The Death of Democracy and the Rise of Hitler Germany: 1918-1933.

The Death of Democracy and the Rise of HitlerGermany: 1918-1933

Focus Questions 1. What was Hitler’s role in WWI? 2. What is 'NAZI' short for? 3. What is the origin of the Swastika? 4. What was the Beer Hall Putsch and what

did Hitler learn from it? What was Hitler's book, and what did it

say? 8. What is a "Coalition Government"? 9. What did Hitler become in 1933? 10. What were the Enabling Acts?

Germany has lost WWI and the King (Kaiser) has fled to Holland.

The new government is weak and unpopular.

Many spoke of the "Stab-in-the-Back" theory.(That Germany had not been defeated

on thebattlefield, but betrayed at home by Jews, Communists, etc.)

It’s 1918…

In the streets of Germany, gangs of Communists (called the "Red Front"), following orders from Moscow, tried to set up German "Soviet" states.

They fought bitter battles in the street with ex-German army troops who called themselves "Freikorps".

The image is a Freikorps group taking a Red Front flag in battle.

Germany in Chaos!

Adolf Hitler One of the veterans of

WWI who came home believing in the "Stab-in-the-Back" theory was a Corporal Adolf Hitler.

Hitler had been born in Austria (and would not actually become a Germancitizen until 1932).

He had done average in school, and tried to be an artist for a time in Vienna.

For a while Hitler led a liberal life. He was a vegetarian and had aspirations to be an artist. His dreams were crushed however, when an art school in Vienna denied him admission. His artwork quickly changed and he became enamored with architecture and symmetry to the point of obsession.

When Hitler comes to power in Germany he has many plans for new city designs.

As a young man he celebrated the start of WWI as a chance for Germany to take its rightful place as the world’s greatest power.

Even though he was still an Austrian citizen, Hitler joined the German Army and fought in the Great War as a “runner,” bringing messages from trench to trench.

Hitler received 2 major medals for bravery and was wounded twice, once being temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack.

He was never promoted past Corporal though, probably due to the fact that he was not a German citizen.

After the war was over Hitler would head back to Germany

truly believing Germany had been robbed of victory!

After coming back to Germany, Hitler was ordered by German Army Intelligence to infiltrate a small radical political party, the German Workers Party, and report back on their activities.

Hitler joined the party under membership #55.

The party was founded by Anton Drexler, an anti-semitic former metal worker.

Hitler ignored his job for German Military Intelligence and decided to join the party, as he was very impressed by the ideas of Drexler.

Angry, shady man

Hitler quickly rose to the top of the party, and even replaced Drexler as head of the party within 2 years.

He added the names "National Socialist" to German Workers Party, to form the National SocialistGerman Workers Party, or NSDAP, in German.

Shortening National Socialist(in German) gets Na-zi, or Nazi.

Origin of the Word “Nazi”

The Swastika

Hitler also wanted to use symbols from Germany's past, from the old Nordic/Viking history of northern Europe.

From this he decided the symbol of the NSDAP would be the 'bent cross' or swastika.

After taking control of the NSDAP (the Nazis), Hitler decided to it was time to take power by force.

In October of 1923 the Nazis tried to take over the government of the German state of Bavaria by marching on the capital city of Munich.

This was the “Beer Hall Putsch.”

Beer Hall Putsch

Beer Hall Putsch, cont. Hitler and a group of dedicated

Nazi's marched on city hall where they expected the local army and police forces to support them. They were really wrong!

The troops opened fire on the Nazis and 16 of them were killed.

Hitler was arrested and thrown into jail He should have been executed for

treason, but was saved by the fact that he was still popular in the area.

Hitler learned two important things from the failed Beer Hall Putsch:

1. It was too early for Hitler to gain power, he still did not have enough support.

2. He would have to take power legally, not by force.

After the failure of the Putsch, Hitler spent the next year in jail with other top Nazis.

It was more like a large "house arrest" and Hitler spent the time writing and planning the next stage of taking power, this time through the weakness of democracy: elections.

Hitler

Crazy eyed guy

Rudolph Hess

The works of Hitler were all bound into a book called "Mein Kampf" (my struggle).

Mein Kampf became THE book of the Nazi Party.

A Blue print for what they wanted to do.

Mein Kampf“During this period of bitter wrestling between inner education and cold reason, the visual observation of Vienna's streets had rendered invaluable services. There came a time when I no longer as before wandered blindly through the mighty city. Now with eyes opened I looked at people as well as buildings. As I was once strolling through the inner city, I suddenly happened upon an apparition in a long caftan with black hair locks. Is this a Jew? was my first thought. They surely didn't look like that in Linz. I observed the man stealthily and cautiously. But the longer I stared at this alien face, examining it feature for feature, the more my first question was transformed into a new conception: Is this a German?”

Really behind Mein Kampf.

Became Hitler’s deputy head of the Nazi Party

Rudolph Hess

Hitler’s political ideas were:

Germany had been betrayed and must regain its world position.

Communists must be arrested.

Jews must be removed from positions of power.

The German economy must be rebuilt

Hitler was the first

politician to use an airplane to travel all around Germany to campaign.

By 1932 The Nazi party became one of the threelargest political parties in Germany.

Impact of the Airplane

The German system used 'coalition governments', where two or more parties would join together to run the government.

The Nazis were part of this coalition in 1933, and Hitler was appointed Chancellor, or the man responsible for actually running the government.

German Government

The man who appointed Hitler, Hindenburg, was President, and could fire him as well.

He did not like Hitler, but thought he could control him.

Thus, in this system, power was split between the Chancellor and the President.

Hindenburg

Death of Hindenburg In 1933, Hitler was

Chancellor of Germany when President Hindenburg died.

Reichstag on Fire German

parliament (The Reichstag)

The Nazis claimed that the nation was under threat and needed strong leadership with the death of Hindenburg.

One night a fire breaks out at the Reichstag. It is clearly arson and quickly blamed on a communist angry at the rise of the NAZI party.

Hitler used both events to have the "Enabling Acts" passed in the Nazi dominated Parliament.

The Enabling Acts:Took the offices of President and

Chancellor and had them combined into one office, that of Fuhrer, or Leader.

Gave the Fuhrer powers to pass laws simply by edict○ He just had to write them and they were

law, no matter what.Now Hitler had full and complete authority! – Yikes!

Enabling Acts

Adolf Hitler was

now Fuhrer, Dictator, and German democracy was dead."One People,

One Empire, One Leader"

Hitler = Fuhrer“When the Führer took power in 1933, the German people's body was severely ill. The poison of foreign worldviews ran through the veins of all the people's organisms. Hardly anyone was immune. Then Providence sent the German people a doctor, the Führer. He knew the disease; he know that the German people suffered from a corruption of its racial strength. Using every possible medication, including if necessary the most radical, the bacterium was removed from the people's body. Our people is becoming racially healthy once more.But our people is not alone in the world. It is surrounded by a ring of peoples. Most peoples today still suffer from the same disease that the German people once suffered. They are nearing racial collapse, especially the European peoples. Therefore, the Führer wants other peoples to follow the holy laws of blood that we follow, for mixing with widely foreign races means the betrayal of the blood of each people, and eventual decline. The fundamental reason for excluding foreign-raced groups from a people's body is not discrimination or contempt, but rather the realization of otherness. Only through such thinking will the peoples again become healthy, and able to respect each other.”

-Excerpt from a 5th Grade Textbook, Germany, 1935.