Vertigo - The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany. Chapter 13: Lonely Elites – Cabinet Politics vs Populism
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这一章深入探讨了魏玛共和国动荡的最后几个月，重点关注1932年6月至1933年1月这段时期，这是一个充斥着政治阴谋、暴力升级和纳粹党崛起的时期。它考察了弗朗茨·冯·帕彭、库尔特·冯·施莱谢尔、保罗·冯·兴登堡和阿道夫·希特勒等关键人物的角色，以及为纳粹党夺权铺平道路的更广泛的社会背景。
叙述从1932年6月帕彭被任命为总理开始，他是由兴登堡的顾问们（一个被称为“卡马利拉”的团体）选中的傀儡。帕彭的主要目标，与地主容克阶级和精英商人的利益一致，是确保纳粹党（NSDAP）的合作。为了实现这一目标，他解除了对冲锋队（SA，纳粹准军事部队）的禁令，从而在全国掀起了一场政治暴力浪潮。表面上，这个决定是为了获得纳粹党在国会中的支持，暴露了一种为了短期政治利益而牺牲原则的意愿。
解除对冲锋队的禁令导致街头暴力事件急剧增加，数百人在纳粹分子、共产主义者和其他人之间的冲突中丧生。本章重点介绍了1932年7月的“普鲁士政变”，帕彭政府罢免了由社民党领导的民选普鲁士地方政府，普鲁士是德国最大的州。帕彭以“阿尔托纳血腥星期天”为借口，解散了普鲁士政府，用帝国专员取而代之，实际上摧毁了社会民主的一个重要堡垒。这一行动表明，右翼保守派旨在消除任何对其议程的潜在抵抗。
尽管暴力事件升级，威权措施不断，但新的国会选举于1932年7月举行。纳粹党以37.3%的选票成为最强大的政党，而社民党遭受了挫折。这一结果突显了对反共和力量日益增长的支持，大多数选民支持主张右翼或左翼独裁统治的政党。这使得政府（一个没有强大民主授权的“绅士俱乐部”）处于岌岌可危的境地，难以在压倒性的反对声中进行统治。
尽管纳粹党在选举中取得成功，但兴登堡拒绝任命希特勒为总理，这造成了进一步的紧张局势。兴登堡虽然保守，但他犹豫是否将完全控制权交给一个决心实行独裁统治的政党。然而，希特勒拒绝接受联合政府中的下属地位，担心妥协会损害他的形象并削弱他的支持。本章还详细描述了当时德国面临的严重经济困难，数百万人失业，饥饿普遍。帕彭政府采取了紧缩措施，进一步加剧了这种情况。
随着帕彭政府努力维持控制，库尔特·冯·施莱谢尔成为一个关键人物，他说服兴登堡任命他取代帕彭为总理。施莱谢尔的策略是组建一个“Querfront”（跨党派联盟），由温和派力量组成，以边缘化希特勒。这包括与格奥尔格·施特拉塞尔（纳粹党中较为务实的一员）等人物接触。尽管施莱谢尔在将对立力量聚集在一起方面有记录，但他最终未能驯服纳粹党。他分裂纳粹党的努力徒劳无功，他建立跨党派联盟的尝试也因利益冲突而崩溃。
最终，帕彭出于重新掌权的渴望，与希特勒谈判，提出以副总理的职位换取希特勒担任总理。兴登堡最终屈服于压力，于1933年1月30日任命希特勒为总理，帕彭为副总理。这标志着魏玛共和国的最后一根稻草。
本章最后强调了“群众”在纳粹主义崛起中的关键作用。利珀（一个小州）的关键地区选举表明，对纳粹党的支持仍在继续，这破坏了任何对希特勒上台的剩余抵抗。虽然精英阶层错综复杂的政治运作发挥了重要作用，但作者认为，德国民众对希特勒的广泛支持以及对彻底变革的渴望是魏玛共和国灭亡的决定性因素。尽管经济形势在客观上有所改善，但很大一部分民众已经对这个制度失去了耐心，并接受了希特勒提出的“新德国”愿景，这种愿景是由情感而非理性驱动的。
This chapter delves into the tumultuous final months of the Weimar Republic, focusing on the period from June 1932 to January 1933, a time marked by political maneuvering, escalating violence, and the rise of the Nazi Party. It examines the roles of key figures like Franz von Papen, Kurt von Schleicher, Paul von Hindenburg, and Adolf Hitler, alongside the broader societal context that paved the way for the Nazi takeover.
The narrative begins with Papen's appointment as Chancellor in June 1932, a figurehead chosen by Hindenburg's advisors, a group known as the Camarilla. Papen's primary goal, aligned with the interests of the landowning Junker class and elite businessmen, was to secure the cooperation of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). To achieve this, he lifted the ban on the SA (Sturmabteilung), the Nazi paramilitary wing, unleashing a wave of political violence across the country. This decision was ostensibly to gain NSDAP support in the Reichstag, revealing a willingness to compromise principles for short-term political gain.
The lifting of the SA ban led to a dramatic increase in street violence, with hundreds killed in clashes between Nazis, Communists, and others. The chapter highlights the "Prussian coup" in July 1932, where Papen's government ousted the democratically elected SPD-led regional government of Prussia, the largest state in Germany. Using the "Altona Bloody Sunday" as a pretext, Papen dismissed the Prussian government, replacing it with a Reich commissioner, effectively dismantling a crucial bulwark of social democracy. This action demonstrated the right-wing conservatives' intent to eliminate any potential resistance to their agenda.
Despite the escalating violence and authoritarian measures, new Reichstag elections were held in July 1932. The NSDAP emerged as the strongest party with 37.3% of the vote, while the SPD suffered a setback. This result underscored the growing support for anti-republican forces, with a majority of voters backing parties advocating for either right-wing or left-wing dictatorships. This left the government, a "gentleman's club" without a strong democratic mandate, in a precarious position, struggling to govern against the overwhelming opposition.
Hindenburg's refusal to appoint Hitler as Chancellor, despite the NSDAP's electoral success, created further tensions. Hindenburg, while conservative, hesitated to hand over complete control to a party determined to rule dictatorially. However, Hitler refused to accept a subordinate position within a coalition government, fearing that compromises would damage his image and erode his support. The chapter also details the severe economic hardships facing Germany at the time, with millions unemployed and widespread hunger. Papen's government responded with austerity measures that further exacerbated the situation.
As Papen's government struggled to maintain control, Kurt von Schleicher emerged as a key player, persuading Hindenburg to replace Papen as Chancellor. Schleicher's strategy involved forming a "Querfront," a cross-party alliance of moderate forces to marginalize Hitler. This involved reaching out to figures like Georg Strasser, a more pragmatic member of the NSDAP. Schleicher, despite a track record of bringing together opposing forces, ultimately failed to tame the Nazi Party. His efforts to split the NSDAP proved futile, and his attempt to create a cross-party coalition collapsed due to conflicting interests.
