How Nazis Win: And How to Stop Them

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And How to Stop Them

Don’t make the same mistake twice.

The tactics used in the 1930s are resurfacing today. Learn how we got here and how we can stop history from repeating.

Topics

These topics have been carefully researched to highlight parallels between past and present. Learn to spot extremism, then and now.

Polarization
Polarization fractures societies, turning disagreements into tribal conflicts where compromise is often viewed as weakness. Far-right movements exploit these divisions and deepen the rifts, driving people to extremes.
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Faith in Institutions
When our faith in institutions erodes, legitimate frustration with politics opens the door to autocrats. Throughout history the far-right has offered simplistic solutions that do nothing but dismantle democracy.
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Big Business
From Thyssen and Krupp in Germany to the Koch brothers and conglomerates today, big business repeatedly aligns with far-right movements, betting on influence when it suits them. In both eras, they mistakenly believed they could somehow reign in far-right populists, burning their money to finance those who would burn books.
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Economic Anxiety
Downturns fuel desperation, turning people towards demagogues who offer easy explanations and swift changes over doing the hard work of democracy. The far-right jams up the gears of good governance and offer false promises to voters who are hungry for change and fed up with their politicians.
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The Media
Propaganda and profit-making have always cross-pollinated: Berlin tabloids and The New York Post; Alfred Hugenberg and Rupert Murdoch; The Racial Observer and Breitbart News. These media empires spread conspiracies to pad their pockets, eroding our trust in institutions—including journalism itself—while emboldening authoritarians.
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Conspiracy Theories
From Weimar’s “stab-in-the-back” myth to the QAnon movement, far-right politicians create feedback loops that amplify misinformation and bring followers into the fold. They deliver simple explanations for complex problems to people who are desperate for answers. These theories destabilize democracies and often scapegoat minorities to distract from their true agendas.
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Elections
Hitler cried foul on election fraud but no one took him seriously, while Trump rewrote the art of the “big lie” and managed to undermine faith in voting, our most fundamental democratic act. Once in power, the Nazis weren’t subtle: one ballot featured a single checkbox for “yes.” America’s far-right exploits a litany of more subtle methods—some dating back to Jim Crow—to manipulate democracy and create the illusion of choice.
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Corruption
The exploitation of public office for personal gain is characteristic of the far-right. Hitler renounced his salary but amassed millions in bribes and government-mandated purchases of Mein Kampf. Trump refused his salary but made millions from foreign business deals while in office. Positions of power are used to funnel money through secret deals and personal connections, eroding our trust and hollowing out our democratic institutions.
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Culture Wars
From “Red Berlin” to “sanctuary cities,” the culture wars pit cosmopolitan city mice against conservative country mice, dividing society along lines of gender, religion, and identity. Just as rural German Protestants raged against Weimar modernity, today’s far-right fundamentalists wage war on “woke,” fostering disillusionment and creating a breeding ground for those eager to weaponize identity.
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Loss of Status
Just as the German middle class feared losing status to industrial workers and Jews, today’s far-right captures white, rural anxiety over shifting demographics and cultural change. These fears—exacerbated by politicians pushing conspiracies like the “Great Replacement”—fuel resentment and drive support for authoritarians who promise to make things great again.
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Immigration and the Border
From Weimar Germany’s “bleeding border” and fears of eastern refugees, to American anxieties over “migrant caravans” and terrorists hiding among asylum seekers, far-right movements have long exploited immigration to stoke xenophobia and consolidate power. They blame outsiders for societal decline, using manufactured crises to push authoritarian agendas by making scapegoats of the most vulnerable.
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Paramilitaries
Germany had the Brownshirts and the Steel Helmets. America has the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. Far-right militias use brute strength to intimidate opposition groups and elected officials. They operate with alarming impunity and often align with state forces to escalate violence and consolidate power.
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Law Enforcement
American and Weimar police alike have thought themselves to be apolitical keepers of the peace. But over time, their natural inclination to support those who support them—those who “back the blue”—turns them into enforcers for the far-right. The police shield is then abused to protect the powerful and suppress the opposition.
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The Judiciary
The courts have historically found it hard to maintain independence with authoritarians in their ranks. Weimar’s judges struggled to constrain the rise of the Nazis, and were then reluctant to oppose the new regime. American judges are increasingly split along partisan lines. Judges have either actively aligned with far-right agendas or been too passive to resist, allowing bad actors to manipulate the law to centralize control.
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Civil Service
The Nazis purged disloyal civil servants under the 1933 “Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service.” Trump promises to use “Schedule F” to purge the “deep state” on day one. The far-right frequently seeks the power to fire in the name of reform, but the goal—said out loud—is to replace independent officials with party loyalists who will work to destroy democracy from the inside.
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Political Violence
Landvolk bombings and Brownshirt street brawls. Lone wolf shootings and fights with Antifa. Far-right groups have long used violence to intimidate opponents and destabilize democracy. Whether it’s a putsch in a German beer hall or QAnon in the Capitol, they often operate without fear of reprisal, fueled by conspiracy theories and emboldened by weak institutional responses.
