3 Rise of Hitler Powerpoint

Hitler’s Rise to Power in Germany:
Table of Contents
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Events leading to start of WWII (summary)
Hitler’s Rise to Power
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Early years
WWI
Beer Hall Putsch, 1923 (*Mein Kampf)
Becomes German Chancellor 1933
Reichstag Fire, Feb 1933 / Enabling Act suspends basic freedoms
(*Nuremberg Laws has its own slide show)
Night of Long Knives, 1934
Rhineland Reoccupied, 1936
Anschluss, March 1938
Sudetenland, Oct 1938 (*Kristallnacht has its own slide show)
Invasion of Poland, Sept 1, 1939
Summary of WWII
Hitler’s Suicide
Nuremberg Trials
The Start of World War II
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March 13, 1938
October 7–10
Germany annexes Austria (Anschluss)
Germany takes Czech region of Sudetenland
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August 23, 1939
September 1
September 3
September 17
September 19
September 28
November 30
German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
Germany invades Poland
Britain and France declare war on Germany
USSR invades Poland from the east
German & Soviet forces meet in central Poland
Warsaw falls to Germany
Soviet forces invade Finland
Hitler’s Rise to Power
The young Hitler was a resentful, discontented child. Moody,
lazy, of unstable temperament, he was deeply hostile towards
his strict, authoritarian father and strongly attached to his
indulgent, hard-working mother, whose death from cancer in
December 1908 was a shattering blow to the adolescent Hitler.
Little Adolf Hitler
The young corporal
World War I
In May 1913 Hitler left Vienna for Munich and, when war broke out
in August 1914, he joined the Sixteenth Bavarian Infantry
Regiment, serving as a dispatch runner. Hitler proved an able,
courageous soldier, receiving the Iron Cross (First Class) for
bravery, but did not rise above the rank of Lance Corporal.
Twice wounded, he was badly gassed four weeks before the end of
the war and spent three months recuperating in a hospital.
Temporarily blinded and driven to impotent rage by Germany’s
military defeat.
Hitler, once restored, was convinced that fate had chosen him to
rescue a humiliated nation from the shackles of the Versailles
Treaty, from Bolsheviks and Jews.
* The Treaty of Versailles placed all guilt for WWI on Germany and required huge
reparations (money payment) for damages caused.
Research by Bernhard Horstmann indicates the blindness Hitler suffered during WWI
may have been the result of a hysterical reaction to Germany's defeat.
Hitler later said it was during this experience that he became convinced the purpose of
his life was to save Germany.
Meanwhile he was treated by a military physician and specialist in psychiatry, who
reportedly diagnosed the corporal as "incompetent to command people" and
"dangerously psychotic".
Hitler,
seated, far
left -- WWI
Soldiers of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry
during World War I.
Corporal Adolf Hitler (right)
Beer Hall Putsch, November 1923
Adolf Hitler endorsed the fall of the Weimar Republic (German
government), and declared at a public rally on October 30, 1923
that he was prepared to march on Berlin to rid the government of
the Communists and the Jews.
On November 8, 1923, Hitler held a rally at a Munich beer hall and
proclaimed a revolution. The following day, he led 2,000 armed
"brown-shirts" in an attempt to take over the Bavarian
government.
Beer Hall Putsch, November 1923
SS Men
outside
Beer
Hall
SS Men outside Beer Hall
Hitler marched through Munich at the head
of 3,000 men, only to be met by police fire
which left sixteen dead and brought the
attempted putsch to an ignominious end.
Hitler was arrested and tried on 26
February 1924. He was sent to prison for
five years, but only served 8 months.
Hitler served only eight months of his five-year
term. While in prison, he wrote the first volume of
Mein Kampf (It was partly an autobiographical
book (although filled with glorified inaccuracies,
self-serving half-truths and outright revisionism)
which also detailed his views on the future of the
German people.
