Nazi Germany

• Germany's politicians met in the town of Weimar to decide how their country should be governed


  1919
• Weimar Republic


  The form of government that was decided upon
• Reichstag


  The parliament
• Chancellor


  The head of the government
• President


  Another head of state
• Weimar politicians were weak and indecisive
• They failed to solve the country's problems
• Gustave Stresemann


  He emerged above all others
• Under Stresemann's direction


  The German economy began to recover with the aid of American loans
• Stresemann died, just when he was needed most- the Wall Street Crash


  1929
• People now lost all faith in the Weimar Republic
• They turned towards more extreme groups that were offering them a way out of the Depression
• Nazi Rallies

  • Hitler used propaganda in the form of mass rallies and cinema news reels to gain more support
  • He was surrounded by armed followers or storm troopers known as SA and the SS
  • Many industrialists and businessmen supported Hitler, because they were too opposed to communism
  • In the 1932 Elections, the Nazis won more seats than any other party
  • Hitler was invited by President Hindenburg to form a government
  • In Jan 1933 he was appointed Chancellor of Germany
  • This was a huge mistake!!
• Hitler


  Born in Austria in 1889
• Hitler's parents died while he was still at school
• Hitler


  Moved to Vienna at age 15, lived there for 8 years, often as a down-and-out
• Hitler failed to enter Art College and was bitter about this
• Hitler: '"the most terrible time of my life"'
• Hitler's ideas


  • Certain people were superior and this superiority gave them the right to exploit inferior peoples and destroy them
  • His own 'Aryan' German race was the greatest, with blond hair and blue eyes
• Lebensraum


  The first step to German domination would involve taking over Eastern Europe
• Anti-Semitism


  Deeply ingrained in Austrian society, Hitler regarded Jews as racially inferior to Aryans and believed they aimed to destroy his race and western civilisation, so they had to be destroyed
• Hitler joined the German Army in WWI, was decorated 3 times for bravery, was shocked by Germany's defeat and bitterly resented the unfair terms of the Treaty of Versailles
• Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party)

  In 1919, Hitler joined a small political party in Munich and soon became its leader
• Hitler


  • Created his own private army of storm troopers, or Brownshirts
  • In 1923 they tried to stage a putsch (revolution) in Munich, but were easily defeated and Hitler was imprisoned
• Mein Kampf (my struggle)

  A book Hitler wrote while in prison, in which he expressed his ideas about the Germans being the Master Race who should rule the world, and Germany taking over Eastern Europe & Western Russia to create the "living space" - lebensraum, as well as uniting all of Austria and Czechoslovakia under Germany - ANSCHLUSS
• • Communists and Jews were Germany's enemies and should be destroyed- he blamed the Jews for losing WW1 too
  • Hitler received little support throughout the 1920s. However, in 1932 the Nazi Party came to power as Germany's largest political party.
  • The symbol was the Swastika
• German people


  Humiliated at the Treaty of Versailles
• They were forced to admit that they were the sole cause of WWI
• Wall Street Crash (Inflation)

  1929
• Economic recession, unemployed occurred as a result
• There was now a fear of growing communism
• Hitler appointed chancellor


  Jan 1933
• Once in power, Hitler quickly established a dictatorship
• Reichstag was burned down (blamed a communist)

  Feb 1933
• Enabling Act was Passed (Gave him dictatorial powers for 5 years- he could now rule by decree)

  March 1933
• All political parties were banned except for the Nazi party
• All newspapers and radio were censored and were placed under Nazi control
• Hitler used powerful propaganda tools- poster, radio, school books, mass rallies etc...
• Hindenburg died


  1934
• Hitler gained more power