Hitler: The Rise of EvilThe rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany

Young Adolf Hitler• Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889.• He was a sickly child and his mother

coddled him.• As a young man, Hitler wanted to become

an artist.• His father was strict and violently abusive

towards him and disapproved of his ambitions.

• In 1907, his mother died from breast cancer which devastated him emotionally.

• Following his mother’s death, he dropped out of high school and moved to Vienna to pursue a career as an artist.

Klara Hitler

Adolf Hitler The Artist?• Around age 18, he tried to get into the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts.

• He was rejected.• Many people on the board of admissions were Jewish and he blamed them for his failure to gain entry.

• He eventually sold all his possessions and became a homeless drifter who slept on park benches and ate at soup kitchens throughout Vienna (age 19).

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Adolf Hitler and WWI• As WWI approached, Hitler left

Austria and joined the German army.

• Hitler was excited to fight for Germany.

• He found a home fighting for the “Fatherland”.

• He was a regimental messenger, not an easy job at all.

• At his highest, he held the rank of corporal.

This picture from 1914 shows Germans gathered in Munich to hear the news of the declaration of war on Russia to begin WWI. It appears as though a young Adolf Hitler was present to cheer on the

announcement.

Adolf Hitler The Hero• He was awarded the Iron Cross twice, (5 medals overall), the highest military honor in the German Army.

• He single handedly captured 4 French soldiers.

• He was temporarily blinded by a gas attack towards end of the war and even spent time in a psychiatric hospital to overcome “shell shock”.

German Loss in WW I

• Hitler was devastated when he heard the news of the German surrender.

• He was appalled at the anti-war sentiment among the German civilians.

• He believed there was an anti-war conspiracy that involved the Jews and Communists.

• Also, felt that the German military did not lose the war, but that the politicians (mostly Jews) at home were responsible for the defeat.

Life after WWI

• Hitler was depressed after WWI.

• Still in the army, he became an undercover agent whose job was to root out Communists.

• Also, lectured about the dangers of Communism and Jews.

German Worker’s Party• Hitler was sent to investigate the

German Worker’s Party meeting in Munich in 1919.

• He went to a meeting and was impressed with the group’s ideals.

• strongly nationalist, anti-capitalist and anti-communist ideas, favored a strong active government, and a "non-Jewish" version of socialism

• He gave a speech himself and was then asked to become a member, which he did.

NAZI Party is Formed• Hitler immediately became a leading

member in the group.

• He began to think big for the German Worker’s Party.

• Began placing ads for meetings in anti-Semitic newspapers.

• He also changed the name to Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party) or NAZI for short.

• Within two years, the Nazi Party had grown to 55,000 people, with 15,000 in the militia.

Party Platform• Hitler drafted a platform of 25 points or

goals:• The union of all Germans in a

greater German Reich• A strong central government• Revoke the Treaty of Versailles• Revoking rights of Jews• Citizenship determined by race.

• Aryans are considered the master race.

• No Jews were considered German.• Need more land for growing German

people.

Besides changing the party name, the red flag with the SWASTIKA was adopted as the party symbol

An Aryan Society• Hitler wanted to develop an Aryan racial state to dominate Europe and possibly the world.

• Aryans were described as “blonde hair and blue eyed” and were the physical ideal of Nazi Germany.

Did You know?• Hitler misunderstood what

Aryan’s were.• Aryans are actually people of

Indian/Iranian heritage and have dark hair, dark eyes and a darker skin complexion.

• Also, the swastika has been used in many cultures around the world for thousands of years prior to the use by the Nazis.

• In fact, it is considered a good luck symbol in Buddhism and Hinduism.

Beer Hall Putsch

• October 30, 1923• Hitler held a rally in a Munich beer hall and declared revolution.

• He led 2,000 men to take over the German government.

• It failed and Hitler was arrested and imprisoned.

Trial and Prison• At his trial (Hitler was charged with

treason), he used the opportunity to speak about the Nazi platform and further spread his beliefs.

• The whole nation suddenly knew who Adolf Hitler was and what he stood for.

