hitlers rise to power

1938

NOVEMBER 9-10 1938

Kristallnacht

On Kristallnacht, or "Night of the Broken Glass," Nazis around Germany burned synagogues, vandalized Jewish businesses, homes and schools, and beat and murdered Jews. Tens of thousands of Jewish men were taken away to concentration camps. Although anti-Jewish oppresive policies had been in place in Germany for years, this was the instance that matters transitioned from primarily non-violent to violent.

The attacks were instigated when a Polish Jew killed a Nazi diplomat in Paris, Ernst vom Rath. Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda for the Nazis, was able to create an anti-semitic frenzy among Nazi supporters

1937

JULY 19- NOVEMBER 30 1937

Degenerate Art Exhibition

The Degenerate Art Exhibition was yet another effort by Nazis to control the culture surrounding German society by removing from it artwork they deemed "degenerate" or inappropriate. Modern art was associated with pacifism and democracy, and of course the Nazis also claimed that Jewish and Communist influence was embedded inside of the art and was therefore a danger to the pure, German society. "Degenerate" meant criminal, immoral, and was associated with physical and mental disabilities.

The Degenerate Art Exhibition was held in Munich. The Nazis had confiscated degenerate art and arranged it in unflattering ways, presenting it not as something to be appreciated but as something to be despised. The exhibition was next to another another one called the Great German Art Exhibition. Interestingly, the Degenerate Art Exhibition is estimated to have been visited by some 4x more people that the Great German Art Exhibition. After the exhibition, the degenerate art was either destroyed, or sold for good money to fund the Reich.

AUGUST 1-16 1936

Berlin Olympics

Berlin hosted the 1936 Olympics, which welcomed athletes, including some Jews, from all around the world. During this time, Germany put on a facade and hid much of its ongoing racism and antisemitism so that the world and the press would see them as a friendly, hospitable nation. They hid anti-Jewish signs and Joseph Goebbels ordered the newspapers to tone down their anti-Jewish rhetoric. Jews themselves were banned from competing in the games for Germany, but most tourists were unaware of the extent of the racist policies in place during the time they were there.

After the Games were over, Germany seemed to have won a new reputation. They recieved praise for their hospitality and organization and were seen once again as perhaps a respectable nation and people. However, Hitler never once stopped his plans for German takeover and persecution of Jewish and other peoples.

1936

1935

SEPTEMBER 15 1935

Nuremberg Laws Take Effect

The Nuremberg Laws were a set of laws put in place in Nazi Germany regarding Jews and their mingling with non-Jewish people. First, it defined a German citizen as a person with German or related blood, which excluded Jews, who were considered a different race. This meant that Jews were no longer able to be citizens of Germany. Second, it outlawed intermarriages and sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, which they said led to dangerous, "mixed race" children. Third, it set up a system of defining a Jew, based on the number of Jewish grandparents a person had, which people had to prove through things such as baptism records or gravestones.

The Nuremberg Laws were an integral part in the Nazi Genocide. They determined who the targeted people were, and allowed for their separation from the rest of society.

HITLER'S RISE TO POWER

AUGUST 2 1934

Hindenburg Dies/Hitler Declares Himself Fuehrer

JUNE 30- JULY 2 1934

Night of the Long Knives

On August 2, 1934, President Paul Von Hindenburg died, and shortly thereafter Adolf Hitler combined the offices of Chancellor with the office of the President and the leader of the Armed Forces. This effectively made Hitler dictator.

The Night of the Long Knives was the killing of SA officials, including Ernst Röhm, the leader of the SA. This purge was ordered by Hitler, who feared that Röhm was planning a coup against him, which was fueled by his fellow Nazis, Göring and Himmler, who feared Röhm and his potential power to prevent their military plans. Hitler was also afraid of the power Röhm held, and ordered for the arrest and then murder without trial of Röhm and the rest of SA leadership, as well as other political opponents he saw as threats.

This act was how Hitler removed one of the last obstacles in his way to absolute power. He removed one of last people who still held substantial power, and got rid of the last of his signficant political opponents in one fell swoop. The SA was largely reduced, and the public was told that the act was simply another prevention of a coup by the SA, keeping them on the side of the Nazis.

Members of the armed forces no longer swore allegiance to their country, but to Hitler himself.

