The Nazis Rise to Power

Hello readers! I've been very motivated lately to continue posting on this blog regularly, so let's get right to it. 

The Nazis are a group that everyone is familiar with, but I thought I would write this post as an informed piece about what exactly the Nazi Party was and what they did.

Origins

Adolf Hitler, a WWI army veteran, was frustrated by Germany's defeat in the war and by its harsh treatment in the Treaty of Versailles and joined a political organization in 1919 called the German Workers' Party. Founded earlier in 1919, the German Workers' Party promoted German nationalism and anti-Semitism. Hitler emerged as a very charismatic public speaker and attracted new members with his speeches blaming Jews and Marxists for Germany's problems as well ass speaking about extreme nationalism and the concept of an Aryan master race. In July 1921, Hitler assumed leadership of the party, which had been renamed the Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party, or the Nazi Party for short. 

Throughout the 1920s, Hitler gave numerous inflamatory speeches in which he stated that the issues of unemployment, inflation, hunger, and overall economic stagnation in postwar Germany would continue unless there was a total revolution in the country. Hitler claimed that most of the country's issues could be solved if the communists and Jews were driven out of the country. Hitler's speeches quickly gained the Nazi Party popularity and allowed its ranks to swell, especially among young, economically disadvantaged youths and former army officers.

Beer Hall Putsch

In 1923, Hitler and his followers ssstaged the Beer Hall Putsch, which was a failed coup d'etat of the Bavarian goverment. Hitler had hoped that the coup would spark the flame of a larger revolution against the natioonal government. Instead, Hitler was charged with treason and served less than one year of a five year sentence in prison in which he famously wrote the first volume of Mein Kampf, or My Struggle, his political autobiography. The publicity surrounding the Beer Hall Putsch and Hitler's subsequent emprisonment and trial turned him into a national figure. Hitler set about rebuilding the Nazi Party after his release, and would attempt to gain national popularity through the entering of elections.

Hitler and the Nazis Come to Power

In 1929, Germany entered a period of economic depression, as much of the world did at the time. The Nazis utilized the situation as a means to gain power--they outwardly criticized the ruling government and began to win elections. In the 1932 elections, they secured over one-third of the seats in the Reichstag, or German parliament; in 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor and his Nazi Party soon gained control of every aspect of Gernamn life.

Under the Nazi Party, all other political parties were banned. The Nazis opened their first concentration camp in 1933 in Dachau, Germany as a means to hold political prisoners. Dachau evolved into a death camp where thousands of Jews died from malnutrition, disease, overwork, or were executed. In addition to the Jews, the camp also held prisoners who were members of other groups Hitler considered unfit for the new Germany--artists, intellectuals, Gypsies, physically and mentally handicapped individuals, and homosexuals.

Nazi Foreign Policy, 1933-1939

Once Hitler gained control of the government, he directed Nazi Germany's foreign policy towards undoing the Treaty of Versailles and restoring Germany's standing in the world. Hitler was extremely outspoken about how the Treaty of Versailles separated Germans from Germans by creating new postwar states such as Austria and Czechhoslovakia. This bit of information will come into play momentarily.

Germany under Hitler undermined the terms established in the treaty multiple times. He withdrew Germany from the League of Nations in 1933; he rebuilt the German armed forces beyond what was permitted by the treaty; he invaded parts of Austria, Czechoslovakia, and reoccupied the German Rhineland between 1936 and 1939, and would invade Poland in 1939. As a result of Germany’s invasion of Poland, France and Britain would declare war against the nation.

That’s all for now, everyone. Next time here on The Half-Pint Historian Blog we will examine the actions the Nazis took to dominate Europe between 1939 and 1945.

 

World War II: European Sphere

Hello readers! It's been a while since I last posted something of significance here on The Half-Pint Historian Blog and so much has happened in that time. The quarantine/stay at home executive order took effect in my state (New York) on March 20th; I'm an essential employee, working in emergency services as distribution/logistics security for my day job, so I've been working throughout this ordeal (as anyone who follows me on Instagram @mariedanielleannettewilliams would know); I've been working through the various editing stages for my upcoming book with The History Press and Arcadia Publishing, now available June 29th; my living situation has changed since the quarantine began as well. So, a lot has been going on in my personal life as of late, and I felt I needed to take a bit of a break from writing this blog for a little while. Now that things are starting to stabilize, I can return to this blog (thanks to some encouragement, and a bit of a push, from my boyfriend, my biggest fan).


