528. The Nazis' Road to War: Hitler Prepares to Strike (Part 1)

The Rest Is History

Goalhanger

History

4.6 • 18.6K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Throughout the course of the 1930s, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party has overwhelmingly, terrifyingly seized power in Germany. Now, Hitler’s vile ambitions have turned to Czechoslovakia. On the 12th of September 1938 at the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, he rabidly defended the supposed interests of the German speaking minority in Czechoslovakia, claiming that they had been ravaged and tortured by their cruel Czech overlords, but not so. In reality, Hitler is preparing the ground for the invasion and dismemberment of Czechoslovakia - what he sees as a crucial step towards the creation of a new German dominion in central and eastern Europe. In so doing, he is setting Europe upon the road to an increasingly imminent Second World War. With Nazism driven above all by the shattering experience of the First World War, a hunger for war burns at the very centre of the Nazi’s ambitions. For Hitler, it is personal - the German economy is in meltdown and with it, his frayed mental and physical state. Was it possible, then, that at this crucial juncture in 1938, the outcome of war could be prevented? Certainly, Britain’s Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, was determined to make it so… Join Tom and Dominic for the opening episode in their next series on the Nazis’ road to the Second World War. With European politics in turmoil, Adolf Hitler hungry for war, and Neville Chamberlain desperate to appease him, will there be peace in our time? At Munich, one of the most controversial diplomatic instances in history, the fate of the world will be decided. ______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Editor: Jack Meek Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Thank you for listening to The Rest is History.
0:02.4	For weekly bonus episodes, add free listening, early access to series and membership of our much-loved chat community, go to the rest is history.com and join the club.
0:13.5	That is the rest is history.com.
0:16.4	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:21.8	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes
0:27.1	that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping
0:31.8	solutions that actually save you time, from startups to scaleups, online, in person and on the go shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you
0:40.3	sign up for your one dollar a month trial at shopify dot com slash setup
0:44.9	today we are insulted. Our blood brothers are at the mercy of their cruel abusers without any means of defending themselves. I am speaking of Czechoslovakia. Among the suppressed minorities in this state are
1:16.4	three and a half million Germans. These Germans are God's creatures. The Almighty did not
1:23.7	create them so that the Versailles Treaty could place them at the mercy of an alien power. And he did not create them so that the Versailles Treaty could place them at the mercy of an alien power.
1:30.3	And he did not create seven million checks to reign over these three and a half million,
1:36.8	keep them in tutelage. And far less did he create them for ravage and torture.
1:45.0	The misery of the Sudaten Germans defies description.
1:50.7	They are being oppressed and humiliated in an unprecedented fashion.
1:55.2	There must be an end to the injustice inflicted upon these people.
2:01.6	The Reich will no longer stand for any further oppression and persecutions of these three
2:09.6	and a half million Germans.
2:12.6	It is the duty of all of us to never again bow our heads to any alien will. To this, let us pledge
2:22.5	ourselves. So help us God. So that Dominic was a very much not friend of the show, Adolf Hitler.
2:32.3	And he was speaking to the Nazi Party Congress, Nuremberg, on the 12th of
2:35.7	September 1938, about Czechoslovakia, as he frames it. And it's the beginning of the year.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Goalhanger, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Goalhanger and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.