Rise in Fascism in Europe

Fascism

a political movement that promotes an extreme form of nationalism, militarism, denial of individual rights, and one party

rule.

Which European countries adopted fascism in the 1920s

and 30s

Spain, Italy and Germany

Fascism rises in Germany due to problems in the Weimar

republic

What is the Weimar republic?

An Unstable Democratic Government

People in Germany had no history of democratic government

Multi-party system

35 fighting political parties trying to run it by 1928

The gov’t has so many problems to deal with, and they can’t get anything done!

Too much opposition, attempted coups, and assassinations

President Paul von Hindenburg

Treaty of Versailles

Germans considered it a stab in the back.

Massive war reparations

War guilt clause

French occupation of the Ruhr valley

Inflation

To deal with their failing economy and war reparations, the German gov’t prints money

Loaf of bread cost….

1 mark in 1918

160 marks in 1922

2 billion marks in 1923

Carried money in wheel barrows

People paid 3x a day

What would you do?

Please open books to page 896

Quiz Yourself

What are three major changes in European society after WWI?

What are important differences between totalitarianism and fascism?

What problems in Weimar Germany led to the rise of the Nazi party?

The Rise of Nazi Germany

Adolf Hitler

Born in 1889, son of Austrian custom official

Was he part Jewish?

Alois Schichlgruber and clan

Bad student, drop out

October 1907 Rejected from Vienna Academy of Fine Arts

– Good street scenes, trouble drawing people

World War I

Hitler moves to Munich in Germany

Is there for the outbreak of war

Thrilled

Dispatch runner between the trenches

Awarded Iron Cross, first class

Friends?

End of War

Gas injury

In hospital

Armistice

What about his early life do you think is significant?

Entry into politics

Job as political observer

Joins German Workers party after observing them

Skills that help him rise to predominance

– Trained as lecturer for gov’t

– Speaking skills

– Organizational skills

Skills continued…

Party control by 1921

Renames it the National Socialist German Workers Party

Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei

NSDAP or Nazi

Turns party into a mass movement

Flags, uniforms, badges, newspaper

Nazi flag; don’t write, just listen

– Red - social idea

– White - national idea

– Swastika - struggle of the Aryan man

3000 yrs old, used in Greece, china, England, Germany, India

Sanskrit “good being”

Common decoration (Finnish air force, American 45th division)

Denoting German nationalism

Joseph Goebbels; in charge of Propaganda

Focus on small towns, rather than big cities

Huge network of people gathering information

– What makes people unhappy?

Direct mailings

Rallies included music, a dance, then speakers

They become largest party in Germany

Beerhall Putsch, Nov 8, 1923

The plan:

In the midst of massive inflation and near collapse of Weimar, Nazis will make alliances with other right-wing parties, march on the gov’t and take over.

The Event

Met in a beerhall in Munich

Mayhem

Most groups drop out

Nazis and a few others march towards the capital

Government blockades the streets, shots are fired

Nazis scatter, Hitler is arrested

Trial

Hitler comes off as patriotic, thoughtful, and a real leader.

Judge sentences him to 5 years

He serves less than 1

Prison and Mein Kampf

Hitler’s manifesto; it contains….

German nationalism

Anti-Semitism

Anti-communism

The right of the fittest to lebensraum (living space) and secure control over the inferior races

Hitler lays out his plan to attack Russia, Poland and Czechoslovakia and eliminated the Jews from Europe

German “Aryans” will then resettle land in the east and use the slavs for slaves

Hitler becomes Chancellor

Chancellor - Head of state

I thought the Weimar Republic had a president?

Becoming chancellor

Nazi party was doing well in elections

A protest vote

Other political parties thought they could use Hitler to gain popularity, and control him

He insists on being chancellor, not vice-chancellor

They agree, he is made chancellor

Reichstag fire

Reichstag - the government offices, like the American Senate building

Reichstag fire, February 27

Fire breaks out

Who did it? Communists?

President Hindenburg is convinced to issue an emergency decree

Reichstag fire decrees – Suspends civil rights

– Anyone can be arrested and held

Germany becomes a fascist state

March elections

Nazi campaign techniques

44% of the votes

Pass the Enabling act

The gov’t can override the constitution for 4 years while issuing laws to deal with the country’s problems

Hitler is dictator, and through legal means

Just listen!

Creating the Nazi state

Hitler’s plan

Develop and Aryan state that will dominate Europe, possibly the world and exist for thousands of years

Germans must actively participate

How to do it?

Propaganda

Rallies

Get people working (Grants, public works, rearmament)

Terror and Repression

Terror: murder, thugery, concentration camps, death camps, execution squads

Arrests made in the middle of the night

Arresting families and friends of dissenters as well

Racial Policy

Creating a master race

Anti-Semitism

Attempts to separate Jews from people of German descent politically, socially, legally and economically

Exclude people from certain professions

– Legal, press, cultural, entertainment, teaching, civil service

– Jewish doctors can only treat Jewish patients

Non-Aryan Laws

Raises Bureaucratic question - who is Jewish?

Nuremburg laws

Last minute, Nuremburg rally of 1935

Excludes all Jews from German citizenship

Forbade marriage and extra-marital relationships between Jews and German citizens

Forbids Jewish housekeepers under the age of 40 from working in German homes and vice versa

All laws are retroactive

Kristallnacht, Nov. 9 1938

Secretary in German embassy assassinated by Polish Jew

Sparks Nazi rampage

Synagogues burned

7,000 Jewish businesses destroyed

100 killed

30,000 sent to concentration camps

In the aftermath…

Jews bared from public buildings

Prohibited from owning, managing or working in any retail store

Encouraged to emigrate from Germany

Quiz Yourself

What are some important details about Hitler’s life before he moved into politics?

What was Joseph Goebbels in charge of?

Why was Hitler sentenced to five years in prison?

What is Mein Kampf about?

Why was Hitler made chancellor?

What are the Reichstag fire decrees?

What was Kristallnacht?