Class 9th
HISTORY
CHAPTER-3
NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER
Introduction
❖ In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies.
❖ Hitler, his propaganda minister Goebbels and his entire family committed suicide collectively in his Berlin
bunker in April.
❖ An International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was set up to prosecute Nazi war criminals for Crimes against
Peace, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
❖ Germany had waged a genocidal war, The number of people killed included 6 million Jews, 200,000 Gypsies, 1
million Polish civilians, and 70,000 Germans who were considered mentally and physically disabled.
Birth of the Weimar Republic
❖ Germany fought the First World War (1914-1918) along with the Austrian Empire and against the Allies
(England, France and Russia).
❖ Germany initially made gains by occupying France and Belgium. However, the Allies won defeating Germany
and the Central Powers in 1918.
❖ A National Assembly met at Weimer and established a democratic constitution with a federal structure.
❖ The republic, however, was not received well by its own people.
❖ The Treaty of Versailles was signed from which Germany lost all its overseas colonies and its resources, putting
them in humiliation.
❖ The blame of the First World War was put on Germany as they were forced to pay 6 billion Euros for damages
& loss of life in the war.
Effects of World War I
❖ World War I led to extensive destruction and loss of human lives as well as depreciated losses in various fields
like social, political, financial, etc.
❖ The supporters of the Weimer Republic were criticized and became easy targets of attack in the conservative
nationalist circles.
❖ They were mockingly called the “November criminals”.
❖ Democracy was a young and fragile idea which could not survive the instabilities of interwar Europe.
Political Radicalism and Economic Crises
❖ The historical coincidence of Weimar’s birth with the revolution of the Spartacist League against the pattern of
the Bolshevik revolution in Russia.
❖ Free Corps, a war veteran organization, helped crush the Spartacist League uprising while the Catholics,
Socialists & Democrats met in Weimar for a democratic republic.
❖ The Spartacists founded the Communist Party of Germany.
❖ The political instability in Germany paved the way for Hitler.
❖ As Germany refused to pay the war reparations, France occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr.
❖ Germany retaliated with printing paper currency recklessly. The value of the mark collapsed. Prices of goods
soared. There was hyperinflation.
[1]
, The Years of Depression
❖ 1924-1928 saw some stability, yet it was built on sand. In 1924, with the introduction of the Dawes Plan by the
Americans.
❖ Germany was totally dependent on short-term loans, largely from the USA. This support was withdrawn with
the crash in 1929 of the Wall Street Exchange.
❖ The middle class and working population were filled with the fear of proletarianization (impoverishment of the
working class).
❖ The Weimer Republic had some inherent defects :
1. Proportional Representation
2. Article 48 – which gave the President the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree.
Hitler’s Rise to Power
❖ Adolf Hitler was born in the year 1889 and raised in Austria.
❖ He enrolled in the army during World War I acted as a messenger and soon was promoted to Corporal.
❖ In 1919, he joined a small communist party named the German Workers Party.
❖ He soon took hold over the party and renamed it as National Socialist German Workers; later called as Nazi
Party.
❖ Bavaria was the first target of Hitler and planned to seize it. He launched an attack in 1923 but failed.
❖ Nazism became a mass movement only during the Great Depression.
❖ Hitler was a powerful and effective speaker. He promised the people a strong nation.
❖ Hitler tried his hands at elections, but in 1928 his party only won 2.6 % of the votes, though it soon became the
largest party in 1932 by winning 37% of votes in Reichstag, Germany.
❖ He promised to remove all foreign influences and resist all foreign ‘conspiracies’ against Germany.
❖ Hitler started following a new style of politics, and his followers held big rallies and public meetings to
demonstrate support.
❖ The Red banners with the Swastika, the Nazi salute, and the ritualised rounds of applause after the speeches
were all part of this spectacle of power.
The Destruction of Democracy
❖ President Hindenburg offered the Chancellorship, on 30 January 1933, to Hitler.
❖ The Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly that
had been guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution.
❖ On 3 March 1933, the famous Enabling Act was passed, which established a dictatorship in Germany.
❖ It gave Hitler all powers to sideline Parliament and rule by decree.
❖ All political parties were banned, and the state took control over the economy, media, army and judiciary.
❖ Apart from the already existing regular police in a green uniform and the SA or the Storm Troopers, these
included the Gestapo (secret state police), the SS (the protection squads), criminal police and the Security Service
(SD).
