3 NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER Class

3. NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER Class 9 th: History

Summary of World War-I (Video Link) • When: July, 1914 to November, 1918 • Who: • Major Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and USA • Major Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire • How: Huge scale attacks with new deadly technologies including mechanized weapons, chemical weapons, long range artillery and air power • Where: Most battles were fought in Europe (Western and Eastern fronts) with some conflict in colonial holdings across Asia and Africa • Results: • 9 million people died and 20 million injured • Europe economically devastated and politically unstable at the end of war • Treaty of Versailles ending WW-I set stage for WW-II 20 years later

World War-I (1914 -1918): Central Powers Versus Allied Powers

• Nazism & Rise of Hitler was mainly during late 1930 s and early 1940 s – period of World War-2 • Hitler (Germany) was held accountable for World War-2 LETS UNDERSTAND WORLD WAR-II IN DETAIL

Main Reasons of World War II

Adolf Hitler • Determined to make Germany a mighty power • Ambition to conquer Europe • Killed Jews • Nazism – structure of ideas and politics

WW-II (1939 -1945) Commencement • Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria) versus Allied powers (USA, Britain, France, USSR, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland) • Sep 01, 1939 (4. 45 am) – Germany attacked Poland • Britain and France considered to be the allies with Poland but they couldn’t support this invasion 15 lakh German soldiers entered Poland within hours

WW-II (1939 -1945) Contd… • April 09, 1940 – Germany attacked Norway and Demark and won. Soon Netherland, Belgium and Luxemburg were also invaded and merged with Germany (aim was to strengthen the defence system of Germany) • June 25, 1940 (4. 35 pm) – France invaded by Germany (The Fall of France) • Britain, however remained independent—separated from Hitler's reach by the English Channel. The French delegation escorted by the German victors about to enter Marshal Foch's famous railway carriage to sign the Armistice,

WW-II (1939 -1945) Contd… • July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain (CLICK) – German Air force (Luftwaffe) attacked Britain. Brave Royal Air force of Britain defended and air battle came to an end on Oct 31, 1940. Video Link

WW-II (1939 -1945) Contd… • June 22, 1941 – Germany attacked USSR but failed to invade it • Dec 07, 1941 – Japan (axis partner with Germany) attacked Pearl Harbour, USA • Dec 11, 1941 - Germany declared war with USA (Hitler was convinced by Japan and wanted to defeat USSR with Japan’s help)

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941 during World War II. (CLICK)

WW-II (1939 -1945) End • July, 1943 – Italian military defeated by USA and USSR (partnered with German forces) during WW-II, Italy’s dictator Benito Mussolini was thrown out of power • June, 1944 – USA attacked Germany • May, 1945 - Germany surrendered to the Allies • April 30, 1945 - Anticipating what was coming, Hitler, his propaganda minister Goebbels and his entire family committed suicide collectively in his Berlin bunker • At the end of the war, an International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was set up to prosecute Nazi war criminals for Crimes against Peace, for war Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. Berlin Bunker Images

Aug 06/09, 1945 Nuclear attack by USA on Japan (Truman) In retaliation of attack on Pearl Harbour and to end the WW-II (CLICK)

Overview of Chapter • Birth of the Weimar Republic • The Effects of the War • Political Radicalism and Economic Crisis • The Years of Depression • Hitler’s Rise to Power • The Destruction of Democracy • Reconstruction • The Nazi Worldview • Establishment of the Radical State • The Racial Utopia

Birth of Weimer Republic • Germany, a powerful nation in the early years of 20 th century, fought the 1 st World War (1914 -1918) alongside the Austrian empire and against the Allies (England, France and Russia) • War prolonged for more duration than anticipated and gradually Europe was drained of its resources. Germany made initial gains by occupying France and Belgium. However, Allies, strengthened by the US entry in 1917, won, by defeating Germany and Central Powers in November 1918 • Defeat of Germany & abdication of emperor gave an opportunity to parliamentary parties recast to German polity. A National assembly met at Weimar and established a democratic constitution with federal structure. • Deputies were now elected to German Parliament or Reichstag on the basis of equal and universal votes caste by adults including women

