Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany after capitalizing on resentment over the weak Weimar government and Great Depression. He became chancellor in 1933 and established a Nazi dictatorship. Initially improving the economy, Hitler rapidly instituted racist policies, stripping Jews of rights and encouraging attacks. By 1939, seeking to expand German territory and pursue racial ideology, Hitler had invaded Poland, starting World War II after Western democracies failed to counter German and Italian aggression through appeasement or an ineffective League of Nations.

1. The Build Up to WWII

2. Who was Hitler?
• Adolph Hitler was a high school drop
out (age 16) and a WWI veteran.
During a brief prison term, he wrote
Mein Kampf (My Struggle) which
outlined his ideologies. It would
become the backbone of the Nazi
philosophy.
• Since 1923, Hitler and his followers
had been gathering support by
criticizing the weak German
government.
• Hitler and the Nazi Party claimed that
they could bring Germany out of the
Depression and make it a great
nation again.
• He became chancellor of Germany in
January of 1933, and by March, his
party had control of the German
Parliament.

3. • Hitler - First speech as chancelor.

4. Germany under Hitler
• Under Hitler's control, the economy
improved, and unemployment went
down.
• He subsidized farmers to help rebuild
their farms, and poured money into
public projects.
• The Nazis soon removed all other
political parties, and Hitler was the sole
ruler of Germany.

5. • Hitler became known as “der
Führer,” the leader.
• He was a ruthless dictator
who ruled his country
through intimidation and
fear.
• The Nazis were deeply
racist, and believed that the
Aryan race was “pure,” and
non-Aryans were considered
to be inferior.

6. Nazi Anti-Semitism
• Nazi decrees denied Jewish people the
right to:
• Hold public office
• Be employed in the media
• Work in farming or high schools
• Citizenship
• To marry those of “German blood”

7. Hitler and the Nazis
• Part of a campaign of terror
• Passed to strip the Jewish people of their
civil, political and human rights
• Encouraged public attacks on Jewish people
• Nov 9th 1938: Kristallnacht: The Nazis
attacked synagogues and Jewish people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkEotYnaomo&feature=related
• Eventually, they decided to purge their nation
altogether of these people (The Holocaust)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JXaYqgEWt4&feature=related

8. Why was the racism against the Jews supported?
• Anti-Semitism had purveyed the world over,
resentment to the Jewish race was not isolated to
Germany, nor to the 1930s.
• The Jewish people had weathered the Depression
relatively well and many felt that it was because they
were “cheap” or dishonest.
• More importantly, after such a difficult time people
were looking for someone to blame, scapegoats,
and Hitler offered up the Jews.
• Canada was not exempt from this hatred. In 1939
the ship St Louis, full of 900 Jewish refugees, arrived
on the eastern shores of Canada. It was refused
permission to dock, and was sent back to Europe and
its concentration camps.

9. The Causes of War: GRAFT
• Great Depression: the failure
of democratic, capitalist
governments during the tough
1930s spurred people to look to
alternate forms of leadership.
• Dictators took power across
Europe and Asia, claiming they
could solves the woes of the
Great Depression

10. GRAFT: Rise of Hitler
• Rise of Hitler – he was particularly
aggressive in his goal of global
domination.
• As dictator, he reached to take over
Europe and rid the world of the Jewish
and other “impure” races.

11. GRAFT: Appeasement
• Throughout the 1930’s, Western
democracies adopted a policy of
appeasement in response to
Germany’s aggression.
• No one wanted to fight another
war, so leaders were willing to
make concessions to Hitler to
maintain peace. For example,
when he overtook Austria, the
Western Allies did nothing so as to
avoid another global conflict.
• Rather than promoting peace,
appeasement made Hitler bolder.

12. Hitler’s War Path & Response to Appeasement:
• March 1936 – Germany re-occupied the Rhineland
• March 1938 - Germany took over Austria.
• September 1938 - Britain and France agreed to
abandon part of Czechoslovakia to Germany (Hitler
pledged that this would be his last territorial claim)
• March 1939 - Germany took over the rest of
Czechoslovakia.
• August 1939 – Non-aggression pact with Russia
(promise not to fight and divide Poland up between
them)
• September 1939 – invades Poland

13. GRAFT: Failure of the League of Nations
• Dictators across the world were
becoming aggressive.
• Japan invaded Manchuria (China)
and the League of Nations was
helpless to defend it.
• Italy attacked Ethiopia and again the
League was useless.
• The idea of the League’s collective
security was moot without any
military.

14. GRAFT: Treaty of Versailles
• The end of the First World War was particularly
harsh towards Germany. The treaty imposed
massive restrictions that would keep Germany
“weak” for decades.
• The Treaty forced Germany to give up its military,
territories, ships, and pay $33 billion in damages.
• Clearly the German people were outraged and
ready to fight its way back to a powerful nation.

15. Assignment: read pages 92-97 and
create a poster that visually displays the
causes of the Second World War.