h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Leaders of the Nazi Party - A2604647
Author: Psycorp603: SubEd and Postal Inquisitor - U219983

I noticed that there is very little in the Guide to do with Nazi Germany. As I don't have the time to compile an entry on Hitler himself, I decided to create an entry about his subordinates.

I am however worried that this entry does portray Hitler as blameless for some of the crimes committed by the Nazis, so any feedback on that area is welcome.

Seems factual to me Psycorp

I can't see any problems with it.

Thanks!

Looks fine to me. Interesting too.

Excellent, but the problem with positive feedback is that there's no suggestions on how to improve!

The Nazis and the prime players within the Nazi party are still touchy subjects, and difficult to write about dispassionately or without causing offence or anger even after all this time, but I think you've done a fine job here Psycorps Well done.

There are still some things which need to dealt with of course

"Hermann Goering was seen by all as the second most powerful Nazi in the Third Reich, second only to the Fuhrer in standing and influence."
That kind of says the same thing twice in the same sentence... I think. I guess being the 'second most powerful' could be different to 'second in standing and influence'. Does it need tweaking?

preciding - presiding

"which would define Nazi Rule"
'Rule' doesn't need a capital letter.

"Goering's power reached it's zenith" - its

"heavy allied bombing" - 'allied heavy bombing' maybe? Or 'heavy bombing of German cities by the Allies'?

fist - first

"known as Kristallnacht due to the wreckage of Jewish homes, synagogues and shops littering the streets of Germany in November 1938"
It was the broken glass from that wreckage which earned it the name Kristallnacht wasn't it?

Freikorps - capitalised in one instance, not in another.

psychosomatic
Is that the right word? Psychosomatic means having physical symptoms brought on by or having mental or emotional origins, so they couldn't directly be caused by overwork.

A couple of formatting problems:

The sections about Goering and Hess have only one tag, and the paragraphs within are seperated by tags, whilst the others have tags seperating all of the paragraphs. The latter is the correct way.

Lebensborn should be Lebensborn


Scout

Oh, and the Goebbels quote at the very top should be in italics.

Thanks Gosho, I'll get cracking right away!

Et voila!

I've got a few qualms about the basic premise that Hitler was a lazy so-and-so and that the real power lay in other people's hands.

Though that said I'm afraid that I don't have time at the moment to go through and pick holes and add suggestions. Sorry.

I will leave you with a couple of names to conjour with - Ernst Röhm? Albert Speer? - these are pretty important guys.

Ahh, I was waiting for that one GreyDesk. I was toying with adding or leaving the view that Hitler was a lazy so and so for ages, but the more I looked into it, the more it seemed to be the case. The power was Hitlers, it was just used by the others in the party. Basically they'd pick out a detail from one of his rambling monologues, create a feasible policy around it, and then get the Fuhrer to sign the order to have it implemented.

As for Rohm, he was never really a factor once the Nazis got into power, and I don't know an awful lot about Speer, although I may well look into it in the very near future with a view to adding him.

Oh and there is also Reinhard Heydrich who was a definite rising star as the Reich Protector of Bohemia-Moravia. He would have risen much higher up in the Nazi heirarchy, probably challenging Himmler for his job. It all came to naught though when he was assassinated in the summer of 1942.

Hmm... no. I would disagree fundamentally with that assesment of Hitler. But as I said before, I haven't got the time right now to go into it in detail. The dishes and the ironing are beckoning!

Right, get those dishes done, I'll check my sources and we'll see if we can't reach some kind of general consensus!

"I've got a few qualms about the basic premise that Hitler was a lazy so-and-so and that the real power lay in other people's hands."
Isn't it often the case that a charismatic figurehead is used by a group of people to implement their plans? One word - Dubya.

"The dishes and the ironing are beckoning!"
Who are you kidding GD! I know you too well to fall for that one. You're rumbled mate!

Now that is a controversial comparison there Gosho!

No comparison intended or made - it was statement pure and simple. There are exceptions of course - Thatcher for instance. She was the power *and* the brains, as in "What about the vegetables?" "Oh, they'll have the same as me."

Ah, point taken Gosho. So do you think the basic premise of the introduction needs tweaking slightly?

Shut it Gosho

I'll have you know I've finished the cutlery (apart from the cooking knives), the dinner plates, salad bowls and the pasta bowls.

I've still to do the small plates, serving platters, side plates, soup bowls, cereal bowls, cups, mugs, glassware. Then there are the saucepans, frying pans, baking dishes (including the lasagna dish), baking trays, roasting tray and final the wok.

And right now I am back at my PC, having a cigarette and waiting for the first paragraph's worth of stuff to drain. So there

So how many weeks worth of dishes at that then?

I'll have another look at the intro, but I think it's more between you and GD on that one.