Hitler’s Rise to Power in Germany:Table of Contents

• Events leading to start of WWII (summary)• Hitler’s Rise to Power

– Early years– WWI– Beer Hall Putsch, 1923 (*Mein Kampf)– Becomes German Chancellor 1933– Reichstag Fire, Feb 1933 / Enabling Act suspends basic freedoms

(*Nuremberg Laws has its own slide show)– Night of Long Knives, 1934– Rhineland Reoccupied, 1936– Anschluss, March 1938– Sudetenland, Oct 1938 (*Kristallnacht has its own slide show)– Invasion of Poland, Sept 1, 1939

• Summary of WWII• Hitler’s Suicide• Nuremberg Trials

The Start of World War II

• March 13, 1938 Germany annexes Austria (Anschluss)

• October 7–10 Germany takes Czech region of Sudetenland

• August 23, 1939 German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact• September 1 Germany invades Poland• September 3 Britain and France declare war on Germany• September 17 USSR invades Poland from the east• September 19 German & Soviet forces meet in central Poland• September 28 Warsaw falls to Germany• November 30 Soviet forces invade Finland

Hitler’s Rise to Power

Little Adolf Hitler The young corporal

The young Hitler was a resentful, discontented child. Moody,

lazy, of unstable temperament, he was deeply hostile towards

his strict, authoritarian father and strongly attached to his

indulgent, hard-working mother, whose death from cancer in

December 1908 was a shattering blow to the adolescent Hitler.

World War IIn May 1913 Hitler left Vienna for Munich and, when war broke outin August 1914, he joined the Sixteenth Bavarian InfantryRegiment, serving as a dispatch runner. Hitler proved an able,courageous soldier, receiving the Iron Cross (First Class) forbravery, but did not rise above the rank of Lance Corporal.

Twice wounded, he was badly gassed four weeks before the end ofthe war and spent three months recuperating in a hospital.Temporarily blinded and driven to impotent rage by Germany’smilitary defeat.

Hitler, once restored, was convinced that fate had chosen him torescue a humiliated nation from the shackles of the VersaillesTreaty, from Bolsheviks and Jews.

* The Treaty of Versailles placed all guilt for WWI on Germany and required hugereparations (money payment) for damages caused.

Research by Bernhard Horstmann indicates the blindness Hitler suffered during WWImay have been the result of a hysterical reaction to Germany's defeat.

Hitler later said it was during this experience that he became convinced the purpose of

his life was to save Germany.

Meanwhile he was treated by a military physician and specialist in psychiatry, whoreportedly diagnosed the corporal as "incompetent to command people" and

"dangerously psychotic".

Hitler,

seated, far

left -- WWI

Soldiers of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry

during World War I.

Corporal Adolf Hitler (right)

Beer Hall Putsch, November 1923

Adolf Hitler endorsed the fall of the Weimar Republic (Germangovernment), and declared at a public rally on October 30, 1923

that he was prepared to march on Berlin to rid the government of

the Communists and the Jews.

On November 8, 1923, Hitler held a rally at a Munich beer hall and

proclaimed a revolution. The following day, he led 2,000 armed

"brown-shirts" in an attempt to take over the Bavarian

government.

Beer Hall Putsch, November 1923

SS Men outside Beer Hall

SS Men

outside

Beer

Hall

Hitler marched through Munich at the headof 3,000 men, only to be met by police fire

which left sixteen dead and brought theattempted putsch to an ignominious end.

Hitler was arrested and tried on 26February 1924. He was sent to prison for

five years, but only served 8 months.

Hitler served only eight months of his five-yearterm. While in prison, he wrote the first volume ofMein Kampf (It was partly an autobiographicalbook (although filled with glorified inaccuracies,self-serving half-truths and outright revisionism)which also detailed his views on the future of theGerman people.