• He was sentenced to five years, but actually only served about 9 months.

• When he left prison, he was ready to go back into action again.

Mein Kampf

• While in prison, Hitler wrote a book called “My Struggle”

• It sold 5 million copies and made him rich

• Topics included: Jews were evil, Germans were superior race, Fűhrer principal, dislike of Communism and Democracy and the need to conquer Russia

Legal Rise to Power

• When he got out of prison, he worked to expand the Nazi Party throughout Germany.

• Hitler realized that the way to power was through legal means, not through violent overthrow of the government.

• Used popularity from failed revolution and book to seize power legally.

• Spoke to mass audiences about making Germany a great nation again.

The Great Depression• The Great Depression of 1929 was

exactly what Hitler and the Nazis needed to become a legitimate political party contender.

• Before the depression, Hitler and the Nazis were considered too extreme for most citizens.

• However, the Weimar was struggling and this gave Hitler a chance to gain followers.

• Many people turned towards the Hitler and the Nazis who promised to pull the nation out of the depression.

Appeal of Hitler• Hitler was a war hero and had a celebrity status since his

failed overthrow of the government and ensuing book.• He was also an excellent public speaker.• During the Great Depression, people looked for

alternatives and often sided with radicals like Hitler.• Amidst the German economic depression, Hitler promised

a return to glory.• He promised the rich industrialists that he would end any

communist threat in Germany.• Constantly blamed Jews for Germany’s problems, not the

German people.

Rise of the Nazis• Germany’s economic problems helped the rise of the Nazi Party.

• By 1929, the Nazis had a national party organization, and by 1931, it was the largest political party in the Reichstag, or German parliament.

• The Nazis made up of 230 members of the 600 in the Reichstag.

Strong Arm Tactics• Like Mussolini in Italy, Hitler creates a

paramilitary organization known as the “Brownshirts” or SA (aka Stormtroopers).

• They were identifiable by their uniforms consisting of brown shirts, pants and boots.

• The SA was used to put down opposition parties.

• They intimidated, threatened and beat up Jews and anti-Nazi voters.

• Their numbers grew and by 1932, there were 400,000 SA.

Hitler Becomes Chancellor

• In the presidential election of 1932, Hitler loses to incumbent president Paul von Hindenburg.

• However, Hindenburg appoints Hitler as Chancellor of Germany (head of the Reichstag) in 1933.

Reichstag Fire• One night in 1933, the Reichstag

building was set on fire by a Dutch communist.

• Believing that this act of terrorism was just the beginning of a greater communist plot, Hitler uses this opportunity to seize power.

• Hitler convinces Hindenburg and the Reichstag to suspend the constitution and give him emergency dictator powers.

• The Reichstag agrees and votes Hitler to be “temporary” dictator.

Reichstag Fire

• Despite the fire being blamed on a communist, it widely believed that the Nazis themselves set the Reichstag on fire.

• Hitler and the Nazi party used this “act of terrorism” or catastrophe to seize more power.

Hitler Becomes Dictator• Once in power, the Nazis established

control over all aspects of government.

• All political parties except the Nazis were abolished.

• Peoples’ liberties were suspended.• Jews were purged from the civil

service, and trade unions were dissolved.

• Concentration camps were set up for Nazi opponents.

• The Nazis had set up the basis for a totalitarian state.

The Fűhrer

• Paul Von Hindenburg dies in 1934.

• Hitler assumes both chancellor and president positions.

• Adopts the title Fűhrer, a German word for leader or one who guides.

Absolute Power

• Hitler had a goal in creating a totalitarian state.

• Nazis wanted the Germans to create an empire just as the Romans had done.

• Hitler thought there had been two previous German empires (Reichs): the Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne and the German Empire of 1871 to 1918.

• Hitler called his empire the Third Reich.

The Nazi State• Hitler demanded active involvement from the German people.

• The Nazis used economic policies, propaganda, mass rallies, organizations, and terror to control the country and further their goals.

• The Nazis also burned books that went against their ideals.

Nazi Germany• In a country of 70 million (in 1939), there

was only about 10 million registered Nazi Party members.

