Hitler’s Rise to Power
- Economic, polity, and social crises contribute to Hitler’s rise in power .
- 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 Germans defeat him and the Versailles Treaty made him furious.
- Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party in 1919.
- He took over this organization and renamed it to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
- Later on this party came to be known as the Nazi Party.
- Hitler intended to seize control of Bavaria and march to Berlin in 1923 and seize power but he failed, was arrested, tried for treason, and later on released.
- During the Great Depression (1929) Nazism become a mass movement .
- As the banks collapsed and businesses shut down, unemployment rise so, in such a situation Nazi propaganda stirred hopes of a better future.
- In 1928 , the Nazi Part y 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 .
- Hiter was an influential and powerful speaker .
- He promised to build a strong nation and restore the dignity of the German people .
- Nazis organized a massive ralllies and public meetings to show the support for Hitler and develop the sense of unity among the people.
- The red banners with the Swastika , the Nazi salute, and the ritualized rounds of applause following the speeches were all part of this powerful show.
- Nazi propaganda successfully show Hitler as a messiah, a savior in the minds of the people who were living in acute political, social and economic crises.
The Destruction of Democracy
- On 30 January 1933, President Hindenburg offered the position of Chancellorship (the highest position in the cabinet of ministers) to Hitler.
- The Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 indefinitely suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly that had been guaranteed by the Weimar constitution.
- After this incident he turned on his archenemies, the Communists , were hurriedly packed off to the newly established concentration camps.
- The repression of the Communists was severe.
- Enabling Act was passed on 3 March 1933.
- As a result of this act , dictatorship was established in Germany.
- It gave Hitler complete authority to ignore Parliament and rule by decree.
- Except for the Nazi Party and its affiliates, all political parties and trade unions were banned .
- The government took complete control of the economy, media, army, and judiciary .
- Special surveillance and security forces were established to control and order society.
- Aside from the regular police in green uniform and the SA or Storm Troopers, they also included the Gestapo (secret state police), the SS (protection squads), criminal police, and the Security Service (SD).
- The extra-constitutional powers of these newly organized forces were responsible for the Nazi state's reputation as the most dreaded criminal state.
- People could now be detained in Gestapo torture chambers, rounded up and deported at will, or arrested without any legal procedure.
Reconstruction
- Hjalmar Schacht , an economist, took over responsibility for economic recovery in German.
- He focused on full production and full employment through a state-funded work-creation program.
- Under this program, they produced the famous German superhighway s and the
- people’s car, the Volkswagen.
- In 1933, he withdrew from the League of Nations and reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936,
- He united Austria and Germany in 1938 under the slogan "One people, One empire, and One leader.
- He acquired German-speaking Sudentenland from Czechoslovakia .
- To overcome the economic crisis, Hitler chose a war.
Hitler's role in World War II
- Germany invaded Poland i n September 1939 .
- This triggered a war between France and England .
- In September 1940 , Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact that strengthen Hitler's claim to international power
- Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 1941 .
- Hitler made the historic mistake of exposing the German western front to British aerial bombing and the eastern fron t to the powerful Soviet armies .
- At Stalingrad, the Soviet Red Army crushed and humiliated the German army .
- When Japan supported Hitler and bombed the US base at Pearl Harbor , the United States entered the Second World War.
- The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan .
- Hitler's defeat marked the end of the war in May 1945 .