Ultimately, Papen, driven by a desire to regain power, negotiated with Hitler, offering him the Chancellorship in exchange for the Vice-Chancellorship. Hindenburg, eventually succumbing to pressure, appointed Hitler as Chancellor on January 30, 1933, with Papen as Vice-Chancellor. This marked the final nail in the coffin for the Weimar Republic.
The chapter concludes by emphasizing the crucial role of the "crowd" in the rise of Nazism. A crucial regional election in Lippe, a small state, demonstrated the continued support for the Nazi Party, undermining any remaining resistance to Hitler's ascension. While the intricate political maneuvering of the elite played a significant role, the author argues that the widespread support for Hitler and the desire for radical change among the German populace were decisive factors in the Weimar Republic's demise. Despite some objective improvements in the economic situation, a large portion of the population had lost patience with the system and embraced Hitler's vision of a "new Germany," driven by emotion rather than reason.
中英文字稿 
第13章 孤独的精英、内阁政治与民粹主义。我实在不想在这个已经堕落到最低谷的委员会里，去面对那些议会流氓的粗暴侮辱。——普鲁士州长奥托·布劳恩谈及他的地区议会，1932年。序幕：普鲁士政变，冯·佩翁罢黜地区政府。此时的总理不是希特勒，而是冯·佩翁，一个在众多反对者眼中被视为笑柄的人。漫画家们无需多做加工，就可以轻松讽刺他。他高高的礼帽，瘦削却总是衣冠楚楚的身影，穿着紧绷的星期日外套，像个脾气暴躁的山羊，试图摆出高贵的姿态，哈里·科夫·凯斯勒写道，这就像《爱丽丝梦游仙境》里的人物。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Chapter 13 Lonely elites, cabinet politics, versus populism. I really didn't feel like exposing myself to the thuggish insults of parliamentary hooligans in this committee, now degraded to the lowest of dives. Otto Braun, state premier of Prussia, on his regional parliament, 1932. The Prelude, coup in Prussia, von Pärben drives the regional government out of office. For now, however, the Chancellor was not Hitler, but Franz von Pärben, a joke figure, at least in the eyes of his many opponents. Caricaturists didn't have to do much to make a mockery of him. The tall top hat on the gaunt always immaculately a tired figure in the tight Sunday coat, a bad-tempered billy goat trying to adopt a pose of great dignity, Harry Koeff Kessler wrote, a figure out of Alice in Wonderland.
1932年6月1日，贝尔本上台执政，其方式类似于兴登堡紧急内阁的典型运作方式，这是在兴登堡的一位顾问中最具权势的幕后操纵者、他的亲信施莱彻的建议下进行的。兴登堡对不幸的饥饿总理海因里希·布吕宁失去了耐心，因为正如我们所说，布吕宁终于设法征用了部分普鲁士容克阶级（即大地主阶级）的财产，而兴登堡的家族正是来自这个阶级。此外，布吕宁因为禁止某个团体而使其暴力街头斗争和谋杀行为受到抑制，这让兴登堡感到不满，他认为这是向左倾斜。相比之下，卡培姆是典型的“骑士精神”的象征。他接受过绅士骑师或业余骑师的训练，这个称号伴随了他的一生并留名后世。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Pärben came to power on 1 June 1932, in a way typical of Hindenburg's emergency cabinet, at the suggestion of the most powerful behind-the-scenes manipulator among Hindenburg's advisors, known as his Camarilla. Court von Schleicher. Hindenburg had lost patience with the unfortunate hunger chancellor Heinrich Bruning because Bruning had, as we have said, finally managed to commandeer some of the property of the Prussian yunkos, the land-owning class from which Hindenburg's own family came. Hindenburg was also unhappy with the fact that Bruning had banned the essay because of their violent street battles and the murders they committed. He saw this as a lurch to the left. Carpem, on the other hand, was the epitome of the Heronreiter. He had trained as a gentleman rider or amateur jockey, an epithet that clung to him through his life and beyond.
他不是最有学问的人，但却机敏、虚荣、健谈，是高档社交沙龙中的常客，必要时表现出优雅的礼节。他娶入富裕的维拉罗伊与博世陶瓷家族，并拥有与顶级商界精英联系广泛的人脉。卡佩姆的品味非常符合德国绅士俱乐部的活动，该俱乐部由年轻地主、大型工业家和银行家组成，他们自认为是国家的精英，需要一个合适的领袖。在轻浮的卡佩姆身上，他们找到了这个人。现在，他已经做了整整六个月的总理。足够长的时间，让卡佩姆和他的贵族内阁——由于部长中有许多贵族而得名——制造了大量的混乱。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
He wasn't the most intellectual of men, but he was sharp-witted, vain and communicative, a denizen of high-society salons with exquisite manners when they were called for. He had married into the wealthy Villaroy and Boch ceramic dynasty and had a network of outstanding contacts with elite businessmen. Carpem's taste was very much in line with his activity for the German Gentleman's Club, an association of yunkos, large industrialists, and bankers who felt that they were the country's elite and needed an appropriate figurehead. In the lightweight Carpem, they had found it. Now he was Chancellor for a whole six months. Long enough for Carpem and his cabinet of barons, so-called because of the many aristocrats among the ministers, to do a great deal of mischief.
根据之前与兴登堡的协议，他立即解除了对冲锋队的禁令，以确保在国会中与纳粹党的合作。到那时，这支已经拥有五十万名可怕的潜在街头斗士的组织几乎欣喜若狂。他们曾被迫剥去荣誉的外衣，正如他们中的一名恶棍所说的那样，甚至在死亡时也受到禁令的羞辱。而现在，他们感受到自己得到了同样强烈的平反。一波新的暴力浪潮再次席卷全国。仅在解除禁令的七八月间，就有超过300人在政治冲突中失去了生命。七月份在普鲁士有86人丧生，他们并非都在肉搏战中死去。有些人是在自己家中遭到袭击，被踢打致死、背后捅杀、暴打或被扔进池塘。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
As previously agreed with Hindenburg, he immediately lifted the ban on the essay to ensure the cooperation of the NSDAP in the Reichstag. The essay, by now an organization of half a million terrifying potential street fighters, was almost delirious with joy. They had been forced to strip themselves of their garb of honour, as one of their thugs put it, and even in death, referring to the ban, treated most virally. Now with equal intensity, they felt that they had been rehabilitated. Once again a wave of violence crossed the country. In July and August alone, after the lifting of the essay ban, over 300 people lost their lives in political clashes. 86 people died in Prussia in July, by no means only in hand-to-hand combat. They were attacked in their apartments, and kicked to death, stabbed in the back, beaten up or thrown into ponds.