There were several targets of the vicious
diatribes in the book, such as democrats,
Communists, and internationalists. But he
reserved the brunt of his vituperation (sustained and
bitter railing and condemnation )for the Jews, whom he
portrayed as responsible for all of the
problems and evils of the world, particularly
democracy, Communism, and internationalism,
as well as Germany's defeat in the War.
Jews were the German nation's true enemy, he
wrote. They had no culture of their own, he
asserted, but perverted existing cultures such as
Germany's with their parasitism. As such, they
were not a race, but an anti-race.
Summary: Hitler’s Rise
Hitler's rise to power was based upon long-term factors resentment in the German people, the weakness of the
Weimar system (German government) - which he exploited
through propaganda (paid for by his rich, Communistfearing backers), the terror of his stormtroopers, and the
brilliance of his speeches.
During the 'roaring twenties' Germans ignored this
vicious little man with his program of hatred. But when
the Great Depression ruined their lives, they voted for
him in increasing numbers. Needing support, and
thinking he could control Hitler, President Hindenburg
made the mistake in January 1933 of giving Hitler the
post of Chancellor.
Hindenberg Receiving
Hitler As New
Chancellor
January 1933
There is always the
possibility that Hitler was
forced into taking this
action because members of
the SA in Munich were
becoming very restless.
Their leader, Wilhelm
Brucker, claimed that they
wanted action.
"I said to Hitler personally: "The day is coming when I can no longer hold
my people. If nothing happens now the men will melt away. We had very
many unemployed men among us, men who had spent their last few pence
on training, because, as they said, we will strike soon. Then we will be taken
into the army and we will be out of the entire mess."
1. Long-term bitterness
2. Ineffective Constitution
• Deep anger about the First World War and the
Treaty of Versailles created an underlying
bitterness to which Hitler’s viciousness and
expansionism appealed, so they gave him
support.
• Weaknesses in the Constitution crippled the
government. In fact, there were many people in
Germany who wanted a return to dictatorship.
When the crisis came in 1929–1933 – there was
no one who was prepared or able to fight to stop
Hitler
3. Money
4. Propaganda
• The financial support of wealthy
businessmen gave Hitler the money to run
his propaganda and election campaigns.
• Nazi propaganda persuaded the German
masses to believe that the Jews were to
blame and that Hitler was their last hope.
5. Program
6. Attacks on other parties
• Hitler promised everybody something, so they supported
him.
• The Stormtroopers attacked Jews and people who
opposed Hitler. Many opponents kept quiet simply
because they were scared of being
murdered – and, if they were, the judges
simply let the Stormtroopers go free
7. Personal Qualities
• Hitler was a brilliant speaker, and his eyes had a
peculiar power over people. He was a good
organizer and politician. He was a driven,
unstable man, who believed that he had been
called by G-d to become dictator of Germany
and rule the world. This kept him going when
other people might have given up. His self-belief
persuaded people to believe in him.
8. Economic Depression
Inflation 1923-24: a woman feeds her
tiled stove with money
• After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the US called in its
loans to Germany, and the German economy collapsed.
The Number of unemployed grew; people starved on the
streets. In the crisis, people wanted someone to blame,
and looked to extreme solutions – Hitler offered them
both, and Nazi success in the elections grew.
• Germans turned to Nazism because they were
desperate. The number of Nazi seats in the Reichstag
(the building in Berlin in which the German legislature met from 1894 to 1933 and
again since 1999) rose from 12 in 1928 to 230 in July 1932.
9. Recruited by Hindenburg
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In November 1932 elections the Nazis again failed to get a majority
of seats in the Reichstag. Their share of the vote fell – from 230
seats to only 196. Hitler contemplated suicide. But then he was
rescued by Hindenburg.
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Franz von Papen (a friend of Hindenburg) was Chancellor, but he
could not get enough support in the Reichstag. Hindenburg and
von Papen were having to govern by emergency decree under
Article 48 of the Constitution. They offered Hitler the post of viceChancellor if he promised to support them.
