Who Was Otto Wels?

[louis c]

Last edited Mon Sep 19, 2016, 01:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Otto Wels was the candidate from the Social Democratic Party who finished second to Adolf Hitler in the last free election in Germany, prior to the end of WWII. The Parlimentary election was held in November of 1932. Because the Nazis won a plurality but could not cobble together a majority, Hindenburg appointed Hitler "Acting Chancellor". In March of 1933, a new election was held, and Hitler and the Nazis were able to gain a parliamentary majority after dominating an election full of intimidation and voter fraud. This was the election that featured the famous "Reichstag Fire" which brought Adolf Hitler to power in what was, at the time, the strongest Constitutional Democracy in Europe.

My point is, votes matter and who you vote for matters more. Do you think, with the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, that anyone who voted in that election in Germany in November of 1932 and had it to do over again, would have voted for anyone else except Otto Wels? Here's the moral of the story; Sometimes there are no second chances. Sometimes it's not so smart to vote to "send a message". Sometimes "the lesser of two evils" is an inaccurate saying. Sometimes one candidate represents stability and the other really is evil.

Maybe there were a lot of Germans who were looking for change in 1932. After all, the depression hit the whole world and Germany was among the hardest hit. Hitler represented that anger and disappointment in Germany at that time. Wels, on the other hand, was part of the ruling class that had to deal with their loss in WWI and the reparations that worsened the German economy. In other words, the voters in Germany had a better excuse for their historically awful choice in the German 1932 election. As Americans, we have no excuse for electing a man who is a totalitarian Demagogue to the most important office the world has ever known.

[BSdetect]

1. Those who do not learn from history

are bound to repeat it.

[WhiteTara]

2. Louis C...great post

would you correct the war number in your article ...paragraph 3. It was their loss in WWI they were coping with. I'd like to reprint this your permission on my facebook page. Thanks.

[louis c]

4. Done, thanks.

I don't know how I missed that.

[mopinko]

6. yeah, you got the war number wrong in both places.

[CBGLuthier]

3. I have to disagree. Even knowing how it turned out would not stop a true-blue fascist from voting

for Hitler. Your assumption is that people are capable of making rational decisions about politics. I do not believe that.

[louis c]

5. That's my point

The fascists only got 38% of the vote in November of 1932. If the rest of the minority parties had formed a coalition and supported Wels' election, Hitler would not have had the plurality which enabled him to be "acting Chancellor" as they waited for the new election, which was held on March 5, 1933.

[Marengo]

7. In the first sentence, did you mean to write WWII?

[louis c]

9. Corrected

I think I got them right this time.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

8. K&R

[louis c]

10. kick