hitler biography class 9

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Adolf Hitler

By: History.com Editors

Updated: April 30, 2024 | Original: October 29, 2009

Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany’s  Nazi Party , was one of the most powerful and notorious dictators of the 20th century. After serving with the German military in World War I , Hitler capitalized on economic woes, popular discontent and political infighting during the Weimar Republic to rise through the ranks of the Nazi Party.

In a series of ruthless and violent actions—including the Reichstag Fire and the Night of Long Knives—Hitler took absolute power in Germany by 1933. Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 led to the outbreak of  World War II , and by 1941, Nazi forces had used “blitzkrieg” military tactics to occupy much of Europe. Hitler’s virulent  anti-Semitism  and obsessive pursuit of Aryan supremacy fueled the murder of some 6 million Jews, along with other victims of the  Holocaust . After the tide of war turned against him, Hitler committed suicide in a Berlin bunker in April 1945.

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau am Inn, a small Austrian town near the Austro-German frontier. After his father, Alois, retired as a state customs official, young Adolf spent most of his childhood in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria.

Not wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps as a civil servant, he began struggling in secondary school and eventually dropped out. Alois died in 1903, and Adolf pursued his dream of being an artist, though he was rejected from Vienna’s Academy of Fine Arts.

After his mother, Klara, died in 1908, Hitler moved to Vienna, where he pieced together a living painting scenery and monuments and selling the images. Lonely, isolated and a voracious reader, Hitler became interested in politics during his years in Vienna, and developed many of the ideas that would shape Nazi ideology.

Military Career of Adolf Hitler

In 1913, Hitler moved to Munich, in the German state of Bavaria. When World War I broke out the following summer, he successfully petitioned the Bavarian king to be allowed to volunteer in a reserve infantry regiment.

Deployed in October 1914 to Belgium, Hitler served throughout the Great War and won two decorations for bravery, including the rare Iron Cross First Class, which he wore to the end of his life.

Hitler was wounded twice during the conflict: He was hit in the leg during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and temporarily blinded by a British gas attack near Ypres in 1918. A month later, he was recuperating in a hospital at Pasewalk, northeast of Berlin, when news arrived of the armistice and Germany’s defeat in World War I .

Like many Germans, Hitler came to believe the country’s devastating defeat could be attributed not to the Allies, but to insufficiently patriotic “traitors” at home—a myth that would undermine the post-war Weimar Republic and set the stage for Hitler’s rise.

After Hitler returned to Munich in late 1918, he joined the small German Workers’ Party, which aimed to unite the interests of the working class with a strong German nationalism. His skilled oratory and charismatic energy helped propel him in the party’s ranks, and in 1920 he left the army and took charge of its propaganda efforts.

In one of Hitler’s strokes of propaganda genius, the newly renamed National Socialist German Workers Party, or  Nazi Party , adopted a version of the swastika—an ancient sacred symbol of  Hinduism , Jainism and Buddhism —as its emblem. Printed in a white circle on a red background, Hitler’s swastika would take on terrifying symbolic power in the years to come.

By the end of 1921, Hitler led the growing Nazi Party, capitalizing on widespread discontent with the Weimar Republic and the punishing terms of the Versailles Treaty . Many dissatisfied former army officers in Munich would join the Nazis, notably Ernst Röhm, who recruited the “strong arm” squads—known as the Sturmabteilung (SA)—which Hitler used to protect party meetings and attack opponents.

Beer Hall Putsch 

On the evening of November 8, 1923, members of the SA and others forced their way into a large beer hall where another right-wing leader was addressing the crowd. Wielding a revolver, Hitler proclaimed the beginning of a national revolution and led marchers to the center of Munich, where they got into a gun battle with police.

Hitler fled quickly, but he and other rebel leaders were later arrested. Even though it failed spectacularly, the Beer Hall Putsch established Hitler as a national figure , and (in the eyes of many) a hero of right-wing nationalism.

'Mein Kampf' 

Tried for treason, Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison, but would serve only nine months in the relative comfort of Landsberg Castle. During this period, he began to dictate the book that would become " Mein Kampf " (“My Struggle”), the first volume of which was published in 1925.

In it, Hitler expanded on the nationalistic, anti-Semitic views he had begun to develop in Vienna in his early twenties, and laid out plans for the Germany—and the world—he sought to create when he came to power.

Hitler would finish the second volume of "Mein Kampf" after his release, while relaxing in the mountain village of Berchtesgaden. It sold modestly at first, but with Hitler’s rise it became Germany’s best-selling book after the Bible. By 1940, it had sold some 6 million copies there.

Hitler’s second book, “The Zweites Buch,” was written in 1928 and contained his thoughts on foreign policy. It was not published in his lifetime due to the poor initial sales of “Mein Kampf.” The first English translations of “The Zweites Buch” did not appear until 1962 and was published under the title “Hitler's Secret Book.” 

Obsessed with race and the idea of ethnic “purity,” Hitler saw a natural order that placed the so-called “Aryan race” at the top.

For him, the unity of the Volk (the German people) would find its truest incarnation not in democratic or parliamentary government, but in one supreme leader, or Führer.

" Mein Kampf " also addressed the need for Lebensraum (or living space): In order to fulfill its destiny, Germany should take over lands to the east that were now occupied by “inferior” Slavic peoples—including Austria, the Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia), Poland and Russia.

The Schutzstaffel (SS) 

By the time Hitler left prison, economic recovery had restored some popular support for the Weimar Republic, and support for right-wing causes like Nazism appeared to be waning.

Over the next few years, Hitler laid low and worked on reorganizing and reshaping the Nazi Party. He established the Hitler Youth  to organize youngsters, and created the Schutzstaffel (SS) as a more reliable alternative to the SA.

Members of the SS wore black uniforms and swore a personal oath of loyalty to Hitler. (After 1929, under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler , the SS would develop from a group of some 200 men into a force that would dominate Germany and terrorize the rest of occupied Europe during World War II .)

Hitler spent much of his time at Berchtesgaden during these years, and his half-sister, Angela Raubal, and her two daughters often joined him. After Hitler became infatuated with his beautiful blonde niece, Geli Raubal, his possessive jealousy apparently led her to commit suicide in 1931.

Devastated by the loss, Hitler would consider Geli the only true love affair of his life. He soon began a long relationship with Eva Braun , a shop assistant from Munich, but refused to marry her.

The worldwide Great Depression that began in 1929 again threatened the stability of the Weimar Republic. Determined to achieve political power in order to affect his revolution, Hitler built up Nazi support among German conservatives, including army, business and industrial leaders.

The Third Reich

In 1932, Hitler ran against the war hero Paul von Hindenburg for president, and received 36.8 percent of the vote. With the government in chaos, three successive chancellors failed to maintain control, and in late January 1933 Hindenburg named the 43-year-old Hitler as chancellor, capping the stunning rise of an unlikely leader.

January 30, 1933 marked the birth of the Third Reich, or as the Nazis called it, the “Thousand-Year Reich” (after Hitler’s boast that it would endure for a millennium).

HISTORY Vault: Third Reich: The Rise

Rare and never-before-seen amateur films offer a unique perspective on the rise of Nazi Germany from Germans who experienced it. How were millions of people so vulnerable to fascism?

Reichstag Fire 

Though the Nazis never attained more than 37 percent of the vote at the height of their popularity in 1932, Hitler was able to grab absolute power in Germany largely due to divisions and inaction among the majority who opposed Nazism.

After a devastating fire at Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, in February 1933—possibly the work of a Dutch communist, though later evidence suggested Nazis set the  Reichstag fire  themselves—Hitler had an excuse to step up the political oppression and violence against his opponents.

On March 23, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, giving full powers to Hitler and celebrating the union of National Socialism with the old German establishment (i.e., Hindenburg ).

That July, the government passed a law stating that the Nazi Party “constitutes the only political party in Germany,” and within months all non-Nazi parties, trade unions and other organizations had ceased to exist.

His autocratic power now secure within Germany, Hitler turned his eyes toward the rest of Europe.

In 1933, Germany was diplomatically isolated, with a weak military and hostile neighbors (France and Poland). In a famous speech in May 1933, Hitler struck a surprisingly conciliatory tone, claiming Germany supported disarmament and peace.

But behind this appeasement strategy, the domination and expansion of the Volk remained Hitler’s overriding aim.

By early the following year, he had withdrawn Germany from the League of Nations and begun to militarize the nation in anticipation of his plans for territorial conquest.

Night of the Long Knives

On June 29, 1934, the infamous Night of the Long Knives , Hitler had Röhm, former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and hundreds of other problematic members of his own party murdered, in particular troublesome members of the SA.

When the 86-year-old Hindenburg died on August 2, military leaders agreed to combine the presidency and chancellorship into one position, meaning Hitler would command all the armed forces of the Reich.