There were several targets of the viciousdiatribes in the book, such as democrats,Communists, and internationalists. But hereserved the brunt of his vituperation (sustained and

bitter railing and condemnation )for the Jews, whom heportrayed as responsible for all of the

problems and evils of the world, particularlydemocracy, Communism, and internationalism,as well as Germany's defeat in the War.

Jews were the German nation's true enemy, hewrote. They had no culture of their own, heasserted, but perverted existing cultures such asGermany's with their parasitism. As such, they

were not a race, but an anti-race.

Summary: Hitler’s Rise

Hitler's rise to power was based upon long-term factors -resentment in the German people, the weakness of theWeimar system (German government) - which he exploitedthrough propaganda (paid for by his rich, Communist-fearing backers), the terror of his stormtroopers, and thebrilliance of his speeches.

During the 'roaring twenties' Germans ignored thisvicious little man with his program of hatred. But whenthe Great Depression ruined their lives, they voted forhim in increasing numbers. Needing support, andthinking he could control Hitler, President Hindenburgmade the mistake in January 1933 of giving Hitler thepost of Chancellor.

Hindenberg Receiving

Hitler As New

Chancellor

January 1933

There is always the

possibility that Hitler was

forced into taking this

action because members of

the SA in Munich were

becoming very restless.

Their leader, Wilhelm

Brucker, claimed that they

wanted action.

"I said to Hitler personally: "The day is coming when I can no longer hold

my people. If nothing happens now the men will melt away. We had very

many unemployed men among us, men who had spent their last few pence

on training, because, as they said, we will strike soon. Then we will be taken

into the army and we will be out of the entire mess."

• Deep anger about the First World War and theTreaty of Versailles created an underlyingbitterness to which Hitler’s viciousness andexpansionism appealed, so they gave himsupport.

• Weaknesses in the Constitution crippled thegovernment. In fact, there were many people inGermany who wanted a return to dictatorship.When the crisis came in 1929–1933 – there wasno one who was prepared or able to fight to stopHitler

1. Long-term bitterness

2. Ineffective Constitution

• The financial support of wealthybusinessmen gave Hitler the money to runhis propaganda and election campaigns.

• Nazi propaganda persuaded the Germanmasses to believe that the Jews were toblame and that Hitler was their last hope.

3. Money

4. Propaganda

5. Program 6. Attacks on other parties• Hitler promised everybody something, so they supported

him.

• The Stormtroopers attacked Jews and people whoopposed Hitler. Many opponents kept quiet simplybecause they were scared of being murdered – and, if they were, the judgessimply let the Stormtroopers go free

7. Personal Qualities

• Hitler was a brilliant speaker, and his eyes had apeculiar power over people. He was a goodorganizer and politician. He was a driven,unstable man, who believed that he had beencalled by G-d to become dictator of Germanyand rule the world. This kept him going whenother people might have given up. His self-beliefpersuaded people to believe in him.

8. Economic Depression

• After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the US called in itsloans to Germany, and the German economy collapsed.The Number of unemployed grew; people starved on thestreets. In the crisis, people wanted someone to blame,and looked to extreme solutions – Hitler offered themboth, and Nazi success in the elections grew.

• Germans turned to Nazism because they weredesperate. The number of Nazi seats in the Reichstag(the building in Berlin in which the German legislature met from 1894 to 1933 and

again since 1999) rose from 12 in 1928 to 230 in July 1932.

Inflation 1923-24: a woman feeds her

tiled stove with money

9. Recruited by Hindenburg• In November 1932 elections the Nazis again failed to get a majority

of seats in the Reichstag. Their share of the vote fell – from 230seats to only 196. Hitler contemplated suicide. But then he wasrescued by Hindenburg.

• Franz von Papen (a friend of Hindenburg) was Chancellor, but hecould not get enough support in the Reichstag. Hindenburg andvon Papen were having to govern by emergency decree underArticle 48 of the Constitution. They offered Hitler the post of vice-Chancellor if he promised to support them.

• Hitler refused – he demanded to be made Chancellor. So VonPapen and Hindenburg took a risk. On 30 January 1933Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor. He thought he could controlHitler – how wrong he was.

