Germany & the Rise of National Socialism

How the Nazi Party Came to Power&What They DidGermany & the Rise ofNational Socialism

Brandenburg Gate - Berlin

Born 4/20/1889, AustriaHS drop-outFailed art studentNo trade or careerLived off relatives $$WW1 vetNo real friendsAdapted ideas of othersFailed revolutionaryAdolf Hitler: Who is this guy?

Johann G. Fichte (early 1800s)Germanic superiorityGeorg WF Hegel (mid-1800s)State is #1, people serve the StateHeinrich von Treitschke (late 1800s)Obedience to the StateWar is Man at his finestFriedrich NietzscheStruggle = Life , bermenschRichard WagnerAnti-Semitic / German RomanticismWhose ideas influenced Hitler?

Struggle (Darwin)Competition / Force / WinRace Theory (Social Darwinism)Aryan supremacyRacial Purity / the Volk = eliteAnti-Semitism / anti-weak / anti-otherStrong Leadership (Fascist)Anti-Democracy / Anti-CommunistFhrer embodies the VolkMission + ResponsibilityWhat did Hitler believe?

Joined German Workers Party 1919Led by early 1920s > to NSDAP = NAZIFailed Munich Putsch 1923 = prisonMein Kampf = Fame / $$NAZI propaganda + SA Violence = Votes!Hitler 2nd in 32 presidential vote NAZIs top party, but no majorityCoalition deal?Hitler's Path to Dictatorship

Chancellor HitlerHindenburg = President, agingVon Papen = Chancellor, but.. No confidence vote, No Army supportHitler named Chancellor 1/30/1933Reichstag Fire > Enabling Act = DictatorBlood Purge 1934 v. internal NAZI dissentErnst Rhm + other SA leaders = dead!Gestapo + SS (elite)

Hitler's Path to Dictatorship

Purify & Strengthen GermanyBook burning + propaganda + lawsPersecution of Jews, intellectuals, dissidents, communists, unionists, etc.Show Trials >> Concentration CampsImprove LifeReichsautobahn built = employmentCompulsory Labor Service (RAD) = URestore German pridePropaganda + Re-arm + Hitler YouthHitler's early actions

(S) Collapse of traditions = apathy, lossWW1 humiliation = angerForeign occupation = anger(P) Poor political leadership = confusion(R) Church had no answers = no hope( I ) Intellectual outsiders arise = Hitler(T) Mass media use = propaganda(E) Economic stress = desperationReparations + Hyper-inflation + How can this happen?Hitler is the "dark Spot" in German history