29 Cabinet meeting on 17 Oct. 1933; Die Regierung Hitler, part 1, vol. 2, no. 231, p. 908.
30 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 293 (entry for 17 Oct. 1933).
31 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 1, pp. 318–23 (quotations on pp. 319, 321, 320, 322).
32 Ibid., pp. 323f. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 299 (entry for 25 Oct. 1933): “He spoke fabulously, especially at the end. Marvellous ovations. People were beside themselves. A good start.”
33 See Hans Baur, Ich flog Mächtige der Erde, Kempten im Allgäu, 1956, pp. 108–10.
34 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 1, p. 326.
35 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 310 (entry for 9 Nov. 1923).
36 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 1, p. 330.
37 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 311 (entry for 11 Nov. 1933).
38 Victor Klemperer, Ich will Zeugnis ablegen bis zum letzten: Tagebücher 1933–1941, ed. Walter Nowojski with Hadwig Klemperer, Berlin, 1995, pp. 67f. (entry for 11 Nov. 1933).
39 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 609 (entry for 15 Oct. 1933).
40 See Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 1, p. 331.
41 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 313 (entry for 13 Nov. 1933).
42 Klemperer, Tagebücher 1933–1941, p. 68 (entry for 14 Nov. 1933).
43 See Die Regierung Hitler, part 1, vol. 2, no. 243n1, pp. 939f. See also Norbert Frei, Der Führerstaat: Nationalsozialistische Herrschaft 1933 bis 1945, new and expanded edition, Munich, 2001, p. 94.
44 Dinichert to Federal Counsellor Giuseppe Motta, 17 Nov. 1933; Bajohr and Strupp (eds), Fremde Blicke auf das “Dritte Reich,” pp. 391f.
45 Bernd Stöver, Volksgemeinschaft im Dritten Reich: Die Konsensbereitschaft der Deutschen aus der Sicht sozialistischer Exilberichte, Düsseldorf, 1993, p. 178.
46 Die Regierung Hitler, part 1, vol. 2, no. 243, pp. 339–41.
47 Official communiqué dated 3 May 1933; ibid. part 1, vol. 1, no. 107, p. 382n4.
48 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 277 (entry for 27 Sept. 1933).
49 See Jacobsen, Nationalsozialistische Aussenpolitik, pp. 403–6; Gerhard L. Weinberg, The Foreign Policy of Hitler’s Germany. Vol. 1: Diplomatic Revolution in Europe 1933–1936, London, 1970, pp. 184–94.
50 Ebermayer, Denn heute gehört uns Deutschland, p. 248 (entry for 28 Jan. 1934). See Irene Strenge, Ferdinand von Bredow: Notizen vom 20. 2. 1933 bis 31. 12. 1933. Tägliche Aufzeichnungen vom 1. 1. 1934 bis 28. 6. 1934, Berlin, 2009, p. 218 (dated 28 Jan. 1934): “Not a bad gambit.”
51 See cabinet meeting on 25 April 1933; Die Regierung Hitler, part 1, vol. 1, no. 107, p. 381.
52 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 317 (entry for 17 Nov. 1933).
53 Phipps to Simon, 31 Jan. 1934; DBFP 1919–1939, 2nd series, vol. 6, p. 365; see Schmidt, Die Aussenpolitik des Dritten Reiches, p. 157.
54 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 1, p. 357.
55 Hildebrand, Das vergangene Reich, p. 586.
56 Speech to his cabinet on 26 Sept. 1933; Die Regierung Hitler, part 1, vol. 1, no. 218, p. 838. See also Bülow’s memorandum of 26 Sept. 1933; ADAP, Series C, vol. 1, part 2, no. 457, pp. 839f.: “He said that it was only natural for a sharp antagonism to persist between Germany and Russia, but that he didn’t support breaking off German–Russian relations or giving the Russians any pretence for doing so.”
57 Die Weizsäcker-Papiere 1933–1950, ed. Leonidas Hill, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Vienna, 1974, pp. 70, 76 (dated 30 March 1033, end of Aug. 1933). See Conze et al., Das Amt und die Vergangenheit, pp. 69f.
