Rise of Hitler Study Guide PDF

Name:​​ ​ Jackson Provan​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Section: 1 ​ ​ ​ 25 Rise of Hitler Study Guide Directions: Identify the following people, places, organizations, and events, and/or answer the questions in anticipation of the upcoming quiz. 1.​ Defin...

Name:​​ ​ Jackson Provan​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Section: 1 ​ ​ ​ 25 Rise of Hitler Study Guide Directions: Identify the following people, places, organizations, and events, and/or answer the questions in anticipation of the upcoming quiz. 1.​ Define “Holocaust” : Holocaust is a word of Greek origin that means “Sacrifice by fire”. The Holocaust in WWII was trying to burn out the Jews because the Germans were “racially superior” and the “inferior” community of the Jews was a threat to their power and supremacy. 2.​ Understand the basic history of antisemitism in Europe before Nazi Germany (Where did it start? How did the early Christian Church and Roman Empire, especially under Constantine play a role?). You don’t need to give the complete history here, but do you understand the historical context of antisemitism in Europe? Judaism is a monotheistic religion and, throughout a lot of the religion’s history, they were treated poorly and were blamed for things they had no part of. Lies and myths about the Jews were abundant. One of the first violent acts of antisemitism was by the Romans. In 63 BCE, the Roman Empire conquered the hub of Jewish life: Jerusalem. The Romans wanted everyone in their empire to submit to their rule, and they brutally demanded they all follow their polytheistic religion. Since the Jews worshipped only one god, the Romans decided to silence their voices. The Roman Empire destroyed the temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE and attacked again in 130 CE. Christians were outraged at Jesus Christ’s execution by the Romans, the Christians distanced themselves from the Jews and blamed them for his death to draw the Roman’s fire away from them. The Christian Church also blamed the Jews for associating with the devil and the Black Plague. By the 300’s, Christianity was the official religion of Rome and the Jews became a minority. Toward the end of that century, Roman Emperor Constantine called the Jews their outright enemies and told the Romans to not associate with them. The Romans created even more lies, accusing the Jews of kidnapping children, cannibalism, cheating on their spouses, and being no better than farm animals. 3.​ Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic was the government of Germany from after WWI to the start of WWII. After WWI, the Weimar Republic had no choice but to accept the Treaty of Versailles. The damages of that caused Germany to go into massive debt and hyperinflation. It had three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. The Germans voted for a party instead of a person to get seats in power. If a party got 67% of the votes, they would get 67% of the seats. The parties would then vote for people to fill the seats. The leader of the Weimar Republic was the president, and they controlled the military and could excuse the Reichstag (and create new elections for the seats because of that). The president also chose the chancellor, who was in charge of daily government business. 4.​ Adolph Hitler Adolph Hitler was born in Austria and moved to Vienna to become an artist. The art School did not accept, and he became spiteful and joined in the growing antisemitism in Vienna. Hitler tried to join the Austrian army but failed the physical. He joined the German army in WWI and was promoted to corporal after being wounded. While the war did toughen Hitler, he had already turned his resentment of the Jews into his ideology. After WWI Hitler moved to Munich and joined the German Workers’ Party and hastily became their leader. He renamed it the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or “Nazi”. Hitler’s first attempt at grabbing power was in 1923 when he tried to overthrow Beer Hall Putsch. It failed terribly and was sentenced to five years of prison. In jail, he wrote his manifesto “Mein Kampf (My Struggle)”. He wrote about his mission: to create a lasting German Empire and get rid of the Jews. It cemented him as a hardcore antisemite.  5.​ National Socialist German Workers Party The full name of the Nazi party (their original name was the German Workers’ Party). They were committed antisemites determined to rid Germany of Jews. 6.​ SA (“Brownshirts”) After WWI Hitler moved to Munich and joined the German Workers’ Party and hastily became their leader. He renamed it the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or “Nazi”. In 1920 the Nazi party had grown to 2000 members and created their own private army called the SA. By 1932 the “Brownshirts” grew to 400,000 7.​ Munich Beer Hall Putsch (1923) Munich Beer Hall Putsch was where Hitler took his first stab at power. He started a coup that ended him up in jail, where he started writing Mein Kampf. 