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1.
Story of Helmuth
You probably know of Hitler’s determination to make Germany into a mighty power and his ambition of conquering all of Europe. You may have heard that he killed Jews.
But Nazism was not one or two isolated acts. It was a system, a structure of ideas about the world and politics.
What did we think Nazism was? Why was that definition wrong?
1.Although Helmuth may not have realised all that it meant, his father had been a Nazi and a supporter of Adolf Hitler.
Why did Helmuth, an eleven-year-old german boy’s father kill himself?
In May of 1945.
When did Germany surrender to the Allies?
In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies. Anticipating what was coming,
Hitler, his propaganda minister Goebbels and his entire family committed suicide collectively in his Berlin bunker in April.
An Internation Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was set up
~ to prosecute nazi criminals for : Crimes against Peace, for War crimes and for Crimes against Humanity
Germany’s conduct during the war, especially those actions which came to be called Crimes Against Humanity, raised serious moral and ethical questions and invited worldwide condemnation. What were these acts?
What was the after math of Hitler’s death?
Hitler (centre) and Goebbels (left) leaving after an official meeting, 1932.
What is this image of ,give context.
Under the shadow of the Second World War, Germany had waged a genocidal war, which resulted in the mass murder of selected groups of innocent civilians of Europe.
The mass muder of selected groups of innocent civilians of europe included: (no. of people killed:)
6 million Jews
200,000 Gypsies
1 million polish civilians
70,000 mentally and physically disabled induviduals
innumerable political opponents
Explain the genocidial situation as an effect of Nazism.
Nazis devised an unprecedented means of killing people, that is, by gassing them in various killing centres like Auschwitz.
What did the Nazis do to kill people?
The Nuremberg Tribunal sentenced only eleven leading Nazis to death.
Many others were imprisoned for life.
The retribution did come, yet the punishment of the Nazis was far short of the brutality and extent of their crimes.
~The Allies did not want to be as harsh on defeated Germany as they had been after the First World War.
What were teh consequences the Nazis had to face by the Allied powers.
Germany, a powerful empire in the early years of the twentieth century, fought the First World War (1914-1918) alongside the Austrian empire and against the Allies (England, France and Russia.)
All joined the war enthusiastically hoping to gain from a quick victory.
Little did they realise that the war would stretch on, eventually draining Europe of all its resources.
Germany made initial gains by occupying France and Belgium.
However the Allies, strengthened by the US entry in 1917, won , defeating Germany and the Central Powers in November 1918
Describe how WW1 came to be and how it ended.
The defeat of Imperial Germany and the abdication of the emperor gave an opportunity to parliamentary parties to recast German polity.
A National Assembly met at Weimar and established a democratic constitution with a federal structure.
Deputies were now elected to the German Parliament or Reichstag,
***on the basis of equal and universal votes cast by all adults including women
How did the Weimar Republic come to be?
This republic, however, was not received well by its own people largely because of the terms it was forced to accept after Germanyís defeat at the end of the First World War :
The peace treaty at Versailles with the Allies was a harsh and humiliating peace.
Germany lost its overseas colonies,
a tenth of its population,
13 per cent of its territories,
75 per cent of its iron and 26 per cent of its coal to France, Poland, Denmark and Lithuania.
The Allied Powers demilitarised Germany to weaken its power.
The War Guilt Clause held Germany responsible for the war and damages the Allied countries suffered.
Germany was forced to pay compensation amounting to £6 billion.
The Allied armies also occupied the resource-rich Rhineland for much of the 1920s.
Many Germans held the new Weimar Republic responsible for not only the defeat in the war but the disgrace at Versailles.
“This republic, however, was not received well by its own people”. Justify
The war had a devastating impact on the entire continent both psychologically and financially:
From a continent of creditors, Europe turned into one of debtors.
Unfortunately, the infant Weimar Republic was being made to pay for the sins of the old empire.
The republic carried the burden of war guilt and national humiliation and was financially crippled by being forced to pay compensation.
Those who supported the Weimar Republic, mainly Socialists, Catholics and Democrats, became easy targets of attack in the conservative nationalist circles. They were mockingly called the ëNovember criminalsí.
This mindset had a major impact on the political developments of the early 1930s
The First World War left a deep imprint on European society and polity.
Soldiers came to be placed above civilians.
Politicians and publicists laid great stress on the need for men to be aggressive, strong and masculine.
The media glorified trench life. The truth, however, was that soldiers lived miserable lives in these trenches, trapped with rats feeding on corpses. They faced poisonous gas and enemy shelling, and witnessed their ranks reduce rapidly.
