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Chapter 17 Section 4
Hitler and the Rise of Nazi Germany
Setting the Scene
In November 1923, a German army veteran and leader of
an extremist party, Adolf Hitler, tried to follow Mussolini's
example. His brown-shirted thugs burst into a beer hall in
Munich, where a political meeting was set to start. Hitler
climbed onto a table and fired his pistol. "The National
Socialist revolution has begun!" he shouted.
The coup failed, and Hitler was soon behind bars. But
Hitler was a force that could not be ignored forever.
Within a decade, he made a new bid for power. This time,
he succeeded by legal means.
Hitler's rise to power raises disturbing questions that we
still debate today. Why did Germany, which had a
democratic government in the 1920s, become a
totalitarian state in the 1930s? How could a ruthless, hatefilled dictator gain the enthusiastic support of many
Germans?
I. The Weimar Republic
In 1919, the Germans created a democratic
government known as the Weimar Republic
I. The Weimar Republic
The republic faced severe problems, was
politically weak, and came under constant fire
from both the left and right
One of the main problems
for the Weimar government
was the right-wing the claim
that the Army had been
'stabbed in the back' by the
government
I. The Weimar Republic
When Germany fell behind in reparations
payments, they printed huge quantities of
paper money, setting off out of control inflation
I. The Weimar Republic
In 1924, reparations payments were reduced
and US loans helped the German economy
recover - until the Great Depression hit
II. Adolf Hitler
Hitler was born in Austria in 1889, later moved
to Germany, and fought in the German army
during World War I
Little Adolf
Corporal Hitler (right) with
two other soldiers
II. Adolf Hitler
In 1919, he joined the right-wing National
Socialist German Workers, or Nazi, party and
soon became its leader
II. Adolf Hitler
Hitler organized the Nazis into fighting squads
of "Storm Troopers" who battled their political
enemies in the streets
Nazi storm troopers block the entrance to a Jewishowned store in Berlin. "Germans, defend yourselves,
buy only at German shops!"
II. Adolf Hitler
In 1923, Hitler made a failed attempt to seize
power in Munich and was sentenced to prison,
where he wrote Mein Kampf ("My Struggle")
Scene of the "Beer Hall Putsch"
II. Adolf Hitler
Mein Kampf reflected extreme nationalism,
racism, and anti-Semitism: Germans were a
"master race" of Aryans whose greatest
enemies were the Jews
II. Adolf Hitler
Germany, led by a Fuhrer, must expand to
gain Lebensraum (living space) and inferior
races must bow to Aryan needs
II. Adolf Hitler
The Great Depression played into Hitler's
hands and as unemployment rose, Nazi
membership grew to almost a million
Unemployed looking for work, 1930
II. Adolf Hitler
When Nazis and Communists won seats in
the Reichstag, conservatives feared
communism and elected Hitler chancellor in
1933
II. Adolf Hitler
Hitler suspended civil rights, destroyed the
socialists and Communists, disbanded
political parties, and purged the Nazi party
'They salute with both
hands now'
On the night of 30 June
1934 Hitler ordered the
SS to kill more than 400
SA men in what became
known as the “Night of
the Long Knives”
III. Hitler's Third Reich
Hitler organized a system of terror, repression,
and totalitarian rule - SS troops enforced his
will and the Gestapo rooted out opposition
III. Hitler's Third Reich
To eliminate unemployment, Hitler created
public works programs and began rearming
Germany, in violation of the Versailles treaty
1933 - Autobahn
Germany’s 100,000-man army surrounded by
heavily armed neighbors
III. Hitler's Third Reich
"Hitler Youth" pledged absolute loyalty to
Germany and undertook physical fitness
programs to prepare for war
"The weak must be
chiseled away. I
want young men
and women who
can suffer pain. A
young German
must be as swift as
a greyhound, as
tough as leather,
and as hard as
Krupp's steel."
"Youth Serves the Führer."
League of German Maidens
III. Hitler's Third Reich
Nazis used education as a propaganda tool,
sought to purify German culture, and sought
to replace religion with Hitler’s racial creed
IV. The Campaign Against Jews Begins
Hitler wanted to drive Jews from Germany and
in 1935, the Nuremberg Laws placed severe
restrictions on Jews
The "Nuremberg Laws"
established a pseudoscientific basis for racial
discrimination
On 15 September 1935 at the
Reich Party Convention in
Nuremberg, Adolf Hitler
announces the “Law for the
Protection of German Blood and
German Honour” as well as the
“Reich Citizenship Law”. The
“Nuremberg Laws” are used to
deprive the Jewish population in
Germany of its civil rights and to
open all avenues to their further
persecution.
IV. The Campaign Against Jews Begins
Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) – Nazi-led
mobs attacked Jewish communities all over
Germany on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938
During Kristallnacht a synagogue
burns in Siegen, Germany.
November 10, 1938.
IV. The Campaign Against Jews Begins
Jews were sent to concentration camps and
the Nazis began making plans for the "final
solution“ - the extermination of all Jews
Looking Ahead
In the 1930s, Germany became Europe's
second fascist state. Germans of all classes
responded to Hitler's hypnotic speeches and
programs, which restored their national pride.
Despite the warnings of some courageous
Germans, most individuals ignored the ugly side
of Nazi rule. Those who opposed Nazism were
not united and were soon silenced.
While Hitler won absolute power at home,
he moved boldly to expand Germany's power in
Europe. In the next chapter, you will see how
Nazi aggression set the stage for the largest war
the world has yet seen.