Chapter-3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

Explanation:

Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated following Imperial Germany's loss in World War I at the behest of the Allies. This offered parliamentary parties a chance to reform the German political system.

In order to establish a republic with a constitution based on democracy and a federal framework, a National Assembly convened in the town of Weimar. However, for the following reasons, this young republic was not well accepted by its own citizens:

i) At Versailles, the nations of the Allies imposed a severe and demeaning treaty that directly charged German troops with starting World War I. To the chagrin of the German people, the treaty was ratified by the Weimar Republic.

ii) France, Poland, Denmark, and Lithuania gained all of Germany's former territories, a tenth of its populace, 75% of its iron, and 26% of its coal.

iii) The Conflict The Guilt Clause made Germany liable for the war's consequences, including the harm it brought to the Allied countries. They were compelled to make total settlement payments of £6 billion. Germans had no way to make the repayments because it lost most of its lucrative territories. 

iv) The Allied Armies briefly seized the resource-rich Rhineland as a result of the failure to provide compensation. In response, the Weimar Republic issued copious amounts of paper money in order to settle the enormous debt. Hyperinflation and the ultimate downfall of the financial system resulted from this.

v) The nation's populace held the new Germany accountable for the country's loss in the First World War and accepting the humiliation at Versailles, in addition to the economic collapse and the humiliation of having a foreign force occupy German land.

Explanation:

The political climate in Germany had shifted following the conclusion of World War I. The young Weimar Republic was plagued by issues from the start.

i) He severe Versailles Treaty dealt the Germans' finances and sense of national pride a severe blow.

ii) The 1929 Great Depression, which had already had a significant negative impact on the presently fragile German economy, made the economic position worse. The Weimar Republic's failure to fix the problem only served to inflame the public's feelings. 

iii) The political situation was not much better, as the various political parties—including the communists and socialists—fought among themselves, preventing the implementation of any measures that would improve the situation of the German people.

iv)  Hitler would use this context to organize the nascent National Socialist German Worker's party, also known as the Nazi party, into a widespread force. 

v) Hitler pledged to uphold Nazi principles in order to reverse the atrocities of the Versailles Treaty, reestablish the dignity of Germans, and create a strong Germany free from all outside forces and "conspiracies."

vi) The middle class in Germany, which was in danger of going hungry as a result of the financial crisis that had closed down banks, companies, and industries, gave him a lot of support.

vii) Hitler was effectively portrayed as a liberator and Nazism as a way to free Germans from the suffering of living through an acute political and economic downturn by Nazi propaganda and Hitler's impressive oratory abilities.

Explanation:

Hitler's worldview was the epitome of Nazi ideology. These are the characteristics of such thinking:

i) There was no such thing as racial equity; rather, there was a hierarchy of races, involving the blond blue-eyed, Scandinavian German Aryans at the peak and the Jews at the bottom. Based on their outward appearance, every other person of race was assigned a position somewhere in between.

ii) The idea of Lebensraum, or living area, was the other tenet of Nazi ideology. It was thought that in order to increase the German nation's material resources and power, new regions had to be obtained with the loss of the local populace.

iii) They adhered to a perverted version of Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection known as the "survival of the fittest" (SOS). According to their interpretation, the strong race would prevail over the weak, and vice versa.

iv)  "Racial purity" was highly valued in Nazi ideology. This implied that people who were born with both mental and physical disabilities were 'undesirable' and unclean. They had no business existing because to permit them would only degrade the German breed. According to the gloomy skies of World War II, Blacks, Slavs, Gypsies, and Jews were all viewed as subhuman and killed in large numbers. 

v) Nazis supported aggression and conflict. By their standards, any idea of peace or ideologies linked to it were weak. They thought that the German race's dominance of the globe through war was evidence of its superiority.

Explanation:

The Nazis were very good at using lies to their advantage. They produced propaganda movies, with The Eternal Jew being the most notorious, to incite hate of Jews. Jews who were Orthodox were stigmatized and marked. They were depicted as having long beards, donning kaftans, and being rodents and vermin who preyed on honorable Germans.

Despite the reality that many Jews distinguished themselves in the war, they were also held responsible for Germany's defeat. The Nazis' propaganda successfully influenced the public's thoughts by appealing to their emotions and utilizing long-standing anti-Semitic prejudice. This directed their rage and hate towards those who were held responsible for all of Germany's problems, both present and past. And the solution to these "ills" would be the Nazis.

Explanation:

In Nazi society, women were relegated to the role of housewives, who had the responsibility of protecting the dignity of the German people by avoiding interaction with "undesirables" and having as many children who were of pure blood as possible. Those who adopted this position received preferential treatment in hospitals, discounts in stores, free theatre tickets, and reduced train fares. Hitler claimed that women were the most essential citizens, but not all women agreed with him. Particularly those who broke with Nazi doctrine. Those who did ran the risk of being publicly humiliated, losing their civic honor, their families, going to prison, and even dying. 

This was in stark contrast to how women were involved in the aftermath of the French Revolutionary War, where they led organizations and fought for equality in pay and access to schooling. They could not be compelled against their will to get married. They could also pursue careers in art, entrepreneurship, or work training. They were permitted to own land and had to attend school.

Explanation:

 Hitler was appointed Germany's chancellor by Paul Von Hindenburg, the leader of the Weimar Republic. Soon after, the Reichstag, Germany's parliament structure, experienced a mysterious fire. Hitler issued a First Wildfire decree in 1933, suspending democratic liberties like freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and freedom of expression in response to the arson, which he blamed on communism and other "enemies of the state." Hitler thus began to successfully rule the German populace. He also made the following actions to gradually undermine democracy in Germany: 

i) The "Enabling Act," which gave Hitler complete authority to ignore the parliament and govern by decree, was passed.

ii) All political organizations were outlawed, with the possible exception for the Nazi Party. These prohibited groups' members were either imprisoned, banished, or murdered.

iii) The socialists were completely exterminated, and the survivors were sent to concentration centers.

iv) The SA, SS, SD, and Gestapo were established as specialized security forces to regulate and organize society the way the Nazis desired. Extrajudicial authority was granted to these organizations.

v) Children were trained to be obedient and devoted in schools. In addition, they were instructed to despise Jews and revere Hitler, creating a group of individuals in the process. 

vi) Hitler Youth and other Nazi youth organizations were founded, where young people were instructed to despise democracy, communism, Jews, and other 'undesirables'.