Aggressive war propaganda and national honour occupied centre stage in the public sphere, while popular support grew for conservative dictatorships that had recently come into being.
Democracy was indeed a young and fragile idea, which could not survive the instabilities of interwar Europe.
What were the effects of WW1?
Those who supported the Weimar Republic, mainly Socialists, Catholics and Democrats, became easy targets of attack in the conservative nationalist circles. They were mockingly called the ëNovember criminalsí.
Who came to be known as the November criminals? And by who?
The economic crisis of 1923 increased political radicalism in Germany.
Describe the Economic crisis of 1923
**The economic crisis of 1923 came to known as hyperinflation.
Political radicalisation was only heightened by the economic crisis of 1923.
Germany had fought the war largely on loans and had to pay war reparations in gold.
This depleted gold reserves at a time resources were scarce.
In 1923 Germany refused to pay, and the French occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr, to claim their coal.
Germany retaliated with passive resistance and printed paper currency recklessly.
With too much printed money in circulation, the value of the German mark fell.
→ In April the US dollar was equal to 24,000 marks,
in July 353,000 marks,
in August 4,621,000 marks and
at 98,860,000 marks by December, the figure had run into trillions.
As the value of the mark collapsed, prices of goods soared.
The image of Germans carrying cartloads of currency notes to buy a loaf of bread was widely publicised evoking worldwide sympathy.
This crisis came to be known as hyperinflation, a situation when prices rise phenomenally high.
What crisis came to be known as Hyperinflation? What led to it?
Eventually, the Americans intervened and bailed Germany out of the (Hyperinflation) crisis by introducing the Dawes Plan, which reworked the terms of reparation to ease the financial burden on Germans.
What was the Dawes Plan?
The birth of the Weimar Republic coincided with the revolutionary uprising of the Spartacist League on the pattern of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
Soviets of workers and sailors were established in many cities.
The political atmosphere in Berlin was charged with demands for Soviet-style governance.
Those opposed to this ñ such as the socialists, Democrats and Catholics ñ met in Weimar to give shape to the democratic republic.
The Weimar Republic crushed the uprising with the help of a war veterans organisation called Free Corps.
The anguished Spartacists later founded the Communist Party of Germany.
Communists and Socialists henceforth became irreconcilable enemies and could not make common cause against Hitler.
Both revolutionaries and militant nationalists craved for radical solutions.
Why was politcal radicallism craved for in Germany?
The years between 1924 and 1928 saw some stability. Yet this was built on sand. German investments and industrial recovery were totally dependent on short-term loans, largely from the USA. This support was withdrawn when the Wall Street Exchange crashed in 1929. Fearing a fall in prices, people made frantic efforts to sell their shares. On one single day, 24 October, 13 million shares were sold. This was the start of the Great Economic Depression. Over the next three years, between 1929 and 1932, the national income of the USA fell by half. Factories shut down, exports fell, farmers were badly hit and speculators withdrew their money from the market. The effects of this recession in the US economy were felt worldwide.
What was the Wall street Exchange?
Germany, a powerful empire in the early years of the twentieth century,
fought the First World War (1914-1918) alongside the Austrian empire
and against the Allies (England, France and Russia.)
All joined the war enthusiastically hoping to gain from a quick victory
. Little did they realise that the war would stretch on, eventually draining Europe of all its resources.
Germany made initial gains by occupying France and Belgium.
However the Allies, strengthened by the US entry in 1917, won , defeating Germany and the Central Powers in November 1918
Describe to what led to the beginning of the WW1?
The German economy was the worst hit by the economic crisis. By 1932, industrial production was reduced to 40 per cent of the 1929 level. Workers lost their jobs or were paid reduced wages. The number of unemployed touched an unprecedented 6 million. On the streets of Germany you could see men with placards around their necks saying, ‘Willing to do any work’. Unemployed youths played cards or simply sat at street corners, or desperately queued up at the local employment exchange. As jobs disappeared, the youth took to criminal activities and total despair became commonplace.
What happend to the working population and citizens of Germany/ Germany’s economy (pt2 The years of depression)?
The economic crisis created deep anxieties and fears in people.
The middle classes, especially salaried employees and pensioners, saw their savings diminish when the currency lost its value.
Small businessmen, the self-employed and retailers suffered as their businesses got ruined.
These sections of society were filled with the fear of proletarianisation.
Only organised workers could manage to keep their heads above water, but unemployment weakened their bargaining power.
Big business was in crisis.
The large mass of peasantry was affected by a sharp fall in agricultural prices and women, unable to fill their children’s stomachs, were filled with a sense of deep despair
“The German economy was the worst hit by the economic crisis”, What were the effects”, Explain pt.2 of effects of the crisis.