In the end, Hitler did not TAKE power at all – he was given it.

The Reichstag fire was apivotal event in the

establishment of NaziGermany.

At 9:14 PM on the night ofFebruary 27, 1933, a Berlinfire station received an alarmthat the Reichstag building,

assembly location of theGerman Parliament and seat

of power, was ablaze

Reichstag Fire

Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring arrived soon after and immediately declared theReichstag fire was set by the Communists. He had the party leaders arrested. Hitler

declared a state of emergency and encouraged aging president Paul vonHindenburg to sign the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspending basic rights and

provisions of the Weimar constitution.

Hitler Consolidates His Power:

Suspends basic freedoms

The Night of the Long Knives (June 30 and Sunday July 1, 1934) was a lethal

purge of Adolf Hitler's potential political rivals in the Sturmabteilung (SA; also known asstorm troopers or brownshirts).

The SA was the paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party that had helped theNazis rise to power in the Twenties, culminating with Hitler being appointed

Chancellor of Germany in 1933.

The purge targeted SA leaders and members who were associated more withsocialism than with nationalism, and hence were viewed as a threat to the

continued support for Chancellor Adolf Hitler within the Army and conservativebusiness community that had supported Hitler's rise to power.

Official records tally the dead at 77, though some 400 are believed to have beenkilled.

(*The name, "Night of the Long Knives", is a reference to the massacre of Vortigern's men by Angle,

Jute and Saxon mercenaries in the Arthurian myth.)

Hitler Consolidates His Power:

The Night of the Long Knives

or Nacht der langen Messer

The Rhineland, 1936• Following the First World War, the western part of Rhineland (The Rhineland is

the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west ofGermany) was occupied by Entente forces, then demilitarized under the Treatyof Versailles. German forces reoccupied the territory in 1936, as part of adiplomatic test of will, three years before the outbreak of the Second WorldWar.

• In violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the spirit of the Locarno Pact, NaziGermany reoccupied the Rhineland on Saturday, March 7, 1936.

• The occupation was done with very little military force, the troops entering onbicycles, and could easily have been stopped had it not been for theappeasement mentality of post-war Europe.

• France could not act due to political instability at the time. In addition, since theremilitarization occurred on a weekend, the British Government could not findout or discuss actions to be taken until the following Monday. As a result ofthis, the governments were inclined to see the remilitarization as a faitaccompli.

Adolf Hitler rides in a motorcade through

the Brandenburg Gate

Hitler arrives at the opening

ceremonies of the 11th

Olympiad in Berlin, August 1,

1936.

The games had been awarded to

Germany before Hitler came to

power.

During the Olympics, a three-

week moratorium on anti-Jewish

measures was put into effect to

create a favorable impression

upon foreign visitors.

Inside the newly built Olympic Stadium

in Berlin, Germans salute Adolf Hitler at

the opening of the games.

Hitler took a keen interest in the games

and the early victories of German

athletes. However they were

overshadowed by the record breaking

performances of American runner Jesse

Owens.

The Anschluss

• The Anschluss (German: connection, or political union)was the 1938 annexation of Austria into GreaterGermany by the Nazi regime.

• The chancellor of Austria, Kurt Schuschnigg, tried to holda plebiscite; he expected Austria to vote in favor ofmaintaining autonomy, however, a well-planned internaloverthrow by the Austrian Nazi Party of Austria's stateinstitutions in Vienna took place on March 11, prior to thevote.

• With power quickly transferred over to Germany, theWehrmacht troops entered Austria to enforce theAnschluss.

German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938.

March 13, 1938

Adolf Hitler, Führer of Germany,

accepts salutes and cheers from the Nazi controlled Reichstag after

announcing the Anschluss (union) with Austria. Immediately after

the Anschluss, Nazis began a brutal crackdown on Austrian Jews,

arresting them and publicly humiliating them.

