The Rise of Hitler

1. The Rise of Hitler 1930-1939

2. How did it happen? • Hitler was elected chancellor of Germany in 1933 and quickly became the undisputed dictator. • He wanted to re-establish Germany as the dominant power in Europe and to do this he had to violate the Treaty of Versailles. • By 1935, he was rearming Germany in violation of the treaty and gaining control of its military and foreign affairs.

3. How did it happen? • The League of Nations was a huge failure. • The world was in a massive economic depression. • Fascism was on the rise across Europe.

4. Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) • Spanish fascists led by Generalissimo Franco and supported by Hitler (Germany) and Mussolini (Italy) attacked the forces of the democratically elected government. There were more than one million casualties. • The League of Nations did nothing – and Hitler noticed this.

5. Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) • The Fascists won and Franco ruled Spain for the next 35 years – long after Hitler and Mussolini were dead. Gen. Francisco Franco

6. Hitler’s Policies • His vision: a great Germany needed to expand and that had to be done through conquest. • He believed “Might is Right” – the strong survive and the weak perish. • He saw Germans as a superior Aryan nation. This meant non-Jewish whites. He thought Nazis should destroy “lesser” races – Jews, gays, minorities, disabled.

7. Hitler’s Policies • To encourage the birth rate he sent all women home from work and encouraged “kinder, kirche, kuche” (children, church, kitchen). • He wanted Germany to be self-sufficient and not rely on trade. Germany would expand its borders to get what land and resources it needed.

8. German Expansion • In 1936, Hitler moved German troops into the Rhineland DMZ against the advice of his military advisors. They believed this would cause a war with France. • Hitler told the troops to retreat at the first sign of French troops but he believed there would be no resistance. He was right – the French never responded.

9. In 1934, he reoccupied the Rhineland region. • The French fumed but could not convince the British to help punish the Germans. • In the end they let it slide but began to spend more on military hardware.

10. Anschluss • Hitler’s dream was that Austria and Germany would unite so he and other Austrians would be officially German – but this was forbidden by the Versailles treaty. • He had to convince Mussolini to break its treaty with Austria first – he did this by offering an alliance with Italy. • He got Austria to legalize the Nazi Party and threatened them with invasion forcing the chancellor to resign and allowing the Nazis in.

11. Sudentenland • In March 1938, Hitler raised his concerns over the plight of ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia. He promised military aid if the Czechs did not back off. • The Czech’s were not amused and vowed to fight – if the French and British had their back. • In September, the British told the Czech’s that Hitler should have the Sudentenland and that Hitler promised to stop there. • In March 1939, Hitler occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia.

12. Poland Watching the Germans occupy Austria and Czechoslovakia, the French and Poles formed a formal alliance in May 1939. The Poles especially were suspicious of the British but needed to be friendly in order to keep the French on side. Over the next few months, the French sent modern equipment to modernise the Polish Army. The British offered, but had to keep most of it to re-arm themselves.

13. War In August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non aggression pact. Neither side would fight against each other if they attacked a third party. On September 1, 1939 the Germans invaded. By the end of the month, the Soviet Union occupied the eastern parts of Poland.