In the shadow of the Swastika

LXV

Dr. Hugo Eckener had always despised the swastikas painted on the Hindenburg's fins, and now they were about to play their hand in a game of fate.

In the shadow of the swastika: The Hindenburg over Barrow, England in 1936

European politics were shifting rapidly in 1936 and 1937. Adolf Hitler was, increasingly openly, gearing up for war though the Allies were adopting an ostrich-like approach to Germany's violations of the Treaty of Versailles.

One of Hitler's great fears in the mid-1930s was being drawn into a war with the United Kingdom. Not only were the British doughty and indomitable, they also had an Empire upon which the sun never set (this was not just an empty boast) and billions of subjects as a manpower pool.

Instead, Hitler tried to ingratiate himself with Great Britain, announcing many times that Italy and Great Britain were the "natural allies" of Germany.

In truth, Hitler had little use for the Italians whom he considered too peaceable a people, but, as a conqueror he admired the glory of ancient Rome and as an artist the aesthetics of the Renaissance, and as a totalitarian the model that Benito Mussolini had given him in Fascism.

Hitler, however, saw the English particularly as a kindred people. As well he might. Queen Victoria was the daughter of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Queen Victoria was also a direct descendant of George III the last of the Hanoverian monarchs. She had grown up in Germany, speaking German, and counted Battenbergs, Saxe-Coburg-Gothas, and numerous other German princes among her close relations. Ultimately, she became the grandmother of the Tsar of Imperial Russia, the King-Emperor of Great Britain and India and the Kaiser of Imperial Germany.

Many Britons, particularly among the lesser nobility, the Officer Corps, and the upper classes saw Hitler as a positive force in European politics, especially his opposition to Bolshevism. They formed the British Union of Fascists, a Far-Right political party in 1923. 

The group soon fractured into several, the most infamous of which was headed by Sir Oswald Moseley. They called themselves the New Party. They were more commonly known as the Black Shirts and were openly supportive of Nazi aims, including the marginalization (and ultimate eradication) of Jews. 

The Duke of Windsor, the former British monarch Edward VIII, reviews SS troops in Germany, 1937

The Black Shirts (and their Irish Free State counterparts the Blue Shirts) acted as Nazi fifth columnists before and during World War II, and were eventually interned en masse by the British government.

As for the British Monarchy, King George V was having none of this Nazi tripe. However, when he died in 1936, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII. King Edward VIII was an avowed racist and open admirer of Adolf Hitler. The King once said of Australians, "They are the nearest thing to monkeys." What he thought of his subjects in Africa and Asia was worse. He blamed the Jews for starting the Second World War.

Edward was engaged to Wallis Simpson, a much-divorced American socialite who was known for her heavy drinking and her many paramours, including Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels who sent her a bouquet every morning. She carried on affairs even while living with the King, and had Black Shirt and German-American Bund connections.

Although a British monarch had little political power, the Crown could be culturally influential, and Hitler actively courted Edward's favor. The Fuhrer was looking forward to Edward's Coronation, planned for May 1937, which he himself planned to attend. However, when the Church of England forbade the King to marry a divorcee, Edward VIII abdicated the throne in favor of his brother, who became King George VI.

The new monarch was no admirer of Hitler.

Edward had occupied the throne for less than a year. He was created the Duke of Windsor thereafter, and in 1937, the former King visited Germany with his new wife, exchanging Nazi salutes with the German leader. During World War II, the Duke was effectively exiled to the Bahamas where he was appointed Governor of the colony. The former King planned to go to Germany, but Winston Churchill publicly threatened him with arrest if he made the attempt.

Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson both were referred to as "vapid." Gore Vidal called him "vacuous." Hitler was enraged that Edward would give up the throne over a woman (but planned to enthrone him again when Great Britain became a Nazi client state). The German Fuhrer cancelled his plans to attend the Coronation (now of George VI rather than Edward VIII) but he intended to send a full retinue of German representatives. He also intended to have the Hindenburg fly low over Westminster Abbey during the Coronation so that Britons could see the British Crown in the shadow of the swastika.

Thus, the Hindenburg's flight schedule became of absolutely critical political importance in early May of 1937.

 

There was much to the Hindenburg, but the swastika flags on her tail dominate most people's memories. In many more recent photographs, and in some model kits, the swastika is removed or obscured. No matter the emotionality of the thing, such alterations are corruptions of the historical record