Who voted for Hitler

[erudito]

Richard F Hamilton’s Who Voted for Hitler is a great example of how historical sociology should be done-open mindedly, based on careful examination of the evidence.

By carefully going through the evidence, Hamilton builds up a nuanced picture of voting support for the NSDAP. He makes it quite clear that the Nazis were building strength and

Comments

[anonymous]

That book is rather old now. I recall that he focuses on major cities.

This is a more recent article by Dick Greary published in History today. Nowhere does he contradict your point. In fact he cites Hamilton as a source. However, I thought you might find it interesting.

The received version of the history does seem to be lacking.

Elsewhere Michael Burleigh in The Third Reich: A New History mentions the strange phenomena that ex-Communists were welcomed into the NSDAP. Rank and file of course, not the leadership.

TDK

Ta

[erudito]

Geary's is a nice piece, thanks for bringing it to my attention. His conclusions are very similar to Hamilton's (who covered rural voters quite a lot in his book). Though Hamilton did not consider differences in male and female voting habits.

Burleigh

[erudito]

Burleigh's book is excellent. I intend to review it soonish.

There is nothing surprising about ex-Communists being welcomed into the Nazis. They had similar attitudes to how politics was conducted and overlapping views about social solidarity. Some of the dynamics of that is discussed here.