Transcript Hitler and the Rise of Nazi Germany

Hitler and the
Rise of
Nazi Germany
World Civilization
Germany after WWI
 1919-
the Kaiser abdicated
 The Weimar Republic was created.
 Strain of reparations payments +
Great Depression depressed
Germany’s economy.
 hyperinflation
Adolf Hitler’s Early Life
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Born in Austria-1889
Developed strong antiSemitic feelings while living
in Vienna.
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Rejected from art school
Mother’s doctor was a Jew
Many Jews were rich
Fought for the Germans in
WWI after Austria rejected
him.
Hitler’s Background
 Joined
the Nazi party in 1919.
 National Socialist German Workers
 Arrested in 1923 for treason after he
tried to stage a takeover. 9 months in
jail.
 Wrote Mein Kampf while in prison.
 “My Struggle”
Mein Kampf
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Main Ideas:
 Germans
belonged to “master race”
 Jews, Serbs, Poles, etc… were
enemies
 All Germans should unite to form 1
great nation.
 Germany should expand to gain
lebensraum, or living space.
The Nazi Party
 Nazi
membership increased to 1 million.
 Hitler promised to end reparations, create
jobs, and rearm Germany.
 Basically, make Germany great again.
 Instilled strong feelings of nationalism.
 Appealed to Germans b/c of horrible
economy.
Hitler becomes Chancellor
 Hitler
was named chancellor of
Germany in 1933
 Not popular with politicians, but better
choice.
 Communism was spreading rapidly;
Hitler seemed the lesser of 2 evils.
Hitler creates a totalitarian state
 Abolished
all parties except Nazi
party
 Ended civil rights
 Used military force to arrest/execute
opponents
SS (Schutzstaffel)
Gestapo

All Quiet on the Western Front burned
Nazism and Religion
“The
Nazis came first for the Communists.
But I wasn’t a Communist, so I didn’t
speak up. Then they came for the Jews,
but I wasn’t a Jew, so I didn’t speak up.
Then they came for the Catholics, but I
was a Protestant so I didn’t speak up.
Then they came for me. By that time,
there was no one left to speak up.
~Martin Niemoller, Lutheran min.
Hitler’s anti-Semitism
 1933-
Nuremberg Laws passed
 Prohibited Jews from:
Attending/teaching at German
schools
Holding govt. jobs
Practicing law or medicine
Publishing books
 Many Jews fled (Albert Einstein)
Night of the Broken Glass
– Nov. 9-10, 1938
 Nazi mobs attacked Jewish
communities
 Homes, businesses, synagogues
were damaged
 Beginning of the elimination of Jews
 Kristallnacht
Concentration Camps:
Auschwitz
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Auschwitz
Hitler disobeys Versailles Treaty
 Hitler
began rebuilding the military
 Also sent German troops into the
Rhineland
 30
mile wide buffer zone between
France and Germany.
 The League of Nations was supposed to
enforce the Treaty of Versailles.
Policy of Appeasement
 Why
wasn’t Hitler stopped?
 Hitler was encouraged by lack of
response
 Formed alliance with Italy and Japan.
 Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis
 The three nations became known
as the Axis Powers.
Appeasement
 1938-
Germany annexed Austria
 Anschluss
 1938- Hitler demands the
Sudetenland
 Western region of Czechoslovakia
 3 million Germans
 Czech govt. asks France for help.
 Prepare for war.
The Munich Conference
 1938-
Germany, Italy, GB, France
 GB and France agree to give Hitler
the Sudetenland in exchange for his
promise that he would stop there.
 Less than 6 months later, he had
taken over all of Czechoslovakia.
Nazi-Soviet Pact
 Nonaggression
pact between Hitler
and the Joseph Stalin, dictator of the
Soviet Union.
 NOT a friendly alliance, but one
based on mutual benefit.
Hitler and Stalin
WWII Begins
 Sept.
1, 1939: Germany invades
Poland
 GB and France had promised to
protect its independence.
 Sept. 3, 1939: GB and France
declare war on Germany.
“Blitzkrieg”
 Lightning
War
 Luftwaffe, tanks, infantry
 Poland was “wiped off the map” in
less than a month
 Winter 1939-Spring 1940- quiet
 “sitzkrieg” or “phony war”
Germany’s Expansion
 April
1940- Hitler launched a blitzkrieg
against Norway and Denmark.
 Change in British leadership
 Neville Chamberlain stepped down
 King George VI asked Winston
Churchill to take over as GB’s new
Prime Minister.
 Netherlands, Belgium fell next.
Dunkirk
 May
1940- Germans came through
the Ardennes Forest to France.
 Bypassed the Maginot Line – system
of fortifications along the
German/French border.
 British and French troops were
trapped!
Dunkirk
 Dunkirk-
port city on the English
Channel.
 British sent any and all ships/boats to
rescue the trapped soldiers.
 Evacuated troops across the Channel
to Britain amidst German air raids.
 Saved 338,000 soldiers.
The Fall of France
 France
surrendered in June 1940.
 Germans
occupied northern
France; set up a puppet govt in
the South. “Vichy France”
Operation Sea Lion
 The
only major power left in Hitler’s
way was Britain.
 Prior to invading, he launched heavy
air strikes.
 Aug. 1940 – Daily bombings began.
 Brilliant air battles between the
Luftwaffe and the RAF.
The Blitz
 Sept
1940-bombings on London
began.
 Cont. for 57 straight nights
 Britain refused to surrender!
 Londoners hid underground in the
Subway for shelter.
 Operation Sea Lion failed!
 Hitler
abandoned the idea of
conquering GB for awhile.
 Germany & Italy sent troops to
North Africa.
 GB controlled Egypt, and the Axis
Powers wanted access to the oilrich Middle East.
 Erwin Rommel ~ the Desert Fox
Erwin Rommel
 Next,
Hitler conquered the Balkan
nations.
 Operation Barbarossa- Hitler’s
plan to invade the Soviet Union.
 He wanted the land and vast
resources of this region.
 Also wanted to crush communism
and his powerful rival- Stalin.
 Invasion
began on June 22, 1941.
 The USSR’s Red Army was not
prepared. As they retreated, they
burned and destroyed anything
useful to the Germans.
 What’s this policy called?
 By December, temps in the Soviet
Union had reached -40 degrees.
Leningrad
 German
army had the city
surrounded. Hitler tried to starve
the 2.5 million citizens living
there.
 Ate cattle/horse feed, cats, dogs,
crows, rats, and wallpaper to
survive.
 Over 1 million people died.