Book

Ryback, Timothy W., author.

53 days : how Hitler dismantled a democracy / Timothy W. Ryback.

First edition.

First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition.

New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2026.

©2026

xxviii, 244 pages : illustrations, map ; 22 cm

"The chronicle of how Adolf Hitler overturned a constitutional democracy in less than eight weeks. On September 25, 1930, Adolf Hitler appeared before Germany's Supreme Court and outlined his plans to destroy the Weimar Republic through democratic process. The judge asked, 'So, only through constitutional means?' Hitler replied, 'Jawohl!' Barely two years later, on January 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed the fifteenth chancellor of the Weimar Republic. Within 53 days of that date, he had effected one of the most astonishing transformations in modern democracy, using the provisions of the Constitution to turn a democratic republic into an authoritarian state. Drawing from his 800-page political playbook, Mein Kampf, Hitler banned or neutered the print press and radio; purged the civil service and installed party loyalists; suspended civil liberties; compromised the courts; imposed Reich government control over the country's seventeen federated states; slapped draconian tariffs on trading partners; co-opted, imprisoned, or drove political opponents into exile; assumed control over the central bank; and then compelled the Reichstag, the country's legislative body, to pass an Enabling Act granting Hitler dictatorial power. Charting the key events of those dramatic days in taut and compelling prose, Timothy W. Ryback evokes the raw political power and increasing inevitability of Hitler's state capture, amid heroic efforts by journalists and social democrats to save the republic, underscoring the alarming observation in Joseph Goebbels' collected essays: 'The big joke on democracy is that it provides its mortal enemies with the means to its own destruction'"-- Provided by publisher.

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945

Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei

Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei

Democracy -- Germany -- History -- 20th century.

Democracy -- Germany -- 20th century.

Heads of state -- Germany.

Autoritarisme -- Allemagne -- 20e siècle.

Démocratie locale -- Allemagne -- 20e siècle.

Chefs d'État -- Allemagne.

Démocratie locale -- Allemagne -- Histoire -- 20e siècle.

Authoritarianism

Democracy

Heads of state

Politics and government

Germany -- Politics and government -- 1918-1933.

Allemagne -- Histoire -- 1918-1933.

Allemagne -- Politique et gouvernement -- 1918-1933.

Germany

Informational works.

Fifty-three days

How Hitler dismantled a democracy

Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-230) and index.

Author's note -- Prelude: Hitler's day in court, Thursday, September 25, 1930 -- A month of Mondays. Day 1: Triumphant, Monday, January 30, 1933 -- Day 8: War on the press, Monday, February 6, 1933 -- Day 15: Purging the civil service, Monday, February 13, 1933 -- Day 21: Co-opting the corporates, Monday, February 20, 1933 -- Day 28: Guardrails, Monday, February 27, 1933 -- The week that was. Day 29: Suspending civil liberties, Tuesday, February 28, 1933 -- Day 34: Election day, Sunday, March 5, 1933 -- Day 37: Crushing states' rights, Wednesday, March 8, 1933 -- Tides of March. Day 50: Swampland, Monday, March 20, 1933 -- Day 53: The thousand-year day, Thursday, March 23, 1933 -- Epilogue.

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9780802168245

0802168248

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