The document provides background information on Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany. It discusses his early life, time in WWI, formation of the Nazi party, and key events that allowed him to consolidate power such as the Reichstag fire and passage of the Enabling Act. It also summarizes Nazi party organizations like the SA, SS, Gestapo, and Hitler Youth that helped enforce Hitler's dictatorship. In the end, the document dispels the myths that Hitler's rise was inevitable or that he was democratically elected, noting he never received over 37% of the vote and only came to power due to flaws in the German political system.

1. The Rise of Hitler and the
Nazi Party

2. Myth or Fact: Hitler’s rise to power was inevitable.
Myth or Fact: Adolf Hitler was elected to power.

3. The Holocaust
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Adolf Hitler
Economy
Antisemitism
German Nationalism
Nazi Propaganda

4. Adolf Hitler’s Early Life
• Hitler was born on April 20th, 1889 in
AUSTRIA
• He had a poor relationship with his father
and was very close to his mother
• He was an aspiring painter, and was twice
rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts in
Vienna
• It was at this time, in 1908, that Hitler
began a
movement
based on the
beliefs that
Germans were
the master
race

5. Hitler in WWI
• Hitler pleaded to be in the
Bavarian (a state in Germany)
Army and was granted his
request
• He served as a messenger in a
regiment that exposed him to
enemy fire (story)
• He was shot in the leg and
suffered from a poison gas
attack
• He was awarded the Iron Cross
– the highest military honour in
Germany

6. Hitler and Early Politics
• Hitler helped form the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi) in
1919 and assumed leadership in 1921
• Beer Hall Putsch (‘pooch’) November 8th, 1923
– Attempt by Hitler to seize power and overthrow the Bavarian government for
signing the Treaty of Versailles
– The attempt failed and Hitler was imprisoned for five years for high treason
(but he was released after only serving one year – he was not considered a
threat to the public)

7. Mein Kampf
• Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (“My
Struggle) in 1925 while he was in
prison
• This became the Nazi ideology – and it
attacked Jews, Communists,
democracy, and the Treaty of
Versailles
• Hitler also wrote that Germany needed
to destroy the French Nation and
conquer Russia, among other things
• The book sold/distributed 10 million
copies between 1925-1934

8. Unemployment in Germany
1928-1933
September 1928 650,000
September 1929 1,320,000
September 1930 3,000,000
September 1931 4,350,000
September 1932 5,102,000
January 1933 6,100,000

9. German children with stacks of inflated currency,
virtually worthless in 1923.

10. Nazi propaganda poster illustrating the Nazi’s desire to
break the shackles of the Treaty of Versailles.

11. Hitler’s Rise to Power
• By 1932, the Nazi Party was the
biggest political party and held 230
seats
• Hitler demanded to be appointed the
position of chancellor – he was initially
refused, but then given the position
• Just before the 1933 election, the
Reichstag (parliament) was burned to
the ground. The president of Germany
granted the Nazi Party the power to
quash any political opposition, and
they intimidated and arrested socialist
and communist party members

12. I prophesy to you this … by the appointing Hitler
Chancellor of the Reich, you have handed over our
Sacred German Fatherland to one of the greatest
demagogues of all time. This evil man will cast our Reich
into the abyss and bring our nation to inconceivable
misery. Future generations will
damn you in your grave for what you have done.
-General Erich Ludendorff, in a telegram to President Hindenburg

13. Hitler’s Rise to Power
The Enabling Act
• After the 1933 election, Hitler proposed the Enabling Act,
which would essentially give him a dictatorship – and it
passed!
• The Enabling Act…
– Banned all political parties
– Germany was declared a one
party state
– Jews were not allowed to be
in civil service professions
– Local and state governments
were staffed by Nazi members

14. Hitler Secures Absolute Power
• When the president of
Germany died in 1934,
Hitler’s cabinet passed a law
proclaiming the presidency
to him (rather than holding
elections)
• The military swore an oath to
Hitler, not the state
• Hitler had obtained absolute
power, and Germany
became known as the Third
Reich

15. Why Vote for Hitler?
1. True believers
– These people shared the same
ideology as Hitler and believed he
was their saviour – from the
depression, the Jews, the
Communists, and the Treaty of
Versailles
2. Ignorance
– People did not consider Hitler to
be a real threat
3. Did not take him seriously
– People just thought Hitler was
‘odd’
4. New party needed
– The depression and hyperinflation
highlighted the need for new
political leadership

16. The Nazi Party
History of the Swastika
• The Swastika is a religious symbol used by the Egyptians,
Chinese, Roman armies, and many others
• The Swastika means good luck!
• The Nazi Party used the Swastika because they felt it had
connections to original caste systems that avoided racial
mixing
• The Swastika is banned in most countries, except for religious
or scholarly reasons
HinduismJainism Nazism

17. The Nazi Party
The SA (“Brown Shirts”)
• Hitler’s private army
• They bullied opponents into obeying
the Nazi Party
• However, once Hitler rose to power, he had
the SA replaced by a new organization – the
SS
Night of the Long Knives
• Leaders in the SA (Rohm) were killed
• The SA was destroyed
Ernst Rohm

18. The Nazi Party
The SS (“Black Shirts”)
• The SS were Hitler’s private bodyguards
and were led by Heinrich Himmler
• They arrested and killed anyone who challenged Hitler
• The SS took over law enforcement in Germany and implemented
the ‘Final Solution’ Himmler

19. The Nazi Party
The Gestapo
• The Gestapo were the secret police of Nazi
Germany
• They investigated treason, espionage, and
sabotage cases against the Nazi Party (i.e.
Valkyrie)
• The Gestapo also set up and administered the
concentration camps

20. The Nazi Party
Hitler Youth
• The Hitler Youth was an organization under
the Nazi Party
• By 1936, they had over five million
members in the organization
• They were indoctrinated in anti-Semitism, and
even drafted into the military ranks during
WWII

21. The Hitler State
• “Otto Bauer, a 56 year old business man, said on a
train in June 1942 that Germans had two alternatives:
to kill Hitler or be killed by him. He was overhead by a
married couple who reported him [to the Gestapo]. He
was beheaded on September 16, 1943 for causing
discontent and unrest.”
• It was by using fear that Hitler had stopped freedom
of speech and expression – everyone had to obey Nazi
policy, or face the consequences!

22. Myth or Fact: Hitler’s rise to power was inevitable.
Myth or Fact: Adolf Hitler was elected to power.Myth or Fact: Adolf Hitler was elected to power.
Hitler never received more than 37% of the popular vote (in March 1932
Presidential election) in the honest elections that occurred before he
became Chancellor. He would never have seen the light of day had the
German Republic been truly democratic.
Myth or Fact: Hitler’s rise to power was inevitable.
Hitler’s rise to power was not inevitable. It was due to numerous
factors:
1. Fatal flaws in the Weimar Republic constitution.
2. German leaders who had a weak devotion to democracy, came in
actively plotting to overthrow it.
3. Events of the Great Depression.
4. A half-senile President Hindenburg.
5. Incompetent competition.
6. The occurrence of unnecessary backroom deals just as the Nazis
were starting to lose popular appeal and votes.