Henry Ashby Turner, Jr. (April 4, 1932 – December 17, 2008) was an American historian of Germany who was a professor at Yale University for over forty years.
He is best known for his book German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler (1985) in which he challenged the common theory that industrialists in Germany were the Nazi Party’s most influential supporters.
[4] Turner called Nazi anti-modernism a "double" form of utopianism in that it was a vision that was both impractical and unachievable.
Despite this, Turner concludes that Hitler endorsed the "liberal principle of competition" and private property during his rule, if only "he could distort them into his social Darwinist view of economic life.
Turner contended that the acquisition of power by Adolf Hitler was heavily influenced by contingency and that military rule was a viable alternative to the Third Reich.
Political incompetence and personal rivalry between Papen and Schleicher ultimately led to Hitler's being appointed chancellor of Germany by President Hindenburg on January 30, 1933 although he had never won a majority in a national election.