Overview
The Nazi rise to power brought an end to the Weimar Republic, a parliamentary democracy established in Germany after World War I. Following the appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor on January 30, 1933, the Nazi state (also referred to as the Third Reich) quickly became a regime in which Germans enjoyed no guaranteed basic rights. After a suspicious fire in the Reichstag (the German Parliament), on February 28, 1933, the government issued a decree which suspended constitutional civil rights and created a state of emergency in which official decrees could be enacted without parliamentary confirmation.
In the first months of Hitler's chancellorship, the Nazis instituted a policy of "coordination"--the alignment of individuals and institutions with Nazi goals. Culture, the economy, education, and law all came under Nazi control. The Nazi regime also attempted to "coordinate" the German churches and, although not entirely successful, won support from a majority of Catholic and Protestant clergymen.
Extensive propaganda was used to spread the regime's goals and ideals. Upon the death of German president Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934, Hitler assumed the powers of the presidency. The army swore an oath of personal loyalty to him. Hitler's dictatorship rested on his position as Reich President (head of state), Reich Chancellor (head of government), and Fuehrer (head of the Nazi party). According to the "Fuehrer principle," Hitler stood outside the legal state and determined matters of policy himself.
Hitler had the final say in both domestic legislation and German foreign policy. Nazi foreign policy was guided by the racist belief that Germany was biologically destined to expand eastward by military force and that an enlarged, racially superior German population should establish permanent rule in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Here, women played a vital role. The Third Reich's aggressive population policy encouraged "racially pure" women to bear as many "Aryan" children as possible.
Within this framework, "racially inferior" peoples, such as Jews and Gypsies, would be eliminated from the region. Nazi foreign policy aimed from the beginning to wage a war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, and the peacetime years of the Nazi regime were spent preparing the German people for war. In the context of this ideological war, the Nazis planned and implemented the Holocaust, the mass murder of the Jews, who were considered the primary "racial" enemy.
Open criticism of the regime was suppressed by the Gestapo (secret state police) and the Security Service (SD) of the Nazi party, but Hitler's government was popular with most Germans. There was, however, some German opposition to the Nazi state, ranging from nonconformity to the attempt to kill Hitler on July 20, 1944.
The Allies defeated Nazi Germany and forced a German surrender on May 8, 1945.
United States Holocaust Museum Article
The Nazi rise to power brought an end to the Weimar Republic, a parliamentary democracy established in Germany after World War I. Following the appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor on January 30, 1933, the Nazi state (also referred to as the Third Reich) quickly became a regime in which Germans enjoyed no guaranteed basic rights. After a suspicious fire in the Reichstag (the German Parliament), on February 28, 1933, the government issued a decree which suspended constitutional civil rights and created a state of emergency in which official decrees could be enacted without parliamentary confirmation.
In the first months of Hitler's chancellorship, the Nazis instituted a policy of "coordination"--the alignment of individuals and institutions with Nazi goals. Culture, the economy, education, and law all came under Nazi control. The Nazi regime also attempted to "coordinate" the German churches and, although not entirely successful, won support from a majority of Catholic and Protestant clergymen.
Extensive propaganda was used to spread the regime's goals and ideals. Upon the death of German president Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934, Hitler assumed the powers of the presidency. The army swore an oath of personal loyalty to him. Hitler's dictatorship rested on his position as Reich President (head of state), Reich Chancellor (head of government), and Fuehrer (head of the Nazi party). According to the "Fuehrer principle," Hitler stood outside the legal state and determined matters of policy himself.
Hitler had the final say in both domestic legislation and German foreign policy. Nazi foreign policy was guided by the racist belief that Germany was biologically destined to expand eastward by military force and that an enlarged, racially superior German population should establish permanent rule in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Here, women played a vital role. The Third Reich's aggressive population policy encouraged "racially pure" women to bear as many "Aryan" children as possible.
Within this framework, "racially inferior" peoples, such as Jews and Gypsies, would be eliminated from the region. Nazi foreign policy aimed from the beginning to wage a war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, and the peacetime years of the Nazi regime were spent preparing the German people for war. In the context of this ideological war, the Nazis planned and implemented the Holocaust, the mass murder of the Jews, who were considered the primary "racial" enemy.
Open criticism of the regime was suppressed by the Gestapo (secret state police) and the Security Service (SD) of the Nazi party, but Hitler's government was popular with most Germans. There was, however, some German opposition to the Nazi state, ranging from nonconformity to the attempt to kill Hitler on July 20, 1944.
The Allies defeated Nazi Germany and forced a German surrender on May 8, 1945.
United States Holocaust Museum Article
key_terms_germany_1918-1945.docx | |
File Size: | 134 kb |
File Type: | docx |
nazi_timeline.doc | |
File Size: | 49 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Watch the documentary and complete the viewing sheet from Active History above.
|
Rise to Power 1919-1929
How did the Nazi Party develop between 1919-1929?
Using the attached packet answer the following questions
1) How did Hitler alter the DAP?
2) What political ideas are reflected in the 25 Point Programme?
3) Why did the Munich Putsch fail?
4) Why was Hitler given a lenient sentence for Treason?
5) How did the failure of the Munich Putsch change the Nazi's tactics?
