Notes and flow chart of chapter Nazism and the Rise of hitler
Answers
Effects on Germany
• Germany received short-term loans largely from the US.
• Industrial production reduced.
• Workers lost their jobs.
• Youth took to criminal activities.
• Small businessmen and self-employed suffered as their businesses got ruined.
• People lost confidence in the democratic parliamentary system, which seemed to offer no solutions.
Hitler’s Rise to Power
• Hitler was born in Austria in 1889.
• He acted as a messenger, corporal in the First World War.
• He joined the German Workers Party and renamed it National Socialist German Workers' Party.
→ This later came to be known as the Nazi Party.
→ By 1932, it had become the largest party with 37 percent votes.
• Nazism became a mass movement only during the Great Depression.
• By 1932, it had become the largest party with 37 percent votes.
The Destruction of Democracy
• On 30 January 1933, Hitler achieved the highest position in the cabinet of ministries.
• Hitler now set out to dismantle the structures of democratic rule.
• The Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly.
• Communists were hurriedly packed off to newly established concentration camps.
• All political parties were banned.
• Special surveillance and security forces were created to control the people and rule with impunity.
Reconstruction
• Hjalmar Schacht took over the responsibility of economic recover.
• The state funded project produced the famous German superhighways and the people’s car, the Volkswagen.
• Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936.
• He integrated Austria and Germany in 1938.
• Acquired German-speaking Sudentenland.
• Hitler chose war to recover from economic crisis.
World War II
• On September 1939, Germany invaded Poland
• Started a war with France and England.
• In September 1940, a Tripartite Pact was signed between Germany, Italy and Japan.
• In June 1941, Germany attacked Soviet Union.
• Germany exposed through both sides.
→ From the western front – to Britishers.
→ From the eastern front – to Soviet Armies.
• Soviet Army defeated Germany at Stalingrad.
• Japan bombed the US base at Pearl Harbor.
• US entered the war.
• US drops atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
• The war ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat.
The Nazi World View
• According to Nazi ideology there was no equality between people, but only racial hierarchy.
→ Nordic German Aryans were at the top, while Jews were at the lowest while all other races are between them.
• New territories had to be acquired for settlement of Nordic German Aryans race.
The Racial Utopia
• Hitler divided and occupied north-western Poland.
• Poles were forced to leave their homes.
• Educated Polish classes were murdered.
Youth in Nazi Germany
• All schools were cleansed and purified means Jews teachers were dismissed.
• Jews, the physically handicapped and Gypsies were thrown out of schools and later sent to the gas chambers.
• A prolonged period of ideological training for good German students.
• School textbooks were rewritten.
• Racial science was introduced to justify Nazi ideas of race.
• Children were taught to be loyal and submissive, hate Jews, and worship Hitler.
• Ten-year-olds had to enter Jungvolk.
• At 14, all boys had to join the Nazi youth organisation – Hitler Youth.
• They joined the Labour Service at 18.
The Nazi Cult of Motherhood
• Boys were taught to be aggressive, masculine and steel hearted.
• Girls had to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children.
• All mothers were not treated equally.
• Women who bore racially undesirable children were punished.
• Women who produced racially desirable children were awarded.
• Honour Crosses were awarded to encourage women to produce many children.
• Women who didn’t follow prescribed code of conduct were publicly condemned, and severely punished.
The Art of Propaganda
• Mass killings were termed special treatment, final solution, euthanasia, selection and disinfection.
• Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slogans and leaflets.
• In posters, enemies of Germans such as Jews were shown as evil.
Crimes against Humanity
• Many people were influence by the idea of Nazi.
• They believed Nazism would bring prosperity and improve general well-being.
• Every German was not a Nazi.
• Large majority of Germans were passive onlookers.
The Holocaust
• Jews collected and preserved documents wrote diaries, kept notebooks, and created archives which
are called the Holocaust.
• Jews wanted the world to remember the atrocities and sufferings they had endured during the Nazi killing operation.