Lessons from Weimar Germany

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Nuremberg, the new movie about the trial to hold Nazi war criminals accountable for their actions during World War II, ends with this prescient quote: “The only clue to what man can do is what man has done.” While accusations of fascism and Nazis are tossed around far too often these days, it’s essential to know the conditions that made the Nazi rise to power possible.

The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, placed all the blame for the war on Germany and demanded the country pay reparations. The treaty was demoralizing and unjust, designed to turn Germany into a second-rate power that could never again wage war. Clearly, it was a miscalculation.

The reparations were so extreme that it was impossible for Germany to pay them. Instead, the German government attempted to inflate the nation out of debt by increasing the money supply. People began burning paper money for heat because it was cheaper than buying wood. Women brought wheelbarrows full of Deutsche marks to the store but could not even buy a newspaper with it. In fact, the exchange rate between the mark and the U.S. dollar at that time was one trillion to one. Cigarettes were a more reliable currency. In 1923, a loaf of bread cost 428 billion marks, and postage stamps cost millions of marks. Savings were destroyed, workers were destitute, university graduates and doctors drove taxis. The only Germans who prospered were those with real assets, such as landowners, financiers, and industrialists.

Germany became polarized, and moderate political parties became increasingly irrelevant. Many industrial workers, trade unionists, and intellectuals turned to Communism. In this context, Hitler was able to rise to power by spotlighting the hardships of the people and telling them it was not their fault. He blamed the Treaty of Versailles, and the German government which had stabbed everyday Germans in the back. And behind it all, Hitler claimed, were the Jews.

The national socialism of Hitler strongly opposed the international socialism of the Communists. Violent street battles between the two sides led many to conclude that dictatorship was the only hope for stability. This brought Hitler to power. Even those who believed his ideas were crazy went along because they thought they could control him.

America is not Weimar Germany, Trump is not Hitler, and calling political opponents fascists and Nazis does not make them so. Even so, it would be foolish to ignore the lessons of Germany’s political history.

We’ve not reached the point of hyperinflation, but inflation has been steadily building since the Biden administration’s “quantitative easing” during Covid. Though the scale is not the same, expanding the money supply without corresponding increase in economic production is what caused hyperinflation in Weimar Germany. In our context, President Biden’s open border immigration policy also contributed to inflation.

The rising generations today also face the prospect of lower living standards than their parents. College graduates, even from elite universities, experience a downward mobility caused by the overproduction of elites. Many were radicalized in college by a Critical Theory narrative of oppression, which has led them to believe that the nation of Israel are colonial oppressors and behind various evils in the world. And, like their counterparts in Weimar Germany, many have moved toward Marxism.

Meanwhile, the “woke Right” is filled young men who see little prospect of finding a good job, owning a home, or getting married. They are tired of the educational system and media blaming them for all the world’s problems, and of missing out on opportunities because of DEI programs. They distrust all institutions and question the “postwar consensus.” Many of them buy, or at least flirt with, white nationalism, racism, and conspiracy theories about the Jews as the source of evil in the world. Some seek to rehabilitate Hitler.

In short, there is an increased radicalism among the “Zoomers” within both parties. As Charlie Kirk noted about the rise of Zohran Mamdani as an extreme leftist socialist, “This is yet another distress signal by the young people that, hey, if you’re not going to fix our life economically, we’re going to get very radical politically.”

These realities are yet another reason that the Church must “get political.” To be clear, we must move upstream from politics and demonstrate how a Biblical view of human dignity, nations, the rule of law, marriage, work, and productivity offer a better way. But we must not avoid these issues.

What Paul instructed the Colossians applies to the young people who are returning to our churches and to the churches to which they are returning: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” That requires, as Paul told the church at Corinth, that “we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

The question is whether they will find this kind of faith at church.

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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Kutay Tanir 

John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.