NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER

NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER
NOTES
What was Weimar Republic? How was it formed? OR How was Weimar Republic born in
Germany?
• Germany along with Austrian empire fought the first world war (1914-18) against
the Allies (England, Russia, and France)
• Germany made initial gain by occupying France and Belgium. But the allies
strengthened by US entry in 1917, won defeating Germany and central powers in
Nov 1918. (Austria Hungary, Ottoman empire, Bulgaria)
• The defeat of Germany and the abdication of the emperor (Wilhelm II) gave an
opportunity to parliamentary parties to recast German polity.
• A national Assembly me at Weimar and established a democratic constitution
with a federal structure.
• Members to this German parliament- Reichstag, was elected on the basis of
equal and universal votes cast by all adults including women.
• But this Republic was not accepted by all because of the terms that it was forced
to accept after Germany’s defeat at the end of first world war. The peace treaty
at Versailles was a harsh and humiliating one for Germany.
Economic Crisis
• Political radicalism led to economic crisis in 1923.
• Germany had fought the war largely on loan and had to pay the reparations in gold.
This depleted gold reserves in the country.
• In 1923 Germany refused to pay and the French occupied its leading industrial area
Ruhr.
• Germany retaliated with passive resistance and printed paper currency recklessly.
With too much printed money in circulation, the value of German mark fell. As the
value of Mark reduced, price of goods increased. Germans had to carry cartloads of
currency notes to buy a loaf of bread. It was known as Hyperinflation (a situation
when prices rises phenomenally high or increase in the level of price).
• At last US intervened and bailed Germany out of the crisis by introducing the Dawes
Plan, which reworked the terms of reparation to ease financial burden on German.
How did great depression originate in USA?

• German investment and industries totally depend on short term loan from USA. This
support was withdrawn when Wall Street Exchange (World’s largest stock exchange
in USA) crashed in 1929.
• Fearing a fall in price, people made effort to sell their shares. On October 24, 13
million shares were sold. This was the start of Great Depression
• National income of USA fell by half.
• Factories were shut down
• Speculators withdraw their money from the markets.
This economic depression in US greatly affected the German economy badly. How it
affected Germany?
• Industrial production reduced to 40%
• Workers lost their job or got less wages.
• Number of unemployed people increased to 6 million.
• Streets were full men with placards around their neck saying ‘’ willing to do any
work”.
• Unemployed youth played cards or simply sat at street corners.
• Many were queue up at the local employment exchange.
• Due to lack of job, many youth took criminal activities.
Defects of the Weimar Republic

• Politically the Weimar republic was fragile. Weimar republic had some defects,
which made it unstable.
• Due to proportional representation, one single party cannot come to power, (not
able to achieve majority) rather a coalition government was formed. This affected
the stability of Weimar republic
• Another defect was liberal use of Article 48, which gave the president- Paul Von
Hindenburg, power to impose emergency, without prior consent of Reichstag to deal
with the economic crisis of the time, suspend civil rights, rule by decree
• Within a short period of time, government changed many times (saw 20 different
Cabinet – top leaders of executive, called cabinet ministers) and this made people
loss confidence in democratic parliamentary system.
Explain Hitler’s Rise to power OR Explain the formation of Nazi Party OR How did Hitler
come to power in Germany
• The crisis in economy, politics and society gave an opportunity to Hitler to rise to
power.
• He was born in Austria. (1889) He spend his youth in poverty. When the first world
war broke out he enrolled in the army, acted as a messenger in the front, became a
corporal – officer, and earned medals for bravery.
• The defeat of Germany and the treaty of Versailles made him furious.
• In 1919 he joined the German workers party. Later he controlled it, renamed it as
National Socialist German Workers Party. This party later known as Nazi Party.
• In 1923 he planned to seize control of Bavaria, march to Berlin and capture power.
But he failed, arrested, tried for treason and later released.
• It was during the Great Depression that Nazism become a mass movement.
• In 1932 it become the largest party with 37 per cent votes in the Reichstag.
Promises of Hitler
• He was a powerful speaker. He promised to build a strong nation, undo the injustices
of the Treaty of Versailles and restore the dignity of German people and a better
future for the youth.
• He promised to weed out all foreign influence and foreign conspiracies against
Germany.
• Nazis held massive rallies and public meeting to get support for Hitler and create a
unity among the people.
• They used red banner with Swastika, the Nazi salute, ritualised rounds of applause
after speeches were all part of spectacle power.
• Nazi propaganda made Hitler as a Messiah, a saviour who had come to protect
people from their difficulties.
How Hitler established dictatorship in Germany? OR Destruction of Democracy