[2]
HISTORY
CHAPTER-3
NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER
Introduction
❖ In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies.
❖ Hitler, his propaganda minister Goebbels and his entire family committed suicide collectively in his Berlin
bunker in April.
❖ An International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was set up to prosecute Nazi war criminals for Crimes against
Peace, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
❖ Germany had waged a genocidal war, The number of people killed included 6 million Jews, 200,000 Gypsies, 1
million Polish civilians, and 70,000 Germans who were considered mentally and physically disabled.
Birth of the Weimar Republic
❖ Germany fought the First World War (1914-1918) along with the Austrian Empire and against the Allies
(England, France and Russia).
❖ Germany initially made gains by occupying France and Belgium. However, the Allies won defeating Germany
and the Central Powers in 1918.
❖ A National Assembly met at Weimer and established a democratic constitution with a federal structure.
❖ The republic, however, was not received well by its own people.
❖ The Treaty of Versailles was signed from which Germany lost all its overseas colonies and its resources, putting
them in humiliation.
❖ The blame of the First World War was put on Germany as they were forced to pay 6 billion Euros for damages
& loss of life in the war.
Effects of World War I
❖ World War I led to extensive destruction and loss of human lives as well as depreciated losses in various fields
like social, political, financial, etc.
❖ The supporters of the Weimer Republic were criticized and became easy targets of attack in the conservative
nationalist circles.
❖ They were mockingly called the “November criminals”.
❖ Democracy was a young and fragile idea which could not survive the instabilities of interwar Europe.
Political Radicalism and Economic Crises
❖ The historical coincidence of Weimar’s birth with the revolution of the Spartacist League against the pattern of
the Bolshevik revolution in Russia.
❖ Free Corps, a war veteran organization, helped crush the Spartacist League uprising while the Catholics,
Socialists & Democrats met in Weimar for a democratic republic.
❖ The Spartacists founded the Communist Party of Germany.
❖ The political instability in Germany paved the way for Hitler.
❖ As Germany refused to pay the war reparations, France occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr.
❖ Germany retaliated with printing paper currency recklessly. The value of the mark collapsed. Prices of goods
soared. There was hyperinflation.
[1]
, The Years of Depression
❖ 1924-1928 saw some stability, yet it was built on sand. In 1924, with the introduction of the Dawes Plan by the
Americans.
❖ Germany was totally dependent on short-term loans, largely from the USA. This support was withdrawn with
the crash in 1929 of the Wall Street Exchange.
❖ The middle class and working population were filled with the fear of proletarianization (impoverishment of the
working class).
❖ The Weimer Republic had some inherent defects :
1. Proportional Representation
2. Article 48 – which gave the President the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree.
Hitler’s Rise to Power
❖ Adolf Hitler was born in the year 1889 and raised in Austria.
❖ He enrolled in the army during World War I acted as a messenger and soon was promoted to Corporal.
❖ In 1919, he joined a small communist party named the German Workers Party.
❖ He soon took hold over the party and renamed it as National Socialist German Workers; later called as Nazi
Party.
❖ Bavaria was the first target of Hitler and planned to seize it. He launched an attack in 1923 but failed.
❖ Nazism became a mass movement only during the Great Depression.
❖ Hitler was a powerful and effective speaker. He promised the people a strong nation.
❖ Hitler tried his hands at elections, but in 1928 his party only won 2.6 % of the votes, though it soon became the
largest party in 1932 by winning 37% of votes in Reichstag, Germany.
❖ He promised to remove all foreign influences and resist all foreign ‘conspiracies’ against Germany.
❖ Hitler started following a new style of politics, and his followers held big rallies and public meetings to
demonstrate support.
❖ The Red banners with the Swastika, the Nazi salute, and the ritualised rounds of applause after the speeches
were all part of this spectacle of power.
The Destruction of Democracy
❖ President Hindenburg offered the Chancellorship, on 30 January 1933, to Hitler.
❖ The Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly that
had been guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution.
❖ On 3 March 1933, the famous Enabling Act was passed, which established a dictatorship in Germany.
❖ It gave Hitler all powers to sideline Parliament and rule by decree.
❖ All political parties were banned, and the state took control over the economy, media, army and judiciary.
❖ Apart from the already existing regular police in a green uniform and the SA or the Storm Troopers, these
included the Gestapo (secret state police), the SS (the protection squads), criminal police and the Security Service
(SD).
[2]
