Rise of nazism in Germany Upsc

The factors which led to the eventual triumph of Fascism in Germany were many. First was the sense of humiliation arising from the defeat in the War. Between 1871 and 1914 Germany had risen to dizzy heights of economic, political and cultural accomplishments. Germany’s universities, science, philosophy and music
were known all over the world. Germany had surpassed even Britain and the US in several
fields of industrial production.

Then came the crushing defeat in the First World War. The German people were demoralised. The
reparations and other clauses in the Treaty of Versailles caused acute discontent and hardship.
This was utilised by reactionary forces to spread the idea that Socialists and Jews in the
government had let down the nation, and had even caused Germany’s defeat.

Germany had always been a military state. The army was the symbol not merely of
security but of national greatness. Therefore Germany’s defeat and humiliation at the end of
World War I caused a deep shock to Germans.

The Great Depression further deepened their frustration and prompted them to turn against
the Republican government.

Germany in the 1920s

Germany after the First World War formed democratic governments through a coalition of political parties. Socialist Ebert led the government from 1919 to 1925 and later. Stresemann as one associated with liberal democrats conducted the governance of the country until 1929. This period, until the rise of the Nazis in 1933, is called the Weimar Republic.

The ordinary German citizen in these years was concerned himself only with the problems of everyday life in an impoverished country under the burden of reparations. The occupation of the Ruhr by the French in 1923 infuriated the workers to organise strikes in protest. It provided an opportunity for certain underground movements to thrive.

There was already one in Berlin under Ludendorff, who had organised the former soldiers against the Republican government. There was another in Munich, a former corporal. He was Adolf Hitler, the leader of the National
Socialist German Workers’ Party.

Evolution of German Fascism

During World War I, Hitler served in the Bavarian army. Hitler had developed an innate hatred against Jews and Marxists. A gifted speaker, he could whip up the passion of the audience. In 1923 Hitler abortively attempted to capture power in Bavaria. His premature launch of the National Revolution on the outskirts of Munich landed him
in prison.

During his time in prison, he worked on Mein Kampf (My Struggle), an autobiographical book containing his political ideas. In 1929 two things occurred which exposed the weakness of the German government. Stresemann
died and there was a political vacuum. The failure of the New York Stock Market triggered an economic depression, which prompted the US to foreclose on

By 1931 the world economic depression had gripped an already feeble Germany. In the Presidential election of 1932, the Communist Party polled about 6,000,000 votes. Alarmed capitalists and property owners tilted towards supporting fascism. Hitler exploited this opportunity to usurp powers.

The Third Reich

Republican government in Germany fell, as the Communists refused to collaborate with the Social Democrats. Thereupon industrialists, bankers and Junkers prevailed upon President Von Hindenburg to designate
Hitler as Chancellor in 1933 in the hope that they could control him. The Nazi state of Hitler, known as the Third Reich, brought an end to the parliamentary democracy established in Germany after the First World War.

Hitler replaced the flag of the Weimar Republic with the swastika banners of National Socialism. Germany was converted into a highly centralised state. All political parties except the Nazi party were declared illegal. The army of brown-shirted and jack-booted storm-troopers was expanded. The Hitler Youth was created, and the Labour Front set up.

Trade unions were abolished, their leaders were arrested and all workers were compelled to join the German
Labour Front. Strikes were made illegal, wages were fixed by the government, and the Labour Front was used by the Nazis to control industry.

Total state control was extended over the press, the theatre, the cinema, radio and education. The Nazi Party’s propaganda was led by Joseph Goebbels, who manipulated public opinion through planned propaganda. He once said, ‘Any lie frequently repeated will ultimately gain belief.’

The Gestapo or Secret State Police was formed and run by Himmler, who controlled the select bodyguard of Hitler.

Nazi Policy towards Jews

Along with the repressive measures, Hitler’s government followed a policy of repressing Jewish people. The Jews were removed from government positions, excluded from the universities and deprived of citizenship.
Jewish businesses were closed down, and their establishments were attacked. After the outbreak
of World War II concentration camps, barracks surrounded by electrified fences and watch towers were built where Jews were interred and used as forced labour with less than subsistence nourishment.

Later they were turned into extermination camps where industrial means of murder such as gas chambers were used to kill Jews. It is estimated that about 6 million Jews in Europe were killed in what the Nazis termed ‘The Final Solution’. Apart from Jews, the Nazi state also exterminated gipsies, and other itinerant communities, homosexuals and lunatics.

Apart from these, several hundreds of thousands of Germans who dissented with Hitler too were killed.

Defiance of the Treaty of Versailles

In August 1934 Hindenburg died and Hitler, apart from being Chancellor, became both President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. By 1938 the Nazi Party had tightened its control over the army. Hitler’s
foreign policy aimed at restoring the armed strength of Germany and annulling provisions of the Versailles Treaty which undermined Germany.

His deliberate attempts to breach the Treaty of Versailles (discussed in the next lesson) led to the outbreak of the Second World War.