• Hitler become the Chancellor (head of the govt.) of Germany on 30thJanuary
1933. President Hindenburg offered this.
• As a part of this a mysterious fire broke out in German Parliament building. (he
blamed the communists)
• The Fire Decree of 28 Feb 1933 suspended the civic rights like Freedom of
Speech, Press, Assembly guaranteed by the Weimar Republic.
• Then he turned against his arch enemies, the communist – who were sent to the
concentration camp.
• On 3rd March 1933 the famous Enabling Act was passed.
Second world war and downfall of Hitler

• In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland. This started war with France and
England.
• In 1940 a Tripartite Pact was signed between Germany, Italy and Japan to
strengthened Hitler’s international power.
• He attacked Soviet Union in 1941. The Soviet Red Army defeated Germany at
Stalingrad. Began the downfall of Hitler.
• Meanwhile USA was unwilling to join the war due to economic problems caused by
the Firs World War. But it could not stay out of the war for a long. Japan was
expanding its power in the east.
• When Japan extended its support to Hitler and attacked US naval base in Pacific
Ocean – Pearl Harbour, US entered the Second World War. USA retaliated by
bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• The war ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat.
How did Hitler establish a racial state?

• When the Nazi’s came into power, they wanted to create an exclusive racial state
for Germans.
• They wanted only a society of pure and healthy Nordic Aryans – they were
considered as desirables and eliminate the undesirables. The undesirable
community includes Jews, gypsies and blacks.
• Germans who were impure and abnormal had nor right to exists.
• Under Euthanasia programme, Helmuth’s father along with other Nazi officials
killed many mentally or physically unfit Germans.
• The worst suffered group were the Jews. Nazi hated the Jews because they were
considered as the killers of Christ and Usurers.
• They lived in a separate area called Ghettos and killed them in gas chambers
• Hitler’s hatred on Jews was based on Pseudoscientific theory.
• From 1933 to 1938 the Nazi’s terrorized, pauperized and segregated the Jews,
compelling them to leave the country.
What happened in schools under Nazism?

• Schools were cleaned and purified. It means teachers who were Jews or seen as
politically unreliable were dismissed.
• Children were first segregated – German or Jews could not sit together or play
together.
• Undesirable children- Jews, the physically handicapped, Gypsies were thrown out of
the school and finally they were taken to the gas chambers.
• Racial science was introduced to justify Nazi ideas of race,
• Hitler believed that boxing could make children iron hearted, strong and masculine
• Youth organization were made responsible for educating German youth.
• Ten-year-old children or Nazi below 14 had to enter youth group called Jungvolk.
• At 14, all boys had to join Nazi Youth organization called Hitler Youth, where they
learn to worship war, glorify aggression and violence, condemn democracy, and hate
Jews, communists, Gypsies and all those categorized as undesirable.
• After studies and physical training they joined the Labour Service at the age of 18.
• Then they had to serve in the armed forces and enter one of the Nazi organizations.
The Nazi Cult of Motherhood

• While boys were taught to be aggressive, masculine and steel hearted, girls were
told that they had to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children.
• Girls had to distance themselves from Jews, look after the home, and teach their
children Nazi values.
• They were given favored treatment in hospitals and were also entitled to
concessions in shops and on theatre tickets and railway fares.
• To encourage women to produce many children, Honour Crosses were awarded. A
bronze cross was given for four children, silver for six and gold for eight or more.
• Those who maintained contact with Jews, Poles and Russians were paraded through
the town with shaved heads, blackened faces and placards hanging around their
necks announcing ‘I have sullied the honour of the nation’.
Knowledge about Holocaust

• The holocaust was a genocide during world war II in which millions of Jews and other
people were killed by the Nazi regime.
• Holocaust was carried out through various means including Gas chambers,
concentration camps etc.
• But it was only after the war ended and Germany was defeated that the world came
to realize the horrors of what had happened.
• The Jews wanted the world to remember the atrocities and sufferings they had
endured during the Nazi killing operations – also called the Holocaust
• Camp inhabitants who wrote diaries, kept notebooks, and created archives.

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NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER

How did great depression originate in USA?

Defects of the Weimar Republic

How Hitler established dictatorship in Germany? OR Destruction of Democracy

Second world war and downfall of Hitler

How did Hitler establish a racial state?

What happened in schools under Nazism?

The Nazi Cult of Motherhood

Knowledge about Holocaust

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