Persecution of Jews

On September 15, 1935, passage of the Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of German citizenship, and barred them from marrying or having relations with persons of “German or related blood.”

Though the Nazis attempted to downplay its persecution of Jews in order to placate the international community during the 1936 Berlin Olympics (in which German-Jewish athletes were not allowed to compete), additional decrees over the next few years disenfranchised Jews and took away their political and civil rights.

In addition to its pervasive anti-Semitism, Hitler’s government also sought to establish the cultural dominance of Nazism by burning books, forcing newspapers out of business, using radio and movies for propaganda purposes and forcing teachers throughout Germany’s educational system to join the party.

Much of the Nazi persecution of Jews and other targets occurred at the hands of the Geheime Staatspolizei (GESTAPO), or Secret State Police, an arm of the SS that expanded during this period.

Outbreak of World War II

In March 1936, against the advice of his generals, Hitler ordered German troops to reoccupy the demilitarized left bank of the Rhine.

Over the next two years, Germany concluded alliances with Italy and Japan, annexed Austria and moved against Czechoslovakia—all essentially without resistance from Great Britain, France or the rest of the international community.

Once he confirmed the alliance with Italy in the so-called “Pact of Steel” in May 1939, Hitler then signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union . On September 1, 1939, Nazi troops invaded Poland, finally prompting Britain and France to declare war on Germany.

Blitzkrieg 

After ordering the occupation of Norway and Denmark in April 1940, Hitler adopted a plan proposed by one of his generals to attack France through the Ardennes Forest. The blitzkrieg (“lightning war”) attack began on May 10; Holland quickly surrendered, followed by Belgium.

German troops made it all the way to the English Channel, forcing British and French forces to evacuate en masse from Dunkirk in late May. On June 22, France was forced to sign an armistice with Germany.

Hitler had hoped to force Britain to seek peace as well, but when that failed he went ahead with his attacks on that country, followed by an invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor that December, the United States declared war on Japan, and Germany’s alliance with Japan demanded that Hitler declare war on the United States as well.

At that point in the conflict, Hitler shifted his central strategy to focus on breaking the alliance of his main opponents (Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union) by forcing one of them to make peace with him.

Concentration Camps

Beginning in 1933, the SS had operated a network of concentration camps, including a notorious camp at Dachau , near Munich, to hold Jews and other targets of the Nazi regime.

After war broke out, the Nazis shifted from expelling Jews from German-controlled territories to exterminating them. Einsatzgruppen, or mobile death squads, executed entire Jewish communities during the Soviet invasion, while the existing concentration-camp network expanded to include death camps like Auschwitz -Birkenau in occupied Poland.

In addition to forced labor and mass execution, certain Jews at Auschwitz were targeted as the subjects of horrific medical experiments carried out by eugenicist Josef Mengele, known as the “Angel of Death.” Mengele’s experiments focused on twins and exposed 3,000 child prisoners to disease, disfigurement and torture under the guise of medical research.

Though the Nazis also imprisoned and killed Catholics, homosexuals, political dissidents, Roma (gypsies) and the disabled, above all they targeted Jews—some 6 million of whom were killed in German-occupied Europe by war’s end.

End of World War II

With defeats at El-Alamein and Stalingrad , as well as the landing of U.S. troops in North Africa by the end of 1942, the tide of the war turned against Germany.

As the conflict continued, Hitler became increasingly unwell, isolated and dependent on medications administered by his personal physician.

Several attempts were made on his life, including one that came close to succeeding in July 1944, when Col. Claus von Stauffenberg planted a bomb that exploded during a conference at Hitler’s headquarters in East Prussia.

Within a few months of the successful Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, the Allies had begun liberating cities across Europe. That December, Hitler attempted to direct another offensive through the Ardennes, trying to split British and American forces.

But after January 1945, he holed up in a bunker beneath the Chancellery in Berlin. With Soviet forces closing in, Hitler made plans for a last-ditch resistance before finally abandoning that plan.

How Did Adolf Hitler Die?

At midnight on the night of April 28-29, Hitler married Eva Braun in the Berlin bunker. After dictating his political testament,  Hitler shot himself  in his suite on April 30; Braun took poison. Their bodies were burned according to Hitler’s instructions.

With Soviet troops occupying Berlin, Germany surrendered unconditionally on all fronts on May 7, 1945, bringing the war in Europe to a close.

In the end, Hitler’s planned “Thousand-Year Reich” lasted just over 12 years, but wreaked unfathomable destruction and devastation during that time, forever transforming the history of Germany, Europe and the world.

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich iWonder – Adolf Hitler: Man and Monster, BBC . The Holocaust : A Learning Site for Students, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum .

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Nazism and the Rise of Hitler Summary Notes Key Points Class 9

• Post last modified: 20 February 2022
• Post category: Class 9 SST Notes

A short Summary of ‘Nazism and the rise of Hitler’ is given here for class 9 students. The key points are given under proper headings. This summary will help revise the chapter in a short period of time.

GERMANY IN WORLD WAR–I

• The First World War was fought between Germany, the Austrian empire and Turkey (Central powers) against the Allies (England, France and Russia).
• They all joined the war assuming a quick gain and a quick victory.
• France and Belgium were occupied by Germany resulting in initial gains for it.
• But soon after USA joined the War (in 1917), the situation turned around.
• In 1918, the First World War was won by the Allies by defeating Germany and the Central powers.

THE BIRTH OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC

• After the defeat of Germany in the First World War and the abdication of the king, the German polity was rebuilt.
• Proportional representation. This created problem for any one party to gain majority, leading to a rule by coalition
• Article 48, which gave the President the powers to impose emergency, suspended civil rights and rule by decree.
• The Weimar Republic dissolved about 20 times by the President within a span of 239 days. Due to this democratic parliamentary system, crisis in the economy, polity and society leading to the rise of Hitler to power.

TREATY OF VERSAILLES

• Signed between Germany and the Allied Powers (England, France and Russia)
• Germany lost all its overseas colonies, a tenth of its population and 13% of its territories.
• 26% of its coal mines and 75% of its iron mines were given to France, Poland, Denmark and Lithuania.
• To weaken its powers, the allied powers demilitarised Germany.
• The resource rich Rhineland of Germany was occupied by the Allied armies.
• Germany was held responsible for the First World War and the damages suffered by the Allied countries. Due to this reason, Germany was forced to pay compensation of £6 billion.

EFFECTS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR ON GERMANY

Social Effects

Due to the harsh impact of the war, the soldiers were placed above civilians. There was great stress laid on for men to be aggressive, strong and masculine by the political leaders and media. Aggressive war propaganda and national honour resulted in popular support for conservative dictatorship

Political Effects

The birth of Weimar Republic coincided with the revolutionary uprising of the Spartacist League. Soviet –style of government was demanded in Berlin. But the uprising was suppressed with the help of war veterans’ organisation known as ‘Free Corps’.

Economic Crisis (Hyperinflation)

Germany fought the First World War mainly on loans and later had to repay it in gold. This resulted in depletion of gold reserves. As Germany refused to pay the loan in 1923, in return France occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr. Germany began printing paper currency recklessly and this resulted in over circulation of the paper currency, due to which the value of German mark fell. This came to be known as hyperinflation, a situation when prices rose phenomenally high

HITLER’S WORLD VIEW

• According to his views, there was a racial hierarchy that followed and no equality between people.
• Hitler considered Blacks, Gypsies and Jews as racial inferiors. They were persecuted on a wide scale.
• He wanted a society consisting of only pure and healthy Nordic Aryans.
• In his views, blond, blue-eyed, Nordic German Aryans were at the top, while Jews were located at the lowest rung. They came to be regarded as an anti-race, the arch-enemies of the Aryans.
• Another ideology of Hitler was Lebensraum, i.e. living space. He believed that new territories had to be acquired for settlement. This would widen the area of his motherland and their resources.
• But the worst sufferers were the Jews. They were stereotyped as killers of Christ and usurers by the Nazis. They were made to live in separately marked areas known as ghettos. Concentration camps and gas chambers were built to execute them on a larger scale

YOUTH OF NAZI GERMANY

• The teachers who were Jews or seen as politically unreliable were dismissed from the job. In Nazi terms the schools were cleansed and purified.
• The children of German and Jews were segregated. They were not allowed to sit or play together anymore. And soon the physically handicapped, Gypsies and Jews were thrown out of the school as they were considered as undesirable The German children went through an ideological training in Nazi schools. Where school textbooks were re-written, radical science was introduced to justify Nazi ideas of race. Stereotypes about Jews were popularised.
• The ideologies of Nazis included the hatred towards Jews and worshipping Hitler and to be loyal and submissive towards him.
• Even the function of sports was utilised to make children iron hearted, strong and masculine.
• Youth Organisations were responsible for educating German youth in the spirit of National Socialism. Ten-year-olds had to enter Jung Volk.
• At 14, all boys had to join the Nazi youth organization called Hitler Youth, where they learnt to worship war, glorify aggression and violence, condemn democracy, and hate Jews, communists, Gypsies and all those categorised as undesirable.

