The German Communists and the Rise of Nazism

In this work Conan Fischer investigates how the public-brawling between Communists and Nazis during the Weimar Era masked a more subtle and complex relationship. It examines the way in which the National Socialists' growth across traditional class and regional barriers came to threaten the Communists on their home ground and forced them to adopt increasingly precarious, comprising strategies to confront this challenge. Encouraged by Moscow, they ascribed a qualified legitimacy to grass-roots Nazism which justified fraternisation with Hitler's ordinary supporters. Fischer's book thereby strengthens and elaborates recent perceptions of Nazism as a populist mass movement and shows the collapse of Weimar to have been even more convoluted and controversial than hitherto believed. Cover 1 Contents 7 Acknowledgements 8 Abbreviations 10 Introduction 12 1 The Early KPD: Responses to Weakness 16 2 The National Question 1918–1922 37 3 The 1923 Crisis 56 4 The Stabilisation Era, 1924–1928: General Developments 85 5 The Stabilisation Era, 1924–1928: The KPD and Right-Radicals in the Factories 96 6 Communist–Nazi Relations 1928–1932: The Ideological Dimension 117 7 The Sociology of Communist–Nazi Relations 133 8 The Battle for the Unemployed and for Territory 153 9 The Struggle in the Workplace 177 Conclusion 204 Notes 212 Sources 274 Glossary of German words and terms 286 Index 288 In This Radically Revisionist Work Conan Fischer Investigates How The Public Brawling Between Communists And Nazis During The Weimar Era Masked A More Subtle And Complex Relationship. It Examines The Way In Which The National Socialists' Growth Across Traditional Class And Regional Barriers Came To Threaten The Communists On Their Home Ground And Forced Them To Adopt Increasingly Precarious, Compromising Strategies To Confront This Challenge. Encouraged By Moscow, They Ascribed A Qualified Legitimacy To Grass-roots Nazism Which Justified Fraternisation With Hitler's Ordinary Supporters. An investigation into how the public brawling between communists and Nazis during the Weimar era masked a more subtle and complex relationship. This work suggests that the communists were forced into compromising strategies to counter the popularity of the Nazis at every level of society Conan Fischer. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 259-270) And Index.