emergencies become routine, and crisis rhetoric makes extraordinary actions seem necessary. And we're watching a version of that playbook right now. Hitler had 53 days from appointment to the Enabling Act. We're 18 days into this administration."

He ticks off points on his fingers. "Day one: 26 executive orders, including Schedule Policy/Career–that's the civil service purge mechanism. Day five: the inspectors general fired by email, no statutory notice. Week two: federal funding freezes to universities, Guantanamo detention expansion memos. This week: indirect cost rate cuts threatening university research budgets."

"Hitler exploited Article 48's normalization–emergency decrees were already routine before he arrived. We've normalized executive orders and emergency declarations too. Hitler had the Reichstag Fire as pretext; we have 'invasion' language at the border. Hitler purged the civil service April 7th with pre-made lists; we're watching personnel loyalty tests in real time."

Marcus glances at Jake. "I'm not saying it's identical. We still have functioning courts issuing injunctions. Congress hasn't passed an enabling act. But the mechanisms Nisha keeps pointing to–speed, emergency framing, institutional reshaping before opposition organizes–those are directly comparable. And conservative elites are making the same bet Papen made: that they can control this, that institutions will hold, that norms matter more than the person wielding the tools."

Jake responds. "And voters backed whoever promised order when opposition stopped offering credible alternatives."

Nisha exhales sharply. "Which is why critical media and civil service independence matter. Without them, you get rubber-stamp legality."

Billy mutters, "Sometimes people just want the trains on time. That's not fascism."

Dr. Brenner keeps his tone even. "Stability is a legitimate desire. The historian's job is to track what gets traded away to secure it–and whether traded rights ever return." He underlines "trade-offs."

He checks the clock–ten minutes left. "Preview: Next week we turn to Gleichschaltung's next phase–trade unions dissolved on May 2, 1933; the German Labor Front installed; courts reshaped; concentration camp systems expanding. Read Evans on institutional capture, and bring the Ryback article to mark how the 52-day sprint set the stage."

Before dismissing, he ensures quieter voices speak. All accounted for.