Introduction
Films and novels exist in large numbers that try to cash in the fame and expound on the proposed theories of the causes of one of the greatest air accidents not in the number of deaths or casualties but the controversies surrounding it. In global history uncommon or rather queer accidents such as this attracts the audience of all the big players in the world, either politics religion, or the experts in such an industry.
The Hindenburg was one of the largest airships built in the history of man. Measuring over 240 meters in length, it was only a few meters shorter than the Titanic and almost three modern Boeings placed end to end. The aircraft was initially named after Zeppelin but the name Hindenburg was adopted in recognition of the German general by the same name in the First World War. The history surrounding the possible cause of the accident has at times bordered on creating conflicts among the involved nations. Such historical events have come to play a great deal in shaping and creating modern history in that these past events are being related and likened to many past events and in this case the Hindenburg air disaster. This air crash is famous for the controversial theories proposed to explain the cause of the accident. In one of the theories fancied by many as sabotage, we compare the position of Germany as a country in modern times against the fact the country secretly suspected the US government of destroying their trophy innovation.
The accident
The company that owned the airship, Zeppelin boasted one of the safest records in air transport as not any of their many airships had been involved in an accident or harmed or injured a passenger. So it came as a surprise when the LZ 129 Hindenburg exploded into flames as it landed on the Lakehurst Naval Air station in Manchester Township, New Jersey in the US on 6th May 1937. The airship caught fire as it descended though not among the many cameramen on the ground filming the airships coming captured the source of the fire on the body of the plane that engulfed the whole airship within 34 to 37 seconds. Despite the intensity of the fire, most of the crew and passengers survived. Of the 36 passengers and 61 crew members on board, only 13 passengers and 22 crew died.
The making of the airship had begun earlier in 1931 but due to financial constraints, the project was shelved for a few years. In the making of the plane, the original plan was that the plane was to use helium gas to increase its buoyancy. The helium gas was at the time being sourced from the US. However, the US government had banned helium trade with Germany. As a result, there was the option of using hydrogen gases instead of helium only that hydrogen was more flammable and thus dangerous and expensive too. The project owners sought assistance from the German Government led by Hitler then. In receiving the assistance the company pledged to include signs of the Swastika which by then had no negative connotations with the Nazi. (Feigenbaum, 2007).
Sabotage theory
At that time there had been some movements in Germany mainly by Communists who were against the Nazi teachings. Some of the anti-Nazi members viewed the success of the Hindenburg and its display of the Swastika as a threat to their campaigns. It was, therefore, no wonder that some of the people with anti-Nazi inclinations were accused of sabotaging the plane. At the center stage was one of the air ship’s riggers named Eric Spehl. (Feigenbaumn, 2007).
Hugo Eckner a former head of the Zeppelin Company was the first man to propose this theory. His theory drew high levels of credibility due to his experience in the airship industry. He reasoned that the airship had in its many trips to south America withstood more fierce weather than the one prevailing at the time of the accident in Lakehurst thus to him there was no way the weather could be blamed for the accident. His sentiments were echoed by the air ship’s commander who was very familiar with the practical performance of the airship had flown it for its entire life before the accident.
Historians and investigators of the accident who favored the sabotage theory cite some facts that support this theory. These facts are directly related to the main suspect Eric Spehl who happened to be aboard the airship as a rigger.
- His girlfriend was an anti-Nazi and was reportedly a communist something it would be suspected Spehl supported her in.
- The fire’s point of origin was near Spehl’s duty station.
- After the accident, it was rumored that the Gestapo was investigating Spehl’s involvement in the accident something that added fuel to sabotage suspicions.
- Spehl had prior to the accident developed affection for amateur photography which used flashbulbs. A flashbulb-looking kind of ignition was witnessed in the airship seconds the airship caught fire. Again a dry cell battery used in flashbulbs was discovered in the wreckage.
- A flash or a bright reflection that crew members near the lower fin had seen just before the fire (Lace 2008).
The proposers of this theory point out that Spehl was initially aiming at destroying the plane and not killing the people in it. However, his suspected plan was thwarted by the bad weather which had delayed the plane’s landing by 12 hours. It therefore would mean that the flashbulb had been set to ignite the hydrogen when the plane was docked and unoccupied. His positioning as a rigger denied him time to reset the detonator and thus it ignited prematurely. Spehl’s death in the fire prevented further investigations that could prove this theory true.
