Twentieth Century World

Topics

• By July 1919, Germany had finally accepted a democratic constitution.

• Political instability was partly because of the Weimar’s system of representation.

• Seats in the Reichstag were awarded to political parties based on proportion of votes in the general election.

• This ensured that several political parties were represented.

• This system quickly broke down and caused chaos in the government. There was frequent turn over's in government positions.

• Stability was difficult in Germany because many of the citizens resented the terms of the Versailles Treaty.

• Many Germans believed their leaders did not plead their case hard enough at Versailles.

• The economy was in shambles, and the German Mark was worthless.

• As a result, many German leaders did their best to prevent its full enforcement in order to save face.

• The extreme right and extreme left were constantly battling with each other, and never reached any compromises.

• In January 1919, leftist groups started riots in Berlin in which 2 German Communist leaders were murdered.

• Later in 1919, Communists briefly established a government in Bavaria until the regular German troops and Freikorps ended the takeover.

• The far right also attempted coups. March 1920 Berlin was taken over by rightist military forces during the Kapp Putsch.

• The putsch failed when the socialist party and trade unions began a general strike.

• After World War I, Adolf Hitler became involved in a small, and rather insignificant political party called the German Workers’ Party.

• Within a few years he became its Fuhrer, or leader.

• In 1923 Munich, Hitler unsuccessfully attempted to topple the local Bavarian government as well as the German Republic government.

• He was sentenced to nine months in prison in which time he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle).

• His book spelled out his ideas on Nationalism, Anti-Semitism, and racism.

• After his release from prison, he went back to work for his party that he renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. (Nazi)

• In the 1928 election, the Nazi’s were still pretty small only winning 3% of the total vote.

• But on the onset of the Great Depression in 1930, the Nazi’s had grown to be the second biggest party in the Reichstag.

• There is little doubt that the Depression helped Hitler in becoming Chancellor of Germany.

• By the summer elections of 1932, the economic situation had worsened, 30% of German workers were unemployed, the Nazi’s won 230 seats in the Reichstag and became the biggest party in the nation.

• After 1930, the German government was unable to command a parliamentary majority.

• As a result, President Paul Von Hindenburg ruled by issuing emergency decrees.

• Such decrees were allowed in the Weimar constitution, but the weakened the parliamentary government.

• As a way of making peace with the Nazi’s, Hindenburg reluctantly appointed Hitler Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933.

• Franz Von Papen, one of Hindenburg’s closest advisors, believed they could control him and bend him to their will.

• After taking office, Hitler move quickly and skillfully to strengthen his control.

• He blamed the fire that had destroyed the Reichstag building on German Communists.

• He then convinced Hindenburg to sign an emergency decree that indefinitely suspended basic liberties and due process of the law.

• Hitler stepped up his bullying tactics toward the communists as well.

• He imprisoned many of the Communist deputies and did not allow them to take their seats in the Reichstag.

• In March 1933, Hitler used threats and promises to get the Enabling Act passed.

• This transferred legislative power to Hitler and his cabinet and allowed him to suspend parts of the Weimar constitution.

• Hitler immediately outlawed all political parties except the Nazi’s.

• The Nazi Storm Troopers (SA) were led by Ernst Rohm. Rohm wanted to destroy the old aristocratic and conservative elements.

• Hitler, however, had some uses for these groups.

• June 30, 1934, “Night of the Long Knives”, Hitler sent his elite guard, the Schutzstaffel (SS or Black Shirts), on the SA and his non-Nazi political opponents, killing Rohm and numerous others.

• Hitler’s handling of the more radical elements within his party made the conservative army leaders more cooperative.

• President Paul Von Hindenburg died in August 1934, and Hitler assumed the Presidency.

• He then ordered the armed forces to swear an oath of personal loyalty to him.

• The secret police ferreted out the remnants of political dissent.

• Arrest, torture, imprisonment, and death were commonplace.

• Special concentration camps were set up to hold political opponents and other so called undesirables.

• Hitler’s economic plan called for support of big business while make labor happy and controlling both.

• He allowed major industries and large businesses to dominate the economy as long as they supported his regime.

• Hitler’s military rebuilding program allowed German industrialists to enjoy favorable contracts and to make large profits.

• He put German workers back to work building public buildings and superhighways (autobahns) as well as producing armaments for the German war machine.

• By mid 1935 two thirds of the unemployed were now working again.

• Forbidding any threats to his authority, Hitler dissolved all labor unions and prohibited strikes.

• In exchange Hitler gave higher wages, vacations, better working conditions, pensions, and children’s camps for the newly founded Hitler Youth organization.

• Nazi ideology was a melting pot of half-cooked ideas from Darwin, Nietzsche, and Richard Wagner combined with anti Semitism and anticommunism.

• Hitler’s most important idea was that of a superior race (Aryans).

• Hitler believed that Jews had polluted the purity of the Aryan blood and were in fact responsible for all the evils confronting Germany.– Versailles treaty, democracy, communism,

depression, threat to traditional German values.

• Hitler made sure that his people were fully indoctrinated.

• The ministry of culture supervised are, music, drama, literature, architecture, radio, films, and the press ensure that all media instilled the Nazi program.

• In public bonfires the Nazis burned publications with opposing or “incorrect” views and silenced dissenters.

• The Nazis concentrated particularly on indoctrinating young Germans.

• They tried to install an almost godlike image of Hitler in the schools, while Nazi-approved professors taught college youth racial pseudoscience and other “correct” subjects.

• The party also trained adolescent boys in the Hitler Youth to fight and die for the Fuhrer, while adolescent girls were taught that home was the place for them and that they should have many babies to propagate the “superior” German race.

• Despite these ideas about women, the Nazi desire to expand German industry and military preparations did bring more women into the workforce.

• Meanwhile, Hitler began a special campaign to isolate and degrade the Jews of Germany- about 1% of the population.

• September 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were passed which deprived German Jews of their citizenship and forbade marriages between Jews and those defined as Germans.

• On November 9, and 10th, 1938 riots broke out in the cities. Supported by the Nazi’s, rioters destroyed or ransacked over 10,000 Jewish shops, homes, and synagogues.

• Over a 100 Jews were killed in what came to be known as Krystalnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass.

• Thousands of Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

• This was a clear message to the Jews that it was time for them to leave. Many Jews did emigrate, including Albert Einstein, until Hitler closed the borders with the outbreak of World War II.

• In 1938 there is no doubt that Hitler was very popular with the German people, but why?

• The German people were very well educated, and I am sure that most of them had read his book by 1938.

• How was he able to come to power and then consolidate his position so that he soon became a dictator?

• 1. A series of events in the past two decades. Treaty, inflation of 1923, Great Depression.

• 2. Failure of the Democratic government to fix problems.

• 3. Incompetent aristocracy and leaders.

• 4. the appeasing of Hitler by these groups, and the assumption that Hitler could be controlled.

• 5. the failure of other political parties to unite and stand up against Hitler’s policies.

• 6. People wanted a scapegoat, “its not my fault things are bad”, Hitler provided that with the Jews.

• 7. Hitler’s outspoken and utopian Nationalism.

• 8. Hitler’s charisma, spell-binding public speaking ability, and self-assurance.

• 9. Hitler’s understanding of crowd psychology and appeal of mass spectacles.

• 10. He was liked by both the lower class and the Elites.

• 11. Hitler’s many success after coming to power in 1933.

• 12. Hitler’s use of intimidation and force.