共产党员进行了针锋相对的斗争。在七月的86名遇难者中，有38人是纳粹党成员，28人是德国共产党成员。截至1932年7月20日，Parpen及其政要俱乐部想要引导德国走的道路已经显而易见。就在那一天，他们通过政变推翻了普鲁士地区政府，后者是社会民主党（SPD）最后一个仍有发言权的政府，他们从上层将其赶下了台。在被称为“普鲁士政变”的早晨，一些地区的代表被召集到总理办公室，但州长奥托·布劳恩因患流感卧床，未能出席。在那里，他们接到了一项法令，宣布他们立即被解职，从此普鲁士的官方事务将暂由总理处理，直到普鲁士恢复和平和秩序。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
The Communists gave as good as they got. Of the 86 July victims, 38 belonged to the NSDAP, 28 to the KPD. By the 20th of July 1932, it was plain on which path Parpen and his gentleman's club wanted to put Germany. That was the day they held a push of the regional Prussian government, the last in which the SPD still had a say, and drove it out of office from above. On the morning of what became known as the Prussian coup, some representatives of the region but not state Premier Otto Braun, who was in bed with flu, were summoned to the Chancellor's office. There they were handed a decree announcing that they were deposed with immediate effect, and that official Prussian business would henceforth be provisionally conducted by the Chancellor until peace and order had been reestablished in Prussia.
就是这样。接下来要做的就是冷冷地感谢那位先生，简短地道别，然后把他们送出门。帕彭给这次帝国处决的正式理由是三天前的阿尔托纳血腥星期天。1932年7月18日，冲锋队在北部城市汉堡的工人区阿尔托纳举行了一场游行，导致18人丧生。不可避免的骚乱升级到了这样一个地步，使得资源不足的警察觉得别无选择，只能向人群随意开枪。这个悲惨的失败事件的受害者大多是无辜的旁观者。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
That was it. All that remained was to thank the gentleman frostily, bid them a curt farewell, and usher them out of the door. The formal reason that Parpen gave for this Reich execution was the Altona Bloody Sunday, three days previously. On the 18th of July 1932, after a march by the SA through the working-class district of Altona in the northern city of Hamburg, 18 people had lost their lives. The inevitable disturbances had escalated to such an extent that the overstretched police felt they had no option but to fire at random into the crowd, a tragic failure whose victims were mostly innocent bystanders.
对此事的回应是罢免整个普鲁士政府，但这变得更加荒唐，因为暴力事件的爆发最初是由于帕尔彭解除了冲锋队禁令。阿尔托纳的灾难为终结普鲁士州社民党与中产阶级政党之间的联合政府提供了一个可喜的机会，这个政府长期以来一直是右翼保守派的眼中钉。几个月来，他们一直散布谣言称，社会民主党人和共产主义者可能会在普鲁士联手尝试夺取政权，尽管大家都很清楚左翼之间的矛盾难以弥合。剥夺由社民党领导的州政府权力的真正动机是为了使保守派革命更进一步，并清除巨大障碍：共和国最大州的社会民主党领导层。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Ousting the entire Prussian government in response, however, was made all the more grotesque by the fact that the eruptions of violence had been sparked by Parpen lifting the SA ban in the first place. The disaster of Altona offered a welcome opportunity to put an end to the coalition government between the SPD and the bourgeois parties in the state of Prussia, which had long been a thorn in the side of right-wing conservatives. For months they had spread rumours that social democrats and communists might come together in Prussia and attempt to seize power, even though it was plain to everyone that animosities on the left were unbridgeable. The real motive for stripping the SPD-led state government of power was to bring the Conservative Revolution a step closer and clear a potential source of resistance out of the way in the form of the social-democratic leadership of the biggest state in the republic.
同日下午，冯·帕本总理完成了政府更迭。普鲁士内政部长卡尔·泽夫林被迅速任命的继任者罢免，并由两名警察协助执行。柏林警察局长及其副手、国家警察制服部门的指挥官也被逮捕。这些被捕人员直到次日早晨才被释放，新任职者承诺不再利用舒波（国家制服警察）为原上司防卫。最后一个由社会民主党领导的地方政府成为历史。一些愤怒的市民聚集在内政部前，但被罢免的政府却没有表现出任何抵抗的迹象。许多社会民主党成员因缺乏抵抗而愤怒地扔掉了他们的党员证。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
That same afternoon, Chancellor von Parpen carried through the change of government. Prussia's interior minister, Karl Zevring, was thrown out of office by his swiftly appointed successor, assisted by two police officers. The Berlin chief of police and his deputy were arrested, as was the commander of the Schutzpollitsai or Schupor, the uniformed branch of the state police. The arrested men were only released the next morning, when the new incumbents swore not to use the Schupor to defend their former masters. The last SPD-led regional government was a thing of the past. Some enraged citizens did assemble in front of the interior ministry, but the deposed government showed no sign of defending itself. Many SPD members threw their party cards away in fury at the lack of resistance.
政府难道不能联合铁路协会的武装人员，召集9万名警察来对抗军队吗？战斗力充足的社会民主党支持者对此深信不疑，认为必能将敌人如同碾死虱子般击溃。然而，布劳恩和泽夫林仍坚持走宪法途径。他们还能做些什么呢？奥托·布劳恩在该地区的权力几乎和帕彭在整个国家的权力同样不稳定。自上次选举以来，他一直只是一个傀儡。三个月前，即1932年4月，国家社会主义德国工人党在联邦州选举中取得了惊人的37%支持率，迫使社民党退居第二位，只有21%。布劳恩之所以还能留在政府，是因为纳粹党未能自立门户，而获得13%选票的共产党的立场显然不会与社民党站在一起。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Could the government not have mustered 90,000 policemen against the army, along with the armed men of the Reichsbahnner Association? We will crush them like lice, the battle-ready social-democrat supporters were sure of it. But Braun and Zevring stuck to the constitutional path. What else were they supposed to do? Otto Braun's power in the region was almost as shaky as Parpen's in the Reich. Since the last election, he had only been a figurehead. Three months previously, in April 1932, the NSDAP had received a sensational 37% in the federal state elections, forcing the SPD into second place with 21%. Braun was only still in government because the NSDAP had not been able to form one, and the KPD, which had achieved 13%, would certainly not side with the SPD.
也许如果举行新的国会议会选举，局势会有所改善。布劳恩想等到那时再做打算。红色沙皇刚刚经历了一段令人沮丧的几个月。这个铁路守卫之子的昵称源于他几乎不间断地在普鲁士政府的高位上呆了12年，这在魏玛时代标准下显得非常惊人。布劳恩认为，普鲁士在这段时间里能够巩固成为民主的堡垒。然而，这一成就所剩无几。在过去的几周里，纳粹党已经把地区议会变成了闹剧。在选举后的第二次会议上，纳粹党和共产党的议员们展开了拳打脚踢，还互相投掷椅子、抽屉和烟灰缸。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Perhaps the situation would improve if there were a new Reichstag election. Braun wanted to wait until then. The Red Tsar had some depressing months behind him. The son of a railway guard had been given his nickname because he had managed to stay at the top of the Prussian government for 12 years, almost without interruption, an astonishingly long time, not only by Weimar standards, during which Prussia, he believed, had been able to consolidate itself as a bulwark of democracy. Not much was left of it. Over the previous few weeks, the Nazis had turned the regional parliament into a fast. At the second session after the election, NSDAP and KPD members had engaged in fistfights and thrown chairs, drawers and ashtrays at one another.