NAZI PROPAGANDA

• The Nazi regime were careful of using language and media. They never used the word kill or murder in their official communications. Mass killing were termed as special treatment, final solution, euthanasia, selection and disinfections.
• Media won the support and helped in popularising their worldview. Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slogans and leaflets.
• The Germans, mocked, abused and stereotyped the group identities of their enemies in the posters. Socialists and liberals were represented as weak and degenerate.
• Orthodox Jews were shown with flowing beards wearing kaftans. They were referred to as vermin, rats and pests. Their movements were compared to those of rodents.

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Class Notes

Free Class Notes & Study Material

Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

Last Updated on July 3, 2023 By Mrs Shilpi Nagpal

NCERT Solutions for Social Science Chapter  3 – Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

☛ Notes and Study Material – Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

Page 61 Activity 1.  Read Sources A and B

“For this earth is not allotted to anyone nor is it presented to anyone as a gift. It is awarded  by providence to people who in their hearts have the courage to conquer it, the strength to preserve it, and the industry to put it to the plough… The primary right of this world the right to life, so far as one possesses the strength for this. Hence on the basis of the right a vigorous nation will always find ways of adapting its territory to its population size

Hitler, Secret Book, ed. Telford Taylor.

“In an era when the earth is gradually being divided up among states, some of which embrace almost entire continents, we cannot speak of a world power in connection with a formation whose political mother country is limited to the absurd area of five hundred kilometers.”

Hitler, Mein Kampf, p. 644.

(a) What do they tell you about Hitler’s imperial ambition?

Answer The two texts tell that Hitler’s imperial ambition was to expand the boundaries of Germany till wherever they could possibly reach. He believed that an aggressive nation will find methods to adjust its territory to its population’s size. In source ‘B’ he was comparing Germany’s size to that of Russia and wanted Germany to become a world power of similar size.

(b) What do you think Mahatma Gandhi would have said to Hitler about these ideas?

Answer Mahatma Gandhi would have told Hitler to remove the idea of aggression against other nations from his mind, as violence begets violence.

Page 63 Activity 1. What does citizenship mean to you? Look at Chapters 1 and 3 and write 200 words on how the French Revolution and Nazism defined citizenship.

Answer To me, citizenship means the right to live freely in the country of my birth or the country where I desire to live. The French Revolution defined citizenship in a way which was different from the way that the Nazism defined it.

The French people thought that all men have equal rights as they are born equal. The rights of a citizen include liberty, security, owning of property and resisting oppression. Also they believed in the freedom of expression, whether verbal or in writing, art, etc. They believed in the rule of law and that no one can be above it.

However, the Nazi definition of citizenship was quite different. It was defined with the perspective of racial discrimination against all except the ‘pure Aryan’ Nordic race. So they said that Jews and other ‘undesirable population would not be considered as citizens of Germany. These people were given very harsh treatment like death in the gas chamber or banishment to concentration camps. Many of them were forced to flee to other countries because of this.

Page 63 Activity 2. What did the Nuremberg Laws mean to the undesirables’ in Nazi Germany? What other legal measures were taken against them to make them feel unwanted?

Answer Basically, the Nuremberg Laws meant that the ‘undesirables’ had no rights to live along with the other citizens. These included Jews, Gypsies, ‘Blacks’ and other nationalities like Polish and Russian people.

These laws, promulgated in 1935, stated

(i) Only persons of German or related blood would be German citizens, enjoying the protection of the German Empire.

(ii) Marriages between Germans and the ‘undesirables’ were forbidden. Extramarital relations between them also became a crime.

Other legal measures included

(i) Boycott of Jewish businesses.

(ii) Expulsion of Jews from government services.

(iii) Confiscation and forcible selling of the properties of Jews.

Page 66 Activity 1. If you were a student sitting in one of these classes, how would you have felt towards Jews?

Answer 1 If I had been a student sitting in one of these classes, I would have felt very bad, as I would be missing my friends, who used to play with he earlier. I would have felt sympathetic towards them and would have hated the government for this action.

Page 66 Activity 2. Have you ever thought of the stereotypes of other communities that people around you believe in? How have they acquired them?

Answer I have thought about the stereotypes of other communities the we believe in. They are usually acquired from their ancestors and the traditions and customs of the community to which they belong.

Page 69 Activity 1. How would you have reacted to Hitler’s ideas if you were

(a) A Jewish woman

(b) A non-Jewish German woman

Answer 1 If I was a Jewish woman, I would have condemned these ideas as they were against our community and also against women.

If I was a non-Jewish German woman, I would have condemned them as being too restrictive to women’s roles in life. Also, I do not agree with Hitler about the idea of Jews being ‘undesirable’, as I have a number of Jewish women as my friends and 1 find them likeable, just like other human beings.They should not be called ‘undesirables’.

Page 69 Activity 2. What do you think this poster is trying to depict?

Answer The poster is making fun of Jews, by depicting that they are only interested in making money, by whatever means at their disposal. It is trying to show that Jews are greedy. The fatness of the man depicted indicates that the poster maker felt that the greed of Jews is excessive.

Page 70 Activity 1. Look at Fig. 29 and 30 and answer the following

What do they tell us about Nazi propaganda? How are the Nazis trying to mobilise different sections of the population?

Answer The first poster is addressed to the German farmer, while the second one is addressed to the German worker. This tells us that through this kind of propaganda, the Nazis were trying to win the support of the working classes. The second poster is telling them to vote for Hitler, who has fought on the front line in the First World War. The first poster is condemning the Capitalists and the Bolsheviks, because they are the enemies of Nazism. By this method, the Nazis tried to mobilise different sections of the population to their cause.

Page 71 Activity 1. Why does Erna Kranz say, I could only say for myself? How do you view her opinion?

Answer She said this because at that time, she personally felt that the economy was being revived. However, since she was not able to see the conditions of others at that time, being too young to go out and see what was happening elsewhere.

Her opinion may be correct as far as she was concerned, but as she had no idea about what was happening in the rest of the country, it is difficult to say whether others felt similarly.

Page 71 Activity 1. Write a one page history of Germany

(a) as a schoolchild in Nazi Germany

(b) as a Jewish survivor of a concentration camp

(c) as a political opponent of the Nazi regime

(a) As a Schoolchild in Nazi Germany : I have been conditioned to behave in a particular manner since I was three years old. First I was given a flag to wave, to show my patriotism. I was told that men’s and women’s roles in life were totally different. We were told that the fight for equal rights of men and women was a thing of the past as it would destroy our society today. We boys were taught to be aggressive, masculine and steel hearted, while the girls were told that they had to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children.

The girls had to maintain the purity of the race, distance themselves from Jews, look after the home, and teach their children Nazi values. They had to be the bearers of the Aryan culture and race.

I had to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler, proclaiming him as the savior of the country. I have been told that after finishing school, I will join the Hitler Youth Organisation. This will be followed by military service, which is compulsory.

(b) As a Jewish Survivor of a Concentration Camp : Thanks to the Lord for saving my life. I am happy to have survived three years of torturous life in the concentration camp. Of course, I am now very weak and ill, but I am still alive.

So many of my friends, relatives and even family members died before my eyes due to the bad treatment meted out to them in the camp. They were regularly beaten, left to starve and worked in very harsh conditions. Many of them were sent to the gas chambers and l was always afraid of my number coming next. Luckily I have survived to tell this tale.

(c) As a Political Opponent of the Nazi Regime : Since the Nazis have captured power, they are making life hell for all people who do not follow their doctrine. I do not understand what they will gain by trying to conquer other nations.

The bombing by the British on our homes has killed many of my relatives and friends. Aggression on other countries will definitely cause war with them and we will also lose men and property in war. The way the Nazis are going about increasing their power, I feel, in the long run, we will lose out, as this war will make all other nations to go against us. I hope Hitler sees sense and stops this war soon.

Page 74 Exercise Question 1. Describe the problems faced by the Weimar Republic.

Answer 1) The Weimar Republic formed the German Government after the First World War, which Germany lost. The republic faced two kinds of problems

(i) Economic Crisis : The war had been very costly for all concerned. The damage and human casualties, along with post-war depletion of resources, consequent debts and war compensation led to this crisis.Hyperinflation made the German Mark valueless and caused immense hardship to the German people.

(ii) Political Crisis : Although the National Assembly framed a democratic Constitution, it was too weak. Proportional representation and Article 48 resulted in the creation of a political crisis and finally the death of the Weimar Republic.

Page 74 Exercise Question 2. Discuss why Nazism became popular in Germany by 1930.

