◦ Hitler was born in Austria, failed in school, and went to Vienna to become an artist. ◦ Racism, especially anti-Semitism, was fundamental to Hitler’s point of view, especially his view that no Jew could be a good German. ◦ Hitler had a talent to use political parties, propaganda, and terror to spread his message. ◦ After WWI, Hitler remained in Germany and entered politics – German Worker’s Party – right-wing extremist parties in Munich.

◦ Hitler took control of the party – Nazi. He created a militia known as the SA, Storm Troopers or brown shirts, after their uniform. ◦ Hitler staged an uprising in Munich. He failed and was sent to prison. ◦ In prison, he wrote Mien Kampf, or My Struggle an account of his basic idea.  Extreme German nationalism  Strong anti-Semitism  Anticommunism Aligned with the idea of Social Darwinism theory of struggle

◦ The right of superior nations to lebensraum – living space – through expansion.  Rise of Nazism ◦ Hitler understood that the only way to attain power was through political means and not through violence. ◦ The Nazis won the largest votes in the Reichstag – German parliament. ◦ The economy was a huge part of the rise of the Nazi. ◦ Hitler promised to create a new Germany – appealing to national pride, national honor, and traditional militarism.

◦ Hitler gained support from industrial leaders, landed aristocrats, military officers, and higher bureaucrats – able to create an authoritarian regime. ◦ He was made chancellor and create a new government – the “legal seizure” of Germany ◦ Enabling Act – gave the government the power to ignore the constitution for four years to deal with the country’s problems. ◦ Hitler made himself dictator appointed by parliament. People were required to take an oath of loyalty to their “Fuhrer” or leader

◦ Hitler wanted a totalitarian state in order to meet his goal of creating an Aryan society. ◦ Aryan is a linguistic term used to identify people speaking Indo-European languages. ◦ The Germans mistook the name to mean descendants of the Greeks and Romans. ◦ The Nazi’s believed that they would create another empire like the Romans. ◦ Hitler’s objective was to create a Third Reich, or empire  1. Holy Roman Empire  2. German Empire of

◦ Economic policies, mass spectacles and organizations all furthered Nazi goals. ◦ The use of terror, policies towards women and Jews reflected Nazi views.

 The State and Terror ◦ Their was a lot of internal struggle inside of the Nazi - chaos. Hitler was the ultimate decision maker. ◦ The Schutzstaffeln, Guard Squadron – SS, was created as Hitler’s personal bodyguard – however, they ended up taking control over the secret police and regular police force under Heinrich Himmler. ◦ The SS had two principles: terror and ideology ◦ Repression, murder, secret police, criminal police, concentration camps, execution camps and death camps,

 Economic policies ◦ Hitler used public works projects to put people back to work. ◦ A massive rearmament program was the key to solving the unemployment problem. ◦ Ending the depression was the main reason why people supported Hitler and the Nazis  Spectacles and Organizations ◦ Mass demonstrations and rallies evoked mass enthusiasm and excitement – Nuremberg.

◦ Catholic and Protestant churches, primary and secondary schools and universities all came under control of the Nazi totalitarian state ◦ Nazi professional organizations were formed. ◦ Youth organizations taught Nazi ideals.

 Women and Nazism ◦ Women’s role as bearers of Aryan children. ◦ Men were destined to be warriors, while women should be wives and mothers. ◦ Nazi ideals thought women should not work in industrial jobs. Teaching, medicine, and law were not suitable for women. ◦ Women should be social workers and nurses. ◦ Nazis campaigned against women working.

 Anti-Semitic Policies