Politically too the Weimar Republic was fragile.
The Weimar constitution had some inherent defects, which made it unstable and vulnerable to dictatorship.
One was proportional representation.
This made achieving a majority by any one party a near impossible task, leading to a rule by coalitions.
Another defect was Article 48, which gave the President the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree.
Within its short life, the Weimar Republic saw twenty different cabinets lasting on an average 239 days, and a liberal use of Article 48.
Yet the crisis could not be managed. People lost confidence in the democratic parliamentary system, which seemed to offer no solutions.
Why was the Weimar Republic Politcally fragile?
An anxiety of being reduced to the ranks of the working class, or worse still, the unemployed../ To become impoverished to the level of working classes
What is Poletarianisation?
This crisis in the economy, polity and society formed the background to Hitler’s rise to power. Born in 1889 in Austria, Hitler spent his youth in poverty. When the First World War broke out, he enrolled for the army, acted as a messenger in the front, became a corporal, and earned medals for bravery. The German defeat horrified him and the Versailles Treaty made him furious. In 1919, he joined a small group called the German Workers’ Party. He subsequently took over the organisation and renamed it the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. This party came to be known as the Nazi Party
How did the Nazi part come to be ? How did Hitler rise to power?
In 1919, he joined a small group called the German Workers’ Party. He subsequently took over the organisation and renamed it the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. This party came to be known as the Nazi Party
How did the Nazi part come to be ?
This crisis in the economy, polity and society formed the background to Hitler’s rise to power
How did Hitler rise to power?
Born in 1889 in Austria, Hitler spent his youth in poverty. When the First World War broke out, he enrolled for the army, acted as a messenger in the front, became a corporal, and earned medals for bravery. The German defeat horrified him and the Versailles Treaty made him furious. In 1919,…..
Give a breif desrciption of Hitler’s past.
In 1923, Hitler planned to seize control of Bavaria, march to Berlin and capture power. He failed, was arrested, tried for treason, and later released.
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The Nazis could not effectively mobilise popular support till the early 1930s.
→
It was during the Great Depression that Nazism became a mass movement. As we have seen, after 1929, banks collapsed and businesses shut down, workers lost their jobs and the middle classes were threatened with destitution.
In such a situation Nazi propaganda stirred hopes of a better future.
→
In 1928, the Nazi Party got no more than 2. 6 per cent votes in the Reichstag – the German parliament.
→
By 1932, it had become the largest party with 37 per cent votes
“The Nazis could not effectively mobilise popular support till the early 1930s.”. Desribe a breif overview of the sucess of the Nazi part from 1923 to 1932.
Hitler was a powerful speaker. His passion and his words moved people.
He promised to build a strong nation, undo the injustice of the Versailles Treaty and restore the dignity of the German people. He promised employment for those looking for work, and a secure future for the youth. He promised to weed out all foreign influences and resist all foreign ‘conspiracies’ against Germany.
Hitler devised a new style of politics. He understood the significance of rituals and spectacle in mass mobilisation. Nazis held massive rallies and public meetings to demonstrate the support for Hitler and instil a sense of unity among the people.
The Red banners with the Swastika, the Nazi salute, and the ritualised rounds of applause after the speeches were all part of this spectacle of power.
Nazi propaganda skilfully projected Hitler as a messiah, a saviour, as someone who had arrived to deliver people from their distress. It is an image that captured the imagination of a people whose sense of dignity and pride had been shattered, and who were living in a time of acute economic and political crises.
Why were the main reasons Htiler Influenced so many people?
Fig.9 — Hitler addressing SA and SS columns. Notice the sweeping and straight columns of people. Such photographs were intended to show the grandeur and power of the Nazi movement.
Fig.8 – Nuremberg Rally, 1936. Rallies like this were held every year. An important aspect of these was the demonstration of Nazi power as various organisations paraded past Hitler, swore loyalty and listened to his speeches.
Fig.7 – Hitler being greeted at the Party Congress in Nuremberg in 1938.
Fig.3 – This is a rally organised by the radical group known as the Spartacist League.
In the winter of 1918-1919 the streets of Berlin were taken over by the people. Political demonstrations became common.
Fig.4 – Baskets and carts being loaded at a bank in Berlin with paper currency for wage payment, 1923.
The German mark had so little value that vast amounts had to be used even for small payments.
Fig.5 – Homeless men queuing up for a night’s shelter, 1923.
Fig.6 – Sleeping on the line. During the Great Depression the unemployed could not hope for either wage or shelter.
On winter nights when they wanted a shelter over their head, they had to pay to sleep like this.
