How Did Nazism Rise and How Did It Lead to the Holocaust?
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Adam Phillips
12/7/04
Western Civilization
How Did Nazism Rise and How Did It Lead to The Holocaust?
The first World War, or the Great War, left lasting effects on the entire world, particularly Germany. During the war, the German people faced many hardships and had to sacrifice much for the war effort. The gaps between social classes widened as the working class was faced with a food shortage and a lower standard of living overall. In the winter between the years 1916 and 1917, over 700,000 Germans perished due to starvation and disease (Dwork 35).
The chancellor of Germany, Bethmann Hollweg, saw the problems and promised political reform in 1917. However, his promise caused political unease. The military held the dominant position and the chancellor was forced to resign in July of 1917. The military imposed stricter regulations on all of Germany such as the right to assemble, as well as banning all anti-war material (Bulow).
But with the coming of 1918, Germanys ability to win the Great War vanished. This was partly because of the United States entrance into the war. The allied powers, led by United States President Woodrow Wilson, demanded that Germany be transformed into a democracy. In November of 1918, the Kaiser was abdicated to Holland, and the Weimar Republic was born (Landau 88).
The victors of World War I met at Versailles to create the treaty. The Treaty of Versailles placed the blame of the war on Germany. It ordered the government of Germany to pay reparations to Britain and France for the cost of the war. In addition to those terms, it placed severe restrictions on Germanys military. The army was reduced to a mere 100,000 soldiers and restricted them from possessing a variety of weapons. The air force was eliminated as were the naval submarines. The navy contained a small number of battleship and cruisers (Levin 23).
Despite the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the Weimar Republic signed it regardless. The majority of Germany rejected the idea that they were to blame for the war. They also were outraged at the idea of paying reparations. Germanys economy was severely weakened by the war and they would struggle to pay any reparations. The most drastic of the terms of the treaty was the loss of territory for Germany. The overall size of the country was reduced by almost 15 percent, and it was stripped of all its colonies. The signing of this treaty enraged most of Germany and the Weimar Republic took heat for doing so (Landau 90-91).
The Weimar Republic also faced internal problems on top of disapproval from the country itself. The Workers Councils Congress pushed for further reforms of the government, but the Social Democratic Party rejected their notions. Many uprisings from extremists groups in attempts to seize power caused further disturbances within the government. Economic instability led to further disapproval of the Weimar Republic. Severe inflation led the currency of Germany to become nearly worthless. A redistribution in wealth enacted by the government led those with wealth in savings to lose nearly everything(Landau 92-93). All of these factors led to a nationalist opposition to the government and created determination to bring it down.
One of the parties created in opposition to the Weimar Republic was the National Socialist German Workers Party, or Nazi Party (Landau 95). However, in 1919, it numbered only a few dozen members and had no real political ideas. But many middle class citizens in Germany admired Nazis opposition to the National Democratic Party. As the interest and the popularity of the party grew, it began to grow in membership. Members came in the form of middle class professionals, middle class workers, and farmers. The Nazis projected an image of the young and the strong, and were in opposition to the establishment currently in place. In the German elections of 1930, they received almost 6.5 million votes, placing them second in popularity only to the Social Democratic Party (Landau 100). The leader of the Nazi Party was a fiery individual named Adolf Hitler.
Adolf Hitler was born April 20, 1889 in a small Austrian town called Braunau. He was the son of a customs official and lived in moderate means. He attended elementary school and achieved exceptional marks. However, as he moved on to college preparatory school, he became rebellious and dropped out. His rebellious nature led him to not conform to society and take up a regular job. He began to paint and dreamed of fame as an artist. He moved to Vienna in 1907 in hopes to attend the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts. Hitler failed to gain admission to this school and sank into depression. He attempted to escape service in the military from Austria in 1913 and fled to Germany. He was caught by German police and returned to Austria where he took a physical examination for the army and failed. However, a year later, he returned to Germany and enlisted in the German army where he became a Corporal.
After the conclusion of the war, with Germanys loss, Hitler had developed many prejudices, mainly that towards Jews. His search for employment after the war led him to become a political officer. In 1919, he attended a meeting of the Nazi party where became a very popular member. He became known as the most impressive speaker and a master propagandist. His speeches and propaganda bought popularity to the newly formed Nazi Party. By 1921, their members numbered almost 6,000. In April of 1921, Hitler became the head of the party as he was named Fuhrer (Landau 95). By 1923, the Nazi party encompassed 56,000 members and had many more supporters. The popularity of his party and the inspiration of Mussolinis “March on Rome” led Hitler to stage a “March on Berlin” to take over the government in Munich. However, his revolt was a failure and Hitler was convicted of treason, and sent to jail (Dwork 62).
In prison, he honed his political strategies and tactics. He authored a book outlining his plans and beliefs entitled Mein Kampf (Landau 95). Upon his release, he reformed the party with the core being a group of his loyal followers. In the 1920s, progress in the party was slowed by the prosperity of the decade. However, when economic depression struck the world, the party quickly regained interest and support. In the 1930 nation election in Germany, the Nazi Party received almost 6.5 million votes. Their representation in Germanys Parliament leaped from 12 seats to 107 seats. In Germanys presidential election in 1932, Hitler placed second to Paul von Hindenburg, a war hero. But in 1933, Hindenburg called Hitler to the position of chancellor to