Sudetenland

• Sudetenland was the name used from 1938–45 for the regioninhabited mostly by Sudeten Germans in the various places ofBohemia, Moravia, and parts of Silesia. In 1918–38 and after 1945,the region was part of Czechoslovakia (since 1993 in the CzechRepublic) and Poland.

• Conflict over the Sudetenland began immediately after theAnschluss of Austria into the Third Reich in March 1938. This led tothe Czechoslovak Crisis.

• The Nazis, together with their Sudeten German allies, claimedthroughout the year that the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakiawere being mistreated and oppressed by the Czech government,and demanded incorporation of the region into Nazi Germany.

Appeasement

• Appeasement is a policy of accepting the imposed conditions of anaggressor in lieu of armed resistance. Since World War II, the term hasgained a negative connotation, in politics and in general, of weakness,cowardice and self-deception.

• By far the most well-known case of appeasement is one which ultimatelyfailed — the appeasement of Adolf Hitler's Germany by British PrimeMinister Neville Chamberlain's government in the late 1930s. The MunichAgreement in particular stands as a major example of appeasement.

• Chamberlain's peace for our time deal (i.e. the surrender of theSudetenland to Germany) with Hitler was internationally acclaimed andpraised.

• Europe's failure to oppose Hitler led him to be ever more aggressive.

Chamberlain holds the paper containing the resolution to committo peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself on hisreturn from Germany.

Munich Agreement

• The Western powers urged the Czechs to comply with Germanybelieving that they could prevent a general war by appeasing Hitler.Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler on September 15 andagreed to the cession of the Sudetenland.

• Three days later, Édouard Daladier and Georges Bonnet did thesame. The Czechs themselves were not included in thesediscussions. Chamberlain met Hitler on September 22 to confirmthe agreements. The discussions here fell through, however, asHitler made new demands that Chamberlain was not able to defendin Parliament.

• On September 29, Hitler met Daladier, Chamberlain and Mussoliniin Munich where all four leaders signed the Munich Agreementceding the Sudetenland to Germany.

German Wehrmacht parade with General Günther von Kluge inKratzau, Sudetenland. The troops were welcomed by the local Germanpopulation.

Image first appearingin the Nazipropagandamagazine Völkischer

Beobachter,ostensibly depicting aSudeten Germanwoman in Asch cryingtears of joy whenHitler crossed theborder in 1938.

Allied propagandalater used the imagewith otherinterpretations.

Sudetenland, continued

• The Czechoslovak government capitulated (gave up)September 30 and agreed to abide by the agreement.The Sudetenland was occupied by Germany betweenOctober 1 and October 10, 1938.

• This unification with the Third Reich was followed by theflight and forcible expulsion of the region's Czechpopulation to the remaining parts of Czechoslovakia,which were subsequently invaded and annexed byGermany in March 1939. Allegedly, the occupantstransported up to 300,000 Jews to concentration camps.

The German Invasion of Poland: the beginning of WWII, 1939

• Germany’s invasion of Poland came quickly and withoverwhelming force. The attack began on September 1,1939, with heavy air strikes followed by a rapidlyadvancing ground invasion. Hitler referred to the strategyas blitzkrieg, or “lightning war.” The object of theblitzkrieg strategy was to shock the opponent soseverely that there would be little resistance, allowing thecountry to be overrun quickly, with minimal Germanlosses.

• The primary obstacle to the German invasion forceproved to be the Polish capital of Warsaw, which did notsurrender until September 27, after a prolonged siege.By this time, all of western Poland was firmly underGerman control.

On the night of January 30, 1933, the Nazis organized a massive

torchlight parade in Berlin to celebrate the appointment of Hitler as

Chancellor of Germany.

Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring greet the participants

in the parade as they pass beneath the window

of Hitler's new office.

and two Holocaust victims …Hitler and Eva Braun enjoying life …

Austrian Nazis and local residents

watch as Jews are forced to get on their

hands and knees and scrub the pavement.

