Germany’s
State of Affairs
After WWI and
Pre-WWII
Why was Hitler so effective?
How did he “get away with murder”?
Why didn’t anyone stop him?
Why was he so well-liked?
Why did he target Jews?
Germany’s Economy After WWI
• WWI ended June 28, 1919
•
Germany after the first world war was completely devastated by the effects
of the Treaty of Versailles, which was the official end of World War I.
•
Also the Treaty required them to pay reparations to all the countries
damaged by the war such as France, Belgium, and other European
countries
•
Spending over 33 billion dollars severely hurt their economy by forcing
the German government to print more money which ended up making their
dollar practically worthless.
•
German army size was to be limited
• This left thousands of young officers unemployed
• Unemployment rose significantly throughout the country
•
Germany lost all of their
gained territory prior to
and during the war
amounting in 1,000,000
square miles.
Destroyed German
Opera House
Streets of Berlin
German Children playing with
worthless stacks of money
• HYPERINFLATION: Food was scarce and expensive. (A
loaf of bread cost 42₵ in 1918 but rose to over $2,000 in
1923.) Germany currency became valueless.
⟰
Starving
homeless
German
woman
post WWI
⟰
•
Under-Nourished German Children An Early Twenties
Magazine Advertisement
• This sad advertisement ran on the pages of THE NATION for a
number of years following the end of the W.W. I. Posted by a
German charity, the ad pictures a starving German child from
one of the more impoverished regions of Saxony or Thuringia.
All told, the photo and the accompanying text clearly illustrate
the economic hardships of post-World War I Germany.
⇚ Soup Line in
Germany 1915
Bread
Line in
Germany
1916 ⇛
The German
Great Economic Depression
• Middle-class turned into Poverty.
• Poverty turned into Misery.
• Just like in the U.S. many Germans had
to live in Shantytowns
• Unemployment rose
– From 1.8 million in 1929
– To 6 million in 1933
• The German People were
disgusted with their
government and revolted
• They needed a strong,
charismatic leader who
could change their
country’s State of Affairs
• They needed someone to
blame for their problems
• They needed...
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C9iUaP51CI
!10
Why did Hitler persecute the Jews?
Anti-Semistism goes back to the Middle Ages (500AD - 1500AD). For
centuries, Christians in Europe had regarded the Jews as the Christ -killers.
!
"Over the course of time, Christians began to accept … that the Jewish
people as a whole were responsible for killing Jesus. According to this
interpretation, both the Jews present at Jesus Christ's death and the Jewish
people collectively and for all time, have committed the sin of deicide, or
“god-killing.” For 1900 years of Christian-Jewish history, the charge of
deicide has led to hatred, violence against and murder of Jews in Europe
and America."
!11
Timeline of Persecution
•
•
•
•
33 AD: Christianity Begins (Judaism 2500 BC)
1096 : 1st Crusades (Germany)
1147: 2nd Crusades (France)
1290: English Jews banished At one time or another Jews had been driven out of almost every
European country. In 1275, they were made to wear a yellow badge. In 1287, 269 Jews were hanged in the
Tower of London.
•
•
•
•
1350’s: Jews blamed for Black Death
1421: Austrian Jews expelled (many fled to Poland)
1552: Jews in India persecuted
1920’s: After the First World War hundreds of Jews were blamed for the
defeat in the War. Prejudice against the Jews grew during the economic
depression which followed. Many Germans were poor and unemployed and
wanted someone to blame. They turned on the Jews, many of whom were
rich and successful in business. Why did Jews have money? They couldn’t
buy land. So many Jews would lend money which also fostered hate towards
!12
them.
Reasons Hitler was so
“successful”
!
Germany’s economy post WWI/Treaty of Versailles
He was a very charismatic & passionate speaker
anti-Semitism was prevalent for centuries
Germany was disgusted with their government & revolted
Unemployment was rampant; Hitler promised jobs