Germany underwent great changes after World major political ideas, including nationalism and War I. Like Mussolini and Stalin, Germany’s the racial superiority of the German people, Adolf Hitler rose to power during a time of whom he called Aryans. conflict and political instability. HITLER GAINS POWER After Hitler was POSTWAR GERMANY After World War I, released from prison, he continued to work to Germany formed a new republic government gain power. The economic effects of the Great known as the Weimar (Vy-mar) Republic. This Depression helped his cause, as the German government was extremely unpopular among people were desperate for a strong leader who Germans, who blamed it for the humiliating would improve their lives. Hitler promised to Versailles treaty and for the economic rebuild Germany’s military. He spoke of a problems that overwhelmed Germany after the mighty German empire and said that Germans war. Inflation soared in Germany in the early were the “master race”. His claims about 1920s, and the German mark (money) became German greatness won the Nazi Party many virtually worthless. Many Germans saw their new supporters who wanted to believe that his savings wiped out. Although an economic words were true. recovery began in the late 1920s, the Great Through Hitler’s efforts the Nazis Depression soon brought even more political continued to gain strength in the early 1930s. and economic chaos to Germany. They became the most popular of Germany’s HITLER’S EARLY CAREER Adolf Hitler, many political parties. As a result, in 1933 born in Austria in 1889, served in the German Hitler was appointed to the position of army during World War I. In the chaos of chancellor, the most powerful post in the postwar Germany, he became involved with a German government. group of right-wing extremists and soon joined HITLER CONTROLS GERMANY Once in the Nationalist Socialist Party, or Nazi Party. power, Hitler began to crush With the Nazis, Hitler discovered that he his opposition. Many had a talent for public speaking and leadership. of his opponents were He soon became a key figure in the party, but arrested; others were he wanted greater power. In October 1923 he intimidated by Nazi led an attempt to overthrow Germany’s thugs. By these government. The effort failed, and Hitler means, Hitler bullied received a short prison term. While in prison, the German legislature into giving him he wrote a book titled Mein Kampf – German dictatorial powers. for “My Struggle”. The book described Hitler’s Increasingly, Hitler’s rule took the form excluding Jews from mainstream German life. of a totalitarian regime. The attempt by a They prohibited Jews from marrying Germans. government to control all aspects of life is In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws created a called totalitarianism. Nazi propaganda built separate legal status for German Jews, up a cult of personality glorifying Hitler as the eliminating their citizenship and many civil and Fȕhrer (Fyoor-uhr), or “leader”. Nazi youth property rights, such as the right to vote. Jews’ organizations shaped the minds of young right to work in certain jobs was limited. The Germans, who pledged complete loyalty to Nuremberg Laws defined a person as Jewish Hitler and Germany. based on the ancestry of grandparents – not Hitler began to rebuild the German religious beliefs. military and improve the German economy. The Nazis also mounted more direct Strict wage controls and massive government attacks. On the nights of November 9 and 10, spending on public works programs helped 1938, they encouraged anti-Jewish riots across reduce unemployment. Much of the spending Germany and Austria. This attack came to be was for the rearmament of the German military, known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken although it also included the construction of Glass. During the riots, nearly 100 Jews were new buildings and roads. killed, and thousands of Jewish businesses NAZI ANTI-SEMITISM A key component and places of worship were damaged and of the Nazi system was strong anti-Semitic destroyed. Yet as terrifying as this anti-Jewish beliefs. Anti-Semitism is hostility toward or violence and destruction were, greater horrors prejudice against Jews. Hitler blamed Jews for were yet to come. Indeed, Hitler’s Germany many of Germany’s problems, including its was about to lead the world into history’s defeat in World War I. bloodiest war. Anti-Semitism had a long history in largely Christian Europe. In fact, Christian hostility toward Jews had existed since the Middle Ages. Nazi anti-Semitism combined this religious hostility with modern – and false – beliefs that Jews were a separate race. Under the Nazis, anti-Semitism combined prejudice based on religion with hatred based on ancestry. During the 1930s, Hitler’s Nazi government passed many laws aimed at