Answer 2) Nazism became popular for the following reasons

(i) After defeat in the First World War, Germany was forced to sign the harsh and humiliating Treaty of Versailles, in which it was made to accept the guilt for the war. The Germans felt disgraced and humiliated. Consequently, they were made to believe, by Hitler’s oratory, that he would restore Germany to its former glory.

(ii) Political parties like the Communists, Socialists, Democrats, etc were not united. There were conflicts between them and the government became weak. The Nazi Party took advantage of the situation and captured power.

(ii) Democracy in Germany was relatively new and it was not strong. It did not appeal to the Germans. They wanted a party and a system that would re-establish the glory and prestige of Germany. So, they were attracted to the Nazi Party.

(iv) Hitler was a great orator and with his speeches he was able to sway the masses and win their confidence, He was able to convince them that he would undo the injustice done and bring back the glory and dignity of the German people. He promised employment for those looking for work. He won over the youth by promising them a secure future.

(v) He got the support of the Army, the industrialists and the landlords because he opposed communism and socialism, which these people also opposed.

Thus, Hitler and the Nazi Party were able to win the support of all sections of Germans and so become popular.

Page 74 Exercise Question 3. What are the peculiar features of Nazi thinking?

Answer 3) The peculiar features of Nazism were

(i) Nazis believed in the idea of one people, one empire and one leader.

(ii) It did not tolerate other parties and tried to crush all other organisations and parties and wanted to remove socialism, communism and democracy from Germany.

(iii) According to Nazism there was no equality between people. In this view, the blue eyed Nordic German Aryans were at the top while the Jews were located at the lowest rung.

(iv) It was propagated that the Jews were responsible for the economic misery of the Germans.

(v) Nazis propagated war and glorified aggression.

(vi) Nazis believed in the idea of Lebensraum on living space. i.e., new areas should be acquired so that more space is available for the Germans to settle.

(vii) Nazis wanted to create a separate racial community of pure Germans by physically eliminating all those who were seen as undesirable by them.

(viii) The Nazis believed that Jews were inferior and the cause of German misery and therefore should be totally eliminated.

(ix) The Nazi argument was simple. The strongest race would survive and the weak ones would perish.

(X) The Aryan race was the finest. It had to retain its purity, become stronger and dominate the world.

Page 74 Exercise Question 4. Explain why Nazi propaganda was effective in creating a hatred for Jews.

Answer Nazi propaganda was effective in creating hatred for the Jews for the following reason:

(i) The Jews were stereotyped as killers of Christ. They had been barred since medieval times from ownership of land.

(ii) They were already hated as usurers or money-lenders. Violence against Jews, even inside their residential ghettos, was common. Hitler’s race theories fanned this hatred. He wanted all Jews to be eliminated from Germany.

Page 74 Exercise Question 5. Explain what role women had is Nazi society. Return to chapter 1 on the French Revolution. Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the role of women in the two periods.

Answer 5) Role of women in Nazi society was modelled on the principles of a largely patriarchal or male-dominated society. Hitler hailed women as most important citizens, but this was limited to only Aryan women who bred pure-blood, ‘desirable’ Aryans. Motherhood was the only goal they were taught to strive for, in addition to performing the duties of managing the household and being good wives.

This was in total contrast to the role of women in the French Revolution, where women led movements and fought for the right to education and the right to equal wages as men. They could not be forced to marry against their will. They could also train for jobs, become artists or run small businesses. Schooling was made compulsory for them.

Page 74 Exercise Question 6. In what ways did the Nazi state seek to establish total control over the people?

Answer 6) Hitler, after coming to power, emerged as an all powerful dictator. He destroyed democracy in Germany.

(i) The First Fire decree in 1933 suspended the civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly and thus controlled the German population.

(ii) The Enabling Act was passed. It gave all powers Hitler to Sideline Parliament and rule by decree.

(iii) All political parties except the Nazi Party were banned. All political opponents were imprisoned or assassinated.

(iv) The communists were suppressed and sent to concentration camps.

(v) Special security forces such as the SA, SS, SD and Gestapo were created to control and order society in ways that the Nazis wanted.These forces were given extra constitutional powers.

(vi) In schools children were taught to be loyal and submissive hate Jews and worship Hitler.

(vii) Nazi youth organisations, the like ‘Jungvolk’ and ‘Hitler Youth’ were created where the youth were taught to worship war and Hitler and hate democracy, communism and Jews.

(viii) Media was used carefully to win the support for Hitler and Nazism. Nazi ideas were spread through visual images films, radio, posters and catchy slogans and leaflets.

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Rise of Hitler Part 1 - Biography of Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf - How Hitler became ruler of Germany Video Lecture - Class 9

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NCERT Class 9 History Chapter 3 Notes Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

Cbse class 9 history chapter 3 notes understanding the lesson.

1. Germany was a powerful empire in the early twentieth century. It fought the First World War (1914-1918) alongside the Austrian empire and against the Allies.

2. Germany was defeated in 1918 and the emperor was abdicated. This gave an opportunity to parliamentary parties to recast German polity. A National Assembly met at Weimar and established a democratic constitution with a federal structure.

3. German people did not welcome the new Weimar Republic because they held it responsible for the defeat of Germany in the war and the disgrace at Versailles.

4. Germany faced deep economic crisis in 1923. It had fought the war largely on loans and had to pay war reparations in gold. This depleted gold reserves at a time resources were scarce.

5. The German economy was further hit by the Great Economic Depression. By 1932, industrial production was reduced to 40 percent of the 1929 level. Workers lost their jobs. The economic crisis created deep anxiety and fears in people. Since the Weimar Republic failed to manage this crisis; people lost confidence in the democratic parliamentary system.

6. All this formed the background of Hitler’s rise to power. The German defeat horrified Hitler and the Versailles Treaty made him furious. In 1919, he joined the German Worker’s Party. He subsequently took over the organization and renamed it the National Socialist German Worker’s Party which later came to be known as the Nazi Party.

7. Nazism became a mass movement during the Great Depression. In a situation when workers lost jobs and the middle classes were threatened with destitution, Nazi propaganda stirred hopes in them. In 1928, the Nazi Party was not very successful but by 1932, it had become the largest party. Hitler impressed the German people with his powerful speeches. He promised them to build a strong nation, undo the injustice of the Versailles Treaty and restore their dignity.

8. On 30 January 1933, Hitler was offered the Chancellorship of Germany. Having acquired power, Hilter set out to dismantle the structures of democratic rule. Civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly were suspended. The Communists were sent to the newly established concentration camps.

9. The famous Enabling Act, passed on 3 March 1933, established dictatorship in Germany. Hilter became the most powerful man in the country. He sidelined Parliament and rule by decree. He also banned all political parties and trade unions.

10. Special surveillance and security forces were created to control and order society in ways that the Nazis wanted. People could now be detained in Gestapo (secrete state police) torture chambers, rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

11. Hitler got quick success in his foreign policy. He integrated Austria and Germany in 1938 under the slogan, One people, One empire and One leader.

12. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. This started a war with France and England. In September 1940, a Tripartite Pact was signed between Germany, Italy and Japan which strengthened Hitler’s claim to international power.

13. Hitler created an exclusive racial community of pure German by eliminating all those who were seen as ‘undesirable’ in extended empire. Nazis wanted only a society of pure and healthy Nordic Aryan’s. Only they were seen as worthy of prospering and multiplying against all who were classed; as ‘undesirables’.

14. Jews, Gypsies and blacks living in Nazi Germany were widely persecuted. Even Russians and Poles were considered subhuman. However, Jews remained the worst sufferers. They were terrorized, pauperized and segregated.

15. Hitler was fanatically interested in the youth of the country. He felt that a strong Nazi society could be established only by teaching children Nazi ideology. So, all schools were ‘cleansed’ and ‘purified’. Jew teachers and children were thrown out of schools.

16. School textbooks were rewritten, racial science was introduced to justify Nazi ideas of race. Children were taught to be loyal and submissive, hate Jews, and worship Hitler.

17. Youth organizations were made responsible for educating German youth in ‘the spirit of National Socialism’. Ten-year-olds had to enter Jungvolk and at 14 all boys had to join the Nazi youth organization e. Hilter youth where they learnt to worship war, glorify aggression and violence, and condemn democracy.

18. In Nazi Germany, all mothers were not treated equally. Women who bore racially undesirable children were punished and those who produced racially desirable children were awarded.

19. The art of propaganda that Nazis used was peculiar. They never used the words ‘kill’ or ‘murder’ in their official communications. Mass killings were termed special treatment, final solution (for the Jews), euthanasia (for the disabled), selection and ‘Evacuation’ meant deporting people to gas chambers.

Nazism and the Rise of Hitler Class 9 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Allies: The Allied Powers were initially led by the UK and France. In 1941 they were joined by the USSR and USA. They fought against the Axis Powers, namely Germany, Italy and Japan.

Genocidal: Killing on large scale leading to destruction of large sections of people.