Birth of Weimer Republic • The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the federal republic and parliamentary representative democracy established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government. It was named after Weimar, the city where the constitutional assembly took place. • This Republic, however, was a failure because of lack of faith of people in it and Treaty of Versailles to end the war. The peace treaty at Versailles was harsh for Germans. • Germany lost its overseas colonies, a 10 th of its population died, 13% of its territories, 75% of its iron and 26% of its coal to France, Poland, Denmark and Lithuania • The Allied powers demilitarized Germany to weaken its power. The War Guilt Clause held Germany responsible for the war and damages Allied countries had suffered. • Germany was forced to pay compensation of 6. 6 Billion Pounds. The Allied armies also occupied the resource-rich Rhineland in 1920 s • Many Germans held the new Weimar Republic responsible for not only the defeat in the war but the disgrace at Versailles

Peace Treaty of Versailles, 1919 The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War-I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I were dealt with in separate treaties.

Political Radicalism and Economic Crisis • Germany had fought the war largely on loans and had to pay war reparations in gold • In 1923, Germany refused to pay, and the French occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr, to claim the coal • Germany retaliated with passive resistance and printed paper currency recklessly. With too much of printed currency in circulation, the value of German mark fell rapidly. • This crisis came to be known as hyperinflation, a situation when prices rise phenomenally high • Eventually, Americans intervened and bailed Germany out of the crisis by introducing the Dawes Plan, which reworked the terms of reparation to ease the financial burden on Germans French troops in Ruhr

Political Radicalism and Economic Crisis • Birth of Weimer Republic coincided with the revolutionary uprising of the Spartacist League on the pattern of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia • Soviet of workers and sailors were established • The political atmosphere in Berlin was charged with the demands for Sovietstyle governance Spartacist Revolt • Those opposed to this such as Socialists, Democrats and Catholics met in the Weimer to shape-up the democratic republic • Weimar Republic crushed uprising with the help of a war veteran organization called Free Corps. • Anguished Spartacists later founded the Communist Party of Germany

Impact of World War - I • Europe turned from creditor to debtor • Weimar republic was financially crippled and forced to pay compensation • Socialists, Catholics and Democrats (‘November criminals’) supported Weimar Republic - became easy targets of attack in the conservative nationalist circles • Soldiers were above civilians • Men were aggressive, strong and masculine

Defects under Weimer Republic • Proportional representation - made achieving a majority by any one party a near impossible task, leading to a rule by coalitions. • Article 48 - President has the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree

The Year of Depression • Years 1924 and 1928 were somewhat stable but still German investments and industrial recovery were totally dependent on short term loans, largely from the USA • This support was withdrawn in 1929 when Wall Street Exchange crashed. Anticipating fall in prices, lots of shares were sold. (13 million shares on a single day) • This was the start of Great Economic Depression. Between 1929 and 1932, the national income of USA was reduced by half. Factories shut down, exports fell, farmers were badly hit and speculators withdrew their money from the market. It affected many other countries as well. • 1932 - Industrial production of Germany reduced to 40% of 1929 – lost jobs, paid reduced wages, unemployment at 6 million • People lost confidence in democratic parliamentary system as the crisis was not managed properly.

Hitler’s Rise to Power • Economic, social and political crisis provided circumstances for Hitler to rise to power. He was born in 1889 in Austria and spent his youth in poverty. • When the First World War broke out, he enrolled for the army, acted as a messenger in the front, became a corporal and earned medals for bravery. • He was furious over the Treaty of Versailles and German’s defeat. • 1919 – He joined German Worker’s Party (later he renamed it to National Socialist German Workers’ Party or Nazi Party) • 1923 - Planned to seize Bavaria, march to Berlin and capture power – failed, arrested and tried for treason • He subsequently took over it and Nazism, commonly known as National Socialism refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler; and the policies adopted by the government of Nazi Germany, a period also known as the Third Reich.

