2. Introduction and Hitler's rise to power

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Introduction and Hitler's rise to power 

The Second World War

Treaty of Versailles (June 28th, 1919)

Territorial

Military

Financial & economic

On top of this:

only 100,000 men army

war reparations

Alsace Lorraine back to France

Colonies to France and Britain

Alleinschuld

no union with Austria

not in League of Nations

no navy, no air force

the Saar to France (15 years)

Rhineland demilitarised

East Prussia to Poland

Rotterdam, bombing

Introduction 

Chapter 2: The Second World War 

Make assignment 1 - 5 

What is this lesson about?

Because of the economic crisis of 1929, the Nazi Party became the biggest party in Germany. In 1933, Hitler was appointed as Reichskanzler. After the Reichstag Fire, he used the fear of the Germans to get dictatorial powers. Through propaganda, Hitler secured his power, indoctrinating the population and especially the youth. The SS and the Gestapo arrested Hitler’s political enemies and send them to concentration camps.

people in this lesson

Paul von Hindenburg

president

(head of state) 

Heinrich Himmler

leader of the SS

and Gestapo

Adolf Hitler

chancellor

(prime minister) 

Josef Goebbels

minister of 

Propaganda

Word Duty

NSDAP: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or Nazi Party

Reichstag: German parliament

Enabling act: act through which Hitler obtained dictatorial power

SS: abbreviation for Schutzstaffel; security and military organisation controlled by the Nazi Party

Night of the Long Knives: purge used by Hitler to eradicate the critics of his regime in the SA 

nazification: measures taken by Hitler to turn Germany into a totalitarian state

indoctrination: process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically

Hitler Youth: organisation in Nazi Germany for children aged 10 to 18

Gestapo: state secret police of Nazi Germany (geheime staats polizei) tasked with hunting down people who opposed or were critical towards Hitler and the Nazis.

Führer: literally: Leader. The title Hitler adopted after president Hindenburg died in 1934.

concentration camp: camps were a government forces many people to live, sometimes under terrible conditions

KEY WORDS

Important dates in this lesson:

1925:  founding of the SS

1929:  start economic crisis in Germany

1933: 

          January: Hitler appointed Reichskanzler

           February: Reichstag Fire

           March: new elections + Enabling Act

1934

           April: founding of the Gestapo

          June: Night of the Long Knives

           August: Hindenburg dies. Hitler becomes Führer.

           

What you will learn in 

this lesson

• What was  the National Socialist ideology about? 
• How did Hitler come to power? 
• What did the National Socialist change in Germany?

Hitler had attempted a coup in 1923 but this failed and he was arrested. 

Hitler sitting next to the German head of state: president Hindenburg.

Hindenburg reluctantly appointed Hitler to be Reichskanzler (prime minister) because the Nazis had  become the largest party during the 1932 elections.

summarize

1. start with the title of the lesson, then repeatedly the title of the paragraph / section you are summarizing
   
2. Hitler's promises
   
3. link the Great Depression to the rise of the Nazis
4. How (and when) did Hitler get to be Chancellor

president

Under a "Presidential" government the chancellor is responsible to the president, and not the Reichstag. 

The "25/48/53 formula" was the three articles of the Constitution that could make a "Presidential government" possible:

Article 25 allowed the President to dissolve the Reichstag.

Article 48 allowed the President to sign into law emergency bills without the consent of the Reichstag. (The Reichstag could cancel any law passed by Article 48 by a simple majority within sixty days of its signing).

Article 53 allowed the President to appoint the Chancellor.

The NSDAP was founded in 1919 

They were called the National Socialists or Nazi's 

The main characteristics of the Nazi's were; 

1. One party with one leader to lead the country 
2. Nationalism 
3. Militarism 
4. Racial doctrine ( Übermenschen and Untermenschen) 

Anti-semitism 

Hitler sitting next to the German head of state: president Hindenburg.

Hindenburg reluctantly appointed Hitler to be Reichskanzler (prime minister) because the Nazis had  become the largest party during the 1932 elections.

summarize

1. start with the title of the lesson, then repeatedly the title of the paragraph / section you are summarizing
   
2. Hitler's promises
   
3. link the Great Depression to the rise of the Nazis
4. How (and when) did Hitler get to be Chancellor

president

Under a "Presidential" government the chancellor is responsible to the president, and not the Reichstag. 

The "25/48/53 formula" was the three articles of the Constitution that could make a "Presidential government" possible:

Article 25 allowed the President to dissolve the Reichstag.

Article 48 allowed the President to sign into law emergency bills without the consent of the Reichstag. (The Reichstag could cancel any law passed by Article 48 by a simple majority within sixty days of its signing).

Article 53 allowed the President to appoint the Chancellor.

Hitler takes over control

 The Nazi's did not have many supporters before 1929. 

But after the Wall street crash in 1929 unemployment rate went up. 

Hitler used clever propaganda on the radio and in speeches to do something about the unemployment rate and the treaty of Versailles.

SA ( Sturmabteilung) Brown shirts 

SS ( Schutzstaffel) Black shirts 

Hitler takes over control

 In july 1932 the Nazi's became the largest party in the Reichstag. 

Six months later Hitler was appointed chancellor. 