8.​ Mein Kampf While in prison after the failed coup at Munich Beer Hall Putsch, he wrote his manifesto, “Mein Kampf (My Struggle)”. He wrote about his mission: to create a lasting German Empire and get rid of the Jews. It cemented him as a hardcore antisemite.  9.​ Paul von Hindenberg Paul Von Hindenberg was the president of Germany. He passed Article 48, which stated that the Chancellor of Germany could bypass the Reichstag (the legislature) and rule during times of emergency. Hindenburg brought in Hitler as the Chancellor convinced it was the only to control him. This gave Hitler a way into political power legally. Hindenburg died on August 2nd, 1934. 10.​ Reichstag (and the Reichstag fire of 1933) The Reichstag was the Legislature of the Weimar Republic. It burned down on February 27, 1933. No one is exactly sure who did it, but it is suspected it was an unprompted communist, but it worked right into Hitler’s agenda. With Article 48, Hitler called in an emergency, and without the legislature stopping him, Hitler was able to eliminate opposition and take away legal and constitutional protections. 11.​ President The leader of the Weimar Republic was the president, and they controlled the military and could excuse the Reichstag (and create new elections for the seats because of that). The president at the time of Hitler was Paul Von Hindenburg. 12.​ Chancellor The Chancellor was brought on by the president of the Weimar Republic. The chancellor would control day-to-day government business.  13.​ Volk German word for people. 14.​ Lebensraum German word for Living Space. 15.​ Third Reich The Nazi regime. 16.​ Dachau Dachau was the first concentration camp, located outside of Munich. It opened on March 23, 1933. Mostly political opponents like communists were sent there. 17.​ What was the overall purpose of German law and its legal system? Why does that matter? The purpose of the German law and its legal system was to give all the rights to Germans and diminish the rights of minorities like the Jews. It matters because it made it easier to do away with Jews’ rights and create a “cleansed” Germany. Whatever Hitler said went, and everyone went that way, too.  18.​ Ernst Röhm Ernst Röhm was the commander of the SA, and was a potential rival even to Hitler. He was killed on June 30, 1934 (Night of Long Knives). 19.​ “Night of the Long Knives” By 1934, the SA had a million active members. The German Army felt threatened by their increasing numbers. To protect his position as Chancellor and to get on the Army’s good side, on June 30, 1934, Hitler ordered the murder of the top 100 most important SA officers. 20.​Führer (and Reichschancellor) On August 2, 1934, President Von Hindenburg. Hitler combined the president and chancellor and became the Führer. This became the bedrock of an authoritarian dictatorship. What Hitler said became law. 21.​ SS The SS was the protective force and was commanded by Heinrich Himmler. It started out as Hitler’s bodyguard but became the Nazi paramilitary force.  22.​ Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Himmler was the commander of the Nazi SS. By 1936, he was second to Hitler. 23.​ Nuremberg Laws In 1935, a series of laws called the Nuremberg Laws took away German Jew’s citizenship. Occupations were outlawed to people who were considered Jews, and marriage was outlawed by non-Jews and Jews. It made how to define a Jew extremely confusing and complicated. 24.​ Kristallnacht Kristallnacht means NIght of Broken Glass. After a minor Nazi functionary was murdered by a young Polish Jew who was angry their family had to leave Germany. On November 9 and 10, 1938, in retaliation, Nazis destroyed synagogues and Jewish-owned stores. The owners were forced to clean up and pay for it.  25.​ Judenrein German word for free of Jews. 26.​Anschluss In 1937, Germany expanded to Austria in an alliance called the Anschluss. The union was part of “Lebensraum” as living space for Aryans. Hitler basically came in and said “Austria is going to become part of the Third Reich,” and Austria said “ok.” 27.​ Sudetenland Sudetenland was a part of Czechoslovakia at the time. Sudentenland means German-speaking. After Germany took over Sudentenland, it made other countries worried about the Nazi’s growing power. 28.​Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement in 1938 was an agreement where Britain and France let Germany keep the Sudetenland if they promised to go no further. 29.​Germany USSR non-aggression pact After the Munich Agreement, Germany allied with Italy and Japan. Germany also formed a non-aggression pact with Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR (Soviet Union). As part of this agreement, when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the USSR and Germany agreed to split Poland down the middle for land. Germany attacking Poland starts WWII.