58 See Jacobsen, Nationalsozialistische Aussenpolitik, pp. 45ff., 90ff., 252ff.; Schmidt, Die Aussenpolitik des Dritten Reiches, pp. 60, 65–70.
59 Die Weizsäcker-Papiere 1933–1950, p. 74 (dated 6 Aug. 1933).
60 André François-Poncet, Als Botschafter in Berlin 1931–1938, Mainz, 1947, p. 146. After visiting Berlin in May 1934, King Boris of Bulgaria stated: “I have seen many great dictators, but none of them were as proper and upstanding as Hitler!” German embassy in Sofia to Foreign Minister von Neurath, 24 May 1934; BA Koblenz, N 1310/10.
61 Anthony Eden, Angesichts der Diktatoren: Memoiren 1923–1938, Cologne and Berlin, 1964, p. 88; R. R. James, Anthony Eden, London, 1988, p. 135; See Schmidt, Die Aussenpolitik des Dritten Reiches, p. 23.
62 Conversation between Hitler and Lord Eden, 20 Feb. 1934; Die Regierung Hitler, part 1, vol. 2, no. 305, pp. 1143–9 (quotation on p. 1149). See also Hitler’s letter to Lord Rothermere dated 2 March 1934 (with Hitler’s handwritten corrections), in which he expressed his longing for “an honest understanding between the peoples of Europe” and invited Rothermere to visit Germany. BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/123. Rothermere, the owner of the Daily Mail, had written an op-ed piece supporting the Nazi regime in July 1933. In December 1934, he was one of the guests of honour at an evening gala in the Chancellery. See Ian Kershaw, Making Friends with Hitler: Lord Londonderry and Britain’s Road to War, London, 2005, pp. 59. In a letter from May 1935, after Germany had re-introduced universal conscription, Hitler assured the press baron as to his “abiding determination…to make a historical contribution towards re-establishing good and lasting relations between the two Germanic nations” (ibid., p. 82). The letter was apparently preceded by another Rothermere visit to Berlin. On 28 April 1935 Wilhelm Brückner’s notebook read: “Rothermere—Boss”; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/1209. On Rothermere’s visit to the Obersalzberg at the beginning of January 1937 see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 320 (entry for 8 Jan. 1937).
63 Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf. Vol. 1: Eine Abrechnung, 7th edition, Munich, 1933, p. 3.
64 Cabinet meeting on 26 May 1933; Die Regierung Hitler, part 1, vol. 1, no. 142, p. 493. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 194 (entry for 27 May 1933): “1,000 marks set as fee for a visa. That will topple Dollfuss.”
65 See Jacobsen, Nationalsozialistische Aussenpolitik, pp. 406–8; Hildebrand, Das vergangene Reich, p. 594; Schmidt, Die Aussenpolitik des Dritten Reiches, p. 163. On “Austro-Fascism” see Ernst Hanisch, Der lange Schatten des Staates: Österreichische Gesellschaftsgeschichte im 20. Jahrhundert, Vienna, 1994, pp. 310–15.
66 Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler wie ich ihn sah: Aufzeichnungen seines Leibfotographen, Munich and Berlin, 1974, p. 61. A collection of newspaper cuttings on Hitler’s visit to Venice, with countless press photographs, in BA Koblenz, N 1310/56.
67 Walter Rauscher, Hitler und Mussolini: Macht, Krieg und Terror, Graz, Vienna and Cologne, 2001, pp. 213f.; see also Gianluca Falanga, Mussolinis Vorposten in Hitlers Reich: Italiens Politik in Berlin 1933–1945, Berlin, 2008, pp. 46f.
68 See Kurt Bauer, Elementar-Ereignis: Die österreichischen Nationalsozialisten und der Juli-Putsch 1934, Vienna, 2003.
69 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 83 (entry for 24 July 1934). See Peter Longerich, Joseph Goebbels: A Biography, London, 2015, p. 268; Kurt Bauer, “Hitler und der Juliputsch 1934 in Österreich: Eine Fallstudie zur nationalsozialistischen Aussenpolitik in der Frühphase des Regimes,” in Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 59 (2011), pp. 193–227 (particularly pp. 208–13).