1934

JULY 14 1933

Political Parties Outlawed

MARCH-OCTOBER 1933

Book Burnings

To further his position as dictator, Hitler and the Nazis passed a law dissolving all other political parties or entities. It declared that the Natonal Socialist German Worker's Party was the only political party in Germany, and that the continuance or foundation of any other new political party would be punishable by jail.

Across universities in Germany in 1933, public book burnings took place in which books by anti-Nazi (Jewish, Communist, etc.) authors or on other deemed inappropriate subjects were burned. These book burnings were public and were viewed by enthusiastic crowds. One such book burning took place in Berlin, and was presided over by the Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. 40,000 people gathered as he declared that "Jewish intellectualism is dead."

With these book burnings came the firing of all Jewish professors, and those who did not agree with the anti-intellectual ideology of the Nazis were forced to hold their silence or risk being ratted out by colleagues. Education was no longer based on truth, and this state of education produced students who no longer had a basic understanding of elementary concepts. Hitler was thus creating his desired country of soldiers who could not think for themselves but instead were prepared to become his soldiers, and prepared to fight for Germany.

Hitler, in this way, was able to completey expell any other political party or ideology from existing in the public eye, further consolidating his power and his plan for keeping the people of Germany ignorant.

1933

MARCH 23 1933

Enabling Act Passed

MARCH 22 1933

Dachau Opened

The Enabling Act was passed with a 2/3 majority vote in parliament... sort of. The Enabling Act was a law which would allow Hitler to pass any laws he wanted, including those which violated the consitution of the Weimar Republic, without anyone's approval. However, when it came to the vote on this Act, the Nazis detained all of the Communist members of parliament along with some of the Social Democrats, and used intimidation on those that remained for the vote by placeing SA and SS members in the chamber.

Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp, located in a town near Munich. It was initially meant for political prisoners, but later became a death camp where Jews and other groups targeted by the Nazis perished. Prisoners were treated very harshly from the beginning. A Munich prosecutor wound up indicting the commandant of Dachau over the brutal murder of a schoolteacher- however, Hitler overruled this idictment, claiming that German law did not apply to those in concentration camps, allowing anything to happen inside their walls.

Dachau served as a blueprint for the rest of the Nazi concentration camps. They also served as an example to German people for what would happen to those who didn't follow the rules of the Nazis, and were another tool in supressing all things anti-Nazi.

The Enabling Act then effectively allowed Adolf Hitler to rule Germany as dictator.

FEBRUARY 27 1933

Reichstag Burning

The actions of the Nazi party following the Reichstag Fire were the beginning of the road to Hitler's dictatorship. On top of the Act for the Protection of the People and State, the uncertainty and fear associated with those against the Nazis only helped them gain more support. The state police also prevented any other political movements or parties from campaigning, and in the following election in March 1933, the Nazis secured more of the vote than ever before.

On February 27, 1933, the Reichstag was set on fire, and the Nazis immediatley used this as an excuse to issue emergency legislation, claiming that Communists were planning an uprising. They put in place the "Act for the Protection of the People and State" which restricted the rights of the press, public assembly and free speech, and abolished restraint of police investigations. Following this, the Nazi's political opponents were arrested and their political organizations supressed.

JANUARY 30 1933

Hitler Appointed Chancellor

President Hindenburg did not at first want to appoint Hitler as Chancellor, but he was losing support, which is something that Hitler had a lot of. He was assured by his advisors that they would be able to control Hitler, and that he would become more moderate with the taking over of his new powerful role. He agreed and Hitler was appointed in January 1933.

Hitler was supposed to work in a coalition with another party called the German National People's Party, but instead ignored the this party's wishes and began taking over. He ordered for the expansion of the state police, and began talking of his new "Third Reich", its opposition to Jews and the restoration of the nation to the "Aryan race."

Dalia Dembling

1932

1931

1930

SEPTEMBER 14 1930, (JULY/NOVEMBER 1932)

German Federal Elections

In the 1930 Reichstag elections, the Nazi party won enough votes to earn the second largest number of seats in the Reichstag. The largest party was the Socialists, whom President Hindenburg opposed, wanting himself to have total power. Then in the 1932 elections, the Nazis won the largest number of seats. However, Hitler refused to join a coalition unless he was appointed Chancellor. There was another election that November, and the Nazis lost some of their seats. During this time, Hindenburg had appointed Chancellors which were not able to bring Germany out of the depression and thus causing him and his associates to lose support.

The loss of their seats in parliament and the fact that the Communists had gained ground instead in the November elections only made the Nazis and their supporters more determined to get Hitler in power.

