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Hitler was quite popular in Germany in the early years of his rule. He got sacks of fan mail and drew crowds wherever he went. Documentarian Leni Riefenstahl’s films of the Nuremberg Rallies were hugely successful.

In 1936, the Olympic Games were held in Berlin, and the Nazis used the occasion to showcase the “new Germany.”

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla” from Das Rheingold
Composed in 1876 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Over the first 13 years of Mussolini’s rule, and whatever its domestic policies, Italy’s international policies were conventional, and pursued with conventional diplomacy.

In 1935, that began to change. No doubt inspired by Hitler’s success in flouting international norms and getting away with it, Mussolini chose to pursue a war against Ethiopia.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Concerto in E Major, “La Primavera” from “The Four Seasons”
Composed in 1723 by Antonio Vivaldi. Public domain.
Performed by John Harrison, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Nazi Germany was initially cautious in imposing limits on the rights of Jewish people and other “non-Aryans” in Germany. Hitler and his government cared about their international image, as they sought to negotiate their way out of the limitations imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles.

By 1935 though, with rearmament under way and the Allied powers unwilling to challenge Germany’s resurgence, landmark legislation was passed defining the terms under which a person was or wasn’t a “true” German. Those who were deemed non-Aryan were defined as subjects of the state, but not citizens of it.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Overture from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Composed in 1868 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by The Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.