Background to the Holocaust

World War I

• Drop in living standards: 20-30%• Meat consumption dropped to 12%.• Fish consumption dropped to 5%.• 9 million conscripted into armed forces• Influenza and Starvation killed as many as

battlefield• Inflation accompanied shortages of

food/fuel

World War I continued

• Workday increase to 12-13 hours

• Strikes and Food riots were regular

• After all the sacrifices made soldiers could not understand why they surrendered. They had been told victory was close

• Scapegoats needed to explain the loss

Scapegoats for the loss

• Democratic Politicians

• Revolutionaries

• Communists

• Socialists

• Jewish Capitalists (accused of financing the war)

Versailles Treaty

• Germans expected to sit at the Peace Conference Table as equals.

• Instead they were given an ultimatum:

Sign the Treaty or face renewed attack.

This caused bitter resentment

Representatives at the conference included, left to right, British prime minister Lloyd George, Italian foreign minister Giorgio Sonnino, French

premier Georges Clemenceau, and U.S. president Woodrow Wilson.

Treaty of Versailles

• After defeating Germany in World War I, the victorious parties found it difficult to agree on the price Germany should pay in war reparations. Leaders from the United States, Britain, France, and Italy met at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and drafted the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty mandated a number of restrictive and compensatory measures for Germany, including massive demilitarization and financial reparations.

Fulbrook,Mary History of Germany 1918-2000. The Divided Nation

“…a country defeated in war, reduced in territory and status, subjected to a burden of reparations, rankling with revisionism, lurching from one political crisis to the next, and finally suffering a major economic collapse…(this) ultimately spelled the death of democracy. No one factor alone is sufficient to explain the collapse of the Weimar Republic ( and rise of the Nazi Party)…

Weimar Republic

The republic was established after workers and troops in the German empire revolted in early 1918 against the government's refusal to end World War I (1914-1918). On November 9, Emperor William II fled the country and a provisional coalition government was formed between the moderate Social Democrats under Friedrich Ebert and the more radical Independent Social Democrats, who were hoping for a more fundamental socialist revolution. The new National Assembly met in Weimar, Thüringen, in February 1919 and wrote a constitution that established Germany as a democratic federal republic and provided for two houses of parliament, the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. Ebert was elected president of the new republic.

Weimar Republic

• Ebert, Friedrich (1871-1925), German socialist leader and First president of the post-World War I Weimar Republic.

Immediate Tasks

• Come to terms with the Treaty of Versailles

(Tried to have it overturned)• Achieve some semblance of civil order• Arrange for payment of reparations• Political Chaos• Martial Law existed until 1924• Left and Right Wing attempted Coups

Political Chaos

• January 1919 – Spartacist Putsch in Berlin

• Communist demonstrations in the Ruhr

• Short lived Communist Regime in Munich (1919-1920)

• March 1920- Kapp Putsch –right wing challenge to the government, driving it from Berlin temporarily

Adolf Hitler

• Hitler was a “down and out tramp in Vienna in his youth, an unknown soldier in WWI, a derelict in Munich in the first grim postwar days (general thought him unfit to be promoted – “lack of leadership skills,”)and somewhat comical leader leader of the Beer hall Putsch – spellbinder who was not even German, but Austrian

• Shirer, William. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Hitler practiced his gestures in order to perfect his stage presence

Hitler

• Born in Braunau on April 20, 1889

• Close to border with Germany. Hitler became obsessed with the idea that there should be no border

• An adequate student, Hitler opposed the idea of becoming a civil servant, like his father.

Adolf Hitler

• Was not always an anti-semite• Fought in WWI (2 iron crosses)• Never accepted the German loss• Love Opera especially Wagner (anti-semite)• Wagnerian myth of Dolchstoss: Germany

was never defeated but was victim of treacherous beings of an inferior race

• (Jews and Communists)

Nazi Party Roots

Autumn 1918, Munich: A small society calling itself the Political Workers Circle was formed by journalist Karl Harrer and Anton Drexler – a toolmaker in Munich Railway

Radical Right wing anti-semitic views

Attracted little attention

January 5th, 1919 German Workers Party became it’s political arm. Drexler had ambition

Nazi Roots

• Hitler joined party in September 1919 (30)• Became the Party Chief Propaganda Officer• Executive Committee member• Hitler was actually a spy assigned to

monitor the PWC for the Bavarian Reichsehr (army)

• Was drawn to it’s “good-will” ie anti-semitism

Seizing Control of NSDAP

• Hitler influence rose in party• Hitler published “25 Point Party Program”A mix of anti-capitalism, anti-socialism, anti-Semitism, corporatism and ultra-nationalism.