Deplete: Reduce, empty out.

Reparation: Make up for a wrong done.

Wall Street Exchange: The name of the world’s biggest stock exchange located in the USA.

Hyperinflation: A situation when prices rise phenomenally high.

Proletarianization: To become impoverished to the level of working classes.

Propaganda: Specific type of message directly aimed at influencing the opinion of people through the use of posters, films, speeches, etc.

Concentration camp: A camp where people were isolated and detained without due process of law. Typically, it was surrounded by electrified barbed wire fences.

Nordic German Aryans: One branch of those classified as Aryans. They lived in north European countries and had German or related origin.

Gypsy: The groups that were classified as ‘gypsy’ had their own community identity. Sinti and Roma were too such communities. Many of them traced their origin to India.

Pauperised: Reduce to absolute poverty.

Persecution: Systematic, organized punishment of those belonging to a group or religion.

Usurers: Moneylenders charging excessive interest, often used as a term of abuse.

Synagogues: Place of worship for people of Jewish faith.

Jungvolk: Nazi youth groups for children below 14 years of age.

Holocaust: It was a genocide in which Hitler’s Nazi Germany and its collaborators killed about six million Jews.

Notes of History Class 9 Chapter 3 Time Period

1914: The First World War broke out.

1917: Entry of the USA in the First World War.

1918: The First World War ended.

1919: Treaty of Versailles.

1923: Economic crisis in Germany.

1929: The Great Economic Depression started.

1932: The Nazi Party became the largest party in the German Parliament.

1933: Hilter was made Chancellor of Germany.

1939: Germany invaded Poland, Second World War began.

1940: Hitler was at the height of his power.

1941: The USA joined Second World War.

1945: Allied victory in Europe, Hitler was defeated.

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Notes of Ch 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler| Class 9th History

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NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

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NCERT Solutions for Nazism and the Rise of Hitler Class 9 Questions and Answers - FREE PDF Download

Get a comprehensive learning experience with Vedantu's NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler. Access the detailed and clear explanations of key concepts with our Class 9 History NCERT Solutions to enhance your understanding of the subject with easy-to-follow, step-by-step solutions provided by Vedantu.

By exploring nazism and the rise of Hitler class 9 questions and answers, students gain a deep understanding of the important points and concepts of topics subchapter as types of the Weimar Republic, how Nazism became popular in Germany, peculiar thinking of Nazis, etc. Check out the revised class 9 social science syllabus for your academic excellence.

Glance on NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler, delves into one of the most pivotal and disturbing periods in world history.

This Chapter explores the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, their ideologies, and their profound impact on Germany and the world.

The Chapter Nazism and the Rise of Hitler class 9 understands the challenges and failures of Germany's post-World War I democratic government.

Learn about the social, economic, and political policies implemented by the Nazis and their impacts on different segments of society.

This Chapter of history class 9 Chapter 3 question answer analyses the economic hardships and political instability in Germany that facilitated the rise of Nazism.

Study the methods used by the Nazis to control public opinion and suppress opposition.

Gain insight into the systematic persecution and genocide of Jews and other minorities.

From Class 9th History Chapter 3, students gain a better understanding of how the rise of Nazism impacted Germany and the world, providing a broader perspective on global history.

In the class 9 History Chapter 3 questions and answers PDF, you can find detailed answers to textbook questions, providing a thorough understanding of the historical context and events.

Access NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science (History) Chapter 3- Nazism and The Rise of Hitler

1. Describe the problems faced by the Weimar Republic.

Ans. The Weimar Republic faced the following problems:

The Treaty of Versailles after the First World War was unfair to Germany. Germany was exploited using that treaty and due to the humiliating terms of the Treaty, the common public was discontent.

Due to Germany being made to pay for the First World War, its economy crumbled. The price of essential goods increased substantially and the gold reserves were depleted.

In an economic crisis, the German government elected democratically could not cope with the problems and failed to solve them Thus, the public later accepted the dictatorship of Hitler.

2. Discuss why Nazism became popular in Germany by 1930.

Ans. The following reasons made Nazism popular in Germany in the 1930s:

The democratic governments could not solve the country's economic crisis and left abruptly. Thus, people were fed up with weak governments.

Adolf Hitler promised the people to uphold the conditions and dignity of Germany. This instilled hope in the minds of the people.

The Nazi party did not let other parties gain ground and hence, people listened only to the Nazis.

3. What are the peculiar features of Nazi thinking?

Ans. The peculiar features of Nazi thinking were as follows:

Racial hierarchy in all spheres of society.

The German Aryans were at the top and the Jews were kept at the bottom of the racial ladder in Germany.

Belief that the strong should rule the poor and not deal with the poor.

Territorial expansion for enhancing the power and influence of the country.

4. Explain why Nazi propaganda was effective in creating hatred for Jews.

Ans. The Nazi propaganda was highly effective in creating hatred for the Jews due to the following reasons:

Media and Newspapers were regulated by the Nazis. They portrayed the class system in German society where Jews were to be the lowest.

The Nazis revived the traditional hatred of Chapterristians against Jews due to which after the hatred was intensified.

The sChapterool curriculum was also made hostile to the Jews and even the children in sChapterools used to study hatred against them. The Jewish students and teachers were thrown out of the schools.

Such kinds of propaganda made the Germans believe that the Jews were inferior to them.

5. Explain what role women had in Nazi society. Return to Chapter 1 on the French Revolution. Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the role of women in the two periods.

Ans. The Nazi society was highly patriarchal and the women were only seen as beings to give birth to the next generation of the Aryans. They were to perform the household chores and remain good wives. No women were allowed in the military or industries in Nazi Germany. However, in French society, women not only protested and fought for their rights but also were granted equality at work and in rights.

6. In what ways did the Nazi state seek to establish total control over its people?

Ans. The Nazi state established total control over its people by various means:

Using propaganda, they glorified their behaviour in the state.

Media was used to hide the negatives of the Nazi Party.

The Nazi party used the psychological effects to rule the people, and they were shown only good things about them.

Every citizen was monitored closely and hostilities were checked at the emergence level.

The punishment was brutal due to which the people feared to raise their voices against the Nazi Party.

Topics Covered in Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

Benefits of NCERT Solutions for Social Science Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

The NCERT Solutions for Class 9th History Chapter 3 provides detailed explanations of all concepts covered in the Chapter, helping students gain a thorough understanding of the historical context of Hitler's regime.

Our simplified answers provide easy understanding and a solid foundation which helps in easy preparation for exams. 

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Chapter 3 Nazism and the rise of Hitler are prepared by a team of experts who make learning easy.

Nazism and the rise of Hitler Class 9 questions and answers come with important points, definitions, and explanations that can be used for quick revision before exams.

Complex historical events and ideologies are broken down into simpler terms, making it easier for students to grasp Challenging concepts.

This NCERT Solution Class 9 Social Science Chapter 3 has all the answers given by the subject experts. By preparing for the exam using this study material, students can face the exam with ease.

Along with NCERT Solutions Class 9 History Chapter 3, students can download and refer to Class 9 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler Revision Notes for effective preparation.

The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler, provide a thorough and insightful understanding of one of the most significant and devastating periods in modern history. By exploring the socio-economic and political conditions that led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, students gain a comprehensive view of the factors that contributed to the establishment of a totalitarian regime in Germany. Students can rely on Vedantu's NCERT Solutions to enhance their knowledge, clarify doubts, and confidently prepare for exams.

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FAQs on NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

1. Discuss why the Nazis became popular in Germany?

The most obvious reason was a Great depression. The Weimar Republic helped a little to treat the country’s economic fall. Hitler was presented as a savior for the German people living in economic and political crisis.

The powerful speech of Hitler in which he had sought to build a great nation, restore the dignity of the German people, and to provide employment to all the people in the society.

The Nazis' way of presentation was unique. There were red banners with the swastika. Nazi used to salute and the round applause attracted the people and Nazis became popular.

2. In what ways did the Nazi state seek to establish control over the people?

Nazi used various methods to establish control over the people they are listed below, 

They used different methods to become popular like making posters and films to praise their behavior. 

They worked on people’s minds emotionally.

The security forces used to control and order the society in ways that the Nazis wanted.

They used the media for support and to become popular among the people.

The police forces had the power to rule with impurity. Genocide created an atmosphere of fear and depression which helped them to establish control over the people.

3. Who was Hitler, according to Chapter 3 of Class 9 Social Science India And the Contemporary World?

Adolf Hitler was a dictator. Hitler became popular because he was intellectually strong during his youth. The most important thing that made Hitler became popular was his deep understanding and mass propaganda. He also emphasized the right of the strong to rule the weak.

