Birth of the Weimar Republic
In the 1900s, Germany was a powerful empire, but after World War I, the country lost around 10% of its population and 13% of its territories. It also lost important resources like 75% of iron and 26% of coal. The Allied Powers reduced the German military strength and left the country weak and humiliated. After the German Emperor gave up his throne in 1918, a new democratic government was formed. This government was known as the Weimar Republic and ruled Germany from 1919 to 1933.
The Effects of the War
The war left a financial and psychological impact on the entire continent. The First World War had a significant impact on European politics and society. Soldiers are regarded as superior to citizens, but they had terrible lives. The instability of interwar Europe could not support the young and unstable concept of democracy. The First World War destroyed empires, gave rise to numerous new nation-states, inspired independence movements in Europe’s colonies, compelled the United States to assume global leadership, and prepared the way for the development of Hitler and Soviet communism.
Political Radicalism and Economic Crises
The 1923 economic crisis contributed to an increase in political radicalization. France occupied Germany’s largest industrial region, the Ruhr, as a result of Germany’s refusal to pay war reparations. Germany’s retaliation included carelessly producing paper money. The value of the German mark decreased as a result of an excess of printed money in circulation.
The Years of Depression
The recovery of the German economy and investments were entirely dependent on short-term loans, primarily from the USA. When the Wall Street Exchange fell in 1929, this support was cut off. People scrambled to sell their shares out of fear that prices might drop. 13 million shares were sold on one day, October 24, all by one person.
The Great Economic Depression began with this. Between 1929 and 1932, the next three years, the USA’s national income decreased by 50%. Exports decreased, factories closed, farmers suffered severe losses, and investors withdrew their funds from the market.
Hitler’s Rise to Power
Hilter born was born in Austria in 1889 and born and raised in poverty. He joined the army, served as a messenger in the front, rose to the rank of corporal, and received medals for bravery. In 1919, Hitler joined a small organization known as the German Workers’ Party. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party, which eventually became known as the Nazi Party, was the organization Hitler took control of and renamed.
People were touched by Hitler’s speech because he was a dynamic speaker. He committed to create a strong nation, reverse the injustice of the Versailles Treaty, and restore the dignity of the German people throughout his speech. In addition, he offered the youth a bright future and jobs for those looking for work. He pledged to rid Germany of all foreign influences and to put an end to any foreign “conspiracies.”
Hitler began pursuing a new approach to politics, and his supporters showed their support by holding sizable rallies and open forums. Hitler was referred to as a messiah, a savior, and someone who had come to relieve people of their suffering in Nazi propaganda.
The Destruction of Democracy
On January 30, 1933, President Hindenburg made Hitler an offer for the Chancellorship, the top position in the cabinet of ministers. The Weimar Constitution’s guarantees of civic liberties like freedom of the press, assembly, and expression were suspended by the Fire Decree of February 28, 1933. Hitler was a dynamic and powerful speaker. He promised them a great country with ample employment.
Reconstruction
Germany had suffered heavy losses during the war, Hitler assigned the task of reviving the economy to Hjalmar Schacht, who used a state-funded programme to create jobs in order to achieve full employment and production. In 1933, Hitler rejected the League of Nations; in 1936, he reoccupied of the Rhineland; and in 1938, he merged Austria and Germany under the motto “One people, One empire, and One leader.”
The Nazi Worldview
According to their ideology, Hitler’s believed that there was only a racial hierarchy and no such thing as equality amongst people. Hitler’s racism was inspired by the ideas of Herbert Spencer and Charles Darwin. Nazi thought was The strongest race would live and the weaker ones would perish.
Establishment of the Racial State
Once in power, the Nazis did not delay in carrying out their plan to physically exterminate everyone who was deemed to be “undesirable” across the vast empire in order to create an exclusive racial community of pure Germans. Nazis only desired a society made out of “clean and healthy Nordic Aryans.” They were the only ones deemed to be “acceptable.” Only these were deemed deserving of growth and procreation, while everyone else was deemed undesirable.
This implied that all Germans, including those who were considered filthy or deviant, had no right to live. Many Germans who were deemed to be mentally or physically unfit were put to death as part of the Euthanasia Programme by Helmuth’s father and other Nazi officials.
The Racial Utopia
War and genocide came to be seen as one and the same thing. Poland was split, and a sizable portion of the northwest was taken by Germany.
Poland’s citizens were compelled to abandon their homes and properties. Numerous Polish intellectuals were assassinated, and women were forcibly removed from their children who appeared to be Aryans so that “race experts” might examine them.
Youth in Nazi Germany
Hitler had a strong interest in the nation’s youth. He believed the only way to build a strong Nazi society was to brainwash kids with the ideology. Germans and Jews were initially banned from playing together or sitting together as children. Children were educated to be loyal to Hitler. Even children’s participation in sports served to foster a culture of hostility and violence. Hitler strongly believed that boxing could make children iron hearted, strong and masculine.
The Nazi Cult of Motherhood
Hitler didn’t treated men and women equally. He had always believed that the concept of gender equality was a product of democracy and that it would result to the breakdown of society. He thought that there are differences between the societal responsibilities of men and women. In Nazi Germany, girls were taught to become good mothers and raise children who were of pure Aryan blood, while boys were taught to be aggressive, strong, and kind. Jewish guys could not be married by girls. They were told to uphold racial purity.
The Art of Propaganda
Language and media were regularly and effectively used by the Nazi. They invented misleading words to characterize the jews and disable people. The words “kill” or “murder” were never used by the Nazis in official correspondence. The terms “special treatment,” “final solution” (for the Jews), “euthanasia” (for the disabled), “selection,” and “disinfections” were used to describe mass murder. Deporting individuals to gas chambers was what was meant by “evacuation.” Nazi ideologies were promoted via posters, catchy slogans, radio, films, and radio broadcasts. Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and marked and were referred to as vermin, rats and pests.
Ordinary People and the Crimes Against Humanity
People began using Nazi language and perceiving the world through their Nazi glasses. They sincerely believed that Nazism would bring wealth and enhance everyone’s well-being, and they harbored hatred and rage for Jews. Pastor Niemoeller criticized the strange silence of common Germans against organized and cruel crimes done by the Nazi regime. The Third Reich of Dreams by Charlotte Beradt explains how Jews themselves came to accept the racist portrayals of them.
Knowledge about the Holocaust
Germany was defeated as the war came to a conclusion. Jews wanted the world to remember the horrors and sufferings they had gone through during the Nazi murdering campaigns, widely known as the Holocaust, while Germans were obsessed with their own situation. The Nazi leadership gave its employees gasoline after the war to burn any evidence that might have been used against them at the offices.
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