# What was opposition to Hitler like in Germany? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 28, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-opposition-to-hitler-like-in-germany/778388 "2017-01-28T14:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 16
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-opposition-to-hitler-like-in-germany/778388/16 "2017-01-28T21:15:23Z")
Even though you can’t compare Trump to Hitler on every single point, there are some revealing points of comparison. To say they are NOTHING alike and shut down the discussion is one of those things about this board that I commented on elsewhere: > [@How to defeat a populist leader, with lessons from history](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-defeat-a-populist-leader-with-lessons-from-history/778327/5): > > … > I’ve noticed on this board that when someone makes a comparison or analogy and the correspondence to the central issue is not PERFECT IN EVERY RESPECT, the point being made is often completely discounted and any merit that the comparison may have is trashed. No, Trump is not an “orator” as such, like Hitler, but crowds today do not respond to oratory as they did in the early part of the 20th century. People today don’t have the attention span to sit through a three-hour speech. However, Trump certainly has proved that he can rally crowds. And that the crowds believe his lies. He’s a bully and a “strong man” like Hitler and weak, stupid, uneducated people respond to that. (So do smart, educated people who want to use his agenda for their own purposes.) And he has an advantage over Hitler with a channel Hitler would have \*killed \*(as it were) to have: Twitter. This instantly reaches millions of people with sound bites that satisfy with flavor and no real content (just as any bite of a snack does) and don’t require (and in fact, discourage) critical thought. He’s feeding the crowds pablum and mental anesthesia and they are eating it up happily, like crack babies. I think the following is a very smart reply: > [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > Opposition prewar to Hitler was what you would expect. Newspapers writing articles of dissent. People expressing dissent. Attempts to rally around the disbanded political parties. Civil disobedience in some cases. > > One of the big differences between Hitler and Trump is that Hitler tended to respond to adversaries… poorly. I.e. with violence. And he was allowed to primarily due to the Enabling Act which effectively removed any any check against Hitler’s power. Hitler didn’t just sweep opponents away instantly though. He did it over time and that’s what made it so effective. Also, Hitler was successful at improving the economic state of Germany although it was in such poor shape it would be hard to fail. The combination of moving slowly so that there was no big event to truly rally around and an improving economy meant that eventually the moderates were willing to accept National Socialism. Why wouldn’t they? It had worked. Once that happened it was all over and then it was possible to making the truly sweeping changes that he wanted. German resistance did continue through out the war, although it was of course completely underground. Things that Trump did only a few months ago are now taken in stride as “business as usual.” The heat is being turned up under the pot of water and sadly, we’re getting used to it. How far will Trump go, and how far will Ryan, McConnell, _et al._, let him go? A year ago we would never have believed it would go this far. I think it’s appropriate to keep making the comparisons to Hitler and to be very, very worried. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-opposition-to-hitler-like-in-germany/778388)._