The Nazi Totalitarian Regime of Adolf Hitler (1933-1945)

A_ Hitler comes to power legally:

1) A Humiliated Germany

Germany loses the war while its territory is invaded, and yet France has won.

For all of Europe, between 1918 and 1920, is shaken by protests, riots, and strikes (communist movements).

In Germany, a failed revolution; this communist uprising arises because the German population no longer wants the war and especially because workers are overworked. Germany can no longer sustain the war effort, so they throw in the towel. The Germans blame the Communists*, viewing them as traitors.

Hitler created his political party in 1920.

2) The Treaty of Versailles (June 1919)*

3) The 1929 Crisis and Its Political Consequences

The economic and financial situation of Germany in 1920 prevents it from paying the debt to France, but it improves at the end of the 1920s thanks to American money; the Americans withdraw their money from Europe.

The consequences of the 1929 crisis in Germany are much stronger than in other countries; they fear unemployment and misery.

The economic situation in Germany improved at the end of the decade thanks to the U.S., but when the Americans withdraw their money during the crisis, the consequences in Germany are much more severe than in other countries, as Germany is far more open to American investments; there is an explosion of misery and unemployment. These consequences largely explain Hitler's rise to power.

4) Adolf Hitler and His Political Program

Hitler founded the Nazi Party in 1920 (NSDAP = National Socialism); it is far-right. He attempts a coup in 1923, which fails, and he is imprisoned. He despises democracy.

After the 1929 crisis, the Nazi Party makes significant gains in the 1930 and again in 1932 elections. Hitler takes advantage of several favorable circumstances: the German president Hindenburg dislikes democracy, and the left is divided.

He then comes to power legally through elections.

B_ Hitler establishes a dictatorship and implements Nazi ideology:

1) The Ideological Principles of Nazism

 - a "warlike" ideology: "living space." Germany has the duty to annex new territories; it is the responsibility of Germans to expand in order to develop.

 - an ideology based on racism and anti-Semitism

• biological racism (the handicapped…) must be eliminated
• perfect race: baby factory
• cultural racism
• historical anti-Semitism

 - an authoritarian state: A new German and a new German society must be built within a uniform and perfect universe. A new German society? Hitler harbors grievances against France.

2) Implementation of Nazi Ideology

He will take advantage of the Reichstag fire (German parliament) on February 23, 1933, blamed on a communist revolutionary, to establish a dictatorship. Between March and July 1923, Hitler imposes his authority and power; he bans all political parties except his own, effectively saving democracy.

He prepares Germany for war, asserting that within four years it must be ready to go to war.

Military buildup and preparation for war (in six years, unemployment is reduced by tenfold), and laws exclude Jews from German society (Nuremberg Laws): dozens of professions are prohibited for Jews, and they are banned from owning their apartments, their shops, aimed at excluding Jews from German society.

C_ Hitler Enforces German Society Through Terror

1) The Night of Broken Glass: November 9, 1938 (Germans will be encouraged to attack Jews)

 Normalization of violence against Jews. The Night of Broken Glass will be a moment when Germans are encouraged to attack Jews. The Nazi regime wants to punish the Jews for the murder of a Nazi officer in Paris by a Jew. There will be around a hundred deaths and more than a thousand buildings owned by Jews destroyed. Violence against Jews knows no bounds, participating in a phenomenon: dehumanization. A network of concentration camps is organized across German territory aimed at imprisoning all types of regime opponents (over 1 million people imprisoned in concentration camps that have existed since 1933). Political opponents, racial opponents (Jews), and all deviants (who do not conform to the norms and values of Nazism) are imprisoned.

2) The Development of a Concentrationary System

The goal: to promote the German and Nazi model, no German must be free.

3) Other Means of Controlling the Population

Hitler relies on a highly developed propaganda to convince the German population (cinema, art, the media) that highlights German genius. No German must be free as he organizes the indoctrination of his population, which begins in youth who will be indoctrinated.

Hitler imposes a cult of personality by multiplying mass meetings and military parades honoring Hitler.