70 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 84 (entry for 26 July 1934).
71 Friedelind Wagner, Nacht über Bayreuth, 3rd edition, Cologne, 1997, pp. 159f.; see Brigitte Hamann, Winifred Wagner oder Hitlers Bayreuth, Munich and Zurich, 2002, p. 286.
72 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 84 (entry for 26 July 1934).
73 Franz von Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, Munich, 1952, p. 379f.
74 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 85 (entry for 28 July 1934).
75 Rauscher, Hitler und Mussolini, p. 214.
76 Jens Petersen, Hitler–Mussolini: Die Entstehung der Achse Berlin–Rom 1933–1936, Tübingen, 1973, p. 370. See Falanga, Mussolinis Vorposten, pp. 50f.
77 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3
/1, p. 86 (entry for 30 July 1934).
78 Colonel General Beck’s notes on a statement by Bülow on foreign policy, 30 July 1934; reprinted in Klaus-Jürgen Müller, Armee und Drittes Reich 1933–1939: Darstellung und Dokumente, Paderborn, 1987, pp. 280f.; see also Klaus-Jürgen Müller, Generaloberst Ludwig Beck: Eine Biographie, Paderborn, 2008, pp. 145f.
79 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 145 (entry for 30 Nov. 1934), p. 164 (entry for 6 Jan. 1935).
80 Die Regierung Hitler, vol. 2, part 1, no. 33, pp. 135f. (dated 1 Nov. 1934).
81 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 85 (entry for 28 July 1934).
82 Ulrich von Hassell, Römische Tagebücher und Briefe 1932–1938, ed. Ulrich Schlie, Munich, 2004, p. 118 (dated 17 Jan. 1936).
83 See Patrick von zur Mühlen, “Schlagt Hitler an der Saar!”: Abstimmungskampf, Emigration und Widerstand im Saargebiet 1933–1945, Bonn, 1979; Gerhard Paul, “Deutsche Mutter—heim zu Dir!”: Warum es misslang, Hitler an der Saar zu schlagen. Der Saarkampf 1933 bis 1945, Cologne, 1984.
84 See Stöver, Volksgemeinschaft im Dritten Reich, pp. 179f.; Deutschland-Berichte der Sopade, 2 (1935), p. 151.
85 Klaus Mann, Tagebücher 1934 bis 1935, ed. Joachim Heimannsberg, Peter Laemmle and Winfried F. Schoeller, Munich, 1989, p. 92 (entry for 15 Jan. 1935). On Golo Mann’s disappointment see Tilmann Lahme, Golo Mann: Biographie, Frankfurt am Main, 2009, pp. 114f. Count Harry Kessler noted: “A very surprising result and a great triumph for Hitler, whose position is much stronger both domestically and abroad.” Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 629 (entry for 15 Jan. 1935).
86 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 168 (entry for 16 Jan. 1935).
87 Cabinet meeting on 24 Jan. 1935; Die Regierung Hitler, vol. 2, part 1, no. 84, p. 322.
88 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 484–8 (quotation on p. 485).
89 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 193 (entry for 2 March 1935).
90 Ibid., p. 171 (entry for 22 Jan. 1935).
91 See François-Poncet, Als Botschafter in Berlin, pp. 228f.; Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 481f.; Heinz Höhne, Die Zeit der Illusionen: Hitler und die Anfänge des Dritten Reiches 1933–1936, Düsseldorf, Vienna and New York, 1991, pp. 295f.
92 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 194 (entry for 6 March 1935). See ibid., p. 197 (entry for 10 March 1935): “The English have lost out. Revenge for the white paper. Cheers, Sir John Simon!”
93 See Höhne, Zeit der Illusionen, p. 298; Schmidt, Die Aussenpolitik des Dritten Reiches, p. 169; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 199 (entry for 14 March 1935): “Göring interview. Official announcement about our air forces…It’s out in the open now, and the sky won’t fall in.”