1929

OCTOBER 1929

American Stock Market Crashes

The stock market crash of 1929 in the United States, in which the value of stocks fell dramatically and caused massive unemployment, caused the Great Depression. Because of the economic ties of the United States to the rest of the world, this depression spread around the globe, hitting Europe and Germany especially hard. Germany had borrowed a lot of money from the United States in order to repay its war debt, and was now once again in a state of economic turmoil.

It was once again through these desperate times that the Nazis were able to gain traction. They appealed to those who were hit hardest by the depression and presented Hitler as a savior. Fear and uncertainty fueled an openess to extreme political ideologies, and the Nazis pushed the idea that the depression was caused by Jews.

1928

1927

1926

1925

JULY 18 1925

Mein Kampf Published

Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" was published about a half of a year after he got out of prison. In it were clearly displayed his racist world view, his extreme hatred toward Jews and Communists, his ideas for the expansion of German territory and his hostility toward the outcome of the first World War in which Germany was made to pay reparations.

Initially, Hitler's book was not a great success, but as his popularity within politics grew, so did his book. Millions of copies were sold after he became Chancellor, and he was made rich. It was customary to gift the book to a newlywed couple, or to celebrate a similar occasion. Hitler's wants and aspirations were clearly laid out for all to see; written in many languages, even in braille for blind Germans. Still, he was able to gain power.

1924

BIB

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TqRgx2xNR7KGyZm_mXZEbztQVeLAXd9VQ08x7eWHDkg/edit

HYPERINFLATION

1923

FEBRUARY 20 1920

BEGINNING IN 1920

Inflation hit Germany after WW1. After the Treaty of Versailles, when Germany was forced to give up its colonies and pay reparations, its economy was already going downhill. But the Republic's reaction just made things worse- they simply printed more money in an effort to be able to pay off their war debt. This caused hyperinflation to arrive in 1922. By 1923, it took 1 trillion marks to equal a US dollar.

It was largely due to hyperinflation that the new government was not trusted by Germans. People were dying the in streets, riots were breaking out, and extremist political ideologies became more acceptable. The Nazis offered the German people a solution to their problems and a new government which would fix the economy and punish those responsible for the hyperinflation.

BEGINNING IN 1921

NOVEMBER 8-9 1923

Beer Hall Putsch

The Beer Hall Putsch was an attempted coup of the Bavarian state government and the larger Weimar Republic by Hitler and the Nazi Party. The plan involved kidnapping the state commissioner of Bavaria and two other politicians. Ultimatly, Hitler led 20 associates into a beer hall at which the commissioner was speaking, shot a bullet into the ceiling and declared a revolution. However, the Nazis were overpowered by the state troops which came to the state's defense and Hitler left the beer hall unattended, which allowed the commissioner to leave.

As a result of the Putsch, Hitler was arrested and recived a prison sentence. However, this caused his popularity and that of the Nazi party to soar, and it was in prison where he wrote his manifesto, Mein Kampf. He also decided to proceed with his takeover of Germany not with revolution, but by manipulating the political system.

1922

1921

FEBRUARY 20 1920

Nazi Party Created

The Nazi Party was founded by a man named Anton Drexler, and it was called the German Worker's Party. He formed a group which met once a week at a beer hall in Munich to discuss politics. From the beginning, they were extremely antisemetic, nationalist, and anti-communist in their views. It was later renamed the Nationalist Socialist German Worker's Part, or NSDAP.

After World War 1, Hitler worked in Munich to instill Nationalism and Anti-Communism in the soldiers that remained as part of the army. Through this job, he wound up attending the meetings of Anton Drextler's party, and soon became a prominent leader in the party, playing a large role in its organization and propaganda.

Anton Drexler

1920

1919

JUNE 28 1919

Treaty of Versailles Signed

After World War 1 ended in November 1918, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France. The treaty stated that Germany was to accept blame for the war, and was made to pay reparations to countries for the damages it caused. Its military was diminished, it was made to give up land, and Germany was ultimately humiliated.

The end of World War One not only inspired Adolf Hitler to enter into politics, it also made it possible for him to be successful. After the Treaty of Versailles, Germans were angry, humiliated, and afraid, because they had lost a war, lost their pride, were experiencing financial troubles due to hyperinflation, and were being exposed to rhetoric that blamed all of their harships on the new government, the Social Democrats, Communists, and Jews.

1918