-
Period: to
Hitler fought in WWI
Hitler had been rejected several times in his early life, like trying to join art school and failing. He decided to start over and find a new purpose. This chance came when the war started. He was awarded many achievements for his fighting, and he rose in the political structure. -
Period: to
Weimar Republic
This republic was extremely weak. It, instead of the wartime leaders, was fully blamed for losing the war and getting completely humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles only because the republic was put in immediately after the war, so they had to sign the treaty. This caused many other government parties to pop up and form their own opinions on what needs to be done, one of which was the Nazis. -
Period: to
Economic Instability
To pay the reparations of the war, Germany just printed money, which caused inflation. This meant they needed more money, so they printed even more paper money. In 1923, the international committee loaned Germany large amounts of money to get Germany economically stable again. By 1929, factories in Germany were manufacturing and producing as much as they were before World War I. -
Treaty of Versailles Signed
After the war ended and Germany lost, the Allies made a treaty that decided the fate of Germany that was called the Treaty of Versailles. In the treaty, they took away much of Germany’s land, money, and army, but the worst thing they did was humiliate them. In the treaty, Article 231 stated that Germany was to take the blame for the occurrence of the war. These caused Germany to become horribly humiliated, angry and left in a weakened state, so new political parties were formed, like the Nazis. -
National Socialist German Workers' Party
Hitler became der Fuehrer, or the leader, of the National Socialist German Workers' Party because of his eloquent and persuasive speaking abilities. This is better known as the Nazi Party. These former soldiers and misfits were against the Weimar Republic because they signed the Treaty of Versailles, even though it was awful for Germany. However, the republic was put in right around the end of the war, so the responsibility of signing the treaty was thrown upon them. -
Beer Hall Putsch
Hitler, as the leader of the group, led the Nazis to seize power in Munich, Austria so he could gain power. The Nazis tried to take over the government by kidnapping officials and marching on Berlin. Because of this, Hitler was arrested. -
Hitler Goes to Jail
After the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler was sentenced to serve in Landsburg Prison for five years. While in jail, he wrote a book about his views, like his hatred towards democracy and Jews; it was called “Mein Kampf”, which translates to “my struggle”. He ended up leaving prison after serving only nine months on December 19th, 1924. -
Hitler Youth
In the NSDAP, youth were trained the way Hitler wanted them to . These youth were taught nationalistic ideas, violence, obedience, and elitism. Schools were replaced with these Nazi training organizations so kids could learn to grow up loving Hitler and fighting for their country with complete obedience. -
NY Stock Exchange Crash
In the beginning of the Great Depression, the New York Stock Exchange collapsed causing the economy of, not just America, but of the world to collapse with it. This happened due to how America's economy largely sustained the world's economy. This caused Germany, who was slowly making economic recovery, sink back into their debt. The rest of the world was suffering, so they were cutting government spending and making more tariffs. -
Hitler Gains Power
After the New York Stock Exchange crashed, Hitler found his chance of gaining power. He used propaganda to gain 107 seats in parliament in the 1930 election which made them the second largest party in the government behind the SA. Even after that, the Nazis kept on fighting to gain seats, at some points they even used terrorism to get them. -
Period: to
NSDAP Growth
By July, the NSDAP had more than doubled its 1930 representation in Reichstag (the German parliament), and they had become the biggest German political party. Although, by November, 1932, the NSDAP popularity had declined due to the Great Depression. The KPD increased its representation and a group of conservative and anti republican aristocrats and industrialists, begun to support the NSDAP with funds. -
Hitler Becomes Chancellor of Germany
This caused Germany to become a totalitarian country, and it got rid of all other political parties. Hitler made the SS, or Schutzstaffel (protection squad), which was loyal only to Hitler. Nazi laws were made that snatched many of the Jews’ rights because they were an anti-Semitic party. This shows that they were fascist because everyone needed to be uniform, and Jews did not believe in the same things as most of the Germans. -
Dissolution of the Reichstag
Due to the government not having a parliamentary majority, President Hindenburg called for the dissolution of the Reichstag. Elections were set for March 5th but a week before the elections, February 27th, the Reichstag building was set on fire presumably by the Nazi’s but was blamed on communists. Then on February 28th, president Hindenburg invoked Article 48 of the constitution. Article 48 allowed the Nazi’s to crush political opposition. -
Enabling Act
Hitler presented the Enabling Act to the Reichstag. The Reichstag was purged and intimidated, passing the act by a vote of 441 to 84. This allowed Hitler’s cabinet dictatorial powers for about 4 years. Hitler became a dictator because of this. -
Struggle to “Control the Streets”
After Hitler gained power over most of Germany, only 2 groups were standing in his way of completely taking over: the army and the SA, a parliamentary force. The army started to join due to Hitler's ideas of expanding and modernizing the army. On the other hand, Hitler feared that the SA would become powerful enough to take over the army, so Hitler killed multiple members of the SA to make sure then didn’t gain control. -
Kristallnacht
Known as "the night of bloken glass", Hitler led the Nazis in mobs to attack Jews in the middle of the night. The mobs rampaged, destroying Jews' homes and buildings and attacking Jews in the streets and in their homes. This started the largest genocide in history.
