Download Hitler`s Rise: An Overview

Hitler’s Rise: An Overview 2
Dr. Maccalupo
Holocaust/Milkweed Unit
Language Arts 7
Factors that led to Hitler’s Rise
Arresting personality
Skills as a public
speaker & propagandist
Ability to attract
followers – from
bitterness of WW I
defeat
Resentment of the
Versailles Treaty
Weaknesses of the
Weimar Republic
The Depression
Extreme nationalism
Weimar Republic & WW I
1919 WW I ended. Germany defeated
and set up a Republic.
Germans not prepared for a democratic
government.
Ruled by an emperor since 1871.
Problems in Germany – post WW I
Resentment of Versailles Treaty – Article 231
(“war guilt” clause) declared that the Central
Powers had begun the war and were
responsible for the destruction. Germany was
forced to give up land and pay reparations.
High Inflation – German Mark almost
worthless. By 1923 $1 was worth
4,200,000,000 marks.
Hitler & the Nazi Party
Hitler’s Early Years –
born April 20, 1889 in
Austria. One of six
children. Wounded
during WW I.
Believed in heroic
virtues of war.
Insisted the German
army had never been
defeated.
Believed in the
inequality of races &
individuals.
Nazi Party (National
Socialist German Workers’
party formed – 1920.
Formed from the German
Socialist Workers’ party.
Themes – hatred of Jews
& Communists, injustice
of the Treaty of Versailles,
betrayal of the German
army by Jews & pacifists,
& the need to acquire
enormous amounts of
land for German
settlement.
Mein Kampf
Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) while
in prison for attempting a coup of the
government in Munich. The book outlined his
program:
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

to manipulate the masses by means of
propaganda
Forecasts a worldwide battle for racial superiority
Promises to free Germany from the limitation
imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.
Eager Members & the Depression
Professionals
(lawyers, doctors,
scientists) & factory
workers supported
Hitler’s Nazi party.
The Great
Depression hit
Germany by the
early 1930’s.
6 million people in
Germany out of
work (1/3 of the
workforce)
Hitler Appointed Chancellor
Nazi party won 107 seats in
the Reichstag (parliament) in
1930.
By 1932 they held 230 seats.
1933 Hitler appointed
Chancellor by President Paul
von Hindenburg.
1933 Enabling Act: Emergency
Decree passed – all civil rights
were suspended.
Hitler became dictator.
Concentration camps opened
for “enemies of the people &
the state”.
Democratic state dead – Hitler
& his Third Reich in power.
Source of Information
Material on this slide presentation adapted
from:
The Holocaust: A North Carolina
Teacher’s Resource
Published in cooperation with the North
Carolina Council on the Holocaust
Copyright 2002 by the North Carolina Council
on the Holocaust
http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/holocaustcouncil