一次会议导致八人重伤，而共产主义者最终在痛苦中失败离去。但在面对不信任动议或嘲讽政府时，双方却能合作。沮丧的奥托·布劳恩最终请假，以便远离州议会。我实在不想在这个已经沦落为最低级别的委员会里，暴露在那些议会流氓的侮辱之下。国家社会主义德国工人党（NSDAP）派别的主席威廉·库伯冷笑道。这些先生们在这样紧张的时期里拿着高薪，就得出席。所以我们与共产主义者和德国民族主义者一起要求，布劳恩内阁，出席你们的最后检阅。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
A single session had left eight people seriously injured, and the communists finally left in bitter defeat. But both parties worked together when it came to a motion of no confidence or forcing the government to put up with their mocking laughter. A demoralised Otto Braun had finally taken leave so that he could stay away from state parliament. I really didn't feel like exposing myself to the faggish insults of parliamentary hooligans in this committee, now degraded to the lowest of dives. The chair of the NSDAP faction, Wilhelm Küber, Snyad. As long as these gentlemen are receiving their high wages in straightened times like these, they have to put in an appearance. That's why we, along with the communists and the German nationalists, demand, Braun Cabinet, show up for your final inspection.
奥托·布劳恩和卡尔·泽夫林对能否获得公众的支持以进行抵抗缺乏信心。这是有道理的。1920年政变后，尽管人们曾普遍参加过保卫共和国的大罢工，但现在他们却沉默不语。一些自由资产阶级人士确实有所抗议，但声音微弱，因为他们担心在对共和国感到厌倦的社会中，他们的立场显得孤立。最终提议，施莱彻和跨党派联盟的网络法院。1932年7月31日，新一届国会大选中，纳粹党成为最强大的政党，获得了37.3%的选票。社民党自1890年以来首次不得不屈居第二，仅获得21.6%的选票。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Otto Braun and Carl Zevring had insufficient faith that they would receive support from the public to put up any resistance. Rightly so. The population which had overwhelmingly joined the general strike in defence of the Republic after the 1920 cup-pouch was effectively silent. Some parts of the liberal bourgeoisie did protest, but too faintly because they worried that their position within a Republic-weary society had become rather lonely. Final offer, Networke Court von Schleicher and the Cross-Party Front. On 31 July 1932, there were new Reichstag elections. The NSDAP was the strongest party with 37.3% of the vote. The SPD had to settle for second place for the first time since 1890, reaching only 21.6%.
共产党的得票率为14.3%，甚至不到国家社会党（纳粹党）的一半。如果我们不仅从左右翼的角度来看结果，而是从对民主的忠诚度来分析，那就更加严峻。反对共和国且支持左右翼独裁的政党支持者，如纳粹党（NSDAP）、德国共产党（KPD）和传媒大亨哈根巴赫的德国国家人民党（DnVP），总共形成了接近60%的明显多数。这一党派只有来自社会民主党（SPD）和两个天主教党派——中央党和巴伐利亚人民党（BVP）的选民支持。其他市民阶层的政党，如德国人民党（DVP）和德国国家党（DSTP），已经萎缩得无足轻重。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
With 14.3% of the votes, the communists were not even half as strong as the National Socialists. If we sought the result not just according to right or left, but in terms of loyalty towards democracy, it looks even more menacing. Devotees of the anti-Republic parties who backed a dictatorship of the right or the left, NSDAP, KPD and Media Magnet Hagenbach's DnVP, German National People's Party, together formed a clear majority of almost 60%. The party only had support from the voters of the SPD and the two Catholic parties Centom, Centre and the Bairuscha Fokespartai, Bavarian People's Party. The other bourgeois parties, such as the DVP, German People's Party and the DSTP, Deutsche Statzpartai, German State Party, had shrunk to insignificance.
在这样的情况下继续执政，对于一个没有任何民主合法性、仅依靠1925年当选总统的善意支持的精英绅士俱乐部来说，必然是一项艰难的任务，即使那个绅士觉得自己天生就该统治。街头的暴力愈演愈烈。哈里格拉夫·凯斯勒在日记中写道，"几乎成了一个持续的圣巴托洛缪节"，指的是1572年法国对胡格诺派的屠杀。纳粹党感到愤怒，因为他们刚庆祝了希特勒的选举胜利，随之而来的却是他仍未成为总理的失望。兴登堡允许纳粹党在冯·帕彭领导下加入联合政府，却拒绝考虑希特勒担任总理一职。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Simply carrying on governing under these conditions must have been a difficult task for an elite gentleman's club without any democratic legitimation apart from the goodwill of the president who had been elected in 1925, even if the gentleman in question felt predestined to rule. Violence in the streets was escalating more and more. A constant Saint Bartholomew's day, Harigrav Kessler wrote in his diary, referring to the French massacre of Huguenots in 1572. The essay was furious because their celebration of Hitler's electoral victory was soon followed by the bitter disappointment that he still didn't become Chancellor. Hindenburg did allow the NSDAP to join a coalition government under Papen but refused to consider Hitler for the role of Chancellor.
他不想屈服于希特勒要求整体转移国家权力的要求。尽管辛登堡非常保守，但他认为自己是全体德国人的总统。他甚至表示不愿意将整个政府的责任转移给一个决心单方面使用这份权力的政党。换句话说，就是他不愿意让一个政党以独裁方式处理事务。而另一方面，希特勒也不愿意受到束缚。作为帕彭内阁的一员，他几乎不可避免地会受到限制。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
He did not want to concede to Hitler's demand for the transfer of state power as a whole. In spite of his intensely conservative convictions, Hindenburg felt himself to be the president of all Germans. So much that he had declared himself unwilling to transfer the whole of government responsibility to a party that is determined to use this power one-sidedly. In other words, that it would deal as dictatorially with the centres as it had always said it would. Conversely, Hitler was not willing to have his hands tied. As a member of a cabinet under Papen, he would almost inevitably find himself constrained.
他担心自己的胜利可能是得不偿失的，同时害怕不可避免的妥协会损害他的光环。他也在思考，作为反对派，他的受欢迎程度还能持续多久，并意识到，如果无法将选举胜利转化为实际成果，他的说服力将大打折扣。简而言之，希特勒陷入了两难境地，像往常一样，开始变得沮丧。同时，由于对所谓“合法途径”的不满，希特勒那些不耐烦的追随者开始表现出更大的残暴，进而让他失去了一部分犹豫不决追随者的同情。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
He was worried that his victory might prove to be Pyrrhic and feared that his aura might be damaged by the sobriety of the inevitable compromises. He also wondered how long his popularity might last in opposition and knew that much of his persuasive power would be forfeited if he was unable to turn his electoral victories into practical successes. In short, Hitler was in a quandary and reacted as he always did by becoming depressed. Meanwhile, frustrated by what would come to be known as his legal course, Hitler's impatient troops started displaying even greater brutality and cost him sympathy among the more hesitant section of his followers.
