The Rise of Nazi Germany
Germany had issues following World War I.
Many people turned to the Nazi Party because it offered solutions to these issues.
Germany was ruled by the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Some issues were resolved by the Nazis, but they also turned Germany into a police state that
disregarded human rights.
Additionally, they attempted to invade Eastern Europe, and this military presence resulted in World War II.
The end of World War I
While the First World War was still in progress, Germany's government changed in 1918.
After being dismissed, the German Kaiser was forced to flee into exile.
The Weimar Republic and the Treaty of Versailles
The Weimar Republic was the name of the newly elected government after the Kaiser fled.
The administration decided that peace with the Allies would be better after realizing that Germany was
losing the war.
Consequently, the German army capitulated in November 1918 despite the opposition of numerous army
generals.
The Paris Peace Conference, where the leaders of the Allies gathered to draft a peace treaty, did not
extend an invitation to the German government.
The Allies concluded that Germany should pay a price for beginning the war.
Additionally, they wanted to make sure that Germany wouldn't be capable of winning another conflict.
In the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, numerous methods of retaliation against Germany were devised.
German Punishments
Germany was required to make compensation for all war damages under the terms of the peace treaty.
As a result, the German economy was under strain, and many people in Germany began to live in poverty.
Germany was forced to cede portions of its lands in Europe as well as its colonies in Africa, including
Namibia.
As a result, German-speaking individuals could now be found residing in former German colonies like
Poland and Czechoslovakia.
It was prohibited for Germany to ally with German-speaking Austria.
Germany was forced to reduce the size of its military.
There might not be any tanks, submarines, or aircraft, but there might be a tiny army and navy.
It was not allowed to have any soldiers in the Rhineland.
The saddest part for many Germans was that they had to admit that Germany alone was to blame for
World War I.
This, they believed, was unfair.
The peace deal had angered Germans.
The Weimar government was accused of signing it by some.
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Grade 9 Oxford Successful Social Sciences
Others desired retaliation against the Allies for making Germany accept it.
A permanent peace was not established by the Treaty of Versailles.
Instead, it served as the impetus for the Second World War, which broke out 20 years later.
Hitler and the Nazis in the 1920s
People looked for new solutions as a result of the dire circumstances in Germany.
The Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, emerged as a new political force.
Thousands of former soldiers, including Hitler, were enraged by how Germany had been treated in the
peace pact.
Hitler joined the National Socialist German Workers Party (also called the Nazis), a modest political
organization, in 1920.
The Nazis began to gather supporters.
After the war, things in Germany were terrible, and a lot of people thought the Nazis could fix everything.
Hitler was imprisoned after the Nazis failed in their attempt to overthrow the government in Munich, one
of Germany's major towns, in 1923.
He published a book about his political beliefs while he was incarcerated.
The book's name was Mein Kampf (My Struggle).
By rejecting the Treaty of Versailles and regaining the territory that Germany was forced to cede, he
vowed to restore Germany's greatness.
He declared that Germans should strive to establish a superior "Master Race" and that Jews were too
responsible for all of Germany's troubles.
Because the United States had provided money to Germany, by the middle of the 1920s, the German
economy was performing better.
As a result, fewer people supported the Nazis.
The Nazi Party was not strong when Hitler was released from prison.
They only received 12 seats (out of 472) in the German parliamentary elections of 1928.
The Great Depression of 1929 and the effects on Germany
When the Great Depression began in 1929, the situation After the American stock exchange
altered. crashed, the Great Depression began. It is
This economic catastrophe affected the entire planet. known as the Wall Street Crash. (Wall
Street is the location of the New York Stock
Trade ceased to exist, companies and mines shuttered, and Exchange.) The 1930s were marked by the
jobs were lost all across the world. Great Depression, which afflicted the
Germany suffered greatly from the Depression. majority of the world. The Depression had
Due to Germany's economic crisis, the US withdrew the money an impact on people in South Africa as well.
it had invested there.
Jobs were lost as industries and businesses in Germany closed.
Six million workers had lost their jobs by 1932, and many people were famished.
The challenges brought on by the economic crisis were a challenge for the German administration.
People lost faith in the Weimar Republic and held it responsible for the crisis.
The failure of democracy in the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic was Germany's first democratic administration.
Many Germans did not trust the democratic system, and the politicians lacked considerable experience.
The Weimar government was held accountable by German nationalists for ratifying the Treaty of
Versailles.
They considered the lawmakers who signed it to be German traitors.
In an emergency, the president is entitled to additional powers under the Weimar Constitution.
He may, for instance, make decisions without consulting the legislature.
The president began to exercise these powers more frequently as a result of the economic crisis.
Germany's democratic system was beginning to crumble as a result of the parliament's declining
influence.
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Grade 9 Oxford Successful Social Sciences
Reasons for the public support for the Nazi Party
Hitler and the Nazi Party were once again embraced as the situation in Germany deteriorated.
The Nazis made promises to restore law and order, create jobs, bring the German people together, and
restore Germany's power.
Hitler vowed to reverse all of the controversial provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
The Nazis put a lot of effort into advancing their cause.
Public meetings, radio, newspapers, and radio were all used.
Those in charge of propaganda were Joseph Goebbels.
People in the 1930s were exposed to mass media on this scale for the first time and were impacted by it.
Hitler was a gifted public speaker as well.
Nazi stormtroopers disrupted meetings of rival political parties and intimidated people. Violence was
another tactic used by the Nazis.
The Nazi party gained 107 seats in the 1930 elections, up from 12 previously.
The 1932 and 1933 Elections
The Nazis became Germany's largest political party by 1932.
230 seats were gained by them in the elections.
This indicated that 37% of voters had backed them.
Hitler was chosen as the best candidate to lead the government by Germany's top lawmakers.
In January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor, but the Nazis did not yet have complete power.
The German parliament was composed of more than half non-Nazis.
Only 44% of the vote went to the Nazis in the election of 1933.
The Enabling Act (1933) and Dictatorship
The issues in Germany persisted.
There were millions of unemployed people, and violence was on the rise.
The "Enabling Act" was adopted by the German parliament in March 1933.
This granted the government exclusive authority to solve the issues.
The Nazis were given the chance to seize total power as a result.
Nazi rule over Germany was established.
Other political groups were outlawed by the Nazis, and the parliament was shut down.
Hitler declared himself to be Germany's Führer.
Now he could write his own laws.
They established a military government and expanded the size of the police and military.
jobs as a result.
The swastika, the national flag of Nazi Germany, was adopted.
The judiciary was under Nazi control.
Judges who refused to back the Nazis were fired.
Teachers were required to join the Nazi Teacher's League and independent labour unions were outlawed.
Opponents are sent to concentration camps.
Anyone who disagreed with Nazi policies was detained by the Gestapo, the secret police.
Concentration camps were used to hold political figures, editors of newspapers, teachers, unions, and
others who spoke out against the Nazis.
At Dachau, the first one was established in 1933, and there were six by 1939.
The SS, a special group of devoted Nazi soldiers, brutally oversaw the operation of these camps.
Numerous inmates perished from malnutrition and exhausting work.
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