Talk:Nazi seizure of power

The sound file is too short! 172.176.103.178 (talk) 18:03, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

Eliminated? Were they killed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.67.121.191 (talk) 16:58, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

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I am puzzled by two claims:

1) that in German, both "Machtergreifung" and "Machtübernahme" are used to refer to the events discussed here. In my experience, only "Machtergreifung" is used as a term on its own. "Machtübernahme" (i.e. "coming to power", "takeover of the power") would always have to be qualified further, such as in "Machtübernahme der Nationalsozialisten". A sentence like "Nach der Machtübernahme 1933 ... " would sound odd.

2) that both words retain their general meaning when used without clear context. While this is certainly true for "Machtübernahme" (should be clear from what I just explained, i.e. it only has a general meaning), it is wrong for "Machtergreifung". I have only ever heard this term to refer to 30 January, 1933 in Germany.

I cannot cite any sources, but I am German, 40 years old, lived in Germany nearly all my life, and have had a keen interest in history since the age of, say, 15. But if the above claims are to be corrected, I would be glad to help (perhaps the claims themselves are taken from some other source?). --Fsavigny (talk) 17:46, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Etymology

I did a random search and came here. Having never heard of the terms they are confusing. My Schoolboy German suggests the word is formed from Machter-greifung, and Machter seems to be power, but it would be helpful to have more information in the form of an etymology. 88.110.76.120 (talk) 15:57, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

• Oh, no. The compound is Macht-Ergreifung. Macht is force (a little more than power) (e.g Die Macht der Gewohnheit = The force of habit), ergreifen (verb) or Ergreifung (noun) means to grip, to grab, to grasp, or literally "Ergreifung" (seizure) so to say "en-grip-ment", i.e. to take hold of. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.82.250.37 (talk) 12:35, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

Machtergreifung revisited

Is this an article about a German word or the National Socialist German Workers Party obtaining power in Germany in 1933? Or both? Currently it's a confusing, grammatically incorrect "Hodge-Podge" of information, needing some kind of attention and/or correction, as it meanders between both concepts. Neither are handled in an encyclopedic manner. Dr. Dan (talk) 06:43, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Translation of "Legalitätsstrategie"

(I'm a Germany resident and a native German speaker. Not enough time for registration on en.wikipedia unfortunately.)
"Legalization strategy" would be "Legalisierungsstrategie", i.e. a strategy that involves turning an illegal activity into something legal, either by changing the activity or by changing the bounds of the law.
"Legalitätsstrategy" is a strategy where an essential part is staying within the bounds of Law. I'd translate the term as "strategy of legality".
I therefore suggest changing the translation to reflect the latter meaning (possibly to "strategy of legality" but I'm not a native English speaker).