Hitler’s Rise to Powerand

Why the World Let it Happen

Adolph Hitler: The Early Years

• born to a working class family in Austria in 1889.• fought in WWI as a corporal; was injured and

received a medal for bravery• initially got into politics through socialist parties

As such he was the “perfect” candidate: a man of the working class, a soldier (not an officer) who fought in the trenches and was a decorated hero, and a man who would fight for the common good: he had suffered like all of them in the economic crisis of the 20s and early 30s.

HOW TO SUBVERT DEMOCRACYYou Too Could be a Tyrant: 7 Easy Steps

1. Centre your movement around a charismatic leader

2. Appeal to people’s emotions rather than their intelligence

3. Find a scapegoat for people to focus their blame and resentment

4. Find a boogeyman that will create fear of the alternatives

5. Use carefully applied violence to subdue and intimidate opponents

6. Proper use of propaganda7. When lie, lie BIG!

CULT OF PERSONALITY

Hitler

•could electrify crowds with his passionate, stirring speeches and diatribes•had a great memory and could dazzle people with his knowledge of facts/statistics etc.•spoke in grandiose terms and ideas and was able to capture people’s imaginations•single-minded, driven and absolutely convinced of the truth of his own ideasIn a time of uncertainty, he offered assurance and the promise of surety.

APPEAL TO FEAR, NOT REASON

Hitler •appealed to people’s fears, worries, egos and passions•always spoke in broad terms (“glittering generalities”) focusing more on emotional impact than logic•stressed the importance of emotion over intelligence, action over thought.•used words and images to create visceral responses in his audience

Find Someone to Blame: A Scapegoat

• Playing on pre-existing anti-Semitism in German society, Hitler repeated the charge that the Jews were destroying German life.

• By giving people someone to blame, he was able to focus their rage, act as a savior by fighting the “threat” and offer an seemingly easy solution to other problemsHitler offered people a

focus for their anger and resentment; the Jews

CREATE an OUTSIDE THREAT: A BOOGEYMAN

• Many Germans feared the communists would take over the country– the USSR was a totalitarian state under Josef Stalin– USSR was “communist” only in the sense that all property was gov’t

owned and controlled—that private enterprise had ceased to exist– Stalin was a powerful & vicious dictator who controlled ALL aspects of

his citizen’s lives and he used violence to silence any and all opposition– Therefore Stalin & his brand of communism was the perfect

“boogeyman”• Hitler played on people’s fears of communism to make himself

seem like the only alternative– Nazis were opposed to Communism and swore to eradicate it

• People who might not like all of the Nazi policies would feel that they were at least better than the “evil Communists”

When people are afraid, they turn to whoever they think can save them

It’s Hard to Raise a hand in Opposition When They’ve Broken Both Your Arms

• the Nazis used intimidation and violence to silence opponents

• the “Brown Shirts” (Nazi para-military group) would break up political rallies and speeches by other parties

• critics and other politicians were beaten and sometimes murdered

• this violence made people less likely to speak out

• violence against the Communists made some think that only Hitler could deal with them

PROPAGANDA

The Nazis were experts at propaganda.

They repeated, ad nauseam, their position.

PROPAGANDA

They used simple, bold images to get their ideas across

They used caricatures of the “enemy” to polarize public opinion and engender fear

WHEN YOU LIE…LIE BIG

• Hitler would create enormous fallacies that were based on fears and misunderstanding

• He knew that if you keep repeating the same lie loud enough and long enough that people will start to believe it

• He painted everything in black and white, never changing his stance. In this way, people felt that there must be some truth to what he said

• Backing himself up with propaganda, Hitler always used lies that appealed to the hidden fears/hopes of the German people (Master Race or “stabbed in the back”)

…In the Big Lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation…in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victim to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters, but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods….they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously”

-Adolph Hitler

• Hitler appealed to the best and worst of the German people. He told them that they were capable of success, but besieged by enemies; that they were a Master Race but plagued by impure elements.

• At its very heart Nazism is about race: racial superiority and the importance of keeping racial bloodlines” free of impurities (i.e. anyone NOT German, anyone with disabilities, anyone Jewish etc.)– After the humiliation of the War Guilt Clause, this appealed to

most Germans: they wanted to be proud of their country again and see it returned to its former glory.

• He showed them the horrors of chaos and sold them on the idea that only he could save them. To the rest of the world, he was a totalitarian dictator—using violence and hatred to manipulate and cow his people into submission. – Most Germans viewed him as their saviour.

While Hitler was gaining power in Germany in the 1930s, the world had its

own problems and political reactions.

RISE OF PACIFISM

After the futility and loss of WWI, the world wanted to avoid war at ALL cost.

Pacifism replaced militarism in the minds of many

PACIFISM: the belief that violence is never the answer; all conflict should be resolved with arbitration and compromise

RISE OF ISOLATIONISM

The 30s had brought the world to its economic knees

Countries were far more concerned with their economic woes, than the problems of others

ISOLATIONISM is when a country decides to focus on their own internal problems and does not want to become involved with any foreign conflicts

Pacificism + Isolationism= INACTION

1931: Japan and invaded Manchuria, on the Chinese Mainland, committing heinous atrocities on civilians

The League of Nations condemned the Act, but did nothing to protect its member…and the world watched…

1935: Italy invades Ethiopia to strengthen its foothold on the African continent, and to avail herself of Etiopia’s natural resources.

Again, the League condemned, but did not act to protect its member nation.

IF YOU WERE HITLER, AND YOU WATCHED THE

LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND THE WORLD DO NOTHING IN THE

FACE OF THIS KIND OF AGGRESSION,

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

HITLER REBUILDS GERMANY

Terms of

Treaty of Versailles

1) Reduced standing army and navy; no airforce

2) The Rhinleand must be a demilitarized zone

3) No alliance with Austria

Hitler’ Violations

1) 1933: all divisions of Germany military expanded

2) March 1936: German troops march into and occupy the Rhineland

3) March 1938: Germany “annexes” Austria—occupies it—and absorbs it as part of Germany

WORLD’S REACTION: APPEASEMENT

September 1938•Britain’s PM Neville chamberlain and the president of France meet with Hitler•They believe that if they give Hitler his “one” last demand, that the world will be safe from his aggression—they attempt to APPEASE him by giving him what he wants in the hope that Hitler will stop

The MUNICH AGREEMENT

September 1938

In the ultimate example of “appeasement”, Britain and France agree to allow Hitler to have the Sudentenland (part of Czechoslovakia)

BULLIES attract BULLIES

October 1938: Rome-Berlin Axis Pact

Mussolini of Italy allows Hitler to expand his territory in central and northern Europe, while Hitler agrees to let Mussolini take over southern Europe.

BULLIES NEUTRALIZE OTHER BULLIES

August 1939: Germany and USSR sign Non-Aggression Pact

USSR and Germany agree to divide Poland between them

The countries agree to promise not to fight each other in the event of a war

Hitler longer has to worry about an attack from the east, and can concentrate on the west: France and Britain

GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?