Rise and Fall of Nazi Germany: Policies and World War II
The Rise of Nazi Germany
Adolf Hitler created a paramilitary group called the Deutsche Arbeiter Partei (DAP). This group was composed of veterans, unemployed workers, and students united by a Pan-German ideology.
In 1920, the group was transformed into the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party.
In 1924, Hitler was imprisoned with General Ludendorff and other Nazis for plotting a coup. The fundamentals of their ideology were racism, violence, anti-communism, and Pan-Germanism.
On August 2, 1934, upon Hindenburg’s death, Hitler became head of state, proclaiming the birth of the Third Reich, and the Nazi dictatorship began.
Nazi Policies
Inner Policies
- Suspension of all constitutional guarantees.
- Banning of all political parties except the Nazi Party.
- Assertion of the supremacy of the Aryan race.
- Deprivation of citizenship rights for Jews, escalating into deportations to concentration camps (November 9, 1938).
- Creation of the People’s Court.
- Establishment of the Secret State Police (Gestapo) to purge the army and officials who were not supporters of the regime and the Aryan race.
Economic Policies
- Creation of the Nazi German Labor Front.
- Increase in the strength of the army.
- Promotion of the steel industry.
Exterior Policies
- Abandonment of the League of Nations.
- Occupation and annexation of the Saar and Austria.
- Pact of Steel with Italy.
- Support for Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
- Invasion of Poland in 1939.
Education Policies
- Purging of teachers not aligned with Nazism.
- Establishment of child and youth organizations to indoctrinate Nazi ideology.
The Causes of World War II
Political Causes
- Adolf Hitler sought to expand German territory in Europe.
- In 1936, Italy signed the Rome-Berlin Pact, later joined by Japan.
- In 1939, Germany signed the Pact of Steel with Italy and the Nazi-Soviet Pact (non-aggression pact).
Economic Causes
- Germany was forced to pay war reparations after World War I.
Territorial Causes
- Hitler aimed to restore Germany’s former territory and incorporate Austria as a German province (1938).
- Occupation of the Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) in October 1938.
- Occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, proclaiming the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia, while Slovakia became independent.
- Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.
- France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939.
Development and Phases of the War
Stage 1: German Offensive (Blitzkrieg)
- German military superiority allowed the occupation of Poland.
- Stalin began his advance on eastern Galicia.
- The secret agreement between Hitler and Stalin (contemplating the partition of Poland) ceded Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia to the USSR.
- Stalin invaded Finland.
Invasion of Denmark and Norway: The Offensive in the West
- Germany initiated the war by attacking the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
- The German army advanced toward the English Channel.
- The German army continued towards Paris.
- On June 22, 1940, France signed the armistice, dividing the country into two zones.
- Mussolini decided to enter the war on Germany’s side on June 10, 1940.