Fateful Alliance

Hermann Beck is Professor of History at the University of Miami, where he teaches German and Modern European History. He has been a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and a Fellow at the Berliner Historische Kommission. The author of The Origins of the Authoritarian Welfare State in Prussia: Conservatives, Bureaucracy, and the Social Question, 1815-1870, he has also contributed articles to American and European journals, including among others, The Journal of Modern History, The Journal of Contemporary History, Central European History, and German History.

“The strength of the study lies undoubtedly in the empirical research that is simply impressive and considerably widens our historical knowledge of the year 1933.”  ·  Journal of Modern History“Beck’s extraordinarily well-researched and trenchantly argued monograph restores a welcome sense of contingency to the first months of the Nazi ‘seizure of power’ “  ·  European History Quarterly“...a compelling study...Beck’s engaging analysis offers valuable and perceptive insights into the course and character of the Nazi seizure of power and deserves to be read widely.”  ·  American Historical Review“He uses the Machtergreifung to give new insight not only in the chaos of 1933, but also into the more general constellation of power relationships in Weimar Germany. A valuable contribution to the current literature on both the Nazis and the conservatives. Highly recommended.”  ·  Choice“…[an] excellent treatment of the German National People’s Party (CNVP) in the tumultuous spring and summer of 1933…Beck’s signal contribution is the unblinking and well-researched fashion in which he sheds valuable new light on the oft-told story of the rise of the Nazi dictatorship.”  ·  German Studies Review“Already the authoritative voice on German Conservatism in the nineteenth century, Beck proves himself anew with his meticulously researched, tightly-argued, and skillfully written book on the complex interaction between National Socialism and Conservatism during the Third Reich.”  ·  James F. Tent, University of Alabama at Birmingham“…illuminating original research and insightful analysis.”  ·  Henry Ashby Turner, Yale University“A well-written, readable and solidly researched account.”  ·  Jeremy Noakes“Hermann Beck has given us by far the best account that we have of the German political right and the triumph of Hitler, an original, carefully researched and revisionist study which will revise certain standard interpretations. Provides a new perspective on the relationship between the DNVP and the Jews, and particularly on the Nazis’ intense animosity against the DNVP and the bourgeoisie.”  ·  Stanley G. Payne, Hilldale-Jaume Vicens Vives Professor Emeritus of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• PrefaceIntroductionChapter 1. Pragmatists versus Fundamentalists: The DNVP in the Weimar Republic, 1918-1933Chapter 2. Uneasy Partners: The Relationship between the DNVP and the Nazis, 30 January-5 MarchChapter 3. Conservatives and the NSDAP during the "National Revolution" of March 1933Chapter 4. The Nazis and the Conservative Bürgertum: A Clash of WorldsChapter 5. Between the Dictates of Conscience and Poltical Expediency: The DNVP and Anti-SemitismChapter 6. Rebellion against the Inevitable: The Tribulations of Spring 1933Chapter 7. Ignominious Demise: Defections, Prohibitions, and Final DissolutionEpilogueAppendixSelect BibliographyIndex