This is going to be the first post in a series of posts about World War II. In this post, we'll be examining the conditions that led to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.




World War I was given the moniker "The war to end all wars" due to its devastation. However, the terms of the war's end did not resolve the problems of the war and would lead directly to World War II. The causes of World War II were many, including the impact of the Treaty of the Versailles, a worldwide economic depression, the failure of appeasement, the rise of militarism in Germany, and the failure of the League of Nations.


*Treaty of Versailles--After World War I came to an end, the Allied Powers met to decide Germany's fate. Although not the main perpetrator of the war, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles which outlined that the nation had to accept full guilt for the war, had to pay reparations, would have to surrender territory, and would have to demilitarize. Germany, of course, was not pleased with these terms, and thus would not abide by them.


*Economic Depression--In the end of the 1920s and through the 1930s, the world was hit by an overwhelming economic depression. In an economic depression, trade is reduced, businesses close, prices fall, banks fail, and unemployment rises. During an economic crisis, the public tends to seek out strong leadership; in 1933, Adolf Hitler became Germany's leader after promising to restore Germany's wealth and power.


*Germany's Militarism--After Hitler rose to power, he immediately began secretly building up Germany's military industrial complex. Britain and France knew of Hitler's actions and rather than putting those actions in check, they believed a stronger Germany would stop the spread of communism from Russia. In 1936, Hitler ordered German troops to enter the Rhineland (southern France, where German was spoken), Austria, and the German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia; he also made alliances with Italy and Japan, forming the Axis Powers. In 1939, Germany would invade Poland, officially causing the outbreak of World War II.


*Failure of Appeasement--Appeasement is the act of agreeing to the demands of another nation in order to avoid conflict. During the 1930s, politicians in Britain and France began to believe the Treaty of Versailles was unfair to Germany and that Hitler's actions were understandable. This belief was the policy of appeasement. An example of this appeasement was the Munich Agreement on 1938, which allowed Germany to annex areas in Czechoslovakia where German-speakers lived. Germany agreed not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia or any other country, but broke that promise in March 1939 when Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia and in September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. After Germany's invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany, ushering World War II's outbreak.


*Failure of the League of Nations--The League of Nations was a sort of precursor to the United Nations; it was an international organization set up in 1919 with the intent to maintain world peace after the conclusion of World War I and the devastation is wrought on the world. The League of Nations was established so that all nations/countries would be members and that if there were any disputes between countries that diplomacy rather than force would be utilized. The formation of the League of Nations had good intentions but was ultimately a failure. Not all countries joined the League, and the League lacked an army of their own to deal with military aggression between countries, so it was essentially unable to step in and put Germany in check while Hitler's aggression towards Europe progressed.




There is a lot to unpack when it comes to the causes of World War II, so be sure to keep an eye out on this blog for updates.  

COVID19 Hiatus

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I last updated this blog. I had a post handwritten out that I was going to type out a couple weeks ago but, like many other places, the COVID19 outbreak has forced me into a social distancing isolation. I haven't been home since March 19th; I was at my boyfriend's house when the social distancing orders went through and am staying at least until April 19th. So, since my research is sitting at my home, this blog will be taking a bit if a hiatus.

However, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. This is the first major disease outbreak that has affected my life, so I've been keeping track of the numbers in my area of New York State. The 2009 H1N1 outbreak didn't affect me as much as this pandemic is; I was 18 in 2009 and was more concerned with other things--finishing high school, spending time with my boyfriend at the time before I went to college, and college--so I didn't track that outbreak. With this, so many people I know are out of work or are working from home. I'm still employed; I'm an essential worker, a member of the energy services.

Here's how I've been keeping track of the outbreak, and I'll provide a link to where I've been getting my information as well.

COVID19 spread in New York State by County

I hope to be back to posting semi-regularly here on the blog again soon!