94 François-Poncet, Als Botschafter in Berlin, p. 232.
95 See Müller, Generaloberst Ludwig Beck, pp. 202–5; Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris, London, 1998, pp. 548f.
96 See Friedrich Hossbach, Zwischen Wehrmacht und Hitler 1934–1938, 2nd revised edition, Göttingen, 1965, pp. 81–3.
97 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 491–5 (quotation on p. 494).
98 See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 201 (entry for 18 March 1935): “The Führer battled Blomberg over the number of divisions. He got his way: thirty-six.” In August 1942 Hitler recalled: “That was a battle I had with good old Fritsch the day universal conscription was re-introduced. Thirty-six divisions were drawn up!” Adolf Hitler, Monologe im Führerhauptquartier 1941–1944: Die Aufzeichnungen Heinrich Heims, ed. Werner Jochmann, Hamburg, 1980, p. 343, dated 16 Aug. 1942. Hitler likely confused Fritsch with Blomberg here.
99 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 201 (entry for 18 March 1935). See Wilhelm Brückner’s notebook dated 16 March 1935: “1.30 cabinet meeting. Universal conscription announced.” BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/1209. No minutes of the cabinet meeting seem to have been produced—at least there are none included in Akten der Reichskanzlei: Die Regierung Hitler, vol. 2, part 1.
100 François-Poncet, Als Botschafter in Berlin, p. 234.
101 Quoted in Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich in Power 1933–1939, London, 2005, p. 627. On 15 April 1935, a confectioner from Düsseldorf wrote to Hitler: “This hour has brought a lot of joy to us as former frontline soldiers. It touched every true German soldier’s heart.” BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 51/75.
102 Deutschland-Berichte der Sopade, 2 (1935), p. 279; see Ian Kershaw, The Hitler Myth: Image and Reality in the Third Reich, Oxford, 1987, pp. 71. See also the report by the American consul general in Stuttgart, Samuel W. Honacker, dated 3 May 1935, stating that the re-introduction of compulsory military service was “enthusiastically received by the overwhelming part of the population.” Bajohr and Strupp (eds), Fremde Blicke auf das “Dritte Reich,” p. 426.
103 See Joachim Fest, Hitler: Eine Biographie, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Vienna, 1973, p. 637; Kershaw, Hitler: Hubris, pp. 693f.; William S. Shirer, Berliner Tagebuch: Aufzeichnungen 1934–41, transcribed and ed. Jürgen Schebera, Leipzig and Weimar, 1991, pp. 35f. (entry for 17 March 1935).
104 François-Poncet, Als Botschafter in Berlin, p. 235. See also Thomas Mann, Tagebücher 1935–1936, ed. Peter de Mendelssohn, Frankfurt am Main, 1978, p. 59 (entry for 17 March 1935) “The challenge is brutal. But it’s too late. We’ve already allowed too much to happen.”
105 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 200 (entry for 16 March 1935), pp. 201–2 (entry for 18 March 1935), p. 202 (entry for 20 March 1935) “I believe we’ll survive,” Hitler remarked to Alfred Rosenberg around this time. Hans-Günther Seraphim (ed.), Das politische Tagebuch Alfred Rosenbergs aus den Jahren 1934/35 und 1939/40, Göttingen, 1956, p. 76.
106 Shirer, Berliner Tagebuch, p. 35 (entry for 16 March 1935). See Klemperer, Tagebücher 1933–1941, p. 190 (entry for 23 March 1935): “Hitler has declared the reintroduction of universal conscription. Abroad there have been some half-hearted protests, but people have swallowed this fait accompli. The result: Hitler’s regime is more stable than ever.”
107 Quoted in Petersen, Hitler–Mussolini, p. 400; see also Falanga, Mussolinis Vorposten, p. 57.
108 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 218 (entry for 15 April 1935). See ibid., p. 219 (entry for 17 April 1935): “The only answer is to arm ourselves and act like good sports.”
