And the rise of the National Socialist Party to power in Germany

Nazism  A deviation of fascism which turned extreme nationalism into racism  Nazism believed in the pseudoscientific Social Darwinism “Survival of the fittest race”  The Nazis believed that the Germans were part of a mythical blonde, blue eyed “Aryan” race of super humans spawned from central Asia Saw “other” races such as Jews, Slavs, Blacks, Aboriginals and Asians as inferior  Very focused on racial purity  Hitler wanted to establish a 1000 Reich The Holy Roman Empire had lasted 1000 years

 The center of their ideology was the scapegoat. The Nazis blamed the Jews for all of Germany’s problems  Nazism was anti-religious Many leading Nazis practiced Germanic pagan religions  They were anti-Capitalist. Hitler called capitalism “Jewish” However, Hitler got lots of support from big German firms The Nazis did not nationalize businesses, but set targets for private industry to achieve  Anti-Communist: Hitler also labeled Communism as “Jewish”  Anti-Homosexual Despite this, leading Nazis such as Ernst Rohm were gay

Adolf Hitler  Born in Austria  Began adult life as a failed art student  Fought for Germany in WW1 as a messenger  Was injured  Promoted to Corporal by a Jewish officer  After the war, he was used by the army to spy on German radical groups – Including the German National Socialist Workers Party- which he then joined

Origins of the Nazi party  Created in the midst of the Chaos following WW1  Composed of many ex-soldiers and anti-semites who were fighting communists in Germany  Hitler quickly rose through their ranks due to his good oratory skills and became leader in 1921  In 1923, the S.A. “Brownshirts” attempted a coup d’etat in Munich, but it failed and Hitler was arrested for 9 months

 In jail, Hitler wrote his book Mein Kampf, expressing his political views  The Nazis were not popular in Germany from because Germany’s economy recovered  The Great Depression starting in 1929 caused a spike in support for the Nazi’s, which along with communists, became the most popular parties in Germany

Rise to power  The Nazis and communists fought each other in street battles  The Nazis won the most seats in the 1932 election  Hitler was eventually appointed Chancellor  After President Hindenburg dies in 1934, Hitler declares himself President  He creates the Enabling Acts, allowing him to become dictator after the Reichstag is burned by “Communists”

The Third Reich  Once in power, Hitler revolutionizes German society  Communists are seized and killed  He purges the S.A. in favor of his personal body guard S.S. led by Heinrich Himmler  His close counterpart Joseph Goebbels begins to spread Nazi propaganda  He changes the education system to begin brainwashing a generation of youth  Many books are deemed illegal and burned

Remilitarization  With his second in command Hermann Goering, Hitler has an air force created  Hitler expands the army beyond the T.O.V. limit of 100,000 and introduced conscription  Hitler remilitarizes the Rhineland  Germany army theoreticians begin working on new strategies and tactics

Hitler and the Jews  Immediately after taking power, Hitler purges German Jews from the civil service such as teaching  By 1935, Jewish professionals are no longer allowed to have non-Jewish customers  Intermarriage is banned between “Aryans” and Jews  Jewish children may no longer attend school

 Hitler originally encouraged German Jews to emigrate. The main problem was that there were few places to go The British tried to stop more than a handful of Jews from emigrating to their destination of choice – Palestine Canada and the USA did not want Jewish immigrants Most European countries had racist policies in place against Jewish people already  Kristallnacht in November 1938 was the beginning of the end of German Jews Jewish property was vandalized all over Germany Jewish rights were completely taken away Many Jews were beaten or killed