HOLOCAUST IN NAZISM

GERMANY’S DEFEAT IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

 Germany entered the world war in 1st August 1914.

Its main aim was to dominate over Russia and
France, the most powerful countries on either side of
Germany.
 It attacked Belgium. After this of Germany, great
Britain attacked Germany.
 Later as the U.S. joined the Allied forces, Germany
was easily defeated.
 First the failure of the Schlieffen plan and then the
weakness of Kaiser Wilhelm II made the general
public and the army lose respect of him.
  In 1918 Wilhelm abdicated.
 The social democratic party and the Independent
Social Democratic party convened a National
Congress. Ultimately a weak coalition government
was formed.

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE AND THE TREATY

OF VERSAILLES

The Allies met in Paris basically to take revenge

(politically and economically) on the defeated Central
Power.
The main outcome of this Conference was Treaty of
Versailles (1919). This Treaty was signed with Germany.
These terms of this Treaty put the blame of all the
description and damages squarely on Germany.
Because of this Treaty:-
 Germany had to say goodbye to its overseas colonies.
Nearly 13% of German Territory was given away to
various countries who directly or indirectly supported
the Allies.
 France grabbed Alsace and Lorraine which were
parts of Germany.
 Germany’s control over Poland was taken away.
Poland now became a sovereign country again.
 As reparation, Germany had to shell out $33 billion.
 Germany’s military prowess was neutralised
especially in Rhineland.
 France and Belgium first grabbed a significant part of
Rhineland. Later when Germany failed to pay
reparations the French and Belgium army occupied
Ruhr as well.
AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE TREATY

 It was a severe blow to the psychology of the proud

Germans. They had to undergo extreme humiliation
because of this treaty.
 The poor Weimar Republic – that had nothing to do
with the war or treaty – became the punching bag of
the Germans. They felt that it was because of the
weakness of the republic government that the Allies
dared to impose such heavy penalties.
 The conservatives nationalistic people in Germany
abused the supporters of the Weimar Republic and
turned against them. The supporters included mainly
the Socialists. The Democrats and the Catholics too
bore the brunt.
 As aggressive nationalism reared its head, so did the
tendency to glorify war and trench life.
RADICAL ELEMENTS IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE
As the Weimar Republic came to existence so did a
radical group called Spartacist League. This group was
impressed by the Soviets and wanted to imitate their style
of governance. Initially, the Weimar Republic, with the
help of Free Crops, stunted the rise of Spartacist League.
As you can imagine from their love of Soviet-style of
governance, this league was communist in spirit. Later
this League formed the communist party of Germany.
THE ECONOMIC FALLOUT

 Germany had to pay the Allies an astronomical sum

of money as reparations. On the other hand, during
the war, it borrowed money and resources as well. So
it was in great dept.
 France occupied Ruhr upon non-payment of
reparations.
  To counter the growing economic stress, Germany
printed a large amount of paper currency. This led to
shocking inflations.
 Although America tried to bail Germany out, after
the economic depression of 1929, America stopped
giving the loans to the Germany.
 Germany industrial output was at an all-time loan. As
many as 6 million Germans become unemployed’
THE EMERGENCE OF HITLER

 As the Germans economy was deteriorating day by

day because of the unfair ruling in the peace treaty,
Hitler seethed with anger. Toxic nationalistic
sentiment filled him to the core.
 Hitler was the son of customs official. He lived in
Australia. Hitler wanted to became an artist but was
 repeatedly rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts,
Vienna.
 In 1913 Hitler came to Munich and joined the 16th
Bavarian Reserved Infantry Regiment.
 An aimless Hitler found refuge in war. He loved the
discipline and the way of life that he experienced
while he was in the army.
After his service, Hitler joined the German Workers
Party. That was in 1919-the year in the Versailles Treaty
was signed. He became the topmost leader of the party
and it the National Socialist German Worker’s Party. This
same party transformed into the Nazi Party.
THE PROMISE OF A BETTER COUNTRY

The morale of the Germans was at the very bottom of

after the Treaty. Hitler, through its Nazi Party, promised
the Germans a better future once he would get to power.
The people started dreaming-just like a drowning ant
would clutch a straw. By 1932 Hitler’s Nazi Party ranks
in 37% votes and became a majority in the German
Parliament. Ultimately 30th January 1933, Hitler became
the chancellor.
And the Dictatorship begin….
 Hitler intoxicated the conservatives and the general
population with his promises.
 When a mysterious fire breaks out in the German
parliament building, Hitler used this as an
opportunity to murder the freedom speech and press.
He also imposed restrictions on the right to
assembles.
 The communists were condemned to the
concentration camps.
 And then came the Enabling Act of 1933. The Nazi
Party became the one and only party in the Germany.
Every other party and organization became illegal.
The Storm Troopers, the Gestapo, the Surveillance
along with the regular police-were all given a free
hand to locate the ‘enemies’ and send them to the
concentration camps.
Politically speaking, Hitler did manage to reserve the
embarrassing of the peace treaty. He got back the Rhine.
Czechoslovakia and Sudetenland were annexed by
Germany. Hitler attacked Poland. In many countries, Nazi
stooges were installed. By 1940 Hitler became extremely
powerful.
RACISM IN HITLER

“All the human culture, all the results of art, science and
technology that we see before us today, are almost
exclusively the product of the Aryan” – Hitler writes in
Mein Kampf. From this you can imagine how blind Hitler
was in his love for the so called pure race.
If you have seen Harry Potter, you can easily equate
Hitler with Voldemort. Voldemort considered human
beings the muggles inferior. Hitler was against the unions
of the Aryans and others races as that would inferior sons
and daughters.
Hitler was a believer in the racial hierarchy. The Aryans
were considered to be the most superior and the Jews
were considered to be the most inferior. All the other
races were between these two extremes.
His blinds hatred against the Jews led to the 6 billions
Jews. Killing is an understatement here. The Jews were
tortured, gassed, orphaned, poisoned, widowed, separated
and forced to live a life of hiding and constant fear. This
mass killing of the Jews is known as the Holocaust.
We must also note that Hitler killed the countless people
in the Poland and Russia as well. In fact, even the
Germans who were considered unfit were treated harshly.
HOLOCAUST

Hitler’s hatred for the Jews was as deadly as a forest fire

that shows no time of stopping. After Hitler became the
dictator of Germany, he pushed fourth his theory of
Aryan supremacy. He believed that the blue-eye Nordic
Aryans were at the top of racial hierarchy and the Jews
were at the bottom. He associated spiritual significance
with the killing of the Jews. Thus with the help of his
police force, the SA unit and the Gestapo, he
systematically located and the Jews to concentration
camps and butchered them. This systematic killing of the
Jews by Hitler is known as the Holocaust.