Why did Hitler rise and fall from power



Why did Hitler rise to power and what was his downfall?

Historical Enquiry; Depth Studies

What can we learn about the Holocaust from photographs?

How useful is oral testimony on finding out about life in the concentration camps?

Why was it difficult for Jews to leave Germany after 1938?

Where the murderers personally responsible for their actions?

What can we learn from the drawings of children who lived and worked in the camps?

A list of Key Terms and their meanings in the topic.

|Background Causes |Things that contribute to an event happening, which exist for a long time before the event. They |

| |build up over many years, but are not enough on their own to make it happen. |

|bankrupt |Completely out of money and unable to pay debts. |

|Chancellor |Head of the government |

|Colonies |An area or country controlled by another. |

|Communists |A supporter of a system where everything is owned by the government and people are paid according |

| |to their needs. |

|Concentration camps |Places where people are kept prisoners, often forced to work for nothing. Some camps |

| |systematically murdered people. |

|constitution |A list of rules for how a country should be governed. |

|Contributed to |Helped to make something |

|democracy |Countries with a system of government where everyone has the right to vote for representatives |

| |from several political parties. The party with the most votes forms the government. |

|depression |Things becoming very bad or low, often lots of people do not have enough money to feed their |

| |families. |

|dictatorship |A country with a system of government where one person or party runs the country, without holding |

| |free elections and where no opposition is allowed |

|economic |To do with the money of a country. |

|elections |When people vote for an individual or political party. |

|Hindenburg |The president of Germany, when Hitler became the Chancellor. |

|Hitler |The Chancellor of Germany from 1933 who set up a Dictatorship. He fell from power in 1945. |

|Immediate causes |Things that contribute to an event happening, which only occurred just before the event. These |

| |often affect the timing of when the event happens. |

|majority |More than half the people. |

|ministers |Members of a government. |

|opposition |When people are against an idea or event. |

|Nazi Party |Short for the National Socialist Party, led by Hitler. They believed in having one powerful |

| |leader, wanted Germany to be powerful and held racist views. |

|political |To do with the governing of a country. |

|propaganda |The presentation of information in a specific way to influence people’s opinions. |

|quote |Copy out part of a text, placing between punctuation marks like these; ‘………………….’ |

|Reichstag |The elected parliament of the German government. |

|reparations |To compensate or make up for something. |

|social |To do with the way people live. |

|Trade Union |An organisation of people who do a certain type of work, set up to talk to their employers about |

| |pay and conditions. |

|treaty |An agreement made between people or countries. They promise to do certain things. |

How are Democracies and Dictatorships different?

Between the end of the First World War in 1918 and the start of the Second World War in 1939, the countries of Europe began to divide into two sorts. Some were governed as democracies and others were governed as dictatorships. A number of countries abandoned democracy and turned to dictatorship.

Task 1

Your teacher will give you a Democracy and Dictatorship table. Read the column that explains how a democracy works. Your teacher will also give you a sheet of statements about how a dictatorship works. Each dictatorship statement can be paired with a democracy statement. Match the statements up by copying the dictatorship statements into boxes next to their democracy pair.

You will fill in the final column in a future lesson, so keep your table safe.

Task 2

Using page 118 of Peace and War, colour in and label and add a key to your own copy of the map below, to show the democracies and dictatorships in Europe between the wars.

Extension

Task 3

Re-read the features that make up a democracy and a dictatorship.

• Which of the two political systems does Britain have today?

Explain your answer by describing how four features of that system work in Britain today.

What was the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany?

The First World War ended in November 1918. Germany and Austria had lost and Britain, France and the USA had won. In 1919, ‘The Big Three’; the leaders of Britain (Lloyd George), France (Clemenceau) and the USA (Wilson,) met at Versailles, near Paris in France. They spent four months talking about the peace treaty they were to draw up. The Germans were not included in the talks.

Task 1.

Write out five correct sentences by matching the heads and tails below.

|Heads |Tails |

|Britain, France and the USA… |…..‘The Big Three’. |

|Germany and Austria….. |…..won World War One. |

|The peacemakers met…… |…..lost World War One. |

|These leaders of Britain, France and the USA have been called |…..decide what went in to the Peace Treaty. |

|….. | |

|Germany was not allowed to…. |…...at Versailles, near Paris. |

Task 2.

