Afternoon Oppo

"SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman" (dasborgen)
11/11/2015 at 15:22 • Filed to: None

Sometimes I wonder what the world would be if Adolf Hitler got accepted to Art school for college and never got into politics.

Thruthfully, Stalin would have probably been unstoppable

DISCUSSION (16)

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
11/11/2015 at 15:24

I’m sure some other dictator would have sprouted up in his place. Germany was looking for a big change back then. I don;t think it was Hitler so much as the situation. Though I’m sure someone more versed in history will weigh in on this.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
11/11/2015 at 15:25

Ben Carson would be out of people to compare basically everything to...

Brian, The Life of > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
11/11/2015 at 15:28

One could say the Hitler never would have happened if the Treaty of Versailles wasn't so damn punative towards Germany.

Klaus Schmoll > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
11/11/2015 at 15:40

Kinja'd!!!

Well, at least we know what would have happened had he become a bad writer of fictional novels.

To be honest, this book is so bad (probably intentionally so) it is a fun read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_…

Klaus Schmoll > Brian, The Life of
11/11/2015 at 15:46

That’s one of the things that happened all the time throughout history. If you punish the loosers too hard, even if they had brought it unto themselves and asked for it so to speak, they will seek some kind of revenge sooner or later. The Marshall Plan was one of the most clever things the US has done in modern history.

That being said, the Versailles Treaty is no excuse for the Shoah!

LongbowMkII > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
11/11/2015 at 15:57

there’s always slavery, the second worst thing behind obamacare /s

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Brian, The Life of
11/11/2015 at 16:01

And I think the flip side is, even if Hitler had been accepted into art school, the situation in Germany created by the Treaty of Versailles was ripe for someone to rise up, take control, and rally the masses.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
11/11/2015 at 16:04

Per Brian’s comment below, I think the situation in Germany was ripe for almost anyone to take control and rally the masses. If not Hitler, it would have likely been someone else.

And I think that’s where it gets interesting. Hitler, for all his ability to motivate people, was a terrible tactician and one of the single biggest factors in them losing WWII was his decision to invade the USSR and wage war on 2 fronts. I think then you have to consider that someone who was even less tactically savvy could have taken control and things would have fizzled out pretty fast from a military perspective. And conversely, someone who was even more patient and cunning could have taken the reins and been nearly unstoppable.

Brian, The Life of > Klaus Schmoll
11/11/2015 at 16:05

I didn’t say it was an excuse. Nothing can excuse genocide, ever. My point is ultra-nationalism in Germany never would have happened if the ToV was actually just . The Kaiser’s Germany was absolutely nothing like the 3rd Reich (as of course you know). Hell, if the US had become a German-speaking country instead of English (which it very nearly did), we probably would have been on the other side during WWI.

Brian, The Life of > Snuze: Needs another Swede
11/11/2015 at 16:06

Yes, absolutely.

Klaus Schmoll > Brian, The Life of
11/11/2015 at 16:14

I never thought that you meant it that way. I guess it’s just a German thing to put this disclaimer at the end of every comment that might put a tiny hint of blame at other factors, so it was meant to not get me misunderstood.

ly2v8-Brian > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
11/11/2015 at 16:16

Maybe if Germany hadn’t been so fucked over by France and the UK an environment might not have been created where extreme politics wouldn’t have flourished.

Klaus Schmoll > Snuze: Needs another Swede
11/11/2015 at 16:23

Probably the communists? Would this have led to another kind of WW2 with different allies? Maybe.

Europe wasn’t as much of a powder keg as it was in 1914, but there were some unresolved issues nonetheless.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Klaus Schmoll
11/11/2015 at 16:39

It’s possible but I doubt it. A communist rise to power is typically precipitated by a drastic imbalance in wealth between the ruling class and the rest of the population.

Given the situation in Germany at the time, I think it would have been some type of nationalistic, fascist organization that rose to power, it’s just hard to say if they would have developed into the powerhouse the Nazis became.

Klaus Schmoll > Snuze: Needs another Swede
11/11/2015 at 16:56

“A communist rise to power is typically precipitated by a drastic imbalance in wealth between the ruling class and the rest of the population.”

You very accurately described 1920’s Germany. Remember that the Nazis gained power on a nationalSOCIALIST ticket.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Klaus Schmoll
11/11/2015 at 16:59

Good point. So it’s possible, but I think they would have made strange bedfellows with the Russians. Would be interesting to see how that played out.