Rise of the Nazis

By YEETO

  • End of WW1

    WW1 ends with Germany surrendering and signing the armistice. Many Germans back home are ashamed of this defeat and blame left wing groups such as Communists and Jews for this defeat. Hitler is one of these people.

  • Treaty of Versailles

    On the 18th of June, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The terms in the treaty were harsh on Germany, and humiliated the people. They were forced to pay a massive amount of war reparations (which they finished paying in 2010), downsize the military to 100,000 and take all of the blame for the war (war guilt). Many Germans were outraged at this. Hitler was one of the German nationalists who was outraged by this and he swore to undo this shame.

  • German Workers Party (DAP)

    Since Hitler had been made redundant as a soldier due to the treaty of Versailles, he instead worked as a spy. During one of his mission, where he attended a DAP meeting, he liked their ideas and messages and joined them since they aligned with most of his ideas as well. His brilliant speaking abilities made him popular with many of the party members and soon he became the leader of the party. He then changed the party's name to the NSDAP, or Nazi for short.

  • Beer Hall Putsch

    Hitler and his Nazis decided to overthrow the Weimar Republic by marching on the streets of Munich. Their plan failed miserably and Hitler and many high ranking Nazis such as Ernst Rohm (founder of the SA) and Hermann Goerring, were arrested for high treason. Hitler was sentenced to five years. He only served nine months and was released. He was inspired by Benito Mussolini who did something similar and successfully overthrew the liberal government. During this time he wrote Mein Kampf.

  • Mein Kampf and the Resurrection of the Nazis

    While in prison, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf. It is the basis of all Nazi Ideology. The book contains his ideas of Social Darwinism and the purity of the Aryan race which needed to be rapidly expanded and Living Space to accommodate their population. He also wrote about his hatred for Jews and Communists that made them lose WW1. Hitler also talked about his aggressive nationalism and how all German people should be united under on flag.

  • Nazi Resurrection and Elections

    Hitler brought back the Nazi party after his release and manipulated the situation, so the he would be sole leader of the Nazi party. They then started on a mass movement to gather followers. With this, Hitler began forming other groups with the Nazis, such as the Hitler Youth and the SS. They only had 27,000 members in 1925 but this number grew. to 108,000 in 1929. However, the Nazis failed to get popular in the cities and as a result in the May 1928 election, they got 2.8% of the vote.

  • The Great Depression.

    Germany was hit hardest by the Great Depression since they were reliant on American loans to pay back the war reparations. Now America wanted those loans back, and Germany couldn't handle the strain anymore. As a result, one third of the entire workforce was unemployed. In times like these, people were looking for a scapegoat. Hitler gave the Jews and Communists. The government wasn't handling the crisis well and they held emergency elections. The Nazis won 18.3% of the total vote.

  • 1932 Elections and Hitler the Fuhrer

    The Nazis won 37% of the total vote making them the largest party in the Reichstag. Hitler, decided to run for president. He finished in second place, losing to Hindenburg. Since he was the leader of the largest party, he demanded he be made Chancellor. He was made chancellor in January of 1933. Hindenburg thought he could control Hitler, but he was wrong. After Hindenburg's death, Hitler combined the role of Chancellor and President into Furher. Now, he was in total control of Germany.