Birth of Weimar Republic

This chapter begins with a description of various important wars and how the Weimar
Republic was established. Here are some useful pointers that can help you understand
this topic:

 The First World War (1914-1918) put a dent in Germany after they were defeated
by the Austrian Empire and the allies including England, France, & Russia. In
November 1918, Germany was swiftly defeated by the help of US entry. German-
occupied France and Belgium were freed, and Germany was drained of all its
resources. 
 The national assembly that assembled at Weimar and established a democratic
constitution with a federal structure. In the parliament, deputies were elected with
everyone allowed to cast votes including women.
 The Treaty of Versailles was signed from which Germany lost all its overseas
colonies and its resources, putting them in humiliation. 
 The blame of the First World war was put on Germany as they were forced to
pay 6 billion Euros as damages & loss of life in war.

Effects of World War I

World War I led to extensive destruction and loss of human lives as well as depreciated
losses in various fields like social, political, financial, etc. Let us analyse them:

 The war destabilized the whole continent, mentally & financially. November
Criminals was the name thrown around to every socialist, Catholic, & democrat in
support of the Weimar republic. The Republic was forced to pay compensation.
 The social structure now put soldiers above civilians, glorifying war and
martyrdom.
 Democracy at that time could not hold the weight of the trauma of the war paving
the way to more radical politics & aggressive propaganda.

Political Radicalism and Economic Crises

With the birth and rise of Weimar had a severe impact on society which could be seen
in a variety of arena. Mentioned below are some pointers of the chapter nazism and the
rise of Hitler elucidating political radicalism and the economic crises of that time. 

 The historical coincidence of Weimar’s birth with the revolution of the Spartacist
League against the pattern of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia.
 Free Corps, a war veteran organization, helped crush the Spartacist League
uprising while the Catholics, Socialists & Democrats met in Weimar for a
democratic republic.
  Spartacists laid the foundation of the communist party in Germany. The radical
Policy ran rampant in Germany. The French crept into Ruhr of Germany, an
industrial area where they rebelled against the paying of gold.
 The Economic crisis soon developed into Hyperinflation. People carried cartons
of currency to buy a loaf of bread which grabbed media attention worldwide.

The Years of Depression

As the economic depression grew more and more due to various reasons, it continued
over a span of many years during which many historical events took place. Hence, you
must go through the following events which are essentially elaborated to explain Nazism
and the rise of Hitler. 

 1924-1928 saw Germany stabilizing slightly. Short term loans from the USA
helped slowly sustain the economy. But the crash of Wall Street in 1929 stopped
the influx of cash. The great economic depression started taking over.
 In 1932, industrial work cut down by about 40% accounting for the
unemployment of 6 million people. The whole country lived in fear of the future
and proletarianization (impoverishment of the working class).
 Suspended civil rights, rule by decree, and imposing emergency were some
powers of the President due to Article 48.
 The democratic parliamentary system lost the trust of the public.

History of Hitler’s Rise to Power

This is one of the most important topics covered under Nazism and the Rise of Hitler.
This topic describes the early life of Adolf Hitler and how he came into power and
became the name he is known for. Go through these important pointers to understand it
in detail:

 Adolf Hitler was born in the year 1889 and raised in Austria. He enrolled in the
army during World War I and acted as a messenger and soon was promoted to
Corporal.
 In 1919, he joined a small communist party named the German Workers Party.
He soon took hold over the party and renamed it as National Socialist German
Workers; later called the Nazi party.
 Bavaria was the first target of Hitler and planned to seize it. He launched an
attack in 1923 but failed. After 1929, the whole economic crisis was tearing apart
the middle-class families of Germany.
 Hitler tried his hands at elections, but in 1929 his party only won 3.2% of the
votes, though it soon became the largest party in 1932 by winning 37% votes in
Reichstag, Germany.
 He sidelined the parliament by his powers and rule by decree. All other political
parties and trade unions were disbanded forcefully, only the Nazi party remained.
Reconstruction 
As Hitler came into power, he brought drastic changes in. The most important changes
brought forward during Nazism and the Rise of Hitler are mentioned below:

 Hjalmar Schacht was appointed by Hitler to recover the economy who employed
full production and full employment through a state-funded work-creation
programme.
 Hitler removed Germany from the League of Nations in 1933, cemented his
position in Rhineland in 1936, and integrated Austria & Germany in 1938.
 Hitler then planned to wage war to gain resources out of the economic crisis. In
1939, he invaded Poland and declared war on France & England. In 1940,
Germany sealed the tripartite pact with Italy and Japan. He attacked the Soviet
Union in 1941, while the USA kept its distance to the war.
 When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, a US naval base, the USA had to reluctantly
enter the war.
 In 1945, the US bombed Hiroshima with the atomic bomb, ending the war and
bringing Hitler to his knees.

Establishment of Racial State and the Nazi Worldview

As the Nazi regime grew, it became the sole reason for the propagation of racial
hierarchy in the country. Here are the major implications and consequences which
happened with the establishment of racial state during the advent of Nazism and the
Rise of Hitler:

 A racial hierarchy system ruled the minds of Nazism followers. They believed that
the Nordic German Aryans were the purest humans, all other races in the middle
and the Jews were at the bottom.
 They began systematically removing other races to create a pure German Aryan
community in Germany.
 Jews were hugely persecuted in this racial war. Not allowed to own lands, they
were thrown in concentration camps and forced to leave their own home and
concludingly their numbers dwindled.
 The survivors of the Jew extermination, also known as the Holocaust, started
sharing their stories with the world.
 Hitler’s idea of establishing Nazi idealogy at the root level was soul-shaking.
Schools were taught the Nazi approach and boys were taught masculine
aggression.
 Those Children of Jews who were physically handicapped or undesirable were
thrown into gas chambers.
 The number of deaths reached upwards of 2.7 million, almost all Jews during the
Holocaust.
 In History, Hitler is remembered as the ruthless leader who brainwashed an
entire generation and fed them fascist ideals.