在1932年夏季的这个阶段，社会困境再次急剧加剧。失业人数已达六百万。此外，还有三百万 "Kotsabaita"，即那些由于工时减少和工资降低，无法满足其最基本需求的工人，这些人不得不依靠国家补贴。然而，为了不打破预算，巴伦内阁大幅削减了他们发放的补贴金额。被讽刺地称为“维持失业补贴的紧急法令”的政策，把补贴又进一步削减了23%。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
At this point in the summer of 1932, social hardship had intensified dramatically once again. There were six million unemployed. Alongside those, there were three million Kotsabaita, workers who could not satisfy their most urgent needs with their reduced hours and wages, so had to rely on state subsidies. Nonetheless, so as not to break the budget, the cabinet of Barrens drastically cut the amount of support that they issued. The emergency decree for the preservation of unemployment benefit, as it was cynically called, reduced benefits by a further 23%.
真正的饥荒在地球上最先进的工业国家之一爆发了，而与此同时，奔驰汽车的尺寸越来越大，杂志的封面越来越优雅，旅游目的地变得越来越异域。情况逐渐有所改善。帕彭最终支持恢复投资政策，失业人数略有下降，特别是那些依赖国家补贴来补充工资的库萨拜塔族人。出口有所增长，尽管步伐缓慢。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Real hunger broke out in one of the most advanced industrial states on Earth, in which at the same time, Mercedes cars were getting bigger and bigger, the front pages of the magazines more and more elegant, and travel destinations increasingly exotic. The situation gradually improved, however. Papen eventually backed a reviving investment policy, bringing the numbers of unemployed down slightly, particularly those Kotsabaita who were depended on state subsidies to top up their wages. Exports grew, albeit hesitantly.
最重要的是，德国终于摆脱了沉重的赔款负担。经过布吕宁的长时间准备，帕彭获得了成果。在洛桑会议上，他与战胜国达成协议，将剩余的赔款金额定为30亿帝国马克，预计从1935年起通过国际贷款逐步支付。不过，这笔款项最终并未真正支付。两年前的1930年3月，德国国会通过的《青年计划》规定，每年定期支付20亿马克的赔款，直至1966年，然后支付略低的年金，持续到1988年。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
The most important thing, however, was that at last Germany was free of the oppressive burden of reparations. After Bruning's protracted preparations, Papen reaped the harvest. At the Lozan Conference, he reached an agreement with the victorious powers on a remaining balance of only 3 billion Reichsmarks, which was to be paid from 1935 onwards with the help of an international loan. It was never really paid. The young plan that had been accepted by the Reichstag two years earlier in March 1930 had allowed for payments of 2 billion marks per year to be paid regularly until 1966 and then with a slightly smaller annuity until 1988.
在替代方案崩溃后，这种情况并没有真正带来好结果。但在当时激烈的氛围中，细节还重要吗？三个月后，即1932年11月6日，又进行了一次选举。国家社会主义德国工人党（NSDAP）失去了4.2%的选票，这对他们来说是一个相当大的挫折。但这还不足以称之为真正的转变。他们依然是最强大的政党，拥有大约33.1%的选票，而社会民主党（SPD）以20.4%远远排在第二。该怎么办呢？巴伦斯内阁陷入了困境。他们只能依靠10%的选票，而90%的选票都投给了各种反对党。长远来看，违背议会和人民多数意愿进行统治似乎不再是一个可行的选择。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
After the collapse of proposed alternative arrangements, it was never really paid off. But what did details matter in this heated atmosphere? When a good three months later, on 6th November 1932, there was another election. The NSDAP lost 4.2% of votes. That was a considerable setback for it. But it was still not enough to be called a real turnaround. About 33.1%, it was still by some way the strongest party, with the SPD a distant second with 20.4%. What was to be done? The cabinet of Barrens was in a fix. It could still rely on only 10% of votes. 90% had voted for the various opposition parties. Governing against the majorities in Parliament and in the population no longer seemed like a viable option in the long term.
考虑到当时的形势，这个国家似乎正处于内战的边缘。而帕彭内阁基本上放弃了对社会民主党的宽容接纳。当施莱歇尔意识到他的朋友帕彭不能长久阻止希特勒掌权时，他决定不再隐蔽，冒险去争取最高职位。他说服兴登堡放弃帕彭，转而尝试让他担任总理。同时，施莱歇尔想出了一个建立跨党派联盟的主意，集合从温和的国家社会主义者到基督教工会的理性力量，以将希特勒排挤到幕后。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Given that on the margins, the country appeared to be on the brink of civil war. And the Papen cabinet had basically thrown away the tolerant acceptance of the Social Democrats. When Schleicher understood that Francian, as he called his friend Papen, would not be able to keep Hitler out of power in the long term, he decided to come out of cover and risk going for the top job. He persuaded Hindenburg to drop Papen and instead try him out as Chancellor. In the meantime, Schleicher had come up with the idea of establishing a Kverfant cross-party front of reasonable forces, from moderate national socialists to Christian trade unions to force Hitler into the background.
这个项目在后来的回顾中常常被嘲笑，但只需站在施莱歇尔的立场上，就能理解其背后的逻辑。毕竟，他曾把最不可能的人物聚集到一起。施莱歇尔是总参谋长威廉·格吕纳最亲密的同事，格吕纳曾在共和国初期与弗里德里希·埃伯特签订了军队与政府之间的互助协议。总参谋长这一职位并不像听起来那么无趣，它还包括对军队后勤管理的责任，如为1200万士兵提供补给和武器等。类似施莱歇尔这样的人往往被前线士兵嘲笑为坐在办公室里的士兵，但这种嘲笑却没有考虑到物质战争时代中后勤的重要性。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
The project has often been mocked in retrospect, but one need only place oneself in Schleicher's position to understand the logic. He had brought the most unlikely figures together in the past, after all. Schleicher had been the closest colleague of Quartermaster General Wilhelm Grüner, who had concluded the pact for mutual support between the army and the government with Friedrich Ebert at the beginning of the Republic. The post of Quartermaster General was not as dusty as it sounds. It involved responsibility among other things for the logistical management of the army, including supplies and ordnance for 12 million soldiers. Someone like Schleicher tended to be ridiculed by frontline soldiers as a desk-bound soldier, but that derision fails to take into account the importance of logistics in the age of material warfare.
