Hitler and Nazi Germany:
Origins and Ideology
IB History: Authoritarian and Single-Party States
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About the Unit
Authoritarian/Single-Party State = A government controlled by a single
political party and/or regimes that defend their political or economical
control by keeping all of society passive.
Authoritarian/Single-Party States developed and operated throughout
the 20th Century (1900-2000) and we will study three examples.
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Hitler and Nazi Germany (Fascism)
Mao Zedong and China (Communism)
Stalin and the Soviet Union (Communism)
We will study these examples through four areas:
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Origins (how did they begin)
Ideology and Nature (what beliefs did they promote)
Establishment (how did they get power)
Policies and their impact (what they did and the effects)
Origins of Hitler and
Nazi Germany
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Germany’s position at the end of WWI gave Hitler and his Nazi
Party the opportunity to gain power
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The Treaty of Versailles, which ended WWI, punished Germany heavily and the ruling
government of Germany, called the Weimar Republic, became politically weak because
of it.
Germany also suffered from an economic depression after France and Belgium annexed
some of its territory and the US withdrew loans during its “Great Depression.”
Hitler’s Nazi Party thrived on these conditions promoting the restoration of jobs and
prosperity, and to end the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles.
By 1930 the coalition of political parties that made up the German government, the
Weimar Republic, had collapsed, and by 1932 Hitler’s Nazi Party was the largest in
Germany.
In 1933 President Von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany, which
is the head of the government (Similar to the President of the United States)
When the German Parliament building (Reichstag) was burned, legal clauses in
Germany’s constitution allowed Hitler gain even more executive powers
Adolf Hitler Nazi Party Flag
Reichstag Fire
Nazi Party Logo
Treaty of Versailles
Weimar Republic Flag
Ideology and Nature
of Hilter’s Nazi
Germany
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Hitler’s Nazi ideology was a combination of existing social
beliefs combined with German nationalism (pride for the German
nation)
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Hitler and the Nazi’s promoted a range of policies such as racialism (white racial
superiority), anti-semitism (anti-jewish), anti-communism, anti-feminism, socialDarwinism (survival of the fittest), preparedness for war, need to expand territory, and a
cult surrounding leaders--all of which were ideas that existed in the 19th century (18001900) well before Hitler’s leadership
Hitler and the Nazi’s also promoted German Nationalism (pride in the German nation)
and were able to gain popularity because of the discontent of German people following
WWI.
Starting in 1920 and continuing into the 1930’s Hitler and the Nazi’s outlined a 25-point
program for Germany based on the combination of these beliefs and German
nationalism, and was adapted to justify the government’s actions in any circumstance,
including policies that made little sense like the elimination of the Jewish Race.
Hitler’s Book on
Political Theory
Hitler Youth Movement
Nazi Party Propaganda
Hitler’s Salute
Summary
• The Origins of Hitler’s Nazi Party comes
from the poor political and economic
conditions of Germany following WWI,
which allowed he and his party to
become popular
• Hitler’s Nazi Party used a range of
discriminatory ideologies combined with
German Nationalism to persuade
discontent Germans to follow.