4. What do you mean by Nazism, according to Chapter 3 of Class 9 Social Science India And the Contemporary World?

Nazism is defined as the beliefs associated with the Nazi Party of Germany. It was started by Adolf Hitler in 1920. The party became popular in 1933 and his rule lasted till the end of World War II. Adolf Hitler became popular because Germany lost many territories due to which it had to pay a high amount of reparations. Hitler opposed and was sent to report on German Worker’s Party which was later named as Nazi Party.

5. Where can I get the NCERT Solutions for Chapter 3 of Class 9 Social Science India and the Contemporary World?

Students can find the NCERT Solutions for Chapter 3 of Class 9 Social Science India and the Contemporary World on the internet. Vedantu is a learning website where students can easily find NCERT Solutions. The NCERT Solutions are available in easy and simple language. Students can visit the page NCERT Solutions for Chapter 3 of Class 9 Social Science India and the Contemporary World to download the PDF file for this Chapter. NCERT Solutions for Chapter 3 of Class 9 Social Science India and the Contemporary World can help students to understand the chapter and prepare for their exams.

6. Are the NCERT Solutions for Chapter 3 of Class 9 Social Science India And the Contemporary World available for free?

It is very simple and easy for the students to download the NCERT Solutions for Chapter 3 of Class 9 Social Science India and the Contemporary World on the  Vedantu  website and the Vedantu app for free of cost. The NCERT Solutions provided by Vedantu are created by subject matter experts and align with the CBSE guidelines making it reliable and accurate. You can easily download the PDF and you can use the PDF file anytime even if you are offline for your exam preparation. All NCERT Solutions are given in a very simple and easy language.

7. What were the main features of the foreign policy of Hitler, according to Chapter 3 of Class 9 Social Science India And the Contemporary World?

The main features of the foreign policy of Hitler are:

Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany and established a dictatorship on 30th January 1933. He followed the policy of aggression and war towards other countries. He pulled out of the League of Nations in 1993, reoccupied Rhineland in 1936, and integrated Austria and Germany in 1938. He used the slogan “One People, One Empire, One Leader.

8. What is the main focus of nazism and the rise of Hitler Class 9 questions and answers?

This Chapter nazism and the Rise of Hitler class 9 Questions and Answers focuses on the socio-economic and political conditions in Germany post-World War I, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, the ideologies of Nazism, and the impact of Nazi policies on Germany and the world, including the Holocaust.

9. How does the History Class 9 Chapter 3 question answer help in understanding this Chapter?

The History Class 9 Chapter 3 question answer provides detailed explanations, breaking down complex concepts and historical events into simpler terms. Class 9 History Chapter 3 questions and answers PDF offers accurate and reliable answers, critical analysis, and in-depth insights into the Chapter's themes, helping students grasp the content more effectively.

10. What are the key topics covered in Chapter 3 History Class 9?

Key topics in Chapter 3 history class 9 include the Weimar Republic, the rise of the Nazi Party, Hitler's consolidation of power, Nazi ideology, policies and their impacts, the Holocaust, and the consequences of World War II.

11. How do the NCERT Solutions for nazism and the rise of Hitler question answer enhance exam preparation?

Nazism and the rise of Hitler question answer for class 9 questions and answers provide model answers to textbook questions, covering a wide range of question types that may appear in exams. This helps students practise and prepare effectively, boosting their confidence and performance.

12. Why is it important to study the rise of nazism and the rise of Hitler class 9 PDF?

Studying this period helps us understand the dangers of totalitarian regimes, the impact of propaganda, and the catastrophic consequences of extremist ideologies. Nazism and the rise of Hitler class 9 PDF also highlights the importance of remembering history to prevent similar atrocities in the future.

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Adolf Hitler summary

Know about adolf hitler and his rise to power.

Adolf Hitler , (born April 20, 1889, Braunau am Inn, Austria—died April 30, 1945, Berlin, Ger.), Dictator of Nazi Germany (1933–45). As a soldier in the German army in World War I, he was wounded and gassed. In 1920 he became head of propaganda for the renamed National Socialists ( Nazi Party ) and in 1921 party leader. He set out to create a mass movement, using unrelenting propaganda. The party’s rapid growth climaxed in the Beer Hall Putsch (1923), for which he served nine months in prison; there he started to write his virulent autobiography, Mein Kampf . Believing that “races” were unequal and that this was part of the natural order, he exalted the “Aryan race” while propounding anti-Semitism, anticommunism, and extreme German nationalism. The economic slump of 1929 facilitated Hitler’s rise to power. In the Reichstag elections of 1930 the Nazis became the country’s second largest party and in 1932 the largest. Hitler ran for president in 1932 and lost but entered into intrigues to gain power, and in 1933 Paul von Hindenburg invited him to be chancellor. Adopting the title of Führer (“Leader”), Hitler gained dictatorial powers through the Enabling Act and suppressed opposition with assistance from Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels . Hitler also began to enact anti-Jewish measures, which culminated in the Holocaust . His aggressive foreign policy led to the signing of the Munich Agreement with France, Britain, and Italy, which permitted German annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. He became allied with Benito Mussolini in the Rome-Berlin Axis. The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (1939) enabled him to invade Poland, precipitating World War II . As defeat grew imminent in 1945, he married Eva Braun in an underground bunker in Berlin, and the next day they committed suicide.

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Nazism and the Rise of Hitler| NCERT Notes Class 9 History

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.

Related Links

• NCERT Solutions Class 9 History for Chapter 3: Nazism and the Rise of Hitler
• CBSE Class 9 History Notes Chapter 2: Socialism in Euope and the Russian Revolution
• NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Social Science Chapter 4 : Forest Society and Colonialism
• CBSE Class 9 Social Science Revision Notes

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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NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 3 Nazims and The Rise of Hitler

Question-1 Describe the problems faced by the Weimar Republic. Solution: The problems faced by the Weimar Republic were as follows:

• One was proportional representation which made it difficult for any party to get a majority leading to coalition governments.
• Article 48, which gave the President the power to rule by decree, suspend civil rights and to impose an emergency. People lost confidence in a democratic parliamentary system.
• The Weimar Republic was not received well by the people because of the terms it was forced to accept at Versailles at the end of the First World War. It was a harsh and humiliating treaty that Germany had to accept with the Allies. Many people held the Weimar Republic responsible for the defeat in the war and for accepting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles,
• In 1923 Germany refused to pay reparation payments and the French occupied its leading industrial area, the Ruhr, to claim their coal. Germany offered passive resistance and printed paper currency. With too much paper currency in circulation, the value of the German mark fell. The situation is called hyperinflation.
• The Weimar Republic had to face another economic crisis. The USA Withdrew her support when Wall Street Exchange crashed in 1929. German economy was the worst hit by the economic crisis. Workers lost their jobs or were paid reduced wages. The number of unemployed reached 6 million. The economic crisis created a feeling of fear among the people.

Question-2 Discuss why Nazism became popular in Germany by 1930. Solution: In 1919 Adolph Hitler took over the German Workers’ Party and called it the Nazi Party, giving birth to Nazism in Germany. During the Great Economic Depression Nazism became very popular. The Nazi Propaganda which was very unique helped in making Nazism very popular. In his powerful speeches, Hitler promised to build a strong nation, restore the dignity of the Germans and provide employment for all. Numerous public meetings were held by the Nazi Party to instil unity among the people.

The red banners, the Nazi salute, and the rounds of applause attracted the people and Nazism became very popular. The Meetings projected Hitler as a saviour of Germany. The German people who were shattered after the First World War believed him.

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Question-3 What are the peculiar features of Nazi thinking? Solution: The peculiar features of Nazi thinking are as follows.

• Nazi ideology was the same as Hitler’s worldview. According to this there was no equality between people but only a racial hierarchy. In this view blond, blue-eyed Nordic German Aryans were at the top called ‘desirables’ while Jews (undesirables) were placed at the lowest rung. Hitler’s racism was influenced by thinkers like Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer. The Nazi argument was simple: ‘The strongest race would survive, the weak ones would perish’.
• Hitler believed in Lebensraum or living space. New territories had to be conquered to increase the living space.
• Nazis wanted a society of pure and healthy Nordic Aryans. It meant that even those Germans who were seen as impure or abnormal had no right to live. Under the Euthanasia Programme, the Nazi condemned to death many Germans, who were mentally or physically unfit.
• As soon as Hitler came to power he tried to eliminate the undesirables and the gypsy. The Nazis proceeded to realise their murderous racial ideals.
• Jews remained the worst sufferers in Nazi Germany. They were called ‘undesirables’. Hitler’s hatred for Jews was based on pseudoscientific theories of race, which held conversion was no solution. They should be completely eliminated.

Question-4 Explain why Nazi propaganda was effective in creating a hatred for Jews. Solution: Films were made to create hatred for the Jews. The film, ‘The Eternal Jew’, showed the Jews with flowing beards and dressed in kaftans. The Jews were referred to as vermin, rats, and pests. Nazi propaganda compared the Jews to rodents.