施莱歇尔的职位在革命后被证明是现代化的，当时他被委任负责我们今天称之为通信工作的事务，为格吕纳和国防军服务。他需要在将军们和民主政治家之间建立起基本的信任。施莱歇尔与每个人都能友好相处。作为一名传播策略专家，他是那个普遍存在怀疑的国防军中理想的人选，尽管他并不总是完全赢得他们的信赖。格吕纳和施莱歇尔相信偏见是没有意义的，因此他们与新的社会民主统治者达成了一致，同时没有忘记他们的真正目标，即重新夺回国防军的主导地位。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
And the modernity of Schleicher's position was confirmed after the revolution when he was put in charge of communications, as we would call it today, for Grüner and the Reichsbehr. He had to establish a basic degree of trust between the generals and the democratic politicians. Schleicher got on with everyone. As a communications strategist, he was the ideal candidate for the generally suspicious Reichsbehr, even if he did not always fully earn their trust. Convinced that prejudice was pointless, Grüner and Schleicher came to terms with the new social democratic rulers, without losing sight of their actual goal, the reconquest of the Wehrmacht supremacy.
施莱歇尔曾为军队进行游说，并逐渐增强了其影响力。十年后，他在协调不同派别方面的经验让他相信，可以通过让纳粹党加入联合政府并赋予其责任，来驯服纳粹党。然而，这一计划因希特勒对副总理一职不感兴趣而失败。于是，他想出了一个新的策略：分裂纳粹党，并在政治光谱的左右两端以及与既定阵营形成角度的位置上建立一个联盟。这是他最后一次尝试以抵制希特勒对全面掌控的要求。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Schleicher lobbied for the army and gradually strengthened its influence. Ten years later, his experience in bringing different milleurs together persuaded Schleicher that he might be able to tame the NSDOP by making it part of a coalition government, and burdening it with responsibility. When that failed because Hitler had no interest in being appointed Vice Chancellor, he came up with the plan of splitting the NSDOP and establishing an alliance of forces at the left and right ends of the political spectrum and at an angle to the established camps. One last attempt to counter Hitler's claim to total control.
在国家社会主义德国工人党（NSDAP）中，最明显的潜在合作伙伴是该党的组织负责人乔治·施特拉瑟。他是一位务实的政治家，具备一定的个人魅力，对于约瑟夫·戈培尔和赫尔曼·戈林在令人失望的十一月选举后的不妥协态度提出了反对。在党内有限的选择中，施特拉瑟被认为是相对理智的人，他受过良好教育，具备艺术品味，并与工会有联系。凯方特·奥赛茨基甚至在《迪维格布内》中形容他为一个精明的知识分子。在党内，他是妒忌心强且竞争激烈的戈培尔的死对头，属于相对左翼派，更明确地反对资本主义。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
The most obvious potential partner within the NSDOP was the party's head of organisation, Georg Strasser, a pragmatic politician with some charisma who objected to Josef Goebbels and Hermann Goerings all-or-nothing approach after the results of the disappointing November election. Within the narrow range offered by the NSDOP, Strasser was a relatively reasonable man, educated, artistically minded and with contacts in the trade unions. Kaifant Oseetsky even described him in Deveigbune as a suave intellectual. Within the NSDOP as an arch-enemy of the jealous and competitive Goebbels, he was on the left wing, the one more clearly opposed to capitalism.
由于可能让施特拉瑟担任副总理，施莱赫尔希望能够阻止不可预测的希特勒掌权。希特勒可以继续做他作为宣传家的演讲，但专注于权力幕后交易的施莱赫尔从未意识到，希特勒作为演说家的角色因其巨大的群众影响力而至关重要。然而，施莱赫尔的“Kverfrant”概念似乎有一定的机会，因为它在右翼知识分子圈子，尤其是围绕汉斯·塞拉斯-迪塔特的一群人中拥有有效的宣传力量。这些期刊模糊而神话般的愿景描绘了一种超越传统左右界限的新民众社区，以实现以社会正义精神为导向的德国人民的重生。这种愿景与“Kverfrant”概念的斗争性理想关系密切，正如理论与实践的关系。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
With Strasser as a possible Vice Chancellor, Schleicher hoped to be able to keep the unpredictable Hitler out of power. Hitler could go on making his speeches as a propagandist, but it never occurred to an arch-manipulator like Schleicher fixated as he was on the quiet back rooms of power that Hitler's role as an orator was essential precisely because of its mass impact. However, Schleicher's Kverfrant concept seemed to have a chance since it had effective propagandists within right-wing intellectual circles, particularly those around Hans Sierras-Ditart. The journals vague and mythically charged vision of a new folk community beyond traditional lines of right and left to bring about a rebirth of the German folk in the spirit of social justice was related to the combative-sounding notion of the Kverfrant as theory is to practice.
为了强调1932年11月克韦弗兰特的理念，温和的国家社会主义者和共产党人在柏林的公共交通罢工中联合起来。1932年11月3日，当柏林交通服务公司的工人让首都的地方交通系统陷入停顿时，红旗和纳粹旗帜并肩出现。这次罢工由纳粹党和共产党共同支持和协调，因为它实际上是针对在柏林交通管理中有很大影响力的社民党。罢工结束后，古勃尔斯高兴地指出，我们在工人中的声望在短短几天内迅速上升。据信，惊慌的资产阶级最终会逐渐适应。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
And as if to reinforce the concept of the Kverfrant in November 1932, moderate national socialists and communists made common cause in response to Berlin's public transport strike. Red flags and swastikas were seen side by side on the 3rd of November 1932 when workers of the Berlin Transport Services brought the capital's local transport system to a standstill. The strike was jointly supported and coordinated by the Nazi and communist parties because it was tacitly directed at the SPD, which had strong influence in the management of Berlin's transport organisation. Our reputation among the workforce has risen dazzlingly within only a few days, Gubbers was pleased to note after the end of the strike. The alarmed bourgeoisie it was assumed would get over it in due course.
在11月的选举之后，冯·帕彭未能对少数派内阁表现出包容，在自己的内阁中也出现了明显的分歧。令兴登堡心情沉重的是，他在1932年12月3日用冯·施莱谢尔取代了冯·帕彭。除了两位部长外，其他成员不变。所有人都是独立人士，或者根据施莱谢尔的非意识形态实用主义理念离开了各自的政党。尽管施莱谢尔呼吁国家内的善意力量合作并取得了一些初步效果，但这些成效只持续了几天，未解决的矛盾又再次显现。最初似乎愿意支持施莱谢尔的工会无法接受排除社民党（SPD）的政策，并拒绝支持不愿推翻普鲁士政变的政府。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
When von Poepen could muster no tolerance for a minority cabinet after the November elections, an agreement was even clearly fading within his own cabinet with a heavy heart Hindenburg swapped von Poepen for von Schlescher on the 3rd of December 1932. The ministers remained the same apart from two. All of them were independent or had left their parties in line with Schlescher's concept of a non-ideological pragmatism. The appeal to well-intentioned forces in the country to work together constructively held for a few days but then unresolved conflicts reopened. The trade unions which had initially seemed willing to follow Schlescher could not agree with a policy that excluded the SPD and refused to support a government that refused to reverse the Prussian coup.
