NAZISM AND GERMANY · RISE OF NAZISM •Hitler uses anger over Treaty of Versailles to rally...
Transcript of NAZISM AND GERMANY · RISE OF NAZISM •Hitler uses anger over Treaty of Versailles to rally...
HISTORICAL THEORIES ON HITLER
Hitler was only a
symptom of the
feelings of common
German people
The Germans were
Hitler’s first victims
WHAT IS NAZISM?
• Nazism: form of fascism that also incorporates rabid
antisemitism, racism, and eugenics
• Eugenics: practices that aim to improve the genetic
quality of a human population by removing undesirables
from the gene pool
– Theory and practice of eugenics began in the United States
ADOLF HITLER
• Originally from Austria, spent teenage years in Vienna
• Young Hitler was “lost” in Vienna
– Struggled to make ends meet
– Teenaged Hitler was first influenced by local politicians in Vienna who
spouted antisemitic propaganda and knew how to rile up a crowd
• Hitler moved to Munich, Germany in his 20s to avoid being drafted
into the Austrian army (pre-WWI)
– Later claimed the Austrian army had too many races mixed into it
ADOLF HITLER
• The breakout of WWI gave his life a direction and a cause to commit himself to; joined the German army
– Hitler was gassed near the end of the war; temporarily blinded and mute
– Learned of Germany’s defeat while recovering in the hospital; outraged
• After the war, Hitler was employed in the German army as an informant
– Sent to spy on radical party meetings; found he agreed with many of the radicals
ADOLF HITLER
So what led to the development of Hitler’s ideology?
• Early exposure as a teen to charismatic anti-Semites
• Anger over Germany’s loss in WWI
• Later exposure to radical political groups
WWI’S EFFECTS ON GERMAN POLITICS
• November 1918, many Germans still believed victory still possible
• Kaiser Wilhelm is overthrown, new government forms: the Weimar
Republic
– New gov’t signs armistice with Allies
• Armistice came as shock to Germans
– “Stab-in-the-back” theory (Dolchstosslegende)
• Belief that the German army did not lose WWI on the battlefield but was instead betrayed by
civilians at home
• Some believed the “civilians” that betrayed Germany were the Jews or communists
• Weimar Republic already distrusted by German people as result
HITLER AND EARLY NAZISM
• Core of Hitler’s political ideas: racism, anti-Semitism,
ultranationalism
• Hitler believed Jews were behind Germany’s loss in WWI
• After WWI, Hitler joined a right-wing ultranationalist party, the
German Worker’s Party
– Hitler soon controlled the party; renamed to National Socialist German
Worker’s Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), or Nazi Party
– Nazi Party supported by the SA (or Brownshirts), a paramilitary group
(Sturmabteilung)
HITLER AND EARLY NAZISM
• Beerhall Putsch: Hitler, Nazis attempt to overthrow
Weimar Republic in failed coup
–Hitler thrown in prison; writes Mein Kampf
• Details beliefs on propaganda and antisemitism
–Hitler realizes he must take power legally, not violently
“If we pass all the
causes of the
German collapse in
review, the ultimate
and most decisive
remains the failure to
recognize the racial
problem and
especially the Jewish
menace.”
“To what an extent the whole
existence of this people is based
on a continuous lie is shown
incomparably by the Protocols
of the Elders of Zion, so
infinitely hated by the Jews. They
are based on a forgery, the
Frankfurter Zeitung moans and
screams once every week: the
best proof that they are
authentic ... For once this book
has become the common
property of a people, the Jewish
menace may be considered as
broken.”
“All propaganda must be
popular and its intellectual level
must be adjusted to the most
limited intelligence among those
it is addressed to. Consequently,
the greater the mass it is
intended to reach, the lower its
purely intellectual level will have
to be. But if, as in propaganda
for sticking out a war, the aim is
to influence a whole people, we
must avoid excessive intellectual
demands on our public, and too
much caution cannot be
extended in this direction…”
“…The receptivity of the
great masses is very limited,
their intelligence is small, but
their power of forgetting is
enormous. In consequence of
these facts, all effective
propaganda must be limited
to a very few points and
must harp on these in slogans
until the last member of the
public understands what you
want him to understand by
your slogan.”
RISE OF NAZISM
• Hitler uses anger over Treaty of Versailles to rally Germans
– Also exploits German antisemitism
– Nazi Party rapidly expands, largest party in German gov’t by
1929
• Hitler promised end to economic depression; end to German
humiliation (exploits nationalist feelings)
• President Hindenburg makes Hitler chancellor in 1933
REICHSTAG FIRE
• Early 1933, a fire broke out in the Reichstag
(German parliament building)
–Communist found guilty of arson
•Hitler seized the opportunity
–Claimed fire was proof that communists were trying to
overthrow the gov’t
–Exploited public’s anger over fire, fear of communism
• Used Enabling Act to pass laws abolishing freedom of speech,
press, privacy
NAZIS TAKE CONTROL
• In 1933, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act
–Gov’t can pass any laws it wants, even if normally
unconstitutional
• After Hindenburg dies, Hitler uses Enabling Act to
combine the position of chancellor and president; Hitler
now ruled supreme
NEW YORK TIMES, 1934
“The German people were asked to vote whether they approved the
consolidation of the offices of President and Chancellor in a single Leader-
Chancellor personified by Adolf Hitler. By every appeal known to skillful
politicians and with every argument to the contrary suppressed, they were asked
to make their approval unanimous…
…The results given out by the Propaganda Ministry early this morning show that
out of a total vote of 43,438,378, cast by a possible voting population of more
than 45,000,000, there were 38,279,514 who answered "Yes," 4,287,808 who
answered "No" and there were 871,056 defective ballots. Thus there is an
affirmative vote of almost 90 per cent of the valid votes and a negative vote of
nearly 10 per cent…”
Weimar Republic overthrows Kaiser
Weimar Republic signs armistice with
Allies
Hitler joins and later takes over
Nazi Party
Nazi membership increases because of hyperinflation
Hitler’s failed Beerhall Putsch;
jailed, writes Mein Kampf; released
Germany economy stabilizes under
Weimar Republic
Nazi membership plummets
Great Depression hits
Nazi membership massively increases
Hitler loses in presidential election
Hindenburg just barely
Hindenburg appoints Hitler as
chancellor
Reichstag FireReichstag passes Enabling Act of
1933
Freedoms of speech, press,
privacy abolished
Hindenburg dies
Hitler combines presidency and chancellorship; reigns supreme