Notes: Episode 128, Fascism (Part 3)
As with every show, I’ll list any corrections or clarifications here. If there’s anything I’ve overlooked, please contact me by email or in the comments and I’ll edit the notes to reflect the new information.
6:31 – Wilhlem II was indeed exiled in the Netherlands for the rest of his life, which lasted until June 4, 1941 – not quite as long as I thought, but longer than I suspect many realize. I also mentioned that Wilhelm didn’t like Hitler, and while it’s true that he refused to endorse him, it wasn’t as far off as I may have made it sound. Wilhelm was initially intrigued by Nazism, and only turned away from it when he realized that the ideology (though obsessed with the pageantry of the past) was uninterested in restoring the monarchy, as he’d initially hoped.
14:13 – Radio was not terribly widely used by the Nazis during the 1920s, but after they came to power, the usefulness of radio for propaganda became more clear to the point that Goebbels had radio sets subsidized so broadcasts could reach as many people as possible. He would later suggest that radio broadcasts of Hitler’s speeches and other propaganda was instrumental in their takeover. Interestingly, the subsidized radios had a limited receiving band, preventing them from picking up news from Britain.
16:48 – Germany does in fact currently have a president. Angela Merkel’s chancellorship has been so strong that I honestly didn’t recognize their current president when I looked it up; his name is Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
31:48 – It’s not accurate to say that the buildings weren’t badly damaged in the fire – the damage was fairly extensive and the dome unsalvageable, despite the main structure continuing to stand. It would not be fully repaired until after the reunification of Germany.
1:22:20 – The Franco-Prussian War ran from July 1870 to January 1871, not the 1860s as I said.
1:40:52 – Not a correction, but a tidbit I always found interesting about kristallnacht – Goering complained during the pogrom how unfortunate the destruction of property, especially windows was; it would cost 40 million marks (almost $300 million USD today) to repair them all. He complained that this would only hurt insurance companies, not the Jews, and wished that the rioters had simply stuck to injuring Jews instead.
1:53:15 – The Spanish Civil War ended April 1, 1939.