1938

In Vienna, Austria

pedestrians view

a sign posted

on a restaurant

window informing

the public

this business is

run by an

organization of

the National

Socialist Party

and that

Jews are not

welcome.

1938

Research Other Theatres of WWII

• You will be asked to investigate other aspects ofWWII (African theatre, Pacific theatre, Italy andMussolini, the Soviet Front, Pearl Harbor (USentrance into the war), US Internment ofJapanese-Americans, the Rape of Nanking,Hiroshima/Nagasaki, etc.).

• However, this slide show only deals with Hitlerand Germany… Read through the followingsummary of WWII by Scott Danford.

World War II Summaryby Scott Danford

• After years of German appeasement and the Munich Conference, whenGermany under Hitler invaded the Polish Corridor both Britain and Francedeclared war. In order to avoid a two front war like that of World War I Hitlersigned a ten-year nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union. They agreedto split lands conquered in Eastern Europe. On August 31, 1939 Germanyinvaded Poland with a massive and quick attack known as blitzkrieg. Polandwas defeated by September 27 and Germany took the western portion whilethe Soviet Union took the eastern part.

• After a six-month break in fighting, on April 9, 1940 Germany defeatedDenmark in less than a day. Norway was then defeated in two days. Inorder to gain access to France Germany defeated Luxembourg, theNetherlands, and Belgium. Through Belgium Germany was able to attackFrance while avoiding the Maginot defense Line.

• Under Mussolini, Italy also joined Germany's attack on France. On June22, 1940, France surrendered to Germany. Under the terms of surrenderGermany occupied the northern 2/3 of the country while the French PrimeMinister, Petain, governed from the southern city of Vichy. However not allthe French gave up the fight against Germany. Charles de Gaulle led anunderground resistance against the Nazis.

Summary, continued• After France, Hitler then turned his sights toward Britain. Hitler hoped to first

use his Luftwaffe or air force to knock out Britain's air force or RAF. He thenhoped to launch a powerful sea born attack known as Operation Sea Lion.

• However, the RAF valiantly defended their country and was successful inholding off the German attack.

• The United States aided Britain by passing laws such as the Lend andLease Act, which supplied Britain with weapons but not troops. Roosevelthoped that America could be the "arsenal of democracy." US shipsguarded British merchant ships traveling on the Atlantic.

• With failure in Britain evident, Germany began to attack Eastern Europe.Germany first defeated Greece and Yugoslavia.

• Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary allied with Hitler and the axis powers.Germany broke its treaty and invaded the Soviet Union, surroundingLeningrad and Moscow.

Summary, continued• Japan began to conquer lands in Asia as Germany was in Europe. It first conquered

the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931 and then invaded China itself in 1937.(*see Rape of Nanking)

• When the United States felt that Japan was threatening US controlled Philippines aswell as other European controlled colonies it cut off vital supplies that Japanneeded for its war effort. In retaliation, on December 7, 1941, the Japanesedevastated the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.

• Outraged, the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War IIagainst the Axis powers. The Allies won victories at The Battle of the Coral Sea andat Midway, turning the tide of war in the Allies’ favor. The United States then beganisland hopping or moving from one island to the next conquering Japaneseholdings.

• In North Africa, the United States under Eisenhower and the British underMontgomery won a decisive victory against Germany's Erwin Rommel, formerly avery successful German tank strategist who earned the nickname "desert fox."

• The Nazis suffered further setbacks when the Russians took advantage of thewinter to defeat the Germans at Stalingrad. Soviet troops then began to win victoryafter victory against the Germans in the Soviet Union.

Summary, continued• The Allies then began to invade Europe through Italy. They conquered Sicily and

Italy changed alliances, switching from axis support to ally support.

• The "nail in the coffin" for the German Third Reich came on June 6, 1944 whenthe Allies launched an invasion code-named D-Day on Normandy, France.

• The Allied forces pushed the Germans east as the Soviet Union pushedGerman troops west. The two sides met at Berlin where Germany was forcedto surrender. Hitler could not bear defeat and killed himself.