The Hindenburg was more than just a German airship. It was a symbol of German power and technical prowess. Hitler’s government, which had helped pay for the Hindenburg’s construction, had employed it for such jobs as making propaganda appearances over the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Each of the huge tail fins of the Hindenburg wore the swastika emblem, the symbol of Hitler’s Nazi party (Clay 2007). Officials had been concerned even before the ship reached New York that someone opposing Hitler might make a terrorist attack upon the craft. At that time though there was nothing negative that could be said of the regime which was rising first.
However, in the period after the First World War, the issue had to be revisited and more so during the cold war. The aggressiveness with which the US treated the German and the Nazi rise to power was thought not to have been triggered by the war but something that had been in existence only triggered by the war. During the First World War Hindenburg looking planes had been used by the Germans in war. The British and French armies were behind technologically and only survived the war against Germany due to weather conditions that ailed the German army as it made its way into occupying the USSR. It’s no wonder that people and historians, in general, speculate that the US must have been envious of Germany in its technological advancements in the name of the airship. Further advancements in Germany created an arrogant state that rubbed many countries among them the US and Britain the wrong way. The teachings of the Nazi party deteriorated the already bad situation.
Many scientists, artists, educators, and scholars followed the Nazi doctrines without much protest. The teaching leaned on portraying Germans as a superior race that was meant to rule the world. As a result, many Germans welcomed what they considered the rebirth of German strength which the regime made their belief had been there but contamination by other races had weakened them. After the death of Hindenburg (1934), the offices of the president and chancellor were combined in the person of the Führer leader of the Nazi party. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of citizenship, forbade marriage between Jews and non-Jewish Germans, and barred Jews from the liberal professions. In order to coordinate cultural affairs, the radio, press, cinema, and theater came under the control of propaganda minister Goebbels who was responsible for the harassing of Jews which developed into the Holocaust.
With the US and the world strongly against the teachings of the Nazis, Anti Nazi proponents had found a partner in stamping out the authority of the party in Germany. The climax of the Nazi hostility was reached by the German invasion of Poland that marked the beginning of the Second World War. With the defeat of Germany in this war, its hostility and capacity towards other nations were significantly reduced. In the process of lying low and the death of Hitler, the country was warming up to US friendship. With the end of the cold war and the reunification of Germany which had split into two during the cold war, the relationship between the two countries improved and earlier hostilities and suspicions were forgotten. The growth of the country’s economy has also helped in its relationship with the US as there were chances of making trade partnerships that enhanced mutual friendship between the two countries.
Conclusion
The exact cause of the Lakehurst crash has never been established. Given the strained relationship that existed between Germany and the United States at the time, sabotage was the popular theory though some extremists believe in it at the present. It seems likelier, though, that a lightning strike, or sparking on the hull that ignited leaking hydrogen, or other possible technical hitches were to blame for the accident.
Such an event in history has contributed a lot in creating awareness in that developing regimes and governments which happen to be so ambitious as to challenge the status quo in the balance of power in the world can attain. The Hindenburg disaster has been linked to being the trigger factor that brought about the Second World War. In subscribing to this probability it is proper to say that handling of incidents that have international implications by professionals and historians alike should be made with the consequences in mind. In my view then I would think of a situation where a similar incident involving let’s say the US and one of the hostile regimes in the world such as Iran could trigger something bigger if irresponsible comments like the ones made about the Hindenburg were to be made. A great deal of responsibility and caution should be taken by those in the limelight to avoid creating international conflicts by making irresponsible comments (Lawson 2008).
References
Clay, David (2007). Nazi games: The Olympics of 1936, New York: W. W. Norton, pg 34-56.
Feigenbaum, Aaron (2007). The Hindenburg Disaster, New Jersey: Bearport, pg 25-67.
Lace, William (2008).The Hindenburg Disaster of 1937(Great Historic Disasters) 1st ed London: CHP, 68, 89.
Lawson, Don (2004). Engineering Disaster: Lessons to be learned, New York: ASME. pg 389.