6) By 1929 how powerful was the Nazi Party?
Using the attached packet answer the following questions
1) How did Hitler alter the DAP?
2) What political ideas are reflected in the 25 Point Programme?
3) Why did the Munich Putsch fail?
4) Why was Hitler given a lenient sentence for Treason?
5) How did the failure of the Munich Putsch change the Nazi's tactics?
6) By 1929 how powerful was the Nazi Party?
Rise to Power 1929-1933
why_did_people_support_the_nazis_reading.pdf | |
File Size: | 7135 kb |
File Type: |
Who supported the Nazi's?
Using the packet answer the following questions about who supported the Nazi's and why?
1) What sources do historians use to gain evidence about who supported the Nazi's
2) What can you infer from the statistics about Nazi Membership? (Occupational, class, regional, religious patterns, are some groups disproportionaly represented?)
3) What can you infer from the statistics about who voted for the Nazi's? (Occupational, class, gender, regional, religious patterns, are some groups disproportionally represented?)
4) Is there consensus amongst historians about where support from the Nazis' came from?
Using the packet answer the following questions about who supported the Nazi's and why?
1) What sources do historians use to gain evidence about who supported the Nazi's
2) What can you infer from the statistics about Nazi Membership? (Occupational, class, regional, religious patterns, are some groups disproportionaly represented?)
3) What can you infer from the statistics about who voted for the Nazi's? (Occupational, class, gender, regional, religious patterns, are some groups disproportionally represented?)
4) Is there consensus amongst historians about where support from the Nazis' came from?
To what extent did Nazi electoral propaganda reflect their ideology?
Use the attached document and your own knowledge to make a mindmap showing the different aspects of Nazi Ideology.
Use the attached document and your own knowledge to make a mindmap showing the different aspects of Nazi Ideology.
How did the economic slump after 1929 affect voting patterns?
Use the packet and summarise the evidence regarding this question.
Use the packet and summarise the evidence regarding this question.
How did the "political deal" help Hitler into power?
Using your knowledge about election results and the attached document about the politcial deal and the problems facing successive governments between 1929-1930 and consider how significant the political deal was in Hitler achieving the Chancellorship.
Using your knowledge about election results and the attached document about the politcial deal and the problems facing successive governments between 1929-1930 and consider how significant the political deal was in Hitler achieving the Chancellorship.
Graded Assignment: "How dangerous were the Nazi's" graph
Before the Winter break you started a graph to show how dangerous the Nazi's were between 1919-1929. Now complete that graph up to 1933. See attached file with the information to base your graph on.
Before the Winter break you started a graph to show how dangerous the Nazi's were between 1919-1929. Now complete that graph up to 1933. See attached file with the information to base your graph on.
how_dangerous_were_the_nazis_between_1919-1929_and_1929-33.pdf | |
File Size: | 85 kb |
File Type: |
Extension Material
The following two articles from History Today give helpful analyses of the issues raised regarding the Rise to Power of the Nazis. If you are intending to do higher level then you should definately read these, if you are intending to do Standard they are not so necessary but they will help your develop your understanding and be useful for identifying lines of argument for the following essay assignment.
The following two articles from History Today give helpful analyses of the issues raised regarding the Rise to Power of the Nazis. If you are intending to do higher level then you should definately read these, if you are intending to do Standard they are not so necessary but they will help your develop your understanding and be useful for identifying lines of argument for the following essay assignment.
|
|
Graded Assignment: Timed Essay
Answer the following question from May 2013 - give yourself no more than one hour to write.
“Ideological appeal was less important than social and economic distress in the rise to power of single-party leaders.” With reference to two single-party leaders, each chosen from a different region, to what extent do you agree with this statement? YOU WILL ONLY REFER TO ONE SINGLE-PARTY LEADER - HITLER.
Tip - look on my googledrive link for the markscheme for the question - look there for suggested material to discuss
Answer the following question from May 2013 - give yourself no more than one hour to write.
“Ideological appeal was less important than social and economic distress in the rise to power of single-party leaders.” With reference to two single-party leaders, each chosen from a different region, to what extent do you agree with this statement? YOU WILL ONLY REFER TO ONE SINGLE-PARTY LEADER - HITLER.
Tip - look on my googledrive link for the markscheme for the question - look there for suggested material to discuss
Consolidation of Power 1933-1934
Nazi Domestic Policy 1933-1945
What Policies did the Nazis develop to try to achieve a Volksgemeinschaft?
Graded Assignment: In assigned groups you will research an area of life and deliver your findings in a presentation.
What Policies did the Nazis develop to try to achieve a Volksgemeinschaft?
Graded Assignment: In assigned groups you will research an area of life and deliver your findings in a presentation.
Task: Watch the documentary and complete the accompanying worksheet
Nazis: A Warning from History. Episode 2 Chaos & Consent This episode is about the system of government in Nazi Germany.
|
Nazi Economic Policy
nazi_economic_policy_2017.pptx | |
File Size: | 2007 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Nazi Foreign Policy
nazi_foreign_policy_knight.pptx | |
File Size: | 1365 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
hitlers_foreign_policy_1933-1939_booklet.doc | |
File Size: | 75 kb |
File Type: | doc |
How totalitarian was the Nazi State?
hh
hh