NCERT Notes Class 9 History Chapter 3: CBSE Class 9 History Notes are essential for students studying History. History is a crucial sub-subject that requires properly written answers. They cover everything about Nazism and Hitler’s rise to power, which is important for exams.
You’ll learn about how Adolf Hitler became a powerful leader in Germany and what Nazism stands for. The notes explain things like nationalism, racism, and how Hitler controlled people through propaganda. These notes are easy to understand and will help you do well in your exams.
Birth of the Weimar Republic
In the early 1900s, Germany was a strong country. It joined the First World War (1914-1918) with Austria against the Allies (England, France, and Russia). Everyone thought the war would end quickly and they’d win. But it lasted longer than expected and drained Europe’s resources. Germany gained some land by taking over France and Belgium.
After losing the war, Germany changed its government. They had a National Assembly in Weimar and made a new democratic constitution. People could vote for their leaders, including women.
But many Germans didn’t like this new government. They felt betrayed by the harsh terms of the peace treaty at Versailles. Germany lost its colonies, and a lot of land, and had to pay a huge amount of money in compensation. The Allies also took away Germany’s military power and occupied the Rhineland. People blamed the Weimar Republic for the war’s defeat and the humiliation of the Versailles Treaty.
The Effects of the War
The war had a terrible impact on all of Europe, both mentally and financially. Europe, which used to lend money, now owed a lot. Sadly, the new Weimar Republic had to suffer for the old empire’s mistakes. It was blamed for starting the war and bringing shame to the country. affected politics in the early 1930s, as we’ll see soon.
The First World War changed European society a lot. Soldiers became more important than civilians. Politicians and the media talked a lot about being tough and manly. They made war seem heroic, but the reality was different. Soldiers suffered in muddy trenches with rats and faced poisonous gas and enemy attacks. Despite this, aggressive war propaganda and national pride were everywhere. People started supporting conservative dictators instead of democracy, which was still new and weak. Interwar Europe was unstable, and democracy struggled to survive.
Political Radicalism and Economic Crises
When the Weimar Republic was born, there was also a big revolution by the Spartacist League, inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. They set up councils of workers and sailors in many cities, wanting a government like the Soviets. But in Berlin, people wanted a democratic republic instead. Socialists, Democrats, and Catholics met in Weimar to shape this new government. The Weimar Republic stopped the revolution with the help of a group called the Free Corps, made up of war veterans. The Spartacists, who were upset, later started the Communist Party of Germany. From then on, Communists and Socialists were enemies and couldn’t unite against Hitler.
Both the revolutionaries and nationalist groups wanted extreme solutions. This was made worse by the economic crisis in 1923. Germany had borrowed a lot for the war and had to pay back in gold. But they didn’t have enough gold, especially when resources were scarce. In 1923, Germany refused to pay, so the French took over the Ruhr, a big industrial area, to get their coal.
Germany resisted by not working and printed a lot of paper money. But this made the German mark lose its value. In April, one US dollar was equal to 24,000 marks, and by December, it was in the trillions. Prices went crazy high, and there’s a famous image of Germans needing lots of money just to buy bread. This was called hyperinflation.
Finally, the Americans helped Germany with the Dawes Plan. It changed the terms of what Germany had to pay back, easing their financial problems.
The Years of Depression
Between 1924 and 1928, things seemed stable, but it wasn’t solid. Germany’s investments and industries relied heavily on loans, mostly from the USA. When the Wall Street stock market crashed in 1929, the USA stopped lending money. People panicked and sold their shares, marking the start of the Great Depression. In just three years, from 1929 to 1932, the US lost half of its national income. Factories closed, exports dropped, farmers suffered, and investors took their money out of the market. This economic downturn affected the whole world.
Germany was hit the hardest. By 1932, factories were producing only 40% of what they did in 1929. Many lost their jobs or got paid less. Unemployment reached 6 million, and you could see people desperate for work everywhere. Youth turned to crime, and despair spread.
The crisis created fears for everyone. Middle-class folks saw their savings disappear as the currency lost value. Small businesses collapsed, and people worried about becoming working-class or unemployed. Even organized workers struggled because of high unemployment. Big businesses suffered too, and farmers faced low prices. Women struggled to feed their children, feeling hopeless.
Politically, the Weimar Republic was shaky. It had flaws, like proportional representation and Article 48, which gave the President emergency powers. With twenty different cabinets in a short time, and frequent use of Article 48, people lost faith in democracy. It seemed like the government couldn’t solve anything.
