9-3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY

ADOLF HITLER

• Born in Austria

• A failed painter

• Strongly believed that Germany was a super-country and its people were supermen

• His ideas on the superiority of Germany, racism, antisemitism, and the necessity of struggle influenced his actions

HITLER’S RISE TO POWER

• After WWI, Hitler joined the German Workers Party, an extremist party

• In less than 2 years, he had taken over and Changed the name to the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi)

– Got a lot of people to join

• Created a militia, the SA (Storm Troops or Brownshirts

• 11/1923 – Beer Hall Putsch: Hitler tried to lead an uprising against the gov’t

– Arrested and went to jail

– In jail he wrote Mein Kampf

• After he got out, he worked on making the Nazi Party a major political party

– By 1931, it was the 3rd largest party in the Reichstag (parliament)

• In rallies, he promised to improve the economy, make Germany great again

– This got the support of the people

– The rich, business owners, military officials, and others supported him.

• 1933 – President Hindenburg makes him chancellor because he’s under pressure from important people

• The “Enabling Act” – gave Hitler the power to ignore the constitution

– Made him a dictator

• He quickly brought all parts of the country under union control

– No more unions or other political parties

– Creates a totalitarian state

– Everyone had to call him “Fuhrer” (leader)

• Hitler’s goal: develop an Aryan racial state to take over Europe

– Aryan – the word Hitler used to refer to the descendents of the ancient Greeks and Romans

– Hitler wanted to create an empire: the Third Reich

– They worked to make this empire through economic policies, racial policies, and organizations (like Hitler Youth and the SS)

TERROR AND REPRESSION

• SS (Schutzstaffen): originally Hitler’s bodyguard, later both the secret and regular police

– Controlled by Himmler

– Based on terror and repression

– Used concentration camps (labor camps) execution squads, and other methods to instill fear

– Goal: further the German master race

• To improve the economy, he started projects that required the hiring of more workers

– He also rebuild the army and built more weapons

• To involve the people, he held rallies, where the people would come and he’s talk to them

• Churches and schools were controlled by the Nazis. They passed along Nazi messages and propaganda

ANTI-SEMETIC POLICIES

• Nuremberg Laws: Jews can’t be German citizens (you’re Jewish if your grandparents were Jewish)

– They had to wear identification cards and wear yellow Stars of David

• Kristallnacht (Night of shattered glass) Nov. 9, 1938

– Nazis burned synagogues and destroyed businesses. 30,000 were taken to concentration camps

– New laws were passed: Jews were barred from all public places, couldn’t own stores, and were encouraged to emigrate (leave)

HITLER VS MUSSOLINI

Hitler took many of Mussolini’s policies and practices

Mussolini Hitler

OVRA SA/SS

Both used propaganda to make the people believe them

Used nonviolent methods to take over the government

Given power by the leader of the country