Adolf Hitler Rise and Fall of Weimar Republic

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ADOLF HITLER AND THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC The politicians who had signed the Versailles Treaty met in the town of Weimar in Germany. They set up a democratic republic. The rise of Hitler Hitler was born in Austria. During the First World War he was twice decorated for bravery. After the war he worked for the government as a spy. He spied on the nationalist socialist German workers party (NAZI party). He was so impressed with them that he became their leader. The party adopted the swastika as its symbol. In 1923 he led an unsuccessful coup attempt known as a putsch in Munich. He was sent to prison where he wrote Mein Kampt (my struggle), which outlined his beliefs. Hitler’s beliefs: * Hitler was anti- Semitic (hatred of Jews). He blamed them for all Germany’s problems. * He believed Germans belonged to the master race. (Aryan race) * He called the men who signed the Versailles Treaty traitors – November criminals * Hitler wanted to build a Third Reich and to expand Germany’s territories eastward to create living space lebensraum. * He wanted all Germans to be united in one country. Hitler comes to power After the 1st world war, Germany had a democratic government (Weimar republic). But Germans blamed it for signing the Versailles treaty and for hunger and unemployment. Hitler set up a fascist style party called the Nazi party. Hitler wanted to tear up the Versailles treaty and unite all Germans so they could form a great German empire. He blamed the Jews and the communists for Germany’s troubles and wanted to destroy them. When the Great Depression 1929 forced many factories to close, desperate Germans voted for the Nazi party. Hitler became the leader of Germany in 1933. He quickly destroyed democracy and set up a Nazi dictatorship. Hitler called himself the Fuehrer. He could do what he wanted. His secret police the Gestapo
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