Review by Choice Review
During the Weimar years, well-organized Social Democratic and Communist parties functioned, although the conservative "bourgeois" parties usually held power. Yet the Nazis grew so rapidly that by 1932 Saxony, a densely populated industrial state and working-class center, had become their largest region. Historian Szejnmann's main promise is that to understand why such a brutal and radical movement could be attractive, one must analyze both Nazism and the society in which it operated. He surveys the historical tensions between labor and the bourgeoisie, explains the role of Nazi propaganda during the economic crisis, and provides statistical data about the social basis of the Nazi leaders, members, and voters. He argues that Saxon society was divided into two milieus--the socialist, based on organized labor, and the nationalist, based on conservative elites. The Nazis related to both milieus by promoting a national revival, one that would unite the nation against the Versailles treaty and the Depression and replace class struggle with harmony and unity. Promising a combination of nationalist values and individual prosperity, they were a people's party, one that drew support from across the social spectrum. Despite a few minor flaws, this is an insightful, well-documented, and convincing study. Upper-division undergraduates and above. R. V. Pierard; Indiana State University-Terre Haute
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