Orthodox Jews were stereotyped as killers of Christ and money lenders. Stereotypes about Jews were even popularised through maths classes. Children were taught to hate the Jews. The Nazi propaganda against the Jews was so effective that people felt anger and hatred surge inside them when they saw someone who looked like a Jew.

Question-5 Explain what role women had in Nazi society. Return to Chapter 1 on the French Revolution. Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the role of women in the two periods. Solution: In Nazi Germany, boys were told to be aggressive and steel-hearted, girls were told that they had to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children. Girls had to protect the purity of German race. They had to look after their homes and Nazi values had to be taught to the children.

Women who produced ‘desirable children’ were awarded. They got better treatment in hospitals, and got concessions in shops, on theatre tickets and railway fares. Honour crosses were awarded to women. A bronze cross was awarded to women for four children, silver cross for six children and gold for eight or more children.

Question-6 In what ways did the Nazi state seek to establish total control over its people? Solution: The Nazi state tried to establish total control over its people. Special forces were created to control the society, in the way Nazis wanted. Apart from SA or the Storm Troopers, and regular police, who wore a green uniform, these included the Gestapo (secret state police) and SS (the protection squads), criminal police, and the Security Service (SD). They were given extra-constitutional powers, that gave the Nazi state its reputation as the most dreaded criminal state. People were tortured in Gestapo chambers and sent to concentration camps. People were arrested without any legal procedures.

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NCERT Solutions For Class 9 History Social Science Chapter 3: Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

Ncert book solutions for class 9 history chapter 3 – cbse term ii free pdf download.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 3 help students understand the historical events given in the chapter in an easy way. In September 1919, Hitler rose to power in Germany when he joined the political party, then known as the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei – DAP (German Workers’ Party). In 1920, the name was changed to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei – NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers’ Party, commonly known as the Nazi Party). One of the best ways to understand the topics of History is by solving the NCERT Solutions of Class 9 History Chapter 3. The solutions provided here will help you to understand the significance of the topics. With our solutions, you will be able to grasp the connections between various events in History.

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NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 3 – Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

The solutions for Chapter 3, Nazism and the Rise of Hitler are given below. Students should also check NCERT Solutions for Class 9 for other subjects.

1. Describe the problems faced by the Weimar Republic.

The defeat of Imperial Germany at the hands of the Allied powers in World War I led to the abdication of the emperor Wilhelm II. This gave an opportunity to parliamentary parties to recast the German polity.

Thus, a National Assembly met at the town of Weimar to form a republic with a democratic constitution and a federal structure. But this newborn republic was not well received by its own people for the following reasons:

(I) The Allied powers imposed a harsh and humiliating treaty at Versailles, which squarely placed the blame of starting World War I on Germany’s soldiers. It was the Weimar Republic that signed the treaty much to the displeasure of the German populace.

(II) Germany lost all of its overseas colonies and a tenth of its population, along with 75% of its iron and 26% of its coal to France, Poland, Denmark and Lithuania.

(III) The War Guilt Clause held Germany responsible for the war and the subsequent damage it caused in the Allied nations. They were forced to pay compensation of £6 billion in total. Due to the loss of most of its revenue-generating colonies, Germany was unable to repay the amount.

(IV) Due to the failure to pay compensation, the Allied Armies occupied the resource-rich Rhineland for a time. The Weimar Republic reacted to this by printing paper currency in large numbers to pay off the huge debt. This led to hyperinflation and the eventual collapse of the economy.

(V) Coupled with the humiliation of a foreign power occupying German territory and economic collapse, the German public held the new Weimar Republic responsible for the defeat in World War I and accepting the disgrace at Versailles.

2. Discuss why Nazism became popular in Germany by 1930.

The end of World War I had changed the political landscape of Germany. Right from the beginning, the infant Weimar Republic was beset by problems.

(I) The harsh Versailles Treaty was a serious blow to the national prestige of the Germans and to the economy.

(II) The economic situation was worsened by the Great Depression of 1929, which had severely affected the already fragile German economy. The inability of the Weimar Republic to remedy the situation only further inflamed public sentiments.

(III) The political scenario was not any better as the various political factions, such as the communists and socialists fought with each other that stalled any policy that would uplift the plight of the German people.

(IV) It was in this background that Hitler would organise the fledgling National Socialist German Worker’s party, otherwise known as the Nazi party into a mass movement.

(V) By implementing Nazi ideals, Hitler promised to undo the injustice of the Versailles treaty and restore the dignity of the German people, promising economic security and to build a strong German nation free from all foreign influences and ‘conspiracies’.

(VI) He found strong support among the German middle class, who were threatened with destitution due to economic collapse that had shut down banks, businesses and factories.

(VII) Nazi propaganda, along with Hitler’s powerful oratory skills, successfully portrayed Hitler as a saviour and Nazism as the means to deliver the German people from the distress of living in a time of acute economic and political crisis.

3. What are the peculiar features of Nazi thinking?

The Nazi thinking was synonymous with Hitler’s world view. The features of such thinking are as follows:

(I) There was no equality among the human race, only a racial hierarchy – with the blonde, blue-eyed, Nordic German Aryans being at the top and the Jews being placed at the bottom level. All the other coloured people were placed somewhere in between, depending on their external features.

(II) The other aspect of Nazi ideology was the concept of Lebensraum or living space. It was believed that new territories had to be acquired at the expense of the local population in order to enhance material resources and the power of the German nation.

(III) They believed in the survival of the fittest, which was a twisted version of Charles Darwin theory about natural selection. In their version, they believed that the strongest race would survive, while the weak would perish.

(IV) Nazi thinking put much emphasis on ‘racial purity’. This meant that anyone born with physical and mental disabilities was considered ‘undesirable’ and impure. Allowing their existence would only pollute the German race and hence they had no right to exist. Along with Jews, Gypsies, Slavic and blacks were all considered subhuman and executed in large numbers under the shadow of World War II.

(V) Nazis believed in war and aggression. Any notion of peace or related ideologies were considered weak by their standards. They believed that world domination through war justified in proving the superiority of the German race.

4. Explain why Nazi propaganda was effective in creating a hatred for Jews.

The Nazis were quite effective in using propaganda to great effect. They made propaganda films to fan hatred for Jews with the most infamous being The Eternal Jew . Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and marked. They were shown with flowing beards, wearing kaftans and were referred to as rats and vermin who fed off good Germans.

Jews were also blamed for Germany’s defeat in World War I, despite the fact that a large number of them served with distinction in the conflict. The propaganda by the Nazis effectively worked on the minds of the people, making use of the centuries of anti-Semitic feelings and tapping their emotions. This turned their hatred and anger at those who were blamed for all of Germany’s past and present ills. And the Nazis would be the remedy for these ‘ills’

5. Explain the role of women in Nazi society. Return to Chapter 1 on the French Revolution. Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the role of women in the two periods.

Women in Nazi society were relegated to housewives who were charged with upholding the honour of the German race by limiting contacts with ‘undesirables’ and raising as many pure-blooded children as possible. Those who conformed to this role were given favoured treatment in hospitals, concessions in shops, theatre tickets and railway fares. Despite Hitler’s statement on ‘women being the most important citizen’, it did not apply to every woman. Especially those who deviated from Nazi ideology. Those that did, risked public humiliation, loss of civic honour, loss of family, jail sentence and even death.

This was in total contrast to the role of women in the French Revolution, where women led movements and fought for the right to education and the right to equal wages as men. They could not be forced to marry against their will. They could also train for jobs, become artists or run small businesses. Schooling was made compulsory for them, and they could even hold property.

6. In what ways did the Nazi state seek to establish total control over its people?

President of the Weimar Republic Paul Von Hindenburg made Hitler the chancellor of Germany. Shortly after, a mysterious fire broke out in the Reichstag, the parliament building of Germany. Blaming the act of arson on communists and other ‘enemy of the state, Hitler passed the First Fire decree in 1933 which suspended the civic rights like freedom of speech, press and freedom of assembly. Thus, Hitler effectively started controlling the German population. Other measures he undertook to systematically dismantle democracy in Germany were the following:

(I) ‘The Enabling Act’ was passed, which gave all powers to Hitler to sideline the parliament and rule by decree.

(ll) All political parties, with the exception of the Nazi Party, were banned. The members of these banned parties were either imprisoned, exiled or assassinated.

(III) The communists were eradicated, with the remaining members being sent to concentration camps.

(IV) Special security forces such as the SA, SS, SD and Gestapo were created to control and order society in ways that the Nazis wanted. These organisations were given extra-judicial powers.

(V) In schools, children were taught to be loyal and submissive. They were also taught to hate Jews and worship Hitler, thus cultivating a personality cult in the process.

(VI) Nazi youth organizations, the like ‘Jungvolk’ and ‘Hitler Youth’ were created, where the youth were taught to hate democracy, communism, Jews and other ‘undesirables’.