(de-emphasized socialist nature of party to attract middle-class support)

Name was changed to National Socialist German Workers Party in Summer of 1920

Swastika was adopted as the Party Symbol

Seizing Control of NSDAP

• December 1920: Dietrick Eckart, a friend of Hitler’s purchased the independent paper Volkischer Beobachter which was under the direct control of the Party Propaganda leader – Hitler

• Hitler now could make personal beliefs known to circulation of 10-15,000 in 1921

• July of 1921 NSDAP merged with German Socialist Party to create a single unified organization based in Berlin (to undermine Hitler)

Seizing Control of NSDAP

• Hitler resigned, leaving the party ineffective without their best public speaker

• Set out preconditions for rejoining which included being elected Chairman with dictatorial powers and called for a special conference to put the issue to a vote

• Drexler reluctantly agreed, rather than see the party collapse

Hitler gains control

• July 29th 1921 Hitler elected First Chairman by a vote of 543:1, The “Fuhrer” of the Nazi Party

• Retained Drexler as head of a “Reconciliation Committee” to smooth out differences outside of Munich

• Eckart became editor of Volkischer Beobachter• Hitler headed the Investigation Committee – used

to purge uncooperative party members and further own authority.

Beer Hall Putsch 1923

• Nazi’s, under Adolf Hitler, were the best organized extremist group.

• Based out of Bavaria where many groups opposed the democratic Weimar Government

• Aim was to win over German army and proclaim a wide revolt to overthrow the Weimar Republic

The Plan

• Group of prominent businessmen were meeting in Munich Beer Hall with Bavarian Guest Speakers.

• Plan: Kidnap the Guest Speakers and force them to accept Hitler as Leader.

• March on Berlin, in imitation of Mussolini’s March on Rome

Events

November 8, 1923, Hitler and the SA troops under Herman Goring surrounded the Hall and burst into the meeting.

“The National Revolution has begun!…No one may leave the hall. Unless there is immediate quiet I shall have a machine gun posted in the gallery. The Bavarian and Reich governments have been removed and a provisional national government has been formed. The barracks of the Reichswehr and police are occupied. The Army and the police are marching on the city under the Swastika banner”

None of this was true!

Hitler’s Speech in the Hall

“I want now to fulfill the vow that I made to myself 5 years ago when I was a blind cripple in the military hospital: to know neither rest nor peace until the November criminals had been overthrown, until on the ruins of the wretched Germany of today; there should have arisen once more a Germany of power, and greatness of freedom and splendor.”

Results

• Coup failed for a number of reasons.

• Hitler attracted neither the army, nor police force nor the population in general

• Nazi Party was banned

• German Army sent to Munich to stop Nazi Putsch

• Hitler arrested, tried, and convicted.

Results

• Although the coup itself was a joke Hitler gained a great deal of publicity and thus their ideas became more widely known.

• At trial Hitler gained more publicity, pleaded guilty and admitted he wanted to overthrow the government.

• Described himself as a Patriot

Results

• Jury was sympathetic

• Judge had to convince them to find Hitler guilty

• They did so only after the promise that Hitler would be eligible for parole in 6 months

Mein Kampf

• While in Prison Hitler wrote his book “Mein Kampf” meaning My Struggle. The book was poorly written and sold very poorly when first released. When Hitler became more popular his book sold millions of copies

Ideas presented in Mein Kampf

• Aryan Race was the master race • Jews were to blame for 1. Loss of the war in 19182. Versailles Treaty3. Hyperinflation of 19234. Lack of jobs during the depression• Anschluss- Germany and Austria join together• Lebensraum – “Living Room” to be taken from

Russia, especially the agricultural land of the Ukraine

Post -Prison

• Hitler continued to rise to the top of the Nazi Party.

• Others were simultaneously vying to be top dog.