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Hitler refused – he demanded to be made Chancellor. So Von
Papen and Hindenburg took a risk. On 30 January 1933
Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor. He thought he could control
Hitler – how wrong he was.
In the end, Hitler did not TAKE power at all – he was given it.
Reichstag Fire
The Reichstag fire was a
pivotal event in the
establishment of Nazi
Germany.
At 9:14 PM on the night of
February 27, 1933, a Berlin
fire station received an alarm
that the Reichstag building,
assembly location of the
German Parliament and seat
of power, was ablaze
Hitler Consolidates His Power:
Suspends basic freedoms
Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring arrived soon after and immediately declared the
Reichstag fire was set by the Communists. He had the party leaders arrested. Hitler
declared a state of emergency and encouraged aging president Paul von
Hindenburg to sign the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspending basic rights and
provisions of the Weimar constitution.
Hitler Consolidates His Power:
The Night of the Long Knives
or Nacht der langen Messer
The Night of the Long Knives (June 30 and Sunday July 1, 1934) was a lethal
purge of Adolf Hitler's potential political rivals in the Sturmabteilung (SA; also known as
storm troopers or brownshirts).
The SA was the paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party that had helped the
Nazis rise to power in the Twenties, culminating with Hitler being appointed
Chancellor of Germany in 1933.
The purge targeted SA leaders and members who were associated more with
socialism than with nationalism, and hence were viewed as a threat to the
continued support for Chancellor Adolf Hitler within the Army and conservative
business community that had supported Hitler's rise to power.
Official records tally the dead at 77, though some 400 are believed to have been
killed.
(*The name, "Night of the Long Knives", is a reference to the massacre of Vortigern's men by Angle,
Jute and Saxon mercenaries in the Arthurian myth.)
The Rhineland, 1936
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Following the First World War, the western part of Rhineland (The Rhineland is
the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of
Germany) was occupied by Entente forces, then demilitarized under the Treaty
of Versailles. German forces reoccupied the territory in 1936, as part of a
diplomatic test of will, three years before the outbreak of the Second World
War.
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In violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the spirit of the Locarno Pact, Nazi
Germany reoccupied the Rhineland on Saturday, March 7, 1936.
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The occupation was done with very little military force, the troops entering on
bicycles, and could easily have been stopped had it not been for the
appeasement mentality of post-war Europe.
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France could not act due to political instability at the time. In addition, since the
remilitarization occurred on a weekend, the British Government could not find
out or discuss actions to be taken until the following Monday. As a result of
this, the governments were inclined to see the remilitarization as a fait
accompli.
Hitler arrives at the opening
ceremonies of the 11th
Olympiad in Berlin, August 1,
1936.
The games had been awarded to
Germany before Hitler came to
power.
During the Olympics, a threeweek moratorium on anti-Jewish
measures was put into effect to
Adolf Hitler rides in a motorcade through
create a favorable impression
the Brandenburg Gate
upon foreign visitors.
Inside the newly built Olympic Stadium
in Berlin, Germans salute Adolf Hitler at
the opening of the games.
Hitler took a keen interest in the games
and the early victories of German
athletes. However they were
overshadowed by the record breaking
performances of American runner Jesse
Owens.
The Anschluss
German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938.
• The Anschluss (German: connection, or political union)
was the 1938 annexation of Austria into Greater
Germany by the Nazi regime.
• The chancellor of Austria, Kurt Schuschnigg, tried to hold
a plebiscite; he expected Austria to vote in favor of
maintaining autonomy, however, a well-planned internal
overthrow by the Austrian Nazi Party of Austria's state
institutions in Vienna took place on March 11, prior to the
vote.
• With power quickly transferred over to Germany, the
Wehrmacht troops entered Austria to enforce the
Anschluss.
March 13, 1938
Adolf Hitler, Führer of Germany,
accepts salutes and cheers from the Nazi controlled Reichstag after
announcing the Anschluss (union) with Austria. Immediately after
the Anschluss, Nazis began a brutal crackdown on Austrian Jews,
arresting them and publicly humiliating them.
