BIRTH OF THE WEIMER REPUBLIC
Germany fought the First
World War (1914–1918) along with the Austrian empire and against the Allies
(England, France and Russia).
Germany initially made
gains by occupying France and Belgium. However, the Allies won defeating
Germany and the Central Powers in 1918.
The defeat of the
Imperial Germany and the abdication of the emperor gave an opportunity to
parliamentary parties to recast German polity.A National Assembly met at Weimer
and established a democratic constitution with a federal structure. The
republic, however, was not received well by its own people largely because of
the terms it was forced to accept after Germany’s defeat at the end of the
First World War. Many
Germans held the new
Weimer Republic responsible for not only the defeat in the war but the disgrace
at Versailles.
The Effects of the War— The war had a devastating impact on the entire continent both psychologically
and financially. From being a creditor, Europe became a debtor. The supporters
of the Weimer Republic were criticized and became easy targets of attack in the
conservative nationalist circles. Soldiers came to be placed above civilians.
Aggressive war propaganda and national honour became important. The fragile
democracy could not survive and led to instability in Europe.
Political Radicalism and Economic Crisis : The birth of the Weimer Republic
coincided with the uprising of the Spartacist League on the pattern of the
Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. The Spartacists founded the Communist Party of
Germany. The political instability in Germany paved the way for Hitler.
Political radicalization
was heightened by the economic crisis of 1923. As Germany refused to pay the
war reparations, France occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr. Germany
retaliated with printing paper currency recklessly. The value of the mark
collapsed. Prices of goods soared.There was hyperinflation.
The Years of Depression
1924–1928 saw some
stability, yet it was built on sand. Germany was totally dependent on
short-term loans, largely from the USA. This support was withdrawn with the
crash in 1929 of the Wall Street Exchange. German economy was hit badly.
It led to social unrest. The middle class and working population was
filled with the fear of proletarianisation.
The Weimer Republic had
some inherent defects :
1. Proportional
Representation
2. Article 48 — which
gave the President the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and
rule by decree.
HITLER’S RISE TO POWER
Hitler was born in
Austria in 1889. He earned many medals for bravery in the First World War.The
German defeat horrified him. The Treaty of Versailles made him furious. He
joined the German Workers Party and renamed it National Socialist German
Workers’ Party. This later came to be known as the Nazi Party.
Nazism became a mass
movement only during the Great Depression. The Nazi propaganda stirred hopes of
a better future. Hitler was a powerful and effective speaker. He promised the
people a strong nation where all would get employment.
His politics included
the significant rituals and spectacle in mass mobilization. Nazi propaganda
skillfully projected Hitler as a messiah, a saviour.
The Destruction of Democracy— Hitler achieved the highest position in the cabinet of
ministries on 30 January 1933. Hitler now set out to dismantle the structures
of democratic rule.The Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 suspended civic rights
like freedom of speech, press and assembly. Communists were hurriedly packed
off to new established concentration camps. All political parties were banned.
Special surveillance and security forces were created to control the people and
rule with impunity.
Reconstruction : Economist Hjalmar Schacht was given the responsibility of
economic recovery. He aimed at full production and full employment through a
state funded work creation programme.
Hitler pulled out of the
League of Nations in 1933, reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936 and integrated
Austria and Germany in 1938 under the slogan : One people, One empire, One
leader. Hitler ignored the Schacht's advice of not to invest hugely in
rearmament. He then took Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. Hitler had the
unspoken support of England.Hitler did not stop here. He chose war as a way out
of the Economic Crisis.
Resources were to be
accumulated through expansion of territory. In September 1940 Germany invaded
Poland. This started a war with France and England. USA resisted involvement in
the war. But when Japan extended its support to Hitler and bombarded Pearl
Harbour, the USA entered the war. The war ended in 1945 with Hitler’s defeat
and the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
THE NAZI WORLD VIEW
According to Nazi
ideology there was no equality between people, but only racial hierarchy. The
Nazis quickly began to implement their dream of creating an exclusive racial
community of pure Germans by physically eliminating all those who were
considered undesirable. They wanted a society of pure and healthy Nordic
Aryans. Jews, Gypsies, blacks, Russian, Poles, even certain Germans and
abnormal were considered undesirable.
The other aspect of
Hitler’s ideology related to the geopolitical concept of Lebensraum, or living
space.
Jews were the worst
sufferers in Nazi Germany. Hitler believed in pseudo scientific theories of
race which said that conversion was no solution to the Jewish problem. It had
to be solved through their total elimination.
From 1933–1938 — the Nazis terrorized, pauperised and
segregated the Jews, compelling them to leave the country.
The next phase, 1939–1945, aimed at concentrating them in certain
areas and then killing the min gas chambers in Poland.
The Racial Utopia
Genocide and war became
two sides of the same coin. Occupied Poland was divided. Poles were forced to
leave their homes and properties behind to be occupied by ethnic Germans
brought in from occupied Europe.
YOUTH IN NAZI GERMANY
Hitler felt that a
strong Nazi society could be established by teaching Nazi ideology to
children.All schools were given German teachers. Children were divided into two
groups — desirable and undesirable. Textbooks were rewritten, functions of
sports in schools was to nurture the spirit of violence and aggression.
Ten-year-olds had to enter Jungvolk. At 14, all boys joined ‘Hitler Youth’,
they joined the Labour Service at 18.
The Nazi Cult of Motherhood — Women were told to be good mothers and rear pure blooded
Aryan children. They were encouraged to produce many children. They had to be
the bearers of the Aryan culture and race.
The Art of Propaganda — The Nazi regime used language and media with care and
often to great effect. They used films, pictures, radio, posters, etc. to
spread hatred for Jews. Nazism worked on the minds of the people, tapped their
emotions, and turned their hatred and anger at those marked as 'undesirable'.
Crimes against Humanity — People saw the world through Nazi eyes and spoke the Nazi
language. At times even the Jews began to believe in the Nazi stereotypes about
them.
Knowledge about the Holocaust —It was only after the war ended that people came to know
about what had happened. The Jews wanted the world to know about the atrocities
and sufferings they had endured during the Nazi killing operations. They just
wanted to live, even if it was for a few hours, to tell the world about the
Holocaust.
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