Reichstag fire led to Hitler gaining full control over the whole country 

Reichstag elections July 1932

Nazis (brown) are largest parties, but don't have an overall majority

What causal relation does the chart show between the
unemployment rate and the popularity of the NSDAP?
ps, you don't need to include numbers in your answer.

The bars show the percentage of votes received by the NSDAP during the elections between 1924-1933. The line shows the unemployment rate.

Which statement is false?

1. Thanks to the crisis, Hitler’s party grew immensely.
2. According to Hitler, poverty in Germany was caused by the Treaty of Versailles.
3. In 1928, the NSDAP was still a small political party.
4. In 1932, the NSDAP had a majority in the German parliament.

Read source A
What motive could the people, described by
Hauser, have had for voting NSDAP?

Read source A
What motive could they have had for
not voting for a democratic party?

Hitler becomes a dictator

On 27th February 1933, fear spread in Berlin when the Reichstag building went up in flames. The Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was arrested and he admitted his guilt. As soon as Hitler heard about the fire, he used it to his advantage: he blamed the communists for causing terror and trying to take power. 

 At new elections on 5th March 1933, the NSDAP and another nationalist party together gained 52% of all votes, which gave them a majority to rule.

summarize

1. How did Hitler take advantage of the Rechstag Fire?
2. How did the Reichstag Fire help Hitler to an overall majority in the Reichstag?

Reichstag elections March 1933

Nazis (brown) , together with another nationalist party, have an overall majority

In March 1933, tens of thousands of alleged German communists were arrested, brutally tortured and, in some cases, killed. Research shows that a large part of German population agreed on this policy. Explain the most probable reason for people agreeing with this policy.

Hitler reached for dictatorial power as soon as possible: riding the wave of fear in Germany, he convinced president Hindenburg to sign the Enabling Act on 23rd March 1933.

This enabled Hitler to make and pass laws without the involvement of the parliament. The Enabling Act opened up a path towards totalitarian control. 

• He banned other political parties 
• Set up concentration camps 
• Free-press was banned 
• Secret police was set up 

summarize

1. What was the Enabling Act and why was this important for Hitler?
2. What measures did Hitler take to ensure his dictatorial power after the Enabling Act was passed?

Read the source. Göring does not give any specifics about the meaning of the underlined sentence. You should be able to work them out anyway, though. Two examples of things Göring would describe as ‘misery, hardship, humiliation, disgrace’, are given. Decide if they are true, or false

A. The random violence committed by the SA

1. TRUE
2. FALSE

Read the source. Göring does not give any specifics about the meaning of the underlined sentence. You should be able to work them out anyway, though. Two examples of things Göring would describe as ‘misery,
hardship, humiliation, disgrace’, are given. Decide if they are true, or
false

B. The shortages due to economic crisis

1. TRUE
2. FALSE

Night of the Long Knives

After Hitler came to power, he started to ‘purify’ the Nazi Party.  Now that Hitler controlled the government, he ordered his notorious personal lifeguards, the Schutzstaffel (SS), led by Heinrich Himmler, to eliminate all Nazi-members who had opposed or questioned him.

 Many leading SA figures (brownshirts) were murdered in cold blood. This event on 30th June 1934 was later called the Night of the Long Knives.

Hitler was now in full control of the Nazi Party. When president Von Hindenburg died on 2nd August 1934, Hitler combined the presidency and Reichskanzler in the position of Führer. 

summarize

1. What happened during the Night of the Long Knives and how did this help Hitler to gain even more power?
   
2. How did Hitler become Führer?
   

During the Night of the Long Knives the following people were eliminated:

1. communists
2. members of the SA
3. members of the SS
4. Jews

Which of these reasons for the Night of the Long Knives is wrong?

1. SA leaders wanted to turn the SA into the new German army
2. The SA was not purely Aryan anymore.
3. Several members focused too much on the socialist aspect of the SA
4. SA leaders had become critical towards Hitler

Nazification

Hitler relied on an effective system of propaganda to gain full support of all Germans. He wanted totalitarian control over every aspect of life and society. To drive this nazification, he appointed his loyal friend Joseph Goebbels as Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Goebbels was able to control the press, radio and film; he developed sophisticated ways to influence and even control the minds of the people. Goebbels was well aware of the power of radio broadcasting on people and encouraged the production and distribution of cheap radios to make sure everyone could hear his and Hitler’s speeches.

summarize

1. What was the function of propaganda for Hitler?
2. What means of propaganda were used?
3. How did Hitler make sure all arists and media would only propagate Nazi art and Nazi messages?

Führer adoration

The propaganda proved to be effective: Hitler managed to unite the German people through a shared history and offered them a way to feel proud of their country again. 

Using techniques of indoctrination, deliberately putting certain ideas into people’s heads by repeating them again and again, he persuaded many Germans to perceive him as the saviour of their nation. 

• He created jobs for everybody 
• Even the people who did not vote for him, started to believe him.
• If he did not start World War 2, Germany would have gone bankrupt.  

German girls cheer Hitler, who is passing by in an automobile, during a Nazi Party parade

summarize

1. What measures did Hitler take to make the Germans idolise him?

First communists, socialists, Jews and all other teachers that opposed Nazi rule, were fired.

Race studies were introduced as a new school subject and students were taught to become nationalistic, aware of race differences, willing to fight for Germany and to obey the Führer’s orders without question.

• Hitler Jugend ( boys) 
• Bund Deutscher Madel (girls)