Sudetenland
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Sudetenland was the name used from 1938–45 for the region
inhabited mostly by Sudeten Germans in the various places of
Bohemia, Moravia, and parts of Silesia. In 1918–38 and after 1945,
the region was part of Czechoslovakia (since 1993 in the Czech
Republic) and Poland.
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Conflict over the Sudetenland began immediately after the
Anschluss of Austria into the Third Reich in March 1938. This led to
the Czechoslovak Crisis.
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The Nazis, together with their Sudeten German allies, claimed
throughout the year that the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia
were being mistreated and oppressed by the Czech government,
and demanded incorporation of the region into Nazi Germany.
Appeasement
Chamberlain holds the paper containing the resolution to commit
to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself on his
return from Germany.
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Appeasement is a policy of accepting the imposed conditions of an
aggressor in lieu of armed resistance. Since World War II, the term has
gained a negative connotation, in politics and in general, of weakness,
cowardice and self-deception.
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By far the most well-known case of appeasement is one which ultimately
failed — the appeasement of Adolf Hitler's Germany by British Prime
Minister Neville Chamberlain's government in the late 1930s. The Munich
Agreement in particular stands as a major example of appeasement.
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Chamberlain's peace for our time deal (i.e. the surrender of the
Sudetenland to Germany) with Hitler was internationally acclaimed and
praised.
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Europe's failure to oppose Hitler led him to be ever more aggressive.
Munich Agreement
German Wehrmacht parade with General Günther von Kluge in
Kratzau, Sudetenland. The troops were welcomed by the local German
population.
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The Western powers urged the Czechs to comply with Germany
believing that they could prevent a general war by appeasing Hitler.
Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler on September 15 and
agreed to the cession of the Sudetenland.
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Three days later, Édouard Daladier and Georges Bonnet did the
same. The Czechs themselves were not included in these
discussions. Chamberlain met Hitler on September 22 to confirm
the agreements. The discussions here fell through, however, as
Hitler made new demands that Chamberlain was not able to defend
in Parliament.
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On September 29, Hitler met Daladier, Chamberlain and Mussolini
in Munich where all four leaders signed the Munich Agreement
ceding the Sudetenland to Germany.
Image first appearing
in the Nazi
propaganda
magazine Völkischer
Beobachter,
ostensibly depicting a
Sudeten German
woman in Asch crying
tears of joy when
Hitler crossed the
border in 1938.
Allied propaganda
later used the image
with other
interpretations.
Sudetenland, continued
• The Czechoslovak government capitulated (gave up)
September 30 and agreed to abide by the agreement.
The Sudetenland was occupied by Germany between
October 1 and October 10, 1938.
• This unification with the Third Reich was followed by the
flight and forcible expulsion of the region's Czech
population to the remaining parts of Czechoslovakia,
which were subsequently invaded and annexed by
Germany in March 1939. Allegedly, the occupants
transported up to 300,000 Jews to concentration camps.
The German Invasion of Poland:
the beginning of WWII, 1939
• Germany’s invasion of Poland came quickly and with
overwhelming force. The attack began on September 1,
1939, with heavy air strikes followed by a rapidly
advancing ground invasion. Hitler referred to the strategy
as blitzkrieg, or “lightning war.” The object of the
blitzkrieg strategy was to shock the opponent so
severely that there would be little resistance, allowing the
country to be overrun quickly, with minimal German
losses.
• The primary obstacle to the German invasion force
proved to be the Polish capital of Warsaw, which did not
surrender until September 27, after a prolonged siege.
By this time, all of western Poland was firmly under
German control.
On the night of January 30, 1933, the Nazis organized a massive
torchlight parade in Berlin to celebrate the appointment of Hitler as
Chancellor of Germany.
Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring greet the participants
in the parade as they pass beneath the window
of Hitler's new office.
Hitler and Eva Braun enjoying life …
and two Holocaust victims …
Austrian Nazis and local residents
watch as Jews are forced to get on their
hands and knees and scrub the pavement.
