PDN January 25th, 2016
• What was the name of the
Secret police, used by Hitler,
To enforce his will?
8.8 The Rise of Nazi Germany
Summarize the political and economic problems faced by
the Weimar Republic.
Analyze Hitler’s rise to power.
Describe the political, social, economic, and cultural policies
of Nazi Germany.
Explain why Eastern Europe turned to authoritarian rule.
The Weimar Republic
• 1919, constitution is drafted in Weimar creating a
democratic government in Germany.
• Sets up parliamentary system, led by a chancellor.
– Gave women the right to vote
– Included a Bill of Rights
Continued…
• Republic faced a lot of problems… leading to its fall.
– Political extremists
– Extreme inflation
– Great Depression
Political Turmoil
• Republic was weak, too many small political parties.
• Government under constant fire from Communists
demanding radical changes (i.e. Lenin) and
Conservatives claiming the government was too
weak and liberal.
• Citizens blamed the Weimar Republic and Jews for
the Versailles Treaty and
hard economic times.
Economic Hardship
• 1923, when Germany fell behind on reparation
payments, France occupied the coal-rich Rhur
Valley… Taking over its three industries.
– Iron
– Coal
– steel
January 26th, 2016 PDN
• When the Germans could no longer pay their
reparations, what did the French do?
Continued…
• German workers protested by refusing to work.
• To pay workers, German government printed out
huge quantities of paper money.
• Inflation spiraled out of control.
– An item that cost 100 marks in July 1922, might have
cost 944,000 marks in 1923.
• Salaries rose by billions of marks but they still could
not keep up with prices of goods.
• Savings were wiped out.
• More reasons to join Nazi Party.
Recovery and Depression
• With help from Western Powers, Weimar Republic
brought inflation under control.
• In 1924, the US, Britain and France agreed to
reduce German reparations under the Dawes Plan.
– France Also withdrew its forces from the Ruhr and the
US loaned money to help the German economy recover.
– Everything was GREEAAAATTTT…. And then the Great
Depression happened….
Continued…
• Germans turned to an energetic leader, who
promised to solve the economic crisis and restore
Germany’s former greatness….
– Adolf Hitler
Culture in the Weimar Republic
• Rocky times during the Weimar Republic helped
influence the Dada movement and Bauhaus
architecture.
• Berlin attracted writers and artists from around the
world.
– Bertolt Brecht
– George Grosz
Hitler Leads the Nazi Party
Continued…
• Early life
– Hitler was born in Austria in 1889.
– When he was 18, he moved to Vienna.
• Developed prejudice against Jewish people.
– Fought in the German army during WWI.
– Joined small group of right-winged extremists.
• By 1919, he was the leader of the National Socialist German
Workers, or Nazi, party.
Continued…
• “Like Mussolini, Hitler organized his supporters into
combat squads…. Nazi “Storm Troopers” fought in
the streets against their political enemies.”
Hitler’s Ideological Manifesto
• In November, 1923, Hitler tried to stage a small
coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich.
• He failed, and was jailed.
• While in prison, he wrote Mein Kampf or “My
Struggle.”
• It would become the basic book of Nazi goals and
ideology.
– Reflected extreme nationalism, racism and
Anti-Semitism.
February 1st, 2016
• PDN: Which race did Adolf Hitler believe was
superior to all?
Continued…
• “Hitler believed Germans belonged to a superior
“master race” of Aryans, or light-skinned
Europeans, whose greatest enemies were the
Jews.”
– Ideas rooted in a long tradition of European antiSemitism, dating back to the 1800s.
– Nationalism caused people to identify Jews at ethnic
outsiders.
– Hitler viewed them as a race and blamed them along
with Marxists, corrupt politicians and business leaders
for Germany’s defeat in WWI.
Continued…
• Hitler urged Germans to gain Lebensraum, or living
space…. Germany had to expand.
• He believed other races must bow to Aryan needs.
• To achieve this greatness, Germany had to follow a
strong leader, a Fuhrer.
Hitler Comes to Power
• Hitler is released from prison in 1924, kept giving
speeches.
• Great Depression led to unemployment, Nazi
membership rose to almost 1,000,000 people.
• Hitler’s program appealed to veterans, workers, the
lower middle classes, small-town Germans, and
business people alike.
• Promised to end reparations, create jobs, and rearm
Germany.
Continued…
• Fearing the growth of communist political power,
conservatives turned to Hitler.
– Although they despised him, they believed they could
control him.
– With their support, Hitler was appointed Chancellor in
1933.
Continued…
• Within a year, Hitler became dictator of Germany.
• He suspended civil rights, destroyed Communists,
and disbanded other political parties.
