WORLD WAR II ORIGINS:

1. WORLD WAR II ORIGINS: GERMANY & THE RISE OF NAZISM, 1919-39

2. CRITICAL TERMS • ADOLF HITLER • ERNST ROHM • RUDOLF HESS • PAUL von HINDENBURG • STURMABTEILUNG (SA) • FREIKORPS • SCHUTZSTAFFEL (SS) • THE BEER HALL PUTSCH • MEIN KAMPF • “LEBENSRAUM”

3. GROWTH OF NAZI PARTY TIMELINE • 1919: • TREATY OF VERSAILLES IMPOSES HARSH TERMS ON GERMANY • ADOLF HITLER SETTLES IN MUNICH – JOINS NSDAP(i.e. The Nazi Party) • 1920: • NAZI PARTY GROWS TO 3000 MEMBERS • HITLER BECOMES LEADER OF PARTY • 1923: • HITLER LEADS THE “BEER HALL PUTSCH” • HITLER SENTENCED TO PRISON • 1925: • MEIN KAMPF PUBLISHED • MEMBERSHIP RISES TO 27,000 • 1929: • NAZI MEMBERSHIP REACHES 108,000 • GREAT DEPRESSION DEVASTATES GERMAN ECONOMY • 1932: HITLER RUNS FOR PRESIDENT, LOSES, BUT GETS 37% OF VOTE • 1933: • JANUARY: HITLER NAMED CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY • FEBRUARY: THE REICHSTAG FIRE • THE REISCHSTAG FIRE DECREE PASSED – CIVIL LIBERTIES SUSPENDED IN GERMANY • THE ENABLING ACT PASSED – HITLER NOW HAS RIGHT TO “RULE BY DECREE” • 1934: • PRESIDENT HINDENBURG DIES – HITLER BECOMES “FUHRER” • NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES • 1936: GERMANY REOCCUPIES THE RHINELAND

4. BASIC GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE: WEIMAR REPUBLIC, GERMANY, 1919 – 1933

5. NAZI SEIZURE OF POWER, 1933-34

6. NAZI ORIGINS • 1918-19: NATIONAL SOCIALIST GERMAN WORKERS PARTY (NSDAP) – “NAZI” FORMED • WHERE? BAVARIA (S. GERMANY), CITY OF MUNICH IS FOCUS • WHO? • DISPLACED / DISGRUNTLED WAR VETERANS – “FRONTKAMPFER” • FORMER FREIKORPS MEN • POOR, DISPLACED, UNEMPLOYED WORKERS • TRAITS: • MILITARY – STYLE ORGANIZATION (UNIFORMS {KHAKI SHIRTS, BOOTS, etc.}, PARADES, ETC.) • ABSOLUTE LOYALTY TO THE PARTY AND NATION WAS SUPREME • HIGHLY RACIST, esp. ANTI-SEMITIC • RACIAL IDEOLOGY EMPHASIZED SUPREMACY OF THE “ARYAN” RACE • POLITICAL IDEAS: • GERMANY HAD BEEN BETRAYED BY A CONSPIRACY OF JEWS & COMMUNISTS @ END OF WWI (“STABBED IN THE BACK THEORY”) • GERMANY HAD TO REGAIN IT’S HONOR • HOW?: • ERADICATING / IGONORING THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES • TERRITORIAL EXPANSION INTO NATIONS / LANDS WHERE GERMANY COULD FIND THE RESOURCES IT NEEDED TO BECOME GREAT AGAIN • ELIMINATING / ENSLAVING THOSE RACES INFERIOR TO THE GERMANS

7. NAZI RISE TO POWER: KEY INGREDIENTS

8. NAZI PARTYBASIC BELIEFS &PRINCIPLES

9. NAZI IDEOLOGY: BASIC CONCEPTS

10. NAZI PROPAGANDA – KEY ELEMENTS • HOW DID THE NAZI PARTY CONVERT GERMANS TO THEIR IDEAS IN THE 1920’s/1930’s?

11. “EIN VOLK, EIN LAND, EIN FUHRER!!!” Translation: “One People, One Nation, One Leader”

12. ADOLF HITLER, SPEECH “PRACTICE PHOTOS”

13. ADOLF HITLER,SPEECH PRACTICEPHOTO

15. NAZI RALLY – NUREMBERG, 1934

17. NAZI RALLY, NUREMBURG, 1938 (R)SIDEWALK IMAGE, BERLIN, 1936 (BELOW)

19. Nazi PropagandaPoster, 1930’s:“The NSDAP secures the community.”

20. “Youth serves the Fuhrer.”

21. ADOLF HITLER PORTRAYED AS THE GERMANICMESSIAH

22. HITLER YOUTH, NUREMBERG, 1938

23. LEAGUE OF GERMAN GIRLS CHAPTER, 1937

24. “60,000 Reich Marks: That is what this person suffering from hereditary defects costs the German Community during his lifetime. Fellow citizen – that is your money, too.”A NEW PEOPLE, OFFICIAL NSDAP MAGAZINE