Hitler’s Rise to Power
The crisis in the economy, politics, and society set the stage for Hitler’s rise to power. Born in poverty in 1889 in Austria, Hitler joined the army during the First World War. He rose to corporal and earned bravery medals. Germany’s defeat and the Versailles Treaty angered him. In 1919, he joined the German Workers’ Party and later took over, renaming it the Nazi Party.
In 1923, Hitler tried to take control of Bavaria but failed and got arrested for treason. The Nazis struggled until the early 1930s. But during the Great Depression, with banks failing, businesses closing, and people losing jobs, Nazi propaganda gave hope. In 1928, the Nazi Party got only 2.6% of votes, but by 1932, it became the largest party with 37% votes.
Hitler was a charismatic speaker, promising a strong nation, undoing the Treaty of Versailles, and giving jobs and a future to the youth. He vowed to remove foreign influence and resist conspiracies against Germany. He used rituals and spectacles like massive rallies and public meetings to build support and unity. Nazi propaganda portrayed Hitler as a savior, capturing the imagination of people suffering from economic and political crises.
The Destruction of Democracy
On January 30, 1933, President Hindenburg offered Hitler the Chancellorship, the highest position in the cabinet of ministers. Then, on February 28, 1933, the Fire Decree was passed, suspending civic rights like freedom of speech, press, and assembly guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution. Just a few days later, on March 3, 1933, the Enabling Act was passed, establishing a dictatorship in Germany.
This gave the state control over the economy, media, army, and judiciary. New enforcement agencies like the Gestapo (secret state police), the SS (the protection squads), criminal police, and the Security Service (SD) were added to the regular police and the SA or Storm Troopers already in existence.
Reconstruction
Hitler put economist Hjalmar Schacht in charge of economic recovery. Schacht aimed for full production and employment through state-funded work programs. This led to the construction of the famous German superhighways and the Volkswagen, or people’s car.
In foreign policy, Hitler saw quick successes. He withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933, reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936, and united Austria and Germany in 1938. He then took the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia and eventually took over the whole country. England quietly supported Hitler’s actions, seeing the Versailles Treaty as too harsh.
Hitler didn’t listen to caution. Schacht warned against heavy investment in rearmament due to the state’s financial deficit. But Hitler chose war to overcome economic problems. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, leading to war with France and England. The Tripartite Pact was signed with Italy and Japan in September 1940, boosting Hitler’s international power. Puppet regimes supportive of Nazi Germany were installed across Europe, and by the end of 1940, Hitler seemed unstoppable.
Hitler aimed to conquer Eastern Europe for food and living space for Germans. He attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941. This was a huge mistake, exposing Germany to British bombings and Soviet counterattacks. The Soviet Red Army defeated Germany at Stalingrad and pushed them back to Berlin, establishing Soviet control over Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, the US initially stayed out of the war but entered after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. The war ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat and the US dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Now, let’s return to Helmuth and his father’s story, which reveals the atrocities of Nazi Germany during the war.
Establishment of the Racial State
Once the Nazis gained power, they aimed to create a society of pure Germans, excluding those they considered undesirable. They believed only Nordic Aryans were worthy, while others were seen as inferior and unworthy. Helmuth’s father participated in a program that led to the death of Germans deemed unfit. Besides Jews, Gypsies, blacks, Russians, and Poles were also persecuted.
When Germany occupied territories, civilians were forced into slave labor, leading to many deaths. Jews suffered the most under Nazi rule, fueled by Hitler’s hatred based on pseudoscientific race theories. From 1933 to 1938, Jews were terrorized, impoverished, and segregated, leading many to leave the country. Later, from 1939 to 1945, the Nazis aimed to concentrate and eventually exterminate Jews in gas chambers in Poland.
The Racial Utopia
During the war, the Nazis pursued their deadly racial goals. War and genocide went hand in hand. In occupied Poland, land was divided, with much of the northwest annexed to Germany. Poles were displaced, and ethnic Germans were brought in to occupy their homes. The rest of Poland, called the General Government, became a dumping ground for those deemed undesirable. Polish intellectuals were killed to keep the population submissive. Children who looked Aryan were taken from their families and tested; if they failed, they were left to die in orphanages. The General Government became a place of horror, with large ghettos and gas chambers used to exterminate Jews.
Youth in Nazi Germany
Hitler was deeply interested in shaping the minds of young people to align with Nazi ideology. To achieve this, he exerted control over children both inside and outside of school.
In schools, significant changes took place under Nazism. Teachers who were Jewish or deemed politically unreliable were removed. Children were separated based on ethnicity, with Germans and Jews not allowed to interact. Later, those considered undesirable—Jews, the disabled, and Gypsies—were expelled from schools. Eventually, they faced even worse fates, being sent to gas chambers.