• Hitler purged Nazis, executing those he felt were
disloyal.
OBJECTIVE
• Describe the political,
social, economic, and
cultural policies of Nazi
Germany.
The Third Reich
• Hitler boasted that the German master race would
dominate Europe for a thousand years.
• To combat the Great Depression, Hitler launched a
large public works programs (US, Britain Also).
• Tens of thousands of people were put to work to
build highways, housing, and replanting forests.
• Hitler rejected the Versailles treaty by rearming
Germany.
• Few objected to the loss of freedom because their
living standards went up.
A Totalitarian State Emerges
• Hitler organized an efficient but brutal system of
terror, repression, and totalitarian rule.
• Nazis controlled German life
– Govt.
– Religion
– Education
Continued…
• Elite, black uniformed troops known as the SS
enforced the fuhrer’s will, his secret police, the
gestapo rooted out opposition.
• At first, many Germans welcomed Hitler with open
arms.
– Took forceful action to ease Great Depression
– Those who criticized him became victims of terror.
– Others remained silent for safety reasons.
Anti-Semitism Campaign Begins
• Hitler set out to drive Jews from Germany.
• In 1935, the Nazis passed the Nuremberg Laws,
which deprived Jews of German citizenship and
placed severe restrictions on them.
Continued…
• Jews were prohibited from…
– marrying non-Jews
– attending or teaching at German schools or universities
– holding government jobs
– practicing law or medicine
– publishing books.
Continued…
• Nazis beat and robbed Jews and roused mobs to do
the same.
• Many German Jews fled, seeking refuge in other
countries… much like the Syrian refugees many
countries closed their
Doors and limited
Jewish immigration.
Continued…
• On November 7th, 1938, a German Jew shot and
wounded a German diplomat in Paris.
• Hitler used the incident as an excuse to stage an
attack on all Jews.
– Kristallnacht or “Night of Broken Glass.”
• Nazi mobs in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia smashed
the windows of Jewish homes and businesses.
Continued…
• Over 1000 synagogues (like churches) were burned
and more than 7000 Jewish businesses destroyed.
• Many Jewish schools, hospitals and homes were
damaged and many Jews were injured or killed.
• Nazis arrested 30,000 Jews and placed them in
camps.
• Hitler’s “Final Solution,” was the extermination of
all Jews.
– Jewish European Population in 1933 = 9.5 Million
– Jewish European Population in 1950 = 3.5 Million
Nazi Social Policies
• Like Fascists and Communists, Nazis attracted young
people with their ideology.
– Passionate speeches of racism.
• Urged young Germans to destroy their enemies.
• Hitler Youth pledged absolute loyalty to Germany
and took part in physical fitness programs to
prepare for war.
February 3rd, 2016
•PDN
• Following Kristallnacht, what was Hitler’s
“final solution,” for dealing with the Jews?
Continued…
• School courses and textbooks were rewritten to
reflect Nazi racial views.
• Nazis sought to limit women’s roles.
– Dismissed from upper level jobs
– Turned away from universities
• Offered rewards to “pure-blood Aryan” women to
have more children.
Purifying German Culture
• Nazis used education and arts as propaganda tools
to purge, or purify, German culture.
– Nazis held huge bonfires where they burned books they
disapprove of.
– Condemned modern art – Jewish influence
– Condemned Jazz – African roots
– Despised Christianity = weak
• Closed and muzzled Catholic Church
OBJECTIVE REVIEW
• Describe the political,
social, economic, and
cultural policies of Nazi
Germany.
NEW OBJECTIVE
•Explain why Eastern Europe
turned to authoritarian
rule.
Authoritarian Rule in Eastern Europe
• Rivalries from WW1 hindered economic
cooperation between countries in the area of
Eastern Europe.
Continued…
• Each country in the region tried to be independent
of its neighbors, which hurt all of them.
• The region was hit hard by the Great Depression.
Ethnic Rivalries
• Ethnicity is a category of people who identify with
each other based on common ancestral, social,
cultural or national experience.
• Czechoslovakia
– Czechs/Slovaks unwilling partners.
– 3 million Germans lived in
Northern Czechoslovakia.
Dictators Replace Democracy
• Economic problems and ethnic tensions contributed
to instability, which in turn helped fascist rulers gain
power.
• Right-wing dictators emerged in every Eastern
European country except Czechoslovakia and
Finland.
• Like Hitler, they promised
Order and won support
Of military and wealthy.
• Turned to Anti-Semitism
OBJECTIVE REVIEW
•Explain why Eastern
Europe turned to
authoritarian rule.
Take out a sheet of paper :D