28. JOSEPH GOEBBELS, NAZI MINISTER OFPROPAGANDA

30. GERMAN-AMERICAN BUND RALLYPROPAGANDA POSTER,FEBRUARY, 1939

31. GERMAN-AMERICAN “BUND” RALLY, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NYC, 1939

33. POWER STRUCTURE, NAZI GERMANY

34. NAZI SENIOR LEADERSHIP Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Germany

35. ADOLF HITLER

37. THE GERMAN MILITARY STRUCTURE • GERMAN MILITARY: THE “WERMACHT” • COMPONENTS: • “HEER”: GERMAN ARMY (INFANTRY, ARMOR, ARTILLERY, etc.) • “LUFTWAFFE”:GERMAN AIR FORCE (including airborne /paratrooper units) • “WAFFEN – SS”: SS COMBAT UNITS (infantry, armor, military police) – SERVED IN COMBAT ALONG W/ ARMY • “KRIEGSMARINE”: GERMAN NAVY • POINTS OF NOTE: • THERE IS NO “MARINE” TYPE OF ORGANIZATION IN THE GERMAN MILITARY STRUCTURE, UNLIKE THE U.S. (USMC) OR THE U.K. (ROYAL MARINES) • ALL “AIRBORNE” (PARATROOPER) UNITS IN THE WERMACHT WERE PART OF THE LUFTWAFFE, NOT THE GERMAN ARMY. • THIS IS DISTINCTIVE FROM MANY NATIONS (U.S., U.K., RUSSIA, etc.) WHERE AIRBORNE UNITS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS A DIVISION OF THE ARMY

38. WWII GERMAN WERMACHT STRUCTURE

39. S.S. GROUPINGS & STRUCTURE

40. UNIQUE GERMAN MILITARY TERMS • “SCHWERPUNKT” – Focus of an attack • BATTLEFIELD STRATEGY DEVELOPED BY GERMANY IN THE LATE 1930’s • A COMBINED-ARMS METHOD OF WARFARE EMPLOYING A COMBINATION OF THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS: • ARMOR • AIR POWER • AIRBORNE UNITS • INFANTRY MOBILITY & ASSAULT • ARTILLERY • BASED ON THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES • NEUTRALIZING ENEMY AIR POWER AT THE OUTSET OF ANY CAMPAIGN • USE OF AIRBORNE ELEMENTS TO DISRUPT ENEMEY COMMUNICATIONS & RESERVE SUPPORT • SIMULTANEOUS USE OF INFANTRY ASSAULT, TANK (PANZER) ASSAULT & ARTILLERY SUPPORT TO NEUTRALIZE ENEMY’S MOBILITY • ARMORED THRUST (“PUNCH”)THROUGH ENEMY LINES TO PENETRATE INTO ENEMY RESERVE AREAS • ULITMATE GOAL: ENCIRCLEMENT OF ENEMY UNITS, DESTRUCTION OF UNITS, AND BREAKOUT INTO OPEN COUNTRYSIDE • ARMOR, INFANTRY MOBILITY CAN THEN BE USED TO DISRUPT ENEMY’S ABILITY TO RECOVER • CALLED “BLITZKRIEG” (translation = “LIGHTNING WAR “)BY ENGLISH & WESTERN MEDIA

41. GENERAL HEINZ GUDERIAN,GERMAN ARMY;Considered the author / creator of Blitzkriegwarfare

42. Basic BlitzkriegBattle Sequence

43. BLITZKRIEG: noun • : war conducted with great speed and force; specifically: a violent surprise offensive by massed air forces and mechanized ground forces in close coordination Definition from Merriam-Webster Dictionary

44. SCHWERPUNKT MEANING: noun: The point of focus; an area of concentrated effort, especially in a military operation. ETYMOLOGY: From German Schwerpunkt(center of gravity, focal point), from schwer (weighty) + punkt (point)

46. THE INVASION OF POLAND • When? September 1, 1939 • Causes: • German-Soviet Non-Aggression Treaty (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) allowed Germans to invade from the West • Soviets invade from East on Sept. 17th • Hitler’s belief in need for German “Lebensraum” • Hitler’s racial theory: Poles were Slavic people, therefore they were target for enslavement or extermination • Poland had large Jewish population – they would be targeted for extermination • The “Polish Corridor” issue (See map) • Polish Corridor problem tied to Hitler’s belief in unification of all German people (like the Sudetenland) • Long-range goal: • Poland would provide preparation area for eventual invasion of Russia • Non-aggression treaty would lull Stalin into believing Soviet borders were secure

48. INVASION OF POLAND (cont’d.) • DATES: Sept. 1, 1939 – Oct. 1, 1939 • TRIATS: • Germans use “Blitzkrieg” tactics to overwhelm the Poles • Polish forces are obsolete and planning on a defensive strategy • Poles do not anticipate fighting a two-front war (never anticipated Russian invasion from East) • WHY ARE GERMANS SUCCESSFUL? • Poles have no adequate forces in the following areas: • Aircraft (WWI-style planes) • Armor – German Panzer units are more advanced / modern • Inexperience: Poles are less battle-tested than German troops • Geography: Polish terrain is ideal for Blitzkrieg tactics (flat land, few major cities) • Russian invasion ruins Polish defense plans • Poles trust alliance guarantees from French and British • -Expect Western allies will attack Germans and force Germany into two-front war • RESULTS: • Poland ceases to exist as sovereign nation • Poland divided between Germany and Soviet Union • German military gains valuable combat experience • “Blitzkrieg” continues to improve – Germans learn lessons • Germans are better prepared for 1940 attack on France • Surviving Polish forces flee to Britain – Polish Government-in-Exile is formed • Polish military / air units formed as part of British military • OTHER ISSUES: The Holocaust begins in full-force

49. INVASION OF POLAND,SEPTEMBER,1939