1938
In Vienna, Austria
pedestrians view
a sign posted
on a restaurant
window informing
the public
this business is
run by an
organization of
the National
Socialist Party
and that
Jews are not
welcome.
1938
Research Other Theatres of WWII
• You will be asked to investigate other aspects of
WWII (African theatre, Pacific theatre, Italy and
Mussolini, the Soviet Front, Pearl Harbor (US
entrance into the war), US Internment of
Japanese-Americans, the Rape of Nanking,
Hiroshima/Nagasaki, etc.).
• However, this slide show only deals with Hitler
and Germany… Read through the following
summary of WWII by Scott Danford.
World War II Summary
by Scott Danford
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After years of German appeasement and the Munich Conference, when
Germany under Hitler invaded the Polish Corridor both Britain and France
declared war. In order to avoid a two front war like that of World War I Hitler
signed a ten-year nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union. They agreed
to split lands conquered in Eastern Europe. On August 31, 1939 Germany
invaded Poland with a massive and quick attack known as blitzkrieg. Poland
was defeated by September 27 and Germany took the western portion while
the Soviet Union took the eastern part.
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After a six-month break in fighting, on April 9, 1940 Germany defeated
Denmark in less than a day. Norway was then defeated in two days. In
order to gain access to France Germany defeated Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, and Belgium. Through Belgium Germany was able to attack
France while avoiding the Maginot defense Line.
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Under Mussolini, Italy also joined Germany's attack on France. On June
22, 1940, France surrendered to Germany. Under the terms of surrender
Germany occupied the northern 2/3 of the country while the French Prime
Minister, Petain, governed from the southern city of Vichy. However not all
the French gave up the fight against Germany. Charles de Gaulle led an
underground resistance against the Nazis.
Summary, continued
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After France, Hitler then turned his sights toward Britain. Hitler hoped to first
use his Luftwaffe or air force to knock out Britain's air force or RAF. He then
hoped to launch a powerful sea born attack known as Operation Sea Lion.
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However, the RAF valiantly defended their country and was successful in
holding off the German attack.
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The United States aided Britain by passing laws such as the Lend and
Lease Act, which supplied Britain with weapons but not troops. Roosevelt
hoped that America could be the "arsenal of democracy." US ships
guarded British merchant ships traveling on the Atlantic.
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With failure in Britain evident, Germany began to attack Eastern Europe.
Germany first defeated Greece and Yugoslavia.
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Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary allied with Hitler and the axis powers.
Germany broke its treaty and invaded the Soviet Union, surrounding
Leningrad and Moscow.
Summary, continued
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Japan began to conquer lands in Asia as Germany was in Europe. It first conquered
the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931 and then invaded China itself in 1937.
(*see Rape of Nanking)
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When the United States felt that Japan was threatening US controlled Philippines as
well as other European controlled colonies it cut off vital supplies that Japan
needed for its war effort. In retaliation, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese
devastated the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.
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Outraged, the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War II
against the Axis powers. The Allies won victories at The Battle of the Coral Sea and
at Midway, turning the tide of war in the Allies’ favor. The United States then began
island hopping or moving from one island to the next conquering Japanese
holdings.
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In North Africa, the United States under Eisenhower and the British under
Montgomery won a decisive victory against Germany's Erwin Rommel, formerly a
very successful German tank strategist who earned the nickname "desert fox."
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The Nazis suffered further setbacks when the Russians took advantage of the
winter to defeat the Germans at Stalingrad. Soviet troops then began to win victory
after victory against the Germans in the Soviet Union.
Summary, continued
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The Allies then began to invade Europe through Italy. They conquered Sicily and
Italy changed alliances, switching from axis support to ally support.
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The "nail in the coffin" for the German Third Reich came on June 6, 1944 when
the Allies launched an invasion code-named D-Day on Normandy, France.