At Versailles the leaders had to agree the answers to a number of questions:

1. Who was to blame for the war?

2. What should happen to countries’ armies?

3. Who should pay for the war damage?

4. Should Germany and other defeated countries lose some of their lands, and how should these areas be organised?

5. How was the peace going to be kept in future?

In the first column of the table on the next page are the terms of the treaty, based on the agreements reached by ‘the Big Three’ on how these questions should be answered.

Copy the table, with the information given so far, to fill a page of your book.

(The second and third columns can be very small.)

|Terms of the Treaty |Germany was fairly |Germany was harshly |

| |treated |treated |

|1)Germany was forced to accept all the blame for starting the War. | | |

|2)Germany’s army was cut to 100,000 men. They could not put troops in the area nearest| | |

|France and was not allowed to build any tanks planes or submarines. | | |

|3)In 1921 the Allies decided Germany should pay £6600 million reparations in gold and | | |

|goods. | | |

|4)All Germany’s colonies were given to the Allies and land around the edges of Germany| | |

|was given to France, Belgium, Denmark and Poland. | | |

|5)The League of Nations was set up. It was designed to get countries to discuss their | | |

|disagreements instead of to fight. | | |

Task 3.

Some people would argue that the terms of the Versailles Treaty were fair on Germany, others would argue that they were too harsh and led to resentment and problems later on.

Below are a number of statements about the terms of Treaty. For each one work out which term it is talking about and whether the person thinks it was fair on Germany or too harsh. Write the letter of that statement into the correct box on your table.

Task 4.

“The Treaty of Versailles was fair in the way it dealt with Germany.” Do you agree?

It could be argued that the Treaty was fair. For example, …….

However, it could be argued that the Treaty was too harsh. For example……….

Why did Hitler become chancellor of Germany in January 1933?

Task 1. As a class, brainstorm what you know about Hitler.

Were most of your comments positive or negative?

Hitler is remembered by most people as an evil man. Because of this, it seems difficult to understand how he came to be the absolute leader of Germany. The following task asks you to consider the range of causes that led to Hitler becoming chancellor.

Task2.Your teacher will give you a sheet of sources. Each source provides some evidence about one of the causes, which led to Hitler becoming chancellor. In groups of four, look at each source in turn and try to work out what the cause might be. Note down your ideas in your draft book.

Hints: The same type of cause will be mentioned by more than one source.

Try to think about how you could group the causes into catagories, or types of cause.

Task3.

Copy and complete the table below. This table has provided types of causes for you.

Causes of why Hitler became chancellor in January 1933.

|Type of cause |The source(s) which provide evidence of this cause |

|1. The Versailles Treaty | |

|2. Economic | |

|3. Social | |

|4. The Attractions of Hitler and the Nazis | |

|5. Political | |

Task 4.

Look at each source in turn again. For each source try to work out which of the five types of cause it proves evidence for. Write the number of the source into the correct box on the table.

Task 5.

It is important to consider how these different causes are linked together and whether they are background or immediate causes. You should also begin to think about whether some causes are more important than others.

Your teacher will give you a causes diagram sheet.

• Show what type of cause each cause is. Use (V) for Versailles, (E) for economic, (S) for social, (N) for the attraction of the Nazis and (P) for political.

• Colour all background causes blue and all immediate causes red.

• Draw arrows between any causes you think are linked together. Next to the arrow explain the link. Do at least two examples.

• Write a large ‘I’ next to those causes you feel are most important.

Task 6.

You are now going to write an essay about why Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933.

For each paragraph you should:

- Describe the cause.

- Use the sources to explain how that factor helped Hitler become Chancellor.

- Use quotes from the sources to back up what you have said.

- If you can, end each paragraph by explaining how that cause is linked to other causes you have already described.

Use the following writing frame:

“Hitler become Chancellor of Germany mainly because of the effects of economic depression.” Do you agree?

Introduction: In January 1933 Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. There are many factors which led to this happening, although some are linked together and some are more important than others.

Economic causes did contributed to Hitler becoming Chancellor. For example…….

