logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2023
2m 54s

Introducing Nazis: The Road to Power

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

From the producers of Nuremberg, the story of how in just 13 years, Adolf Hitler led a fringe sect with less than a hundred members and outlandish ideas to be the dominant force in German politics.

It is also about the forgotten players from these early years who played crucial roles in the Nazi Party's rise to power. This new scripted podcast takes listeners into the intrigues, the personalities, the knife-edge decisions which would ultimately lead to forty million dead in the world’s greatest catastrophe.

Starring Sir Derek Jacobi as President Hindenberg, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and Alexander Vlahos as Joseph Goebbels. With Toby Stephens, Nancy Carroll, Laura Donnelly and Juliet Stevenson as the Narrator. Written and directed by Jonathan Myerson. Producer - Nicholas Newton. A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Up next
Jan 2022
Episode 9 - To Stay the Hand of Vengeance
20th November 1945 and the Defendants take their place in the dock – 22 of the most senior Nazis, representing each component of Hitler’s machine. But without simultaneous translation the trial will be unworkable – are the interpreters ready? Can they manage 100 words-per-minute? ... Show More
21m 53s
Jan 2022
Episode 8 - Who is Truly Guilty?
October 1945 and the trial starts in less than a month – but do the Russians genuinely want it to happen? They seem to be employing delaying tactics – is it because they can also be accused of war crimes? Or is it just another regular SNAFU?Each day brings a new problem: first, t ... Show More
19m 49s
Jan 2022
Episode 16 - No Trace Will Remain
On 30th September 1946, the Judges announce their verdicts. And the sentences to be imposed – death or imprisonment or freedom. But come the night of the executions, Hermann Goering has one last surprise.And now it’s time for the verdicts: 11 will be hanged, 7 are given prison se ... Show More
23m 11s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2023
Introducing Nazis: The Road to Power
From the producers of Nuremberg, the story of how in just 13 years, Adolf Hitler led a fringe sect with less than a hundred members and outlandish ideas to be the dominant force in German politics. It is also about the forgotten players from these early years who played crucial r ... Show More
2m 48s
Jan 2023
1. Long Live the Soviet Republic of Bavaria!
From the producers of NUREMBERG, the story of how in just thirteen years, Adolf Hitler led a fringe group with outlandish proposals and less than a hundred members to be the dominant force in German politics. It is also about the forgotten players from these early years who playe ... Show More
25m 31s
Feb 2023
15. Forwards with God
With Franz von Papen now willing to act as Vice Chancellor, alongside Hitler as Chancellor, can he convince Alfred Hugenberg to bring his 51 Nationalist MPs into coalition with the Nazi Party? Von Papen believes that together they will box Hitler in, that they will be “hiring him ... Show More
25m 9s
Feb 2023
10. The Little Man
On the first sitting of the new Reichstag, the 107 Nazi Members of Parliament deliberately create chaos. But with the Nazis now the second largest group in Parliament, foreign newspapers have to start taking Hitler seriously – even if he can be hard to pin down. Rarely rising bef ... Show More
25m 28s
Feb 2023
13. Hitler? Whatever Happened To Him?
By 1932, the Nazis have 230 Members of Parliament, the largest single group but no-one will invite them into coalition and President Hindenburg refuses to even contemplate appointing Hitler as Chancellor. Yet Hitler flatly refuses any arrangement where he is not Chancellor – Vice ... Show More
24m 39s
Feb 2023
14. How Was the Venison?
The current Chancellor, General Kurt von Schleicher, and the previous, Franz von Papen, are both determined to unseat each other – once allies, they are now sworn enemies, plotting in corridors. President Hindenburg would rather see von Papen restored to the post but, like von Sc ... Show More
24m 11s
Feb 2023
8. The Big Lie
Released after just six months in prison, Hitler must now renounce violence and vow that the Nazi Party will seek power through the ballot box. But his speeches are still vitriolic and he is soon banned from public speaking again. Goebbels is drawn deeper into the party faction w ... Show More
26m 21s
Apr 2023
Early Years: Hitler’s Secret Book
The Nazis kickstart their media operation. Desperate to be an icon, Hitler pens a secret autobiography, where he compares his own rise to Jesus’s resurrection. French and Belgian troops cross the German border, while the economy goes into meltdown. Amidst the turmoil, the Nazis p ... Show More
34m 35s
Jan 2023
3. My Little Wolf
Hitler has a gift for oratory and party membership is growing: every week he draws a larger crowd. The party formally changes its name to the National Socialist German Workers Party – soon everyone will be calling it Na-Zi for short. But in his speeches, Hitler still reserves his ... Show More
26m 53s
Apr 2021
Adolf Hitler Part 6: Hitler’s Secret Book
The Nazis kickstart their media operation. Desperate to be an icon, Hitler pens a secret autobiography, where he compares his own rise to Jesus’s resurrection. French and Belgian troops cross the German border, while the economy goes into meltdown. Amidst the turmoil, the Nazis p ... Show More
35m 29s