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The Allied forces pushed the Germans east as the Soviet Union pushed
German troops west. The two sides met at Berlin where Germany was forced
to surrender. Hitler could not bear defeat and killed himself.
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Meanwhile, the Japanese were able to continue to hold off allied forces. Truman
decided to end the war against Japan quickly and decisively with the use of the
United State's secret weapon, the atomic bomb. Bombs were dropped on both
Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing 120,000 nearly instantly. Aghast at these horrors,
Emperor Hirohito surrendered on September 2, 1945.
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Overall, over 40 million people were killed in the war.
The Fall of Germany, 1944
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November 20, 1944 Hitler abandons Rastenburg headquarters
December 16
Battle of the Bulge; Germans begin counter
offensive in Ardennes, France
December 24
Germans surround Americans at Bastogne
January 16, 1945 U.S. forces freed from Bastogne
February 4
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Yalta
Conference
April 12
Roosevelt dies; Truman becomes U.S.
president
April 16
Soviets begin offensive on Berlin
April 25
U.S. and Soviet advances meet for first time
April 28
Partisans execute Mussolini
April 30
Hitler commits suicide
May 7
Germany signs formal surrender
May 8
Western Allies declare V-E Day
May 9
USSR declares Victory Day
April 30, 1945 - Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin bunker.
At noon, Hitler attended his last military
situation conference and was told the
Soviets were just a block away. At 2
p.m. Hitler sat down and had his last
meal, a vegetarian lunch. Hitler and his
wife Eva then bid a final farewell to
Bormann, Goebbels, Generals Krebs
and Burgdorf, other remaining military
aides and staff members.
Hitler and his wife then went back into
their private quarters while Bormann
and Goebbels remained quietly nearby.
Several moments later a gunshot was
heard. After waiting a few moments, at
3:30 p.m., Bormann and Goebbels
entered and found the body of Hitler
sprawled on the sofa, dripping with
blood from a gunshot to his right
temple. Eva Braun had died from
swallowing poison.
As Soviet shells exploded nearby, the bodies were carried up to the
Chancellery garden, doused with gasoline and burned while Bormann
and Goebbels stood by and gave a final Nazi salute. Over the next three
hours the bodies were repeatedly doused with gasoline. The charred
remains were then swept into a canvas, placed into a shell crater and
buried.
Back inside the bunker, with the Führer now gone, everyone began
smoking, a practice Hitler had generally forbidden in his presence. They
next began collectively plotting daring (but fruitless) escapes out of
Berlin to avoid capture by the Soviets.
On the following day, May 1, Goebbels and his wife proceeded to poison
their six young children in the bunker, then went up into the Chancellery
garden where they were shot in the back of the head at their request by
an SS man. Their bodies were then burned, but were only partially
destroyed and were not buried. Their macabre remains were discovered
by the Soviets the next day and filmed, the charred body of Goebbels
becoming an often seen image symbolizing of the legacy of Hitler's
Reich.
Nov 20, 1945
Opening of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal
to try German war criminals.
The former leaders of Hitler's Third Reich on trial in Nuremberg, Germany.
Shown in the photo above - Front Row from Left to Right
Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank,
Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher (published The Poisonous Mushroom), Walther Funk, Hjalmar Schacht.
Back Row Left to Right
Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Franz von Papen, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Albert Speer,
Konstantin von Neurath, Hans Fritzsche.
Assignment: Define EACH of the
following terms/events completely.
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Events leading to start of WWII
Hitler’s Rise to Power
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Early years
WWI
Beer Hall Putsch, 1923 (*Mein Kampf)
Becomes German Chancellor 1933
Reichstag Fire, Feb 1933 / Enabling Act suspends basic freedoms
(*Nuremberg Laws has its own slide show)
Night of Long Knives, 1934
Rhineland Reoccupied, 1936
Anschluss, March 1938
Sudetenland, Oct 1938 (*Kristallnacht has its own slide show)
Invasion of Poland, Sept 1, 1939
Hitler’s Suicide
Nuremberg Trials