Germany Before the War
Hitler’s Rise
Hitler’s rise to power began in 1920, when he took control of a party called the German Workers Party and changed the name to National Socialist German Workers Party, or Nazi Party for short. A couple years later on November 9th, 1923, Hitler attempted a small revolution by proclaiming the current Weimar government should be overthrown. Shortly after, Hitler was arrested for the revolution now known as the Beer Hall Putsch. During a time of two years in prison, Hitler wrote a book called Mein Kampf which means "My Struggle". In this autobiography Hitler outlines his future plans for Germany and political ideology.
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Almost 10 years after being imprisoned for his attempted revolution, the Nazi party won 37.3 percent of the vote and took 230 seats in the German Reichstag. At this point in time, the government in Germany was seeking a solution to their unstable government. On January 30, 1933, the president of Germany appointed Hitler as Chancellor, in hopes of bettering the German government. However once in office, Hitler got rid of the German Reichstag and was granted more authority after persuading Hindenburg, the president at the time. Hitler prohibits public meetings, wearing political uniforms, and publication of dissenting opinions. With more power, Hitler took systematic control of the government, his private army roaming free and terrorizing their political opponents. In 1933, the Nazis won 43.9 percent of the votes, but to gain the majority of the votes, the group formed alliances with the nationalist party and declared the communist party illegal. Hindenburg, the president of Germany died a year later in 1934. After this, Hitler took the position, but called himself Führer and took full control as a dictator.
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Nazi Aspirations
It wasn’t just the Jewish race that Adolf Hitler was so obsessed with negatively, but he spread his beliefs of “Purity,” and the Aryan race. He called them the “master race.” He saw the ideal human as blond, blue-eyed, and tall. And he had a lot of backup, German scientists believed that the human race could be improved by limiting the reproduction of people considered "inferior." Beginning in 1933, German physicians were allowed to perform forced sterilizations, operations making it impossible for the victims to have children. The targets included Roma (Gypsies), handicapped individuals, and African-Germans. That was his vision. To build the “Perfect” Germany full of “Perfect” people.
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Why Germany Entered the War
GoalsAfter conquering Poland, and throwing the rest of the world into another giant war, Hitler focused next on what he believed to be his biggest threat, Britain and France. After defeating France, Hitler moved onto Britain and Britain was a lot stronger than Hitler has thought. The attack on Britain was called Operation Sea Lion, and when that failed, Hitler then moved on to operation Barbarossa, the attack on Soviet Union, which is believed to be a big mistake on Hitler's part. These were the goals of Hitler and the Nazis going into the war.
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MotivationGermany was unhappy with the Treaty of Versailles left over from WWI. Most of the blame from WWI was placed on Germany and they lost land, money and their military as consequence to their actions. In turn, Germany then invaded Poland, claiming that it was a defensive action, but France and Britain weren’t convinced. Germany invaded Poland to bring Lebensraum, or “living space,” for the German people. |