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Crime
In both Germany and America, the perception of crime has often outweighed reality. Crime today is consistently down, but Americans consistently believe it’s up. The far-right exploits sensationalized news, turning public anxiety into justifications for police crackdowns that disproportionately target the vulnerable, all while strengthening their hold.
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Fear of Civil War
The threat of civil conflict haunts societies on the brink of authoritarianism. The German army dreaded civil war before the Nazis came to power and Americans grow increasingly anxious of one today. Whether it’s Weimar plans to preempt Nazi violence or Republican politicians warning of a coming civil war, the far-right manipulates these fears to justify aggressive actions and create the very instability they claim to avert.
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The Leader
Far-right leaders rely on personal brand loyalty and crisis politics to rally disillusioned masses. Hitler rose as a charismatic figure promising salvation while Trump grows an unhinged cult of personality. Both men cultivated followers not through complex ideas, but through simple, emotional rhetoric, offering themselves as the only solution to their nation’s crises while leveraging their image to stoke fear, hatred, and blind devotion.
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"Reichstag Moments"
From Hitler’s Reichstag fire to Trump’s plan for an Inauguration Day emergency, far-right leaders create and exploit crises to coordinate their takeovers. Just as the Nazis used the fire to justify crackdowns, Trump’s planned invocation of the Insurrection Act will stoke fear and pave the way for undemocratic measures, manipulating threats to secure authority.
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Enabling Acts and Enablers
Authoritarianism often disguises itself as order, wielding the law as a weapon against democracy itself. In the aftermath of the Reichstag fire, the Nazis did just that, exploiting existing laws and passing new ones—most notably the Enabling Act—to secure power and suppress dissent. Trump promises a repeat, to deploy the military against dissenters and to bypass our system of checks and balances. He failed to do so in his first term because he was restrained by those around him. Now he is poised to succeed, with loyalists by his side, a grant of immunity from the Supreme Court, the institutional support of Republicans, and the widespread failure to hold him accountable for anything.
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Deportation and Denaturalization
In their first years in power the Nazis forced the emigration of roughly 20,000 Jews per year. Trump plans a mass deportation of 15-20 million people in just four years, including legal residents and "socialists." The Nazis stripped citizenship from Jews by law while the American far-right invokes archaic laws to denaturalize their undesirables. There is a chilling continuity in the use of legal mechanisms to target masses of people, opening the door to instability and violence.
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Suppression
Soon after taking power, the Nazis manufactured crises to justify their suppression of dissent. They projected their fear of the left to dismantle civil liberties and target political opponents. Trump carries on this legacy and promises to be a "dictator on day one," vowing to deploy the military to quash protests and round up migrants. History shows us that martial law invoked for retribution only results in ruthless persecution.
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Concentration Camps
The Nazis' early concentration camps were not like Auschwitz. Many were in pubs or basements. They targeted political opponents, serving as tools for brutality and intimidation in order to suppress dissent. In 1933 there were one to two hundred thousand arrested, many freed after only a few days. Just 5% were Jews. Today, Trump promises to put the military in American streets to crack down on "Antifa," to raid workplaces, and to round up millions every year. His public plans for "massive camps" for immigrants and even "socialists" have led level-headed commentators to question whether they, too, could wind up in a camp. His promised war on cartels or even Mexico amplifies the risk of violence. History shows us, particularly from the War on Terror, that under perceived threat, even Americans are capable of terrorizing, torturing, and killing.
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Denial
Before the Nazis took power, many dismissed their rise and rhetoric. They underestimated Hitler’s intentions and capabilities, or just outright ignored his own words. Politicians and commentators expressed skepticism, convinced in the power of checks and balances and confident that democracy would stand. Even Albert Einstein remained skeptical until it was too late. Today, echoes of this denialism resonate across America. Many downplay the dangers posed by Trump. They believe his actions are impossible or that he will be restrained by institutions. History should give us pause. The belief that "it can't happen here" is not only wrong, it can actually help make it happen.
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Resistance
German political opposition to the Nazis was weak at best. The Social Democrats over-relied on legal norms and faith in checks and balances, and the Communists failed to organize any significant opposition. Communists refused to work with others on the left. The result was complete capitulation. By the time the Nazis persecuted political leaders among their conservative allies, it was too late. Today’s lack of urgency echoes these past failures. While some groups quietly prepare for a second Trump administration, history shows that resistance must be robust and organized. Many are apathetic, sick of politics, or tired of fighting. Some on the American left risk electing Trump due to ideological purity tests or single issue votes, ironically yielding power to those who would make things worse. To safeguard democracy, citizens and institutions must mobilize collectively, reject complacency, and actively challenge attempts to undermine democratic norms.
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How to Fix It
The short-term answer is clear: we must defeat Trump and his enablers at the ballot box. However, we can't just vote for Harris or the Democrats. That's necessary, but insufficient. The root causes of our discontent need fixed. We need ambitious reforms and a future beyond our two-party system and its downward spiral of polarization. Loneliness is endemic in America and many of us struggle to make ends meet. Most Americans struggle to make friends and are wary of their neighbors. How can we make meaningful change against powerful resistance to reform when we're busy just getting by? I have some ideas for how we can start.
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