Hitler and Nazi Germany

1. Hitler and Nazi Germany

2. Adolf Hitler • Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, the son of a minor customs official and a peasant girl.

3. Hitler’s Father Hitler’s Mother

6. A poor student, he never completed high school.

7. He applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna twice but was rejected for lack of talent.

8. “Then I came to Vienna….” • Staying in Vienna until 1913, he lived first on an orphan's pension, later on small earnings from pictures he drew.

11. “Is this a Jew? was my first thought. They surely didn't look like that in Linz. I observed the man stealthily and cautiously. But the longer I stared at this alien face, examining it feature for feature, the more my first question was transformed into a new conception: Is this a German?” - Mein Kampf • While in Vienna he read voraciously, developing anti-Jewish and antidemocratic convictions, an admiration for the outstanding individual, and a contempt for the masses.

12. The major influences on Hitler's ideology included • The musical dramas of Richard Wagner.

13. The demagogic, anti-Semitic, and mass political party methods of the Vienna, Austria mayor, Karl Lueger;

14. the virulently ultra nationalistic diatribes of Pan-German leader Georg von Schönerer.

15. and the racist and nationalist literature of Lanz von Liebenfels.

16. In World War I, Hitler, volunteered for service in the Bavarian army and served as a dispatch runner.

17. He proved a dedicated, courageous soldier, but was never promoted beyond private first class because his superiors thought him lacking in leadership qualities.

18. After Germany's defeat in 1918 he returned to Munich, remaining in the army until 1920.

20. The German Workers’ Party • In September 1919 he joined the nationalist German Workers' party, and in April 1920 he went to work full time for the party, now renamed the National Socialist German Workers' (Nazi) party.

21. The Original Nazi Party

22. Nazi Fuhrer • In 1921 he was elected party chairman (Führer) with dictatorial powers.

23. Hitler spread his gospel of racial hatred and contempt for democracy.

24. He organized meetings, and terrorized political foes with his personal bodyguard force, the Sturmabteilung (SA, or Storm Troopers).

25. He soon became a key figure in Bavarian politics, aided by high officials and businessmen.

26. The Beer Hall Putsch • In November 1923, a time of political and economic chaos, he led an uprising (Putsch) in Munich against the postwar Weimar Republic, proclaiming himself chancellor of a new authoritarian regime.

27. “One last thing I can tell you. Either the German revolution begins tonight and the morrow will find us in Germany a true nationalist government, or it will find us dead by dawn!"

28. Without military support, the Putsch collapsed and Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison. • He was released after nine months

29. The failure of the uprising taught Hitler that the Nazi party must use legal means to assume power.

30. Mein Kampf • He spent the nine months in prison dictating his autobiography Mein Kampf (My Struggle). • The book set forth Hitler's twisted ideology of racism, Aryan supremacy, and anti-Semitism.

31. Rudolph Hess

32. Lebensraum • Hitler also outlined his belief that the superior Aryan peoples needed living space and therefore had the right to seize territory through expansion and rule over the inferior masses of non-Aryans.

33. The Big Lie • The only really original ideas in the book related to the use of mass propaganda and mass psychology.

34. Hitler became the master of the “Big Lie.”

35. The Fuhrerprinzip • When released from prison Hitler rebuilt the Nazi Party based on the Fuhrerprinzip – the belief in the absolute obedience to the leader.

36. The Young Man’s Party • By the time the depression hit in 1929, the Nazi Party had grown to be a highly structured national party with over 178,000 members – 40% of them under the age of thirty.

37. The Great Depression • When the Great Depression struck in 1929, he explained it as a Jewish-Communist plot, an explanation accepted by many Germans.

38. Promising a strong Germany, jobs, and national glory, he attracted millions of voters. • Nazi representation in the Reichstag (parliament) rose from 12 seats in 1928 to 107 in 1930.

39. Chancellor Heinrich Bruning • The German Chancellor in 1930 was forced to rule by the use of emergency decrees from President Hindenburg.

40. “Hitler over Germany” • The Nazis began a massive campaign, traveling all over the country and appealing to national pride, honor and traditional militarism.

41. Hitler’s message appealed to the industrial magnates, landed aristocrats, military establishment and higher bureaucrats who saw him as the best man to establish a right-wing government.

42. Chancellor Adolf Hitler • On the advice of former chancellor Franz von Papen, Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor on January 30, 1933. • Most leaders believed Hitler would be easily controlled. Franz von Papen

46. Hitler Goebbels Goering Hess Rohm Tall like Goebbels; thin like Goering and blonde like Hitler…….

47. Herman Goering • Nazi Herman Goering became minister of the interior and established an interior police force made up of Nazi SA members.

48. The Reichstag Fire • When a mysterious fire burnt down the German Parliament building, Hitler convinced Hindenburg to grant him emergency powers.

49. The window into the building • The Nazis blamed the Communists for the fire and made the incident a pretext to suppress the Communist party with brutal violence; later, the Social Democratic party was also violently suppressed.

50. The Enabling Act • Hitler quickly established himself as a dictator. • A subservient legislature passed that permitted Hitler's government to make laws without the legislature.