Hitler’s Rise to Power Contd… • Effect of Great Depression – Banks collapsed, businesses shut down, workers lost their jobs and middle class was threatened with poverty & destitution • Nazim became a mass movement during Great Depression • Nazi propaganda provided hope to Germans for better future • Hitler was projected as Messiah, a savior who would relieve people from their distress • By 1932 – Nazi became largest party with 37% votes

Hitler’s Rise to Power Contd… • Hitler was a powerful speaker. His passion and words convinced people to gain their trust. • He promised to build a strong nation, undo the injustice of the Versailles Treaty and restore the dignity of German people. • He promised employment for those looking for work, and a secured future for the youth. He promised to weed out all foreign influences and resist all foreign conspiracies against Germany. Great orating skills made Hitler very popular among Germans

Main Factors that helped Nazis rise 1. Economic instability – Great Depression of 1929 2. Failure of the Weimar Government to cope with problems 3. Weakness of the constitution 4. Effective use of Propaganda 5. Force used against opponents

Destruction of Democracy • Jan 30, 1933 - President Hindenburg offered Chancellorship, the highest position in the cabinet of ministers, to Hitler. • Having acquired power, the Hitler tried to dismantle democratic rule. • A mysterious fire that broke out in the German Parliament Building in February facilitated his move. • The Fire Decree of Feb 28, 1933 indefinitely suspended the civic rights like the freedom of speech, press and assembly that had been guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution. • Hitler then turned to his archenemies, the Communists, most of who were taken to the concentration camps for repression. Reichstag Fire Decree

Destruction of Democracy Contd… • Communists were the only one among the 52 type of victims persecuted/ punished by Nazis across the country. • Mar 03, 1933 – Famous Enabling Act was passed which established Hitler’s dictatorship in Germany. • It gave all power to the Hitler to sideline the Parliament and rule by decree. All political parties and trade unions were banned except Nazi Party and its affiliates. • The State established complete control over the economy, media, army and judiciary. • Special surveillance and security forces were created to control and order society in ways that the Nazis wanted.

Destruction of Democracy Contd… • Regular police in green uniform. • SA or the Storm Troopers included the Gestapo (secret state police), SS (protection squads), criminal police and Security Service (SD). • It was extra constitutional powers of these newly organized forces that gave the Nazi state its reputation as the most dreaded criminal state. • People could now be detained in Gestapo torture chambers, rounded up and sent to concentration camps, deported at will or arrested without any legal procedures. • The police forces acquired powers to rule with impunity. Concentration/ Death Camp

Reconstruction • Hitler assigned the responsibility of economic recovery to • • • economist Hjalmar Schacht who aimed at full production and full employment through a state-funded work-creation program This project produced famous German superhighways and the people’s car, the Volkswagen. In foreign policy, Hitler acquired quick successes Pulled out of the League of Nations in 1933, reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936 and integrated Austria and Germany in 1938 under the slogan, One people, One empire, and One leader. He then went on to wrest German speaking Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, and gobbled up the entire country. In all this he had an unspoken support of England who also considered the Versailles too harsh. These quick successes at home and abroad seemed to reverse the destiny of country.

Reconstruction Contd… • Hitler did not stop here. Schacht had advised Hitler against investing hugely in rearmament as the state still ran on deficit financing. • Hitler choose war as an option to tackle the economic crisis – resources to be accumulated by expansion of territory. • In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. This started a war with France and England. • In September 1940, Tripartite Pact was signed between Germany, Italy and Japan, strengthening Hitler’s claim to international power. • Puppet regimes, supportive of Nazi Germany, were installed in a large part of Europe. • By the end of 1940, Hitler was at the pinnacle of his power. He now moved to achieve his long-term aim of conquering Eastern Europe. • He wanted to ensure food supplies and living space for Germans. Therefore, he attacked Soviet Union in 1941.