• Meanwhile, the Japanese were able to continue to hold off allied forces. Trumandecided to end the war against Japan quickly and decisively with the use of theUnited State's secret weapon, the atomic bomb. Bombs were dropped on bothHiroshima and Nagasaki killing 120,000 nearly instantly. Aghast at these horrors,Emperor Hirohito surrendered on September 2, 1945.

• Overall, over 40 million people were killed in the war.

The Fall of Germany, 1944

• November 20, 1944 Hitler abandons Rastenburg headquarters• December 16 Battle of the Bulge; Germans begin counter

offensive in Ardennes, France• December 24 Germans surround Americans at Bastogne• January 16, 1945 U.S. forces freed from Bastogne• February 4 Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Yalta

Conference• April 12 Roosevelt dies; Truman becomes U.S.

president• April 16 Soviets begin offensive on Berlin• April 25 U.S. and Soviet advances meet for first time• April 28 Partisans execute Mussolini• April 30 Hitler commits suicide• May 7 Germany signs formal surrender• May 8 Western Allies declare V-E Day• May 9 USSR declares Victory Day

April 30, 1945 - Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin bunker.

At noon, Hitler attended his last military

situation conference and was told the

Soviets were just a block away. At 2

p.m. Hitler sat down and had his last

meal, a vegetarian lunch. Hitler and his

wife Eva then bid a final farewell to

Bormann, Goebbels, Generals Krebs

and Burgdorf, other remaining military

aides and staff members.

Hitler and his wife then went back into

their private quarters while Bormann

and Goebbels remained quietly nearby.

Several moments later a gunshot was

heard. After waiting a few moments, at

3:30 p.m., Bormann and Goebbels

entered and found the body of Hitler

sprawled on the sofa, dripping with

blood from a gunshot to his right

temple. Eva Braun had died from

swallowing poison.

As Soviet shells exploded nearby, the bodies were carried up to the

Chancellery garden, doused with gasoline and burned while Bormann

and Goebbels stood by and gave a final Nazi salute. Over the next three

hours the bodies were repeatedly doused with gasoline. The charred

remains were then swept into a canvas, placed into a shell crater and

buried.

Back inside the bunker, with the Führer now gone, everyone began

smoking, a practice Hitler had generally forbidden in his presence. They

next began collectively plotting daring (but fruitless) escapes out of

Berlin to avoid capture by the Soviets.

On the following day, May 1, Goebbels and his wife proceeded to poison

their six young children in the bunker, then went up into the Chancellery

garden where they were shot in the back of the head at their request by

an SS man. Their bodies were then burned, but were only partially

destroyed and were not buried. Their macabre remains were discovered

by the Soviets the next day and filmed, the charred body of Goebbels

becoming an often seen image symbolizing of the legacy of Hitler's

Reich.

Nov 20, 1945

Opening of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal

to try German war criminals.

The former leaders of Hitler's Third Reich on trial in Nuremberg, Germany.

Shown in the photo above - Front Row from Left to Right

Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank,

Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher (published The Poisonous Mushroom), Walther Funk, Hjalmar Schacht.

Back Row Left to Right

Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Franz von Papen, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Albert Speer,

Konstantin von Neurath, Hans Fritzsche.

Assignment: Define EACH of thefollowing terms/events completely.

• Events leading to start of WWII• Hitler’s Rise to Power

– Early years– WWI– Beer Hall Putsch, 1923 (*Mein Kampf)– Becomes German Chancellor 1933– Reichstag Fire, Feb 1933 / Enabling Act suspends basic freedoms

(*Nuremberg Laws has its own slide show)– Night of Long Knives, 1934– Rhineland Reoccupied, 1936– Anschluss, March 1938– Sudetenland, Oct 1938 (*Kristallnacht has its own slide show)– Invasion of Poland, Sept 1, 1939

• Hitler’s Suicide• Nuremberg Trials