However, other causes were also important.

The Treaty of Versailles contributed to Hitler becoming Chancellor……..

Social causes also contributed to Hitler becoming Chancellor. For example……..

The appeal of the Nazis also contributed to Hitler becoming Chancellor. For example……..

Finally, political causes also contributed to Hitler becoming Chancellor. For example……..

Conclusion:

There were many causes for Hitler becoming Chancellor……..

Some of these causes are linked together, for example…..

Some causes were immediate causes, which had an impact on the timing of when he became chancellor…

The most important causes were…………because…….

Did life improve for Germans under Hitler’s government?

Although Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, his power was still limited. Only three of the eleven ministers were Nazi and the Nazi party had less than half the seats in the Reichstag. Hitler therefore looked for ways of increasing his power. Below is a timeline of the changes he made to the political system.

Task 1.

You are now going to complete your table of features of a democracy and a dictatorship, from an earlier lesson. You are going to use the timeline to give evidence of how Hitler changed Germany from a Democracy to a Dictatorship. In the fourth column of your table, write the date and a description of how he changed that feature of the political system. Some of Hitler’s actions contributed to changing more than one feature of the political system from that of a Democracy to that of a Dictatorship, so you may write it in more than one box. The first one has been done for you.

Task 2.

You teacher will put you into groups of five. Each group will be given a set of eight pictorial sources of evidence.

In your group, look at each source and read the background information. Decide whether each source supports the view that life improved for Germans, under Hitler’s government, or not. Sort the sources into two piles.

Task 3.

Copy the following table into your books so that it fills a whole page. Write in the numbers of the photograph under the interpretation of life in Hitler’s Germany that it supports. For each photograph, give one sentence to explain why it supports that view.

|Life improved |Life did not improve |

|Photograph.. This shows that.. |Photograph.. This shows that.. |

|Photograph.. This shows that.. |Photograph.. This shows that.. |

|Photograph.. This shows that.. |Photograph.. This shows that.. |

|Photograph.. This shows that.. |Photograph.. This shows that.. |

Task 4.

Use what you have done to answer the following question:

“Life improved for German people under Hitler’s government.” Do you agree?

Use the following writing frame:

There is evidence to support the view that life improved for German people under Hitler’s government. For example, ….

However, there is also evidence to support the view that life did not improve, or got worse. For example, …

Why did Nazism fall?

Adolf Hitler was determined to make his country larger and more powerful. From 1936 Hitler’s army took over other areas and countries. By 1942 controlled much of Europe and was fighting an aggressive war against Britain, France, Russia and the USA. However, by May 1945 Germany had surrendered and Adolf Hitler had committed suicide.

Task 1.

Your teacher will give you a timeline of Hitler’s foreign policy from 1936 and the events of the Second World War. In groups of four, study it carefully and think about how successful Germany was at each point.

Below are three headings. Decide when on your timelines they best describe. For each one you should be able to explain why it could apply to that period of time.

• ‘Heading for Victory’

• ‘The tide turns’

• ‘Darker days for the Germany’

Your teacher will help you find out whether the different groups in the class agree on where the headings best describe and why.

Task 2.

Now you need to concentrate on the period 1939-1945. Use the timeline to complete your copy of the progress graph for Germany in the war.

Progress Graph: Germany in World War Two

Task 3.

Whilst how Germany faired in the Second World War is crucial to understanding why Hitler fell, it is also important to recognise that other factors also contributed. In groups, read through the text boxes below. Identify which boxes provide evidence to show that opposition to Hitler was growing in Germany and which provide evidence to show that Germans were disillusioned (unhappy) with the war. Copy out the table below. Then, write the number of each text box on the correct side of the table

|Evidence to show that opposition to Hitler was growing in Germany |Evidence to show that Germans were disillusioned with the war |

| | |

Task 4. Using you knowledge of World War Two and the text above, answer the following question:

“Hitler fell from power mainly due to internal opposition” Do you agree?

There is evidence to suggest that Hitler fell from power mainly due to internal opposition. For example….