施莱舍在右翼也遇到了阻力。大地主们强烈反对他的安置政策，该政策计划把城市中的失业人口迁到共和国东部，而不是使用廉价的波兰季节工。几乎每一个建议都被顽固地阻挠。施莱舍试图让所有人满意的努力，最终导致所有人都离他而去。他希望通过善意来弥合的对立，依然尖锐无解。然而，施莱舍是否真如表面上那般信任他人，至今仍是个谜。希望在貌似公正的军队权威监督下通过跨党合作解决问题的想法，被现实中基本的冲突脉络所击败。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Schlescher also encountered resistance on the right. The large land owners protested vehemently against his settlement policy, with which he planned to free the cities of unemployed people and deploy them in the east of the republic instead of cheap Polish seasonal workers. Almost every suggestion was stubbornly blocked. Schlescher's efforts to make everyone happy led to everyone turning away. The opposites that he wanted to bridge in the spirit of goodwill remained bitterly unreconciled. But Schlescher was quite as trusting as he appeared remains a mystery even today. The idea of cross-party cooperation under the authoritarian supervision of the supposedly impartial army was defeated by the reality of the fundamental lines of conflict.
Schlescher对资本主义和社会主义的批评同时没有为内阁的实际意图提供多少线索。历史学家卡尔·迪特里希·布拉查简洁地总结为：这位将军试图取悦所有人，却让所有人都产生了怀疑。事情如旧。国会在警察的保护下召开，每次会议都成为了看似无望的辱骂、禁止的示威和打斗的黯淡景象。自1932年8月以来担任国会议长的赫尔曼·戈林竭力滥用职权。他喜欢挑起争端，并尽力煽动他们。一些议员称彼此为破烂的暴徒、次等人、乌合之众。德国国家人民党的凯尔·戈特弗里德·戈克形容议会制如同一只无望的死蛙。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Schlescher's critique of capitalism and socialism at the same time provided few clues to the actual intentions of the cabinet. The general tried to woo everyone and made everyone suspicious, is the concise summary of the historian Carl Dietrich Bracha. Things continued as before. The Reichstag met under police protection and at every session provided a bleak spectacle of offensive insults, forbidden demonstrations and fistfights. Hermann Göring, President of the Reichstag since August 1932, made every effort to abuse his office. He enjoyed the skirmishers and stirred them up as best he could. Some of the parliamentarians addressed each other as ragged mob, subhumans, a pack. Kyle Gottfried Gock of the German National People's Party described parliamentarianism as a hopelessly dead frog.
在12月7日的会议中，议会厅爆发了大规模的斗殴，再次使用了烟灰缸、马桶座圈、痰盂和电话作为武器。这对于任何仍对议会民主稍有兴趣的议员来说，都是一个痛苦的悲剧。施莱歇的最大失误是以为可以分裂国家社会主义党。在与希特勒的权力斗争中，施莱歇被击败。希特勒的声誉再次提升，即便在他自己党派中的务实政治家当中也是如此，特别是在帕彭为他赢得了一些企业家和工业家的明确支持后。施莱歇给希特勒带来的挑战到底有多严重，这是值得怀疑的。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
In the session on the 7th of December there was a mass brawl in the chamber in which once again ashtrays, toilet seats, spittoons and a telephone were used as weapons. A painful tragedy for any parliamentarian who was still even slightly interested in parliamentary democracy. Schlescher's most glaring error was to have imagined that he could split the National Socialist Party. Schlescher was defeated in the Battle of Power with Hitler, whose reputation had grown once again even among the pragmatic politicians of his own party, after Parpen had won him the clear goodwill of some entrepreneurs and industrialists. How serious a challenge Schlescher had presented him with is questionable.
事实上，希特勒曾书面保证自己不会参与任何政治活动，但这对施莱彻帮助不大。他在1934年6月被逮捕，并在盖世太保总部被一群党卫军成员杀害。施莱彻最终低估了弗朗齐乌斯的弱点。帕蓬不择手段地试图将施莱彻赶出总理职位，但施莱彻并不打算轻易退让。帕蓬于是接触希特勒。看起来，要赶走施莱彻，唯一可行的方法就是让希特勒担任总理，而帕蓬自己则担任副总理。为此，他邀请希特勒共进晚餐，并在科隆银行家科特·弗赖耶·冯·施勒德尔的家中组织了一场由贵族朋友参加的热情招待会。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
The fact that Hitler assured him in writing that he would stay out of any kind of political activity was of little use to Schlescher. He was arrested in June 1934 and murdered by a group of SS men in Gestapo headquarters. Schlescher had ultimately misjudged the weakness of Francian. Parpen stopped at nothing in his efforts to drive Schlescher back out of the office of Chancellor, but he was not about to go easily. Parpen approached Hitler. It looked as if the only possible way of attaining the goal of ousting Schlescher would be to have Hitler appointed as Chancellor and himself appointed as Vice Chancellor. So he invited Hitler to dinner and organized a flattering reception with his aristocratic friends at the home of Cologne banker, Kort Freijer von Schöder.
在施莱歇尔不知情的情况下，帕彭围绕着兴登堡展开了活动，并试图瓦解他对希特勒这个波希米亚下士的抵触情绪。他必须最终成功，这一点很重要。兴登堡对优雅的帕彭十分着迷。在他眼中，帕彭是理想的总理，并且他完全可以想象帕彭成为党内的领袖。他内心挣扎着，是否要咬紧牙关，接受希特勒成为总理，而帕彭作为副总理起到一种制衡作用？这位老人陷入了困境。到1933年1月30日，帕彭再次出任官职，这次他成为了由兴登堡任命的新总理阿道夫·希特勒之下的副总理。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Behind Schlescher's back, Parpen danced attendance around Hindenburg and tried to crack his resistance to Hitler, the Bohemian corporal. It was vital that he succeeded in the end. Hindenburg was besotted with the elegant Parpen. In his eyes, he was the ideal Chancellor and he could easily imagine him at the top of the party. What if he gritted his teeth and accepted Hitler as Chancellor with Parpen as Vice Chancellor as a kind of counterweight? The old man was in a bind. By the 30th of January 1933, Parpen was back in office, this time as Vice Chancellor under the new Chancellor appointed by Hindenburg. Adolf Hitler.
历史学家对最后这些日子进行了详细描述，这段时期为魏玛共和国的政权移交给希特勒做了铺垫。帕彭和施莱歇尔的策略中错综复杂的变化也被详细研究。那些试图在最后时刻遏制希特勒、限制其权力的努力读来让人感到紧张刺激，有时甚至带有悲剧性的滑稽意味。一群业余贵族试图通过阴谋和权力游戏来引导一个动荡的社会，这个社会不停地举行新选举，并在激动的媒体中讨论自己的命运，这个计划就像是一个大规模的堂吉诃德式的冒险，只是在一个小舞台上讲述，外面人群的喧嚣声偶尔才传进来。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
Historians have given minutely detailed accounts of these last days during which the ground was laid for the Weimar Republic to be handed over to Hitler. The many twists and turns of the ruses of Parpen and Schlescher have been examined in detail. The narrative of the attempts to reign Hitler in at the last moment and keep him in check is bitterly exciting and sometimes in a tragic way almost comical. The plan by a few dillotant noblemen to employ intrigues and power play to guide a society in turmoil, a society that was constantly holding new elections and discussing its fate in the excitable mass media is the story of a quixotic enterprise on a grand scale, narrated on a tiny stage with the shouts of the crowd outside breaking through only very occasionally.