• General Ludendorff and Ernst Rohm were threats to Hitlers power although they held similar extremist views

Nazi’s Expansion

• Created a Party Structure to correspond with the 34 Reichstag Electoral Districts headed by a Gauleiter

• 7 Gaue for Austria, Danzig, Saar and Sudetenland

• Gaue divided into Kreise (circles)

• Local groups call Ortsgruppe

Expansion

• Sports Clubs were founded

• Flying Clubs introduced (helped prepare future pilots without violation requirements of Versailles Treaty

• Mass Banners• Light Shows at Rally’s

Torch Parades at Night• Banner Parades during

the day• All designed to attract

young males to the party

Nazi Expansion

• Hitler Youth League established

• Pre-Hitler Youth (10-15)

• Girls enrolled in Bund Deutscher Maedel

• Women had program called Frauenschaften

• …in preadolescence they were conditioned to hate and kill Jews. Given daggers with engraving “Blood and Honour” taught to sing: “When the Jew blood squirts from our knives we can stab twice as well – with Jew blood –with Jew blood”

Expansion

• Industrialists like Hitler’s Economic ideas and gave huge funds to the Nazi’s

• Financed University Fraternities

• Hitler’s Entourage drove the latest and most expensive Mercedes

• Children and adults were indoctrinated to be on guard against dangerous enemies of the state.

• Told they must have no pity and obey orders ruthlessly

Nazi Power

• 1925 – 27,000 Nazi Party Members

• 1926 - 49,000

• 1927 – 72,000

• 1928 – 108,000

• 1929, - 178, 000

Organizational Expansion

• Hitler reorganized the SA, his storm troopers and the SS.

Expansion Slowed

• While true that the Nazi memberships were growing steadily in the 1924-1928 stage, this growth is by no means spectacular

• This was because the economy was actually quite strong in these years. Unemployment was less than 2%. Nazi popularity with public fell from 6.5% to 2.5 % The general public still had no real interest in the party until the early 1930’s when the great depression set in.

The Great Depression

• 1930’s Economic Crash• Foreign loans recalled• Unemployment jumps• Middle Class still recovering from inflation of

1923• General Loathing of Treaty of Versailles• Resentment of those deemed to still be financially

stable• Communist party grows in membership

Great Depression

• Middle Classes fear Communist Revolution• Weimar Government paralyzed• Weimar government seems indecisive• Hitler presents himself as a strong leader

and Nazi support grows among general public

• Middle Class need a champion to oppose Communism

Nazi Promises (1930 Election)

• Abrogate and overthrow the Treaty of Versailles• Ignore restrictions on military from same• To return to Germany’s “Natural Borders”• Build a strong and prosperous Germany• Create a Master Race –eliminate foreigners, Jews,

disabled and other minorities that defiled it.• Eliminate unemployment• Save Germany from a Bolshevik Revolution

Anti-Semitism was a cornerstone

• Hitler linked his opposition to the Jews with his opposition to the Communists.

• He referred to both groups as the “November Criminals” responsible for losing the war and signing the Treaty of Versailles

Election Results 1930

• Nazi’s receive 6,371,000 votes

• Nazi’s gained 107 seats in the Reichstag

• In 1931 the Nazi Party continued to grow in numbers and popularity as the conditions of the great depression had not improved

Presidential Election of 1932

• President Hindenberg’s term was up

• Hitler decided to contest the election

• Went to a second ballot where Hitler received 36.8% of the vote to Hindenberg’s 53%

• 13,418,500 to 19,360,000

General Election of 1932

• Nazis ended up with 270 seats in the Reichstag (37.3% of Popular Vote)

• Largest party in the Reichstag• Best results in the countryside and from lower

middle class voters in the North• Some influence in urban areas:• 9 % of Proletarian vote…..Berlin• 18% of Wealthy vote…….Berlin• 26% of Middle-Class vote.Berlin

Hitler become Chancellor

• In 1932 Hindenberg replaced Chancellor Bruning with Franz Von Papen

• Von Papen was an aristocrat with no political experience..Center Party Member

• In November of 1932 Von Papen resigned• General Kurt Von Schleicher named Chancellor• Began to investigate misuse of public funds by

landowners during land reform• Conservative elements took alarm• Demanded that Hitler become Chancellor

Hitler moves up, with a little help

• “the new Chancellor was found to have been more apt at pulling wires behind the scenes than at the summit of power. He had quarreled with too many people. Hitler, together with Papen and the Nationalists now ranged themselves against him; and the Communists, fighting the Nazis in the streets and the Government by their strikes, helped to make his rule impossible. Papen brought his personal influence to bear on President Hindenberg. Would not after all the best solution be to placate Hitler by thrusting upon him the responsibilities and burdens of office? Hindenberg at last reluctantly consented. On January 30th, 1933, Adolf Hitler took office as Chancellor of Germany

Initial Success of Nazi’s

• Hitler became Chancellor and Von Papen Vice-Chancellor

• Only 2 of 12 Cabinet seats given to the Nazi’s though.

