Free Sample Essays > European History
Who was responsible for the reichstag fire
many reasons to publish such a book. The most important reason would be anti-Communist propaganda. Before the fire, Communism was becoming very popular. Hitler saw Communism as a serious threat, which was why the fire was so convenient. The book would have backed up the Nazi theory that the fire was a Communist plot to commence an “Armed Uprising”. The book would have helped convince most Germans that the Communists were planning to take power. This would have confirmed what the German people thought already and giving the Nazis a great support, which would have a big effect on the elections. The book would no doubt be only a small part in a large scale propaganda organised by Hitler’s staff, they tried to get through to people by posters, radio and party speeches. Soon the people would grow to hate communists, children would be brought up to hate all communists. It was the Nazi strategy for getting rid of all their opposition, as the Communist party and the Socialists were the biggest and therefore most dangerous opposition. But the socialists were not as extreme as the Communists and therefore less of a risk. However, the communists still polled highly in the elections, but not high enough.
5. The sources E and G do not prove at all that Goring was telling lies. The authenticity of source G is very questionable because the communist party published it after Ernst’s death. It would suit the communists to publish such information as this as it would gain them support and place some of the blame on the Nazi party. There is no other proof that Karl Ernst had made that confession, so this piece of evidence is not very reliable at all. If however there was more proof that Ernst was behind the fire, then it would probably be much more reliable, but in the meantime it just appeared as a small effort by the Communist party to place the blame on the Nazis. However, General Franz Halder’s evidence is much more plausible, but still not completely sure. He was going to jail anyway, so he could as well tell the truth, this would make his account credible as he has nothing to lose. But, he may be saying it to try and save himself, he may have thought that by giving this evidence, it would be considered in his favour when it came to his prosecution. In an extreme case, he may even dislike Goring for some reason and decide to seek revenge by making up evidence.
Therefore these two sources do not prove that Goring was behind the fire. Although Goring is also trying to save his skin as he is also on trial. It is likely that he is telling the truth and did not start the fire. I do not think such a high-ranking official would do a job as risky and apparently easy as that, when he could just easily get someone else to do it.
6.