Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

THE RACE WITH CATASTROPHE 491orders and could see how they were obeyed — Gregor Strasser. He wasjoined by Wilhelm Frick, the former Munich police official. Frick hadorganized National Socialist cells in state and municipal offices; he hadcovered the state with a network of spies, who now began to doubt ifthey were serving the party which would soon be in power.Strasser upheld the interests of the party against Hitler, and to acertain degree the party had its way. Negotiations were taken up withthe Center. Hitler was ready for the most humiliating coalition. 'I reportto the leader by telephone; he agrees to everything,' Goebbels writes.Hitler met Bruning, who seems to have listened in courteous silence;Hitler felt that Bruning had been 'very compliant.' Perhaps Bruning feltthe same. The leaders of the Center, believing that this might be thetime to tame the National Socialists and to 'burden' them withresponsibility, agreed that they, as the strongest party, might appoint thepresident of the Reichstag, as custom decreed. Perhaps they expectedHitler to suggest Strasser, but he appointed Goring. For the first time thepublic attention was drawn to this man, who up till then had stoodsomewhat in the shade. On August 30 he was elected, over theopposition of the Social Democrats and Communists.From now on Hitler had his Berlin headquarters in the gilded, redplushpalace opposite the Reichstag that Goring as president wasentitled to occupy. Here he invited, ten days later, Kaas, Bruning,Stegerwald, and other leaders of the Center and tried to talk them into acoalition government, with himself as Chancellor, governing with thehelp of a far-reaching 'enabling law,' free from the control of theparliament for at least one year. Goebbels claims: 'The gentlemen of theCenter, who had never seen him before, are, it is clear, quite overcomeby his personality.' In reality they went away with the impression that,even if a National Socialist ever could be Chancellor, Hitler personallycould not.For the first time he had tried to find a majority, and he had failed,largely on account of his senseless demands and his terrifying behavior.But one thing remained certain: there could be no majority against him— not in this Reichstag. But what if Hinden-burg dissolved theReichstag; and supposing the new one were