The Nazis never actually fought the Communists in pre-war Germany. When the Frei Korps was murdering Communists after the Communists had murdered their way to power, it was Adolf Hitler that was on the side of the Communists in Bavaria.
After Hitler's failed Putsch, he spent most of his time limiting the violence of the Nazis by directing it exclusively against jews. The Nazis spent more time recruiting Communists than they did fighting them, and they were wildly successful at it.
They still had big street fights though, the Redshirts did control various areas & were highly organized. That's why Hitler recruited Rohm's group, to bolster the numbers of brawlers they could muster. A few months of losing saw many cross over, yes. iirc :>
Sure, and as that time passed he disbanded Rohm's group and had him killed to both unify the party and establish that he would be the one ending street violence in Germany.
I'll caveat that "Never" is clearly too hyperbolic. But the real work to destroy the Communists in Germany, literally and physically, was mostly done by the SDP and the Frei Korps. There was street violence in the 30's, but never as bad as it was in 1917-1922.
It's like when the Communists claimed that they "defeated" British Fascism by rioting one time against the police while the BUF was marching down a different street.
The thing that I'm trying to drive home is that the Nazis didn't actually fight their way to power, but did literally the opposite. They moderated themselves and achieved power (mostly) Democratically. Political violence turned out not to achieve his aims. It's why he decided to hide the efforts of the Holocaust after the population of Germany rebuked Kristallnacht.
The Nazis never actually fought the Communists in pre-war Germany. When the Frei Korps was murdering Communists after the Communists had murdered their way to power, it was Adolf Hitler that was on the side of the Communists in Bavaria.
After Hitler's failed Putsch, he spent most of his time limiting the violence of the Nazis by directing it exclusively against jews. The Nazis spent more time recruiting Communists than they did fighting them, and they were wildly successful at it.
They still had big street fights though, the Redshirts did control various areas & were highly organized. That's why Hitler recruited Rohm's group, to bolster the numbers of brawlers they could muster. A few months of losing saw many cross over, yes. iirc :>
Sure, and as that time passed he disbanded Rohm's group and had him killed to both unify the party and establish that he would be the one ending street violence in Germany.
I'll caveat that "Never" is clearly too hyperbolic. But the real work to destroy the Communists in Germany, literally and physically, was mostly done by the SDP and the Frei Korps. There was street violence in the 30's, but never as bad as it was in 1917-1922.
It's like when the Communists claimed that they "defeated" British Fascism by rioting one time against the police while the BUF was marching down a different street.
The thing that I'm trying to drive home is that the Nazis didn't actually fight their way to power, but did literally the opposite. They moderated themselves and achieved power (mostly) Democratically. Political violence turned out not to achieve his aims. It's why he decided to hide the efforts of the Holocaust after the population of Germany rebuked Kristallnacht.