Nov
16
The Emergence of Nazi Germany
November 16, 2009 | Tagged Anti-Semitism, Early Nazisim, Hitler, Hitler Youth, Western Civilization | Leave a Comment
War Reparations and Great Depression Devastate Germany
President von Hindenburg shaking hands with the newly made Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler.
The Weimar Republic was the parliamentary system that governed Germany after WWI and lasted through the Roaring 20s and the Great Depression. When WWI ended and the Treaty of Versailles was ratified June 28, 1919, the new Republic was chastized with humiliating stipulations for beginning the War. Under this treaty, Germany was to pay reparations for all civilian damages, lose control of all colonies and an important and strategic piece of land that ran along the Rhine River was to be demilitarized. Limits were set and the whole of Germany was to be reduced in military arms. Most political and scholarly works concerning this period of German history note it as extremely humiliating and debilitating for Germany and its people.
The second blow to Germany after WWI was the Great Depression. Once the Depression had pummled the United States, it leaped across the pond for Europe. In Germany’s case, 6 million were unemployed out of a total population of 66 million–that is equal to 11% of the population at the time–when Adolf Hitler‘s star began to rise in German politics in 1930.
The 83 year-old president of Germany under the Weimar Republic, Paul von Hindenburg, dissolved the Reichstag (the German parliament) in September of 1930 to hold new elections, hoping that this would help end the crisis in Germany. This allowed for the rise of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party in Germany–the Nazi Party. Von Hindenburg then made Hitler Chancellor of Germany, thinking to control this man’s troubling behavior and rising power. This turned out to be a massively bad decision.
Hilter and the Nazi State
Propaganda
Propaganda was an immensely important tool utilized by Hitler and his Nazi Party. Below is a YouTube compilation of some propaganda-type media used in Hitler’s Germany. The first is probably the most well-known–a film by Leni Reifenstahl, Triumph des Willens or Triumph of the Will. The second compilation is just a modern compilation of pictures and videoclips from YouTube entiled Nazi Propaganda.
Families, Hitler Youth and League of German Girls
Hitler greatly encouraged the use of eugenics–the breeding of a perfect pair of Aryans to create a supreme and superior German race–in his build-up of the new German state. As with most, if not all, of his political endeavors, Hitler used propaganda to promote this.
The poster to the right depicts a blonde-haired family of six. The father is quite strapping and the mother looks to quite motherly and pretty and the children even look rosy-cheeked, happy and healthy. Hitler even used rewards–special medals and pecuniary incentives–for couples who had four or more children.
Below are photographs, posters and a video of Hitler’s Youth and The League of German Girls. Both of these little clubs organized the Aryan children of Germany together to, essentially, create future Nazis and Nazi supporters. This next generation would learn special recitals hailing Hitler as their ”Lord” and “Savior.” These children may had even received a visit from their exulted and respected leader if lucky enough.
Anti-Semitism
Hitler persecuted everyone–those who did not think as the Nazis did, who railed against the Nazis, who did not satisfy physical requirements, who were mentally ill, who were deformed, who were homosexual, or anything else Hitler could think of. He also included many ethnic groups into his “Persecute-These-People” category as well–gypsies, Slovaks, Polish, and especially those who were Jewish were included.
In 1935, the Nuremburg Laws revoked the Jews’ right to German citizenship. They were unable to enter into professional fields such as medicine, law, education, music, etc. Jews were also unable to have any sort of sexual relationships with non-Jews and were requiered to sport the Star of David on their clothing at all times.
The “Night of Broken Glass,” the Kristallnaght in German, occured on the night of November 9, 1938. On this frightful night, hundreds of Nazis destroyed thousands of Jewish owned property–shops, restaurants and synogogues–across the German state. Thousands of Jews were arrested and sent to concentrations camps while the Nazi party stole their properties.
After Kristallnacht, those who could tried to make their escape from the Nazi terror occuring in Germany. And by the beginning of WWII in September of 1939, approximately half of the Jewish population had fled Germany in fear for their liberty and lives.
Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass
MORE WEBSITES TO LOOK AT:
Quick Weimar Republic Definition: http://www.answers.com/topic/weimar-republic
Quick Adolf Hitler Biography: http://www.answers.com/topic/adolf-hitler
Hitler’s Rise to Power: http://www2.dsu.nodak.edu/users/dmeier/Holocaust/hitler.html
Nazi Photos: http://nobeliefs.com/nazis.htm