However, there is also evidence to suggest that Hitler fell from power due to the effects of the war……

In conclusion,………..

|Freedom to join |Opposition |Laws |Elections |Voters |Political Parties |The political |

|together | | | | | |system |

|People are free to |People are free to |There are laws that |Elections take place |People are free to |There are a range of |How a democracy |

|belong to trade |criticise the |everyone has to obey.|frequently, so that |vote and choose which|political parties. It|works |

|unions. They can also|government as long as|To change a law the |people can vote for a|political party they |is legal to form new | |

|join pressure groups |they don’t break any |Government must allow|new political party |would like to govern |political parties. | |

|who want certain |laws. |a parliament to vote |to form a new |the country. | | |

|things to change | |on it. |government. change | | | |

| | | |government if they | | | |

| | | |want to. | | | |

| | | | | | |How a |

| | | | | | |dictatorship |

| | | | | | |works |

| | | | |Feb 1933 Hitler | |When this |

| | | | |changed the law to | |feature of a |

| | | | |allow him to ruined | |dictatorship was|

| | | | |the Communist’s | |introduced in |

| | | | |election campaign. | |Germany |

Features of a dictatorship

Why Hitler became Chancellor – Sources of Evidence

Progress Graph: Germany in World War Two

Progress Graph: Germany in World War Two

Progress Graph: Germany in World War Two

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A Propaganda poster made by the Nazi Party, showing Hitler as a strong and determined leader.

E) All countries have the right to keep up the same level of military power as its neighbours as protection

D)It was essential to reduce Germany’s military power so it could no longer be a threat to her surrounding countries.

G)By being made to pay Germany would not be able to look after its people. Other countries also caused the damages in fighting.

B)Germany should be made to compensate for all the suffering and loss caused by the War.

C)Germany was the main cause. It gave Austria permission to attack Serbia and sent its’ army to invade .France.

A)Germany was not the only country responsible, other countries were also trying to take over territory to become more powerful.

Trade unions and independent pressure groups, that may challenge the government, are banned.

Laws are only made by the dictator. These may limit the rights and involvement of individuals. The dictator may change or ignore laws on how to govern the country. ignored by

There is only one party. No other political parties are allowed.

Elections stop altogether, or only happen if the dictator wants them to.

If anyone criticises the government they are put in prison, detention camps or maybe even killed.

If there are elections, voters can only vote for the dictator’s party.

Who was Hitler and what did he do?

Source 1 From a German cartoon about the Treaty of Versailles(1919). The German mother is saying to her child, ‘ When we have paid 100 billion Marks, then I shall be able to give you something to eat’:

Source 2 From the German newspaper Deusche Zeitung on the day of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles:

Today in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles the disgraceful Treaty is being signed. Do not forget it! The German people will press forward to conquer the place among nations to which it is entitled. Then will the come the revenge for the shame of 1919.

Source 3. Show unemployment figures in Germany 1928-33 and seats won by the Nazis in the Reichstag:

Source 4. Written by Victor Schiff in 1934. He was a leading German politician who had fled from Germany when Hitler came to power:

Hitler owes his rise to the World Economic crisis: to the despair of the unemployed working classes, to the university educated youth for whom there is no future, to the middle-class businessman and craftsman heading for bankruptcy and to the farmers threatened with a fall in food prices.

Source 5. From Modern World History, by Ben Walsh, 1996:

In 1929 the American Stock Market crashed and sent the USA into a disastrous economic depression…American bankers and businessmen lost huge amounts of money in the crash. To pay off their debts they asked German banks to repay the money they had borrowed. The result was economic collapse in Germany. Businesses went bankrupt, workers were laid off.

Source 6. A summery of Hitler’s ideas from his book, Mein Kampf. This was written whilst he was in prison:

• The Treaty of Versailles must be cancelled and land taken from the Germans must be returned.

• The Germans are the ‘Master Race’. No Jews may be members of the nation. It was Jews who helped to bring about Germany’s defeat in the First World War.

• We demand a strong government led by a single leader, a Fuhrer.

1) People who supported other political parties (Socialists and Communists) continued to try to fight Hitler and the Nazis, although most were imprisoned or killed.

Source 8. A Nazi election poster, 1932.

