What is often overlooked in parochial discussions of the Nazi seizure of power is the tumultuous international context in which it took place. Hitler’s Machtergreifung coincided both with the inauguration of a new American President and the final dramatic aftershocks of the Great Depression.13 As Roosevelt took office the United States was swept by a financial panic which forced him to impose a nationwide bank closure and restrict the export of capital. On 19 April 1933 the United States unilaterally suspended gold convertibility and allowed the dollar to depreciate. Over the next four months
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