Reconstruction Contd… • In this historic blunder Hitler exposed the German western front to British aerial bombing and eastern front to the powerful Soviet armies. • Soviet army defeated Germany at Stalingrad. Soviet Red Army reached till heart of Berlin. • USA resisted involvement in war due to huge losses incurred in WWI. • Japan was expanding its power in the east. It had occupied French Indo-China and was planning to attack US naval bases in the Pacific. • When Japan extended support to Hitler & bombed Pearl Harbor, USA entered the WW-II. • The War ended in 1945 with defeat of Hitler and USA dropping off nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.

The Nazi Worldview • The crimes that Nazi’s committed were linked to a system of belief and a set of practices • According to this, there was no equality between people rather only a racial hierarchy • Nordic German Aryans were at top and Jews at lowest rank (Hitler’s racism idea was borrowed from Charles Darwin – evolution and natural selection; Herbert Spencer – survival of fittest)

The Nazi Worldview Contd… • Strongest race would survive and weakest would perish • Aryans – finest race, pure, strong and would dominate the world • The other aspect of Hitler’s ideology was related to geopolitical concept of Lebensraum or living space. He believed that new territories to be acquired for settlement. • This would enhance area of mother country and enable new settlers. Also enhance the material sources and power of Germany. • Hitler intended to extend German boundaries y moving eastwards, to concentrate all Germans geographically in one place. • Poland became the laboratory for experimentation

Establishment of the Racial State • Once in power, the Nazis quickly began to implement their dream of creating an exclusive racial community of pure Germans. 1 Nazi’s wanted a society 2 3 4 • Pure Nordics • Healthy Nordics • Desirable • Prosperous • This means that Germans who were seen as impure or abnormal had no right to exist. • Physically eliminated all those who were not desirable

Establishment of the Racial State Contd… • Euthanasia Program – German physically or mentally unfit were condemned to death • Jews were not only the community classified as “undesirable”. There were other Inferior clans i. e. Gypsies and Blacks (inferiors), Russian and Poles (considered as subhuman). • When Germany occupied Poland parts of Russia, captured civilians were forced to work as slave labour. Many of them died due to starvation and hard work. • Jews remained the worst sufferers in Nazi regime because they had been stereotyped as killers of Christ and usurers. • Until medieval times, Jews were barred from owning land. only trade and do moneylending and lived in specially marked areas called Ghettos.

Establishment of the Racial State Contd… • They were often prosecuted through periodic organized violence and expulsion from the land. • Hitler hatred of Jews was based on pseudoscientific theories of race according of which Jews total elimination is the solution.

The Racial Utopia • Under the shadow of war, the Nazis proceeded to realize their murderous, racial ideal. • Genocide and war became two sides of the same coin. Occupied Poland was divided up. • Much of the north-western Poland was annexed to Germany. • Poles were forced to leave their homes and properties behind for to be occupied by ethnic Germans brought in from occupied Europe. • Poles were then herded like cattle the other part called General Government, the destination of all “undesirables” of the empire. • Members of the Polish intelligentsia were murdered in large numbers in order to keep the entire people intellectually and spiritually servile.

The Racial Utopia Contd… • Polish children who looked like Aryans were forcibly snatched from their mothers and examined by race experts • If they pass the race test, they were raised as German families and if not, they were deposited in orphanages where most perished • With some of the largest Ghettos and gas chambers, the General Government also served as the killing fields for the Jews.