• There was probably even less “active” involvement from every Nazi member.

• Although the entire German population was not in agreement with Hitler's plans, there was almost no large scale objection to him or Nazi policies.

• Most people went along with their policies because they were either afraid or experienced psychological “mob mentality” or “bystander effect”.

Notice anything strange? Take a second look!

A lone man in the crowd stands, arms folded, refusing to salute. His name is August Landmesser, a German shipyard worker who was later arrested for breaking the law. His crime? Marrying a woman

who was part Jewish. Unfortunately, he and his wife did not survive WWII, but his act of bravery lives on.

The Nazi State• Hitler put the German people back to work through public works projects and grants to private construction companies.

• One of his most ambitious projects was the massive rearmament program – (rearming the military) – to stimulate the economy.

• Unemployment dropped, and the depression was ending.

Re-Arming Germany

Hitler visits a factory and is enthusiastically greeted. Many Germans were grateful for jobs after the misery of

the depression years.

Defying provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany began rearming itself at a rapid rate shortly after Hitler came to power in 1933. 

Did You Know?• One of Hitler’s major projects

was the completion of the Autobahn.

• The Autobahn is the national highway system in Germany, famous for it’s lack of speed limits.

• The ambitious project gave work to over 100,000 German laborers across the country and providing a boost in the economy.

The Hitler Youth

• In setting up a totalitarian state, the Nazis recognized the importance of winning young people over to their ideas.

• The Hitler Youth, an organization for young people between the ages of 10 and 18, was formed in 1926 for that purpose.

The Hitler Youth

Himmler and the SS• Under the direction of Heinrich

Himmler, the Nazis used the Schutzstaffel (SS) or “Guard Squadrons” to control the nation.

• Himmler was likely Hitler’s right hand man and used the SS to terrorize the nation.

• Terror included repression, murder, and concentration camps.

• The Waffen-SS were handpicked, elite force of the Wehrmacht (military).

• The Gestapo-SS controlled all police forces.

• The worst were the Totenkopf-SS or “Death’s Head Unit”, who administered the concentration and death camps.

TotenkopfOr

“Death’s Head”

Propaganda In Germany• Propaganda used by the Nazis was crucial in

acquiring and maintaining power as well as further spreading their ideology and implementing Nazi policies.

• Taking them to new heights was Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda.

• The Nazis used mass media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, etc. to spread propaganda.

• Hitler’s speeches were played over the air for all the country to hear.

• Even school textbooks were modified to fit Nazi ideology, emphasizing pure Aryan blood and explaining the dangers of Jews.

Nazi Film Division

• Joseph Goebbels understood that motion pictures were an excellent way to influence the masses.

• He created a special film division in the government.

• The government had to approve all films before being made.

• They would even finance the film and went as far as to even select the actors for the film.

Did You Know?• The Nazis even used classic

fairy tales as part of their propaganda machine.

• For example, the story of Cinderella places an emphasis on her “Aryan” purity vs. her evil, impure stepsisters.

• Little Red Riding Hood became a symbol of the German people suffering at the hands of the “Jewish” wolf.

Joseph Goebbels was not just the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, he was also said to be “homicidally anti-Semitic”. In 1933, LIFE Magazine sent Alfred Eisenstaedt to photograph a League of Nations meeting.

Eisenstaedt was able to capture several photos showing the Nazi politician in a good and cheerful mood. That was until Goebbels found out that Eisenstaedt was Jewish. The chilling picture on the right shows Goebbels

reaction to this news. “He stared at me with eyes of hate.”- AE

Nuremburg Laws• While in power, the Nazi Party enacted programs against Jewish people.

• In 1935, the Nazis passed the “Nuremberg Laws,” which prevented Jews from being German citizens, forbade marriages between Jews and German citizens, and required Jews to wear yellow Stars of David and to carry identification cards saying they were Jewish.

• The Nazis also enforced a boycott of all Jewish owned businesses.

Members of the SA enforce the boycott of Jewish stores, (1933).The sign reads, “Germans! Do not buy from Jews!”