但是，仅仅是兴登堡、帕彭和施莱谢尔是民主的掘墓人吗？如果我们过于专注于权力的幕后交易，就有可能忽视一个同样重要的角色。群众在投票给独裁者时，再次展示了他们的力量，这清楚地表明了他们的重要作用。除了柏林的三位贵族绅士，位于北莱茵-威斯特法伦边缘的小小州利普的选民对事件的进展也具有重要影响。1933年1月15日，魏玛共和国的最后一次地方选举就在那个地方举行。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
But were Hindenburg, Parpen and Schlescher the sole grave diggers of democracy? If we focus too exclusively on the back rooms of power, we risk ignoring the role of an equally important protagonist. The crucial part played by the crowd was clearly demonstrated when it once again expressed its power by voting for a dictator. Aside from the three aristocratic gentlemen in Berlin, the voters in Lippa, a tiny state on the edge of Northraimvestphalia, would be of fateful significance to the progress of events. There on the 15th of January 1933, the last regional election of the Weimar Republic was held.
这次选举本来毫无重要性，如果不是因为紧随纳粹党在11月6日的选举失利之后。但鉴于当时的情况，它变成了一次试水行动，一场吸引全国关注的标志性选举。这次选举将决定对兴登堡施加多大压力，以迫使他向希特勒妥协。决定权掌握在利帕居民手中，看纳粹党是否会认为他们的崛起势不可挡，还是会遭遇更大损失。国家社会主义德国工人党（纳粹党）比往常更加积极地行动。他们于1928年在全国设立了公众演讲学校，到1930年，成千上万名受过训练的演讲者在城市和乡村中进行宣传活动。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
The election would have been utterly without importance had it not followed on from the Nazi Party's election setback on the 6th of November. But as things stood, it became a test of the water, a landmark election that attracted national attention. It would decide how much pressure there would be on Hindenburg to give in to Hitler. It was in the hands of the residents of Lippa to decide whether the Nazis would see their rise as unstoppable or whether they would suffer even greater losses. The NSDAP went on to work even more energetically than usual. It had set up public speaking schools across the country in 1928, and by 1930, thousands of trained public speakers were agitating in cities and villages.
在利帕，所有主要的纳粹党成员都积极参与选举，就仿佛首都的命运就取决于此。希特勒本人在短短11天内发表了17场演讲，他以极为现代化的方式乘飞机来到这个小国，取消了与各种有影响力人士的重要会面，转而向每一个157,000名居民争取支持。面对这样的民粹主义，最精妙的内阁政治也无能为力。纳粹党在选举中获得了39.5%的选票，比1929年在利帕举行的地区选举中多出令人难以置信的36.1%。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
In Lippa, however, all of the leading Nazi Party members engaged in the election, as if the capital were at stake. Hitler himself delivered 17 speeches in 11 days in the diminutive state. Flying in on a plane in ultra-modern style, he dropped important appointments with all kinds of influential people and instead solicited the favour of each of the 157,000 inhabitants. The most refined cabinet politics was powerless against such populism. The NSDAP received 39.5% of the vote, an incredible 36.1% more than in the previous regional elections held in Lippa in 1929.
从宣传的角度来看，这次是一个胜利，但仔细想想，这只是一个小小的成功，考虑到竞选活动中投入的巨大资源。在1932年7月六个月前，该党在国会选举中赢得了超过41%的选票。然而，纳粹党仍然能够积极地庆祝他们的胜利，尤其是因为社会民主党相比四年前的选举损失了9%的选票，这次只获得了30.1%的选票。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
From a propaganda point of view, this was a triumph, but on closer reflection, it was only a modest success given the insane resources that had been put into the election campaign. Six months previously in July 1932, the Party had achieved over 41% of votes in the Reichstag elections here. Still, the NSDAP were able to celebrate their victory energetically, particularly since the SPD had suffered losses of 9% against the elections four years previously and this time achieved only 30.1% of votes.
选举结果足以彻底改变纳粹党的情绪，使得兴登堡和施莱彻再次面临压力，不得不更清楚地陈述他们对权力的主张，并结束他们之间的内部权力斗争。兴登堡和施莱彻可能有一个微小的机会，通过打破宪法来挽救德国，将选举推迟到局势改善、民众对希特勒的热情减退为止。历史学家海因里希·奥古斯特·温克勒写道，为了在魏玛共和国的最后危机中维护宪法国家，那些捍卫者需要违背一部对自身有效性保持中立的宪法的字面规定。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
The outcome of the election was enough to turn the mood of the Nazi Party around, to place Hindenburg and Schleischer under pressure again to set out their claims to power even more clearly and put an end to their internal power struggles. Hindenburg and Schleischer might have had a tiny chance of saving Germany by breaking the constitution and putting off the election until the times improved and the enthusiasm of the masses for Hitler had abated. In order to preserve the constitutional state in Weimar's final crisis, its defenders would have needed to contravene the letter of a constitution that was neutral towards its own validity, the historian Heinrich August Vinkler wrote.
魏玛共和国不光彩结束的一个令人好奇的方面是，在许多人对其失去耐心时，国家的状况实际上正在客观上好转。也许如果能通过拖延和进一步的紧急法令赢得一些时间，公众可能会重新容忍这一制度的弱点，而最狂热的激进主义也可能会平息。不过，更有可能的是，许多德国人已经不愿意理性地审视自己的处境。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
One curious aspect of the undignified end of the Weimar Republic is that things were getting objectively better just as many people lost patience with it. Perhaps if some time had been won through delays and further emergency decrees, indulgence of the weaknesses of the system might actually have returned and the most feverish radicalism might have subsided. It is much more likely that a considerable number of Germans were no longer willing to engage in a rational examination of their own situation.
希特勒所承诺的德国觉醒紧紧抓住了他追随者们的想象力。很难想象他们会放弃这一愿景，转而接受现实。一种新的眩晕感正在到来，通往新时代的大门在宗教般的颤动中敞开。那个时代已经无法通过理智理解，人们必须在内心承载它。右翼革命者汉斯·谢拉在《迪塔特》中写到，一个知识分子放弃了他的理智，情感才是唯一重要的。
▶ 英文原文 ⏱
The awakening of Germany that Hitler had promised held the imagination of his followers in its clutches. It is barely possible to imagine that they would have given up this vision in favor of an acceptance of reality. A new kind of vertigo was on the way and the portal to a new age awaited with a religious tremor had opened wide. The time can no longer be understood intellectually. One must bear it within oneself. The right-wing revolutionary Hans Siera wrote in Dittart, an intellectual dismissing his intellect. Emotion was all that mattered.