Background on Adolf Hitler

Hitler at the 1914

declaration of war

in Munich, Germany

Received two Iron Cross medals

- saving a wounded soldier

- capturing French soldiers -

Wounded:

- Oct. 1916: shrapnel to leg

- Oct. 1918: blinded by gas

Two Influential Political Parties – and how they changed

• RSDLP (formed 1898)= Russian Social Democratic

Labor Party - based on Marx

- Lenin joined - 1898

- by 1902 guided ideas

- wanted it to spread to

western Europe

- 1903 Bolshevik-Menshevik split

- Bolsheviks renamed communists

• German Labour Party (1919-1920)

- focused on the nation

- Hitler joined - Sept. 1919

- early 1920 – main speaker & chief of propaganda

- 1920 – proclaimed German

Worker’s Party’s manifesto

- renamed: National Socialist

German Workers’ Party

(NSDAP)

German Worker’s Party manifesto (Feb. 1920)• National Socialist Program (25-points / *official* goals – not always followed later)

• Germans (by blood) are citizens and the state provide opportunity for citizens

• all non-Germans (specifically named Jews) are guests in the country and cannot vote for government or laws – non-Germans cannot immigrate into Germany

• every citizen must productively work for the common good (good of most people)

• end unearned income (inheritance), nationalization of businesses, increase old age welfare, land reform suitable to the nation’s needs

• national education to teach about the state and physical fitness

• legal opposition to the lies of the press – all members must be of the race – if the publication is against the common good, it is to be forbidden

• freedom of religion as long as it doesn’t go against the moral senses of the German race

• strong central power of government (over the whole country)

• 1921 – Hitler quit the party after a dispute

– agreed to come back if he became the party chairman

Were the Nazis actually socialists?

capitalism / democracy

= individual in control

socialism / communism

= state / community in control

Rise of Nazism

Early newspaper report on Hitler – Nov. 1922

Don’t worry about Hitler’s anti-Semitism

only trying to get more followers

until he is powerful enough to use it for political purposes

Hitler is politically cleveryou can’t expect most people to understand the real goal

politically wrong to tell the truth about where they are being led

Beer Hall Putsch Nov. 8th, 1923

- Hitler mad Bavarian government leaders

didn’t invite him to strategy meeting

- Planned to start national revolution

entered and shot gun at ceiling

-Forced leaders at gunpoint to

support him -> appointed staff

*Leaders turned on Hitler

- told police to arrest Hitler

*went back on anniversary and gave speeches

Hitler led a march to Odeonplatz

– Nazis shot by police

Location became consecrated (holy) to Nazis

Alley behind the building where people walked to avoid giving Nazi salute

I. Hitler’s Power

A. Need to gain power through elections

1. Largest party in Reichstag (German parliament)

B. Economic problems helped Nazi’s rise to power

Unemployed

1931: 4.35 million → 1932: 6 million

C. Enabling Act (1933) – gave government power to ignore

constitution for 4 years to solve country’s problems

1. Brought all parts of life under Nazi control

2. SS (Schutzstaffel = protection squadron) – secret

police to create terror – against opposition / the “other”3. Germans took loyalty oath to the Fuehrer (leader)

Night of the Long Knives June 30th – July 2nd 1934

Sturmabteilung (SA)vs Schutzstaffel (SS)

II. The Nazi State

A. Goal: develop Aryan state to dominate Europe

1. Nazi version:

B. Hitler called the German empire Third Reich

1. 1st Holy Roman Empire

- 900s – early 1800s

2. 2nd Germany until WWI

- 1871 - 1918

C. Economic Policies1. Public works – government pays workers to

complete projects to benefit the public

2. Rearmament – made weapons to rebuild military

3. People supported Hitler because economyimproved (1934 = 2.6 million, 1937 = 500,000)

a. Unemployment went downD. Propaganda

1. Mass demonstrations (Ex: Nuremberg rallies) created excitement for Nazi party

2. Used in churches, schools, Hitler Youth

E. Nazi Anti-Semitic Policies1. Policies followed beliefs of Hitler and supporters

2. Nuremberg Laws

a. Defined Jews – have one Jewish grandparent

b. Excluded Jews from German citizenship

c. Marriage between Germans and Jews illegal

d. Jews required to wear yellow Star of David

3. Banned Jews from public transportation and buildings

F. Kristallnacht =“night of shattered glass” – Nov. 9, 1938

1. Riots against Jews

2. Burned synagogues, destroyed businesses and homes

3. Jews sent to jail