“Good German” children underwent intense Nazi indoctrination through schooling. Textbooks were rewritten to promote Nazi beliefs, even introducing racial science to justify their ideology. Stereotypes about Jews were incorporated into various subjects, including math. Children were taught to be obedient, hate Jews, and idolize Hitler. Sports were also used to foster aggression and violence, with boxing promoted as a means to toughen children.
Youth organizations played a crucial role in shaping German youth. At age ten, children entered the Jungvolk, and by fourteen, all boys were required to join the Hitler Youth. Here, they were taught to glorify war, hate democracy, and despise certain groups like Jews and communists. After rigorous training, they moved on to the Labour Service and then the armed forces.
The Nazi Youth League, founded in 1922 and later renamed Hitler Youth, aimed to control all youth organizations. Other groups were disbanded, ensuring that Nazi ideology was the only influence on young people.
The Nazi Cult of Motherhood
In Nazi Germany, children were taught that women were fundamentally different from men. The idea of equal rights for men and women, which was gaining traction in democratic societies, was condemned as harmful. Boys were encouraged to be tough and masculine, while girls were expected to become nurturing mothers and raise racially pure Aryan children. They were tasked with preserving the purity of the race, avoiding contact with Jews, managing the household, and instilling Nazi values in their children. Essentially, they were seen as the carriers of Aryan culture and heritage.
Hitler himself emphasized the importance of mothers in his state, proclaiming them as the most significant citizens. However, not all mothers were treated equally under Nazi rule. Women who gave birth to children considered racially undesirable faced punishment, while those who produced racially desirable offspring were rewarded. They received special treatment in hospitals and enjoyed privileges such as discounts in shops, theaters, and on railway fares. To encourage childbirth, women were awarded Honour Crosses: bronze for four children, silver for six, and gold for eight or more.
Any deviation from the expected behavior for “Aryan” women was met with severe consequences. Those who associated with Jews, Poles, or Russians were publicly shamed, paraded through towns with shaved heads and blackened faces, and labeled as dishonoring the nation. Many faced imprisonment, loss of civic rights, and were ostracized from their families for what the Nazis deemed as a criminal act.
The Art of Propaganda
The Nazis used deceptive language to hide the horrors of their actions. Mass killings were disguised as “special treatment”, the “final solution” for Jews, and “euthanasia” for the disabled. Gas chambers were called “disinfection areas” and disguised as bathrooms with fake showerheads. They spread their ideas through visual images, films, radio, posters, slogans, and leaflets. Jews were cruelly stereotyped as vermin, rats, and pests. The Nazis targeted all sections of society, claiming they alone could solve their problems.
Ordinary People and the Crimes Against Humanity
As Nazi ideology spread, many people began to adopt their hateful views and language. They directed their anger towards Jews and sincerely thought that Nazism would bring them prosperity and improve their lives. Pastor Niemoeller spoke out against the silence of ordinary Germans regarding the brutal crimes committed by the Nazis. In her book “The Third Reich of Dreams,” Charlotte Beradt described how even some Jews started to believe in the stereotypes propagated by the Nazis about themselves.
Knowledge about the Holocaust
After the war ended and Germany was defeated, while Germans were focused on their own difficulties, the Jewish community sought to ensure that the world remembered the horrors and suffering they had endured during the Nazi regime’s mass killings, known as the Holocaust. As the Nazis faced defeat, they distributed petrol to their officials to destroy any evidence of their crimes stored in offices, aiming to conceal their atrocities.
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Nazism and the Rise of Hitler- FAQs
Who was Adolf Hitler?
Adolf Hitler was a German politician and leader of the Nazi Party. He rose to power as Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and later Fuhrer in 1934. Hitler’s aggressive foreign policies led to the outbreak of World War II.
What was Nazism?
Nazism was the ideology and policies associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. It emphasized extreme nationalism, racism, and anti-Semitism, advocating the superiority of the Aryan race and the need for authoritarian rule.
How did Hitler rise to power?
Hitler rose to power through a combination of factors, including the economic instability and social unrest in Germany following World War I. He capitalized on the discontentment of the German people and used propaganda and intimidation to gain support for the Nazi Party.
What were the key features of Nazi ideology?
Nazi ideology promoted the belief in the racial superiority of the Aryan race, anti-Semitism (hatred towards Jews), totalitarianism (absolute control by the state), militarism, and expansionism.
What were the impacts of Nazi rule in Germany?
The Nazi regime in Germany led to the suppression of political dissent, the persecution of minority groups, including Jews, Roma, homosexuals, and disabled individuals, and the outbreak of World War II, resulting in widespread destruction and loss of life.
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