Did You Know?• The Nuremberg Laws were an attempt

at “scientific racism” incorporated by the Nazis.

• The Nazis issued charts to explain who was a Jew and who was not.

• The laws classified people with four German grandparents as German, while people were classified as Jews if they descended from three or four Jewish grandparents.

• A person with one or two Jewish grandparents was a Mischling, a crossbreed, of “mixed blood”.

• These laws would also extend to gypsies, negroes, homosexuals and any others who posed a threat to German racial purity.

Kristallnacht• On the night of November 9, 1938, the Nazis

initiated a pogrom (an organized persecution of the Jews) and burned Jewish synagogues and destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses.

• They killed around 100 people and sent thirty thousand Jewish men to concentration camps.

• This night was called Kristallnacht (“night of shattered glass”).

• After Kristallnacht, Jews were barred from all public transportation, schools, and hospitals.

• They could not own, manage, or work in a retail store.

• At this time, Jews were encouraged to leave Germany.

Expanding an Empire• Adolf Hitler believed that Germany

could build a great civilization.

• To do this, Germany needed more land or lebensraum (living space) to support the German people.

• He wanted to take back lands Germany had lost in World War I and more.

• Hitler proposed that Germany be able to revise the unfair provisions of the Treaty of Versailles that had ended World War I.

• At first he said he would use peaceful means; however, the rearmament of Germany’s military suggested otherwise.

The German Path to War

• In March of 1936, Hitler sent German troops into the Rhineland (western Germany), which was supposed to be the French occupied demilitarized area.

• This action, along with the rearmament of Germany’s military, were direct violations of the Treaty of Versailles.

France and Great Britain are greatly opposed to Germany’s actions but do

nothing…Why?

The German Path to War

• France and Great Britain, condemned Hitler’s actions but they were unprepared to deal with Hitler and Germany due to the Great Depression and other economic problems.

• Hitler knew that the Germans were more superior and that he had no opposition facing him.

New Allies• Hitler and Germany also gained new allies.

• In 1936, Germany and Italy became allies.

• The alliance was known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

• Later, a pact with Japan would make it the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis or just Axis Powers for short.

A Powerful Nation

• By 1937, Germany had become a very powerful nation.

• Hitler pursued a long-held goal, a union with his native Austria.

• In 1938, Germany annexed Austria, another direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which stated Germany and Austria could not form another alliance.

The arrival of German troops inAustria is met with enthusiasm.

Invasion of Czechoslovakia• Following the annexation of Austria,

Hitler set his eyes on an ethnically German region of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland.

• In March 1939, he ordered his troops to take over Czechoslovakia.

• Many hoped that that this would be the last conquest of the Nazis; however, this was the first true aggressive act that suggested that a war in Europe would soon begin. A Czech woman reluctantly salutes the Nazis

Nom, Nom, Nom…

No Opposition

• Once again, the allies of France and Britain did not step in to intervene and help Czechoslovakia.

• They did begin to react, though.• Great Britain said it would step in

and protect Poland if Hitler invaded.• France and Britain also began

negotiations with Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator.

• They knew that they would need the Soviet Union to help contain the Nazis if war were to break out.

The Non-Aggression Pact• Hitler was afraid of an alliance

between the West and the Soviet Union.

• In August of 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact.

• They promised not to attack each other.

• Hitler offered Stalin eastern Poland and the Baltic states (territory Russia lost in WWI).

• This would enable Hitler to invade Poland without fear of opposition from the Soviets.

Why is this such a strange Alliance or Peace

Agreement?

• The non-aggression pact was surprising. Hitler and Stalin were seen as natural enemies.

• When Hitler talked of taking over new land for Germany, many thought that he meant Russia.

• Hitler also hated Communism, the form of government in Russia. • Despite these peace talks, Hitler knew that eventually he would break

the pact.

Hitler Stalin

The Act of War

• On September 1st, 1939, Adolf Hitler’s German army invaded Poland.

• Two days later, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany.

• World War II had begun.

German Troops marching into Warsaw, the capital of Poland.