Nazis & Reds: A Chronology of the Prewar Years

Volume II: The Night of the Long Knives to the Beginning of the Second World War

Nazis & Reds: A Chronology of the Prewar Years is the opening book of The Protocols series, a four-volume documentary history of authoritarianism’s rise from the Industrial Revolution to the Nazis’ “Final Solution.” Because of its scope, the first book is divided into two volumes. The second spans the pivotal years from Hitler’s purge of rivals in 1934 to the invasion of Poland in 1939. This volume traces Germany’s transformation into a totalitarian state, the collapse of the post-1918 order, and the drift of nations toward inevitable war. Through eyewitness accounts, speeches, and contemporary reportage, it reveals a world caught between rival ideologies—fascism and communism—while democracies faltered and hesitated. Each document has been chosen not only to illuminate the forces that shaped the twentieth century, but also to expose the authoritarian impulses that continue to shape our own.