1. HITLER & THE RISE OF NAZI GERMANY
Setting the scene…
a. November 1923: Adolf Hitler tries to follow Mussolini’s example
b. The coup failed and Hitler was soon behind bars

2. II. The Weimar Republic a. WW I was ending and the Kaiser abdicates
b. Modern leaders signed the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles
C. Weimar Republic: democratic government with a constitution which set up a parliamentary system led by a chancellor

3. d. Struggles of the Republic
i. Communists demanded radical changes
ii. Conservatives attacked the government as too liberal and weak
iii. Germans of all classes blamed the Weimar Republic for the hated Versailles treaty and heavy reparations.
iv. Germans look for scapegoats and blamed German Jews for economic and political problems

4. e. Inflation
i. Germany could not pay the reparations to France so France occupied the coal-rich Ruhr Valley
ii. Government printed huge quantities of paper money
iii. German mark became worthless
iv. Salaries rose by billions of marks
v. Prices skyrocked
vi. German families savings were wiped out!

5. f. Recovery and collapse
i. Western powers bring inflation under control
ii. United States, Britain, and France approve a plan to reduce German reparations
iii. France withdraws from the Ruhr under the Dawes Plan.

6. iv. American loans help the German economic recovery.
v. The Great Depression hits – Germany turns to Adolf Hitler.

7. III. Adolf Hitler a. Born in Austria and went to Vienna at age 18
b. While living in Vienna, he develops a fanatical anti-Semitism: anti-Jewish feelings and actions
c. Fought for Germany during WW I
d. despised the Weimar Republic for being too weak.

8. e. Joined a small right-winged group and became the leader of the National Socialist German Workers or NAZIs.
f. Wrote “Mein Kampf” – basic book of Nazi goals and ideology
g. Promised German people to end reparations, create jobs, defy the Versailles Treaty by rearming Germany

9. h. Hitler demanded unquestioning obedience and was known as the Fuhrer.

10. IV. Hitler’s Third Reich
a. Hitler is elected chancellor in 1933 under the Weimar constitution
b. First Reich: Holy Roman Empire
c. Second Reich: Bismarck’s Empire until 1871
d. Third Reich: Hitler’s idea of creating a German Master Race to dominate Europe for 1,000 years.

11. e. Totalitarian State
i. Hitler organized an efficient but brutal system of terror, repression and totalitarian rule.
ii. Secret police: gestapo – root out opposition
iii. Germans cheered Hitler’s ability to end unemployment and revive German power.

12. f. Economic Policy i. Combat the Great Depression
1. Public Work Programs
2. Program to rearm Germany
3. Preserved capitalism and brought big business and labor under government control

13. g. Social Policy
i. Nazis indoctrinated young people with their ideology
Ii. Passionate speeches by the Fuhrer urging young Germans to destroy their enemies without mercy

14. h. Purging German culture
i. The Arts
1. Nazis wanted to purge or purify German culture
2. Denounced modern art
3. Condemned jazz
4. Glorified old German myths
5. Burned books which they disapproved – All Quiet on the Western Front

15. ii. Nazis and the Churches
1. Despised Christianity as “weak and flabby”
2. Replaced religion with his racial creed
3. Combined all protestant religions into one state church

16. V. The Campaign Against the Jews Begins
a Nuremberg Laws – Restrictions on Jews
b. Night of Broken Glass – Kristallnacht
i. Nazi led mobs attached Jewish communities all over Germany – smashed windows, looted shops, burned synagogues, beat Jewish people
ii. Aftermath – the world reaction to Kristallnacht was negative

17. 1. Hitler was unmoved and made Jewish victims pay for the damages
2. Years later Hitler’s campaigns against the Jews intensified
A. concentration camps – detention centers for civilians considered enemies of the state
B. Hitler was making sinister plans for the “final solution” the extermination of all Jews.