Hitler's Germany

After WW1 Germany was run by the Weimar Republic. The government was always unstable and was opposed by the NAZI Party under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. He attempted a revolution with the Beer Hall Putsch. The revolution failed and Hitler was imprisoned.

While in prison he wrote Mein Kampf where he outlined his plan for Germany. He believed that Germans were Aryans - the master race. He wanted to join Austria and Germany into one country. This was known as Anschluss. He also wanted the German people to have more land in the east. This was known as Lebensraum(living space). He also wanted to destroy the Treaty of Versailles.

Fascism is when a single dictator holds most of the power. A dictatorship is when one person or a small group have power or rule of a minority. Hitler was a nationalist and believed Germany was superior to all other countries.

Rise of the Nazi Party

Hitler and the Nazi’s had an armed Militia known as Brownshirts (SA) - led by Rohm. He also set up a group of elite bodyguards known as SS - Lead by Heinrich Himmler.

Following the Treaty of Versailles the Germans had borrowed a lot of money from America. When the Wall Street Crash(1929) happened all of this money was recalled and the German economy collapsed. This helped Hitler to get support and he started to become popular.

Hitler used propaganda directed by Joseph Goebbels to gain more support. His brownshirts also intimidated people to as the Nazi’s wanted. In 1933 when the Reichstag burned down the president invited Hitler to lead a coalition government. Communist party was banned. When he got power he passed the Enabling Act which allowed him to rule for four years without consulting parliament. He was now a dictator.

The Gestapo was created. School books were re-written and boys were expected to join the Hitler Youth and girls to join the League of German Maidens.

When the president died in 1934 Hitler combined the office of chancellor and president and became known as Fuhrer(Leader). The new Nazi regime was called the Third Reich which Hitler said would last for at least 1000 years. In 1934 hitler killed the leader of the brownshirts Ernst Rohm and many other leaders. This was known as The Night of the Long Knives over 1000 SA members were murdered. Hitler’s elite group the SS run by Himmler was responsible.

The Luftwaffe were the German Air force. Hermann Goering was the chief of the Luftwaffe.

Nazi Economics

Hitler’s greatest challenge was to reduce unemployment. Unemployment was reduced from 6 million to 0 by 1939. Public Work Schemes such as the building of the autobahn helped this. The weapons industry also employed a huge number of people. New car for the people was built called Volkswagen. Married women were paid to stay at home and have more children.

Anti-Semitism

When Hitler had consolidated his power he began his campaign against the Jews. He blamed them for all of Germany’s difficulties including the losing of the war. In 1935 The Nuremberg Laws were brought in to penalise the Jews. Jews had to wear a Star of David at all times. They were forbidden to marry non-Jews and could not hold certain Jobs.

In 1938 Jewish business’ and shops were attacked in The Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht). Synagogues were burned and 90 jews were killed. The Jews were then shipped to Ghettos in Poland where they lived in terrible conditions. The Final Solution was then introduced by SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann. Jews were put into concentration camps and gassed to death. Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi’s in what is known as the Holocaust. Zyklon B pellets were dropped through vents into gas chambers where the Jews would die very quickly from the fumes. Gas chambers were disguised as shower rooms. Bodies were then burned in large furnaces usually in a basement. The smoke rose through large chimney-stacks.