• Wilhelm Frick became Minister of the Interior

• Herman Gorring was a Minister without Portfolio, but later Minister of Prussia

Questionable Rise to the Top

• Hindenberg thought a coalition Cabinet would keep Hitler in check

• Hindenberg was wrong and within 6 months Hitler had consolidated power in the Nazi Party

• Hitler was not appointed Chancellor because of an electoral result, but as the results of a constitutionally questionable deal among a small group of conservative German politicians who had given up on Parliamentary rule.

Consolidation of Power

• Reichstag Fire of February 27th, 1933• Blamed on a “half mad” Dutch Communist who

was executed for the deed.• Nazi’s said it was part of an organized Communist

Insurrection – there had been riots over unemployment

• Nazi’s convinced President Hindenberg to sign a decree for the “Defense of People and State”

Unrestricted Powers

• The Chancellor was thus given almost unrestricted powers to imprison any political opponent.

• Suspension of Civil Rights!

• Hitler arrested the Communists and they could not participate in the March election called by Hitler

Unrestricted Powers

• Supposed to only be temporary but were never relinquished by Hitler.

• Used to legitimize Gestapo’s arrests

• Used to confine people to concentration camps

• Used to circumvent the regular judicial system

Political Reality

• In times of economic distress and social dislocation, people often look to a demagogue to restore order and bring back stability to the regime.

• In this case personal interest combined with a poor economy and allowed a person who had preached the same ideas for years to be elevated to a position that would have been out of his reach had events not combined to assist in the process.

March 1933 Election

• In spite of Hitler’s arrest of the Communists and his powerful backers the Nazi’s did NOT gain an absolute majority in the Reichstag on March 5th

• They did,however become the largest party, by far, with 43.9% of the vote and 288 seats in the Reichstag.

• Communists still won 88 seats, inspite of many being arrested

• Gained an absolute majority in cooperation with their partners the German Nationalist Peoples Party

The Enabling Act, March 23rd 1933

• Cornerstone of Nazi Dictatorship• Gave Hitler power to rule by decree for four years

without the Reichstags approval• Hitler now controlled Legislative and Executive

power• The necessary 2/3rds of the Reichstag members

voted in favour of the law, including a few Social Democrats

• Result: The Reichstag lost it’s power

Enabling Act

• Hitler immediately abolished all other political parties

• All regional and local police powers were centralized in Berlin under the Gestapo

• The Reichsrat (upper house) was abolished• Centralization of all power within the state• Trade Unions were abolished• Germany was becoming a Police State• By the end of 1933 only the Churches and the army

were potential rivals

Rise to Power

• Helped by strong arming opponents• Legal – Like Mussolini:many Germans saw

him as a “Savior”• Propaganda was skillfully manipulated by

Goebbels who created the image of a man who :• Was without self interest-not married, but

loved children• Despised wealth or class distinctions• Cared only for Germany (Patriotic)

» Hitler’s opposition now came from within the ranks of the Nazi Party

» Ernst Rohm who controlled the SA (paramilitary of more than 400,000 men)

» Hitler sent his own men (SS) to arrest Rohm and his followers.

» Several hundred killed including former Chancellor Schleicher’

» Purge of the Nazi Party eliminated Hitler’s personal rivals and the party’s socialist elements which were no longer necessary to gain votes.

» June 30, 1934

» Results of the Purge» Rohm is shot the next day» SA is destroyed» Five weeks later Hindenberg dies» Hitler merges the offices of Chancellor and

President into one and calls himself Der Fuhrer (The Leader)

» Plebiscite held soon after where 92% of the electorate voted in favour of Hitler’s actions

» At this point a large portion of the German population approved of the Nazi Regime.

Democracy was Dead

• An extreme right wing, militaristic European-wide phenomenon that arose out of the social chaos resulting from the First World War

• Spain: Franco

• Italy: Mussolini

• Germany: Hitler (Nazism)

Fascism

Nazism

• The roots of National Socialism, however, were peculiarly German, grounded, for example, in the Prussian tradition of military authoritarianism and expansion; in the German romantic tradition of hostility to rationalism, liberalism, and democracy; in various racist doctrines according to which the Nordic peoples, as so-called pure Aryans, were not only physically superior to other races, but were the carriers of a superior morality and culture; and in certain philosophical traditions that idealized the state or exalted the superior individual and exempted such a person from conventional restraints.