“Was Germany in the 1930s anything like the US now?”
I get asked that a lot, not because I was there but because my parents were, and my father left behind plenty of papers and correspondence for me to study — which I did recently, along with deep dives into the history of that era.
Basic answer: Yes, there are similarities between then and now, as well as many differences, the most important being that the United States has a lot more going for it — historically, culturally, and politically — than Germany in the 1930s.
For one thing, Germany had only 15 years of experience with democracy from the time it established the Weimar Republic in 1918 until 1933, whereas the U.S. has had almost 250 years of experience with democracy, however clumsy or imperfect it may often seem.
When Germany first adopted a constitutional government, it was at a dark time in their nation’s history — a defeated emperor with a defeated army, a wrecked economy and a dispirited population.
The first thing Hitler did when he became dictator was to abolish the constitution and the institutions of democratic governance.
For another, German culture embraced authority, especially hierarchical, entitled and militaristic authority, and had so for centuries, taking it to higher levels than any other nation in modern history.
Americans from the beginning distrusted authority, disrespected it, disobeyed it, thumbed their noses at it while carrying flags saying, “Don’t tread on me,” and crossed the forbidding Appalachians to settle lands beyond the reach of The Law.
In America, defiance of authority is a way of life, and outlaws are national heroes.
America’s strengths have always been our basic rights and freedoms, as guaranteed in the Constitution and its 27 amendments.
This is the foundation that makes our country exceptional — and great. This is the self-proclaimed land of the free and the home of the brave, working “to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
Among these are the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution that secured freedom of religion, speech and the press; rights of assembly and petition; the right to bear arms; security against unreasonable searches and seizures; rights in criminal cases, civil cases, and rights to fair trial; as well as the rights guaranteed by the 14th, 15th, and 16th amendments and others that came later.
Germany had nothing like that in the 1930s, and Hitler did nothing to encourage it.
However, there’s no doubt that our rights and freedoms are under threat in the U.S. in 2026 in ways rarely before experienced in this country.
In his classic “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” William L. Shirer recounted the three major principles that guided Hitler’s journey from convicted and jailed traitor to the top job in less than 10 years.
Propaganda