Freight cars used to deport Jews to the Death Chambers

Steps to Death STAGE-1: Exclusion 1933 -1939 YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO LIVE AMONG US AS CITIZENS Nuremberg Laws of citizenship of September, 1935: 1) Only Persons of German or related blood would henceforth be German citizens enjoying the protection of the German empire. 2) Marriages between Jews and Germans were forbidden. 3) Extramarital relations between Jews and Germans became a crime. 4) Jews were forbidden to fly the national flag. 5) Other legal measures included: • Boycott of Jewish businesses • Expulsion from government services • Forced selling and confiscation of their properties 6) Jewish properties were vandalized and looted, houses attacked, synagogues burnt and men arrested in pogrom. November, 1938 remembered as “Night of broken glass”

Steps to Death Contd… STAGE-2: Ghettoization 1940 -1944 YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO LIVE AMONG US 1) From Sep 1941, all Jews had to wear a yellow star of David. 2) This identity mark was stamped on their passport, all legal documents and houses. 3) They were kept in Jewish houses in Germany and in Ghettos like Lodz and Warsaw in the east. 4) These became sites of extreme misery and poverty. 5) Jews had to surrender all their wealth before they entered a Ghetto. 6) Ghettos were brimming with hunger, starvation and disease due to deprivation and poor hygiene.

Steps to Death Contd… STAGE-3: Annihilation 1941 onwards YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO LIVE 1) Jews from Jewish houses, concentration camps and ghettos from different parts of Europe were brought to death factories by goods trains. 2) In Poland elsewhere in the east, most notably Belzek, Auschwitz, Sobibor, Treblinka, Chelmno and Majdanek, they were charred in gas chambers. 3) Mass killings took place within minutes with scientific precision. Click on the hyperlinks to watch videos

Youth in Nazi Germany • Schools cleansed and purified under Nazis • Jew teachers were dismissed • German and Jews children were separated • The undesirable children were taken to the Gas chambers in 1940 s • Good German got Nazi schooling • Educate in spirit of National Socialism • 10 years old – enter Jungvolk (Nazi youth Group) • 14 years old – boys joined Nazi Youth Organization – Hitler Youth (worship war, glorify aggression and violence, condemn democracy, and hate Jews, communists, Gypsies)

Youth in Nazi Germany Contd…

Youth in Nazi Germany Contd… • 18 years – join Labour Service, serve Armed forces & enter Nazi organization • 1922 - Youth League was formed (after 4 years it was renamed as Hitler Youth) • To unify the movement under Nazi control, all other youth organizations were systematically dissolved and finally banned. • Nazi Germany all mothers were not treated equally. Those who bore racially undesirable children were punished while those who produced racially desirable children were awarded. • To encourage women to produce many children, Honor Crosses were awarded. A bronze cross was given for four children, silver for six and gold for eight or more. • While boys were taught to be aggressive, masculine and steel hearted, girls were told that they had to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children. Girls had to maintain the purity of the race, distance from Jews, look after children and teach Nazi sentiments

Propaganda • Nazis never used the words ‘kill’ or ‘murder’ in their official communications. • ‘Evacuation’ meant deporting people to gas chambers • Gas chambers were known as ‘disinfection-areas’, and looked like bathrooms equipped with fake showerheads. • Socialists and liberals were represented as weak and degenerate. • Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and marked – shown as flowing beard wearing Kaftan (in reality hard to differentiate from German Jews)

Propaganda Contd… • Media was carefully used to win support for the regime and popularize its worldview. • Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slogans and leaflets. German enemies were stereotyped, mocked, abused and described as evil in these materials. • Many people saw world through Nazi eyes and believed that Nazism would bring prosperity and improve wellbeing. • Charlotte Beradt book “Third Reich of Dreams” - describes how Jews themselves began believing in the Nazi stereotypes about them. They dreamt of their hooked noses, black hair and eyes, Jewish looks and body movements. Jews died many deaths even before they reached the gas chamber. • Nazi killing operations called as Holocaust - when the war seemed lost, the Nazi leadership distributed petrol to its functionaries to destroy all incriminating evidence available in offices.

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