109 All quotations in Paul Schmidt, Statist auf diplomatischer Bühne 1923–45: Erlebnisse des Chefdolmetschers im Auswärtigen Amt mit den Staatsmännern Europas, Bonn, 1950, pp. 293–303. On the talks in Berlin on 25/26 March 1935 see also Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, pp. 206–8 (entries for 26 and 28 March 1935). From the British perspective, see Eden, Angesichts der Diktatoren, pp. 167–76. In contrast to the spring of 1934, Hitler made a negative impression on Eden, who found him more authoritarian and less eager to please (p. 168). Hitler gave a full report on the talks to his cabinet on 29 March 1935; Die Regierung Hitler, vol. 2, part 1, no. 132, p. 490.
110 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 208 (entry for 28 March 1935).
111 Ibid., p. 211 (entry for 3 April 1935), p. 212 (entry for 5 April 1935).
112 Ibid., p. 226 (entry for 5 May 1935).
113 Ibid., p. 235 (entry for 21 May 1935). See ibid., p. 227 (entry for 5 May 1935), p. 229 (entry for 9 May 1935), p. 230 (entry for 11 May 1935), p. 231 (entry for 13 May 1935), p. 232 (entry for 15 May 1935), p. 233 (entry for 19 May 1935).
114 Shirer, Berliner Tagebuch, p. 42 (entry for 21 May 1935). See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 236 (entry for 23 May 1935): “The Führer was in top form.”
115 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 505–14 (quotations on pp. 506, 507, 511, 512, 513).
116 Hildebrand, Das vergangene Reich, p. 599.
117 Kershaw, Der Hitler-Mythos, pp. 125f.
118 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 640 (entry for 25 May 1935). See ibid., p. 640 (entry for 26 May 1935): “You can’t deny that Hitler showed nerve and leadership ability here.”
119 Hassell, Römische Tagebücher und Briefe, p. 127.
120 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 359 (entry for 20 Jan. 1934).
121 On the British–German talks see Schmidt, Als Statist, pp. 311–15 (quotations on pp. 311, 312); see also Joachim von Ribbentrop, Zwischen London und Moskau: Erinnerungen und letzte Aufzeichnungen, ed. Annelies von Ribbentrop, Leoni am Starnberger See, 1961, pp. 61–3.
122 Ribbentrop, Zwischen London und Moskau, p. 64. See also Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 249 (entry for 19 June 1935): “The Führer is completely happy. Huge success for Ribbentrop and all of us.”
123 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 250 (entry for 21 June 1935). See ibid., p. 249 (entry for 19 June 1935): “We’re getting close to our goal of an alliance with England. The key is to keep working, doggedly and tirelessly.” On 4 Feb. 1936, Hitler received the former air minister Lord Londonderry in the Chancellery and played the role of the good host. “It was almost as though the suitor Hitler were wooing prudish Britannia,” recalled Hitler’s interpreter Schmidt. Als Statist, p. 355. On Londonderry’s visit to Berlin see Kershaw, Making Friends with Hitler, pp. 132–40.
124 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 3/1, p. 279 (entry for 19 Aug. 1935).
125 See Petersen, Hitler–Mussolini, pp. 377–9; Hans Woller, Geschichte Italiens im 20. Jahrhundert, Munich, 2010, pp. 144f.; Winkler, Geschichte des Westens, vol. 2, pp. 708–11.
126 See Aram Mattioli, Experimentierfeld der Gewalt: Der Abessinienkrieg und seine internationale Bedeutung 1935–1941, Zurich, 2005; further, idem, “Entgrenzte Kriegsgewalt: Der italienische Giftgaseinsatz in Abessinien 1935–1936,” in Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 51 (2003), pp. 311–38.
127 On 17 July 1935, a representative of the Ethiopian king appeared in Berlin and asked Germany, under strict confidentiality, “to immediately arm the king’s troops so that they could put up as much resistance as possible to the Italians.” Neurath suggested that Hitler grant that request and give the king weapons worth 3 million marks. Bülow to Neurath, 18 July 1935; Neurath to Hitler, 20 July 1935; BA Koblenz, N 1310/10.
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