[Modern History] Guns Condoms and Electricity

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Toph Bei Fong: Feb 29, 2008

Churchill sucks big time, but in terms of "Dudes rock" energy, he was up there

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Toph Bei Fong: Feb 29, 2008

Fish of hemp posted:

What movies did Hitler like? Gone with the wind is really american movie and I don't think you can enjoy if you don't have pretty good knowledge of American history.

In addition to loving Disney movies, Hitler was a massive fan of western cowboy novels. His favorite were the Old Shatterhand and Winnetou books by Karl May (which, given that May is one of the most popular authors in Germany even today, isn't too surprising. Einstein was also a big fan).

The books are, uh...

quote:

Old Shatterhand is the alter ego of Karl May, and May himself maintained that he experienced all the adventures in person, even though in fact he did not visit America until after he wrote most of his well-known Western stories, and never traveled west of Buffalo, NY. Most of the stories are written from a first person perspective, and Winnetou often calls Old Shatterhand my brother Scharli ('Scharli' being a German phonetic approximation of 'Charlie', and ultimately meaning Karl in German). May also wrote stories about the same character traveling the Orient, where he is known as Kara Ben Nemsi.

May attached the prefix Old to the names of several of his characters, considering it to be typically American and a sign of the characters' great experience. In the stories, Old Shatterhand is given the name by his friend Sam Hawkens (who also originates from Germany but is already an old-timer in the American West), as he was able to knock his opponents unconscious with a single punch from his fist aimed at the head (specifically the temple).

Old Shatterhand owns two famous rifles, the B�rent�ter (Bear Killer) and the Henrystutzen (Henry carbine), both made by a fictional gunsmith called Henry in St. Louis (based on gunsmith Benjamin Tyler Henry 1821�1898). The Henrystutzen was able to fire 25 shots without reloading, probably a hyperbolic reference to the Henry rifle. Old Shatterhand rode a horse called Hatatitla (Lightning), which he got from Winnetou, who rode the horse's brother, called Iltschi (meaning Wind).

quote:

Adolf Hitler was an admirer, who noted in Mein Kampf that the novels "overwhelmed" him as a boy, going as far as to ensure "a noticeable decline" in his school grades. According to an anonymous friend, Hitler attended the lecture given by May in Vienna in March 1912 and was enthusiastic about the event. Ironically, the lecture was an appeal for peace, also heard by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Bertha von Suttner. Claus Roxin doubts the anonymous description, because Hitler had said much about May, but not that he had seen him. Hitler defended May against critics in the men's hostel where he lived in Vienna, as the evidence of May's earlier time in jail had come to light; although it was true, Hitler confessed that May had never visited the sites of his American adventure stories. This made him a greater writer in Hitler's view since it showed the author's powers of imagination. May died suddenly only ten days after the lecture, leaving the young Hitler deeply upset.

Hitler later recommended the books to his generals and had special editions distributed to soldiers at the front, praising Winnetou as an example of "tactical finesse and circumspection", though some note that the latter claims of using the books as military guidance are not substantiated. However, as told by Albert Speer, "when faced by seemingly hopeless situations, he [Hitler] would still reach for these stories," because "they gave him courage like works of philosophy for others or the Bible for elderly people." Hitler's admiration for May led the German writer Klaus Mann to accuse May of having been a form of "mentor" for Hitler. In his admiration, Hitler ignored May's Christian and humanitarian approach and views completely, not mentioning his relatively sympathetic description of Jews and other persons of non-Northern European ancestry.

The fate of Native Americans in the United States was used during the world wars for anti-American propaganda. The National Socialists in particular tried to use May's popularity and his work for their purposes.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2021 22:12

Toph Bei Fong: Feb 29, 2008

Some Guy TT posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/gumby4christ/status/1393081102517116932

# ¿ May 17, 2021 15:54

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