Source 7. Description of a Nazi rally in 1932, in I knew Hitler (1938) by Kurt Ludecke:

The Nazi flags were everywhere in evidence. Huge posters and Nazi slogans screamed from windows… uniformed men elbowed a way through the crowds, the swastikas circling their brawny arms…a hundred thousand packed a nearby racetrack where loudspeakers had been set up to carry Hitler’s words. And at home millions were waiting by the radio…..

Source 9. From Weimar Germany 1918-1933, by Josh Brooman:

It is questionable as to whether Hitler gained power legally. The SA (Hitler’s private army) could be seen to play an important part – by beating up and murdering Communists, smashing their meetings, and making it nearly impossible for them to campaign freely in elections.

Source 10. Amended from Modern World History, by Ben Walsh, 1996:

The Democratic system of government, set up in 1919, aimed to be democratic. However, by trying to give everyone a say, the largest party in the Reichstag rarely had a majority. This meant that they had to join with others to make a coalition government. Parties in coalitions often disagreed on how to solve problems, so little was done. If the coalition split up over disagreements, elections for a new government had to take place.

Source 11. By N. Hollins, Dictatorship, 2000.

In November 1932 the Nazis were the largest party in the Reichstag, but they did not have a majority. Hitler demanded that he should be made Chancellor, even though he could not get support from other parties to form a government. The President, Hindenburg, refused. The Chancellor, Von Papen, could not get politicians to support his ideas for how to solve Germany’s problems, so Hindenburg made Von Schleicher the new Chancellor. He allowed him to ignore the democratic system for running the country. But, even with more power, he could not solve Germany’s problems either. Finally, Hindenburg, with Von Papen’s support, offered Hitler the job as Chancellor.

Why did Hitler become Chancellor in January 1933?

The Treaty of Versailles

Use of the SA for violence and intimidation

Some Germans wanted revenge

The role of Hindenburg

Problems with how the democratic political system worked

Fear of Communism amongst some German people

Weak opposition

Effective use of propaganda

Hitler ideas

The Wall St Crash and world wide depression

High unemployment

German people voted for the Nazis in National Elections

Why did Hitler become Chancellor in January 1933?

Early 1934

July 1933

July 1934

Feb 1933

May 1933

Losing

March 1933

Nazis broke into trade-union offices, union officials were arrested. Unions were replaced with the Nazi ‘German Labour Front’.

The Gestapo was set up to round up ‘enemies’. All of the political opponents of the Nazis were put into concentrat-ion camps .

Hitler made a law stating that the Nazis Party was the only party allowed. All other Political Parties were banned.

Winning

Hitler passed the Enabling Act, which meant he could make laws about how to run the country without consulting the Reichstag.

Hitler called for an election. Communists were accused of a fire that burnt down the Reichstag. Hindenburg gave Hitler a law which suspended part of the Constitution, allowing Hitler to disrupt to ruin the Communist’s election campaign.

President Hindenburg died. Instead of elections for a new President, Hitler combined and took the jobs of Chancellor and President. He became a ‘Fuhrer’.

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F) Some of the land taken contained German speaking people. Germany would want it back and it led to the potential for further war.

H) Taking land away from Germany created a barrier which was supposed to protect Germany’s neighbour from the threat of invasion.

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6) In 1944 there was an assassination attempt on Hitler, which failed.

Life improved

?

5) The Edelweiss Pirates were groups of teenagers, mainly 14-17. They held activities just like the Hitler Youth movement, but they mocked the Nazis and sometimes attacked the Hitler Youth. They helped army deserters, stole weapons and helped an attack on the Gestapo (the secret police).

4) In the last year of the war, ordinary people stayed away from Nazi rallies and refused to give ‘Heil Hitler’ salutes when asked to do so.

3) Some scientists passed on secrets about new weapons to Britain. Other individuals helped Jews and others to escape.

2) People’s lives became more and more difficult, with longer hours at work, less heating and food. This did not seem worth putting up with when the war was not going well:

Life did not improve

7) By the last years of war, there were no entertainments or postal service. This meant that people found it hard to escape their every day lives and to raise their morale.

8) Many individual churchmen resisted Hitler, giving sermons against Nazi ideas. Many were sent to concentration camps and killed or worked to death.

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