Nazism and the Rise of Hitler Summary

The NCERT Class 9 India and the Contemporary World – II Chapter 3 talks about the following topics:

1. Birth of the Weimar Republic

• The Effects of the War
• Political Radicalism and Economic Crises
• The Years of Depression

2. Hitler’s Rise to Power

• The Destruction of Democracy
• Reconstruction

3. The Nazi Worldview

• Establishment of the Racial State
• The Racial Utopia

4. Youth in Nazi Germany

• The Nazi Cult of Motherhood
• The Art of Propaganda

5. Ordinary People and the Crimes Against Humanity

• Knowledge about the Holocaust

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Hitler's Rise to Power - Concepts - Chapter 3 Class 9 History - Nazism and the Rise of Hitler - History

Last updated at April 16, 2024 by Teachoo

Hitler’s Rise to Power

• Economic, polity, and social crises contribute to Hitler’s rise in power .
• When the First World War broke out, he enrolled for the army, acted as a messenger in the front, became a corporal, and earned medals for bravery .
• The Germans defeat him and the Versailles Treaty made him furious.
• Hitler  joined the German Workers’ Party in 1919.
• He took over this organization and renamed it to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. 
• Later on this party came to be known as the Nazi Party. 
• Hitler intended to seize control of Bavaria and march to Berlin in 1923 and seize power but he failed, was arrested, tried for treason, and later on released.
• During the Great Depression (1929) Nazism become a mass movement .
• As the banks collapsed and businesses shut down, unemployment rise so, in such a situation Nazi propaganda stirred hopes of a better future.
• In 1928 , the Nazi Part y got no more than 2. 6 per cent votes in the Reichstag – the German parliament. 
• By 1932, it had become the largest party with 37 per cent votes .
• Hiter was an influential and powerful speaker .
• He promised to build a strong nation   and restore the dignity of the German people .
•  Nazis organized a massive ralllies and public meetings to show the support for Hitler and develop the sense of unity among the people. 
• The red banners with the Swastika , the Nazi salute, and the ritualized rounds of applause following the speeches were all part of this powerful show.
• Nazi propaganda successfully show Hitler as a messiah, a savior in the minds of the people who were living in acute political, social and economic crises. 

The Destruction of Democracy

• On 30 January 1933, President Hindenburg offered the position of Chancellorship (the highest position in the cabinet of ministers) to Hitler.
• The Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 indefinitely suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly that had been guaranteed by the Weimar constitution. 
• After this incident he turned on his archenemies, the Communists , were hurriedly packed off to the newly established concentration camps. 
• The repression of the Communists was severe.
• Enabling Act was passed on 3 March 1933.
• As a result of this act , dictatorship was established in Germany.
•  It gave Hitler complete authority to ignore Parliament and rule by decree.
• Except for the Nazi Party and its affiliates, all political parties and trade unions were banned .
• The government took complete control of the economy, media, army, and judiciary .
• Special surveillance and security forces were established to control and order society.
• Aside from the regular police in green uniform and the SA or Storm Troopers, they also included the Gestapo (secret state police), the SS (protection squads), criminal police, and the Security Service (SD).
• The extra-constitutional powers of these newly organized forces were responsible for the Nazi state's reputation as the most dreaded criminal state.
• People could now be detained in Gestapo torture chambers, rounded up and deported at will, or arrested without any legal procedure.  

Reconstruction

• Hjalmar Schacht , an economist, took over responsibility for economic recovery in German. 
• He focused on full production and full employment through a state-funded work-creation program.
• Under this program, they produced the famous German superhighway s and the
• people’s car, the Volkswagen.
•  In 1933, he withdrew from the League of Nations and reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936,
• He united Austria and Germany in 1938 under the slogan "One people, One empire, and One leader.
• He acquired German-speaking Sudentenland from Czechoslovakia .
• To overcome the economic crisis, Hitler chose a war.

Hitler's role in World War II

• Germany invaded Poland i n September 1939 . 
• This triggered a war between France and England .
• In September 1940 , Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact that strengthen Hitler's claim to international power
• Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 1941 .
• Hitler made the historic mistake of exposing the German western front to British aerial bombing and the eastern fron t to the powerful Soviet armies .
• At Stalingrad, the Soviet Red Army crushed and humiliated the German army .
• When Japan supported Hitler and bombed the US base at Pearl Harbor , the United States entered the Second World War.
• The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan .
• Hitler's defeat marked the end of the war in May 1945 .

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Extra Questions for Class 9 History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler extra questions and answers available here in PDF format. Solving class 9 extra questions help students to revise the Chapter most competently. We prepared these questions with PDF as per the latest NCERT book and CBSE syllabus. Practising these questions before the exam will ensure excellent marks in the exam.

Class 9 History Chapter 3 extra Questions and Answers

Very short answer questions.

1. Name the original name of the Nazi party.

Answer: The original name of the Nazi party was the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party, which was later renamed as the Nazi party. 

2. What was the work entrusted to the International War Tribunal set up in Nuremberg after the war?

Answer:   It was set up to prosecute Nazi war criminals for crimes against peace, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

3. Who were considered as the ‘desirables’ under Nazi rule?

Answer:  Nordic German Aryans were considered as the ‘desirables’ under Nazi rule. 

4. Who were mockingly called ‘November criminals’?

Answer:  Those who supported the Weimar Republic, mainly Socialists, Catholics and Democrats, became easy targets of attack in conservative nationalist circles. They were mockingly called the ‘November criminals’. 

5. What was the name given to separately marked areas where the Jews lived?

Answer: The separately marked areas where the Jews lived were called ghettos. 

6. Which sport did Hitler promote?

Answer: Hitler promoted boxing because he believed that it would make children iron-hearted, strong and masculine. 

7. What was the name given to the German Parliament?

Answer:  The German Parliament was called the Reichstag. 

8. Which treaty was signed by Germany after its defeat in the First World War?

Answer: The Treaty of Versailles was signed by Germany on 28th June, 1919 after its defeat in the First World War. 

9. When did Germany attack the Soviet Union?

Answer: Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June, 1941, as Hitler, wanted to ensure food supplies and living space for Germans. 

10. Who was the propaganda Minister of Hitler?

Answer:  Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. 

11. Which move of Hitler is said to be a historical blunder?

Answer: Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in June, 1941. In this, historic blunder. Hitler exposed the German Western front to British aerial bombing and the Eastern front to the powerful Soviet armies. 

12. Who was assigned the responsibility of economic recovery by Hitler?

Answer:  Hjalmar Schacht was assigned the responsibility of economic recovery of Germany by Hitler. 

13. When was Hitler offered Chancellorship of Germany and by whom?

Answer: On 30th January, 1933, President Hindenburg offered the Chancellorship, the highest position in the cabinet of ministers, to Hitler. 

14. Which country became a laboratory for the experiment of the concept of Lebensraum?

Answer: Poland became the laboratory for this experimentation of the concept of Lebensraum. 

15. What terms were used for ‘killing’ by the Nazis?

Answer: Various terms like Euthanasia programme (killing of mentally or physically unfit Germans), ‘Final Solution’ (killing of Jews), ‘Special Treatment’ (mass killings), and similar other terms were used for killing ‘undesirables’ by the Nazis. 

16. Which event was termed the ‘Holocaust’?

Answer:  The Nazi killing operations against the Jews were referred to as the ‘Holocaust’ by the Jews, as they wanted the world to remember the atrocities and sufferings, they had endured during the Nazi killing operations. 

17. What was the name of Hitler’s autobiography, written before he assumed the Chancellorship of Germany?

Answer: Hitler’s autobiography was named ‘Mein Kampf, meaning ‘My Struggle’. 

18. What did the term ‘Evacuation’ mean in Hitler’s Germany?

Answer:   It meant deporting people to gas chambers for mass killings. 

19. What was the slogan coined by Hitler when he followed his aggressive foreign policy?

Answer: The slogan was ‘One people, one empire and one leader’.

20. The US army dropped the atomic bomb in 1945 on which cities?

Answer: The US army dropped the atomic bomb in 1945 on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on 6th August, 1945, followed by another one over Nagasaki on 9th August, 1945. 

21. What factors enabled the recast of Germany’s political system after the First World War?

Answer: The factors which enabled the recast of German policy after the First World War were the defeat which Imperial Germany suffered in the First World War and the abdication of the German emperor.

22. Who according to Hitler topped the racial hierarchy? Who formed the lowest rung of the hierarchy?

Answer:  The Nordic German Aryans were at the top, while the Jews were located at the lowest rung of the racial hierarchy. 

23. Who were the signatories of the 1940 Tripartite Pact?

Answer: Germany, Italy and Japan were the signatories of the 1940 Tripartite Pact. 

24.The Nazi party was renamed after which organisations?

Answer: The Nazi party was renamed after the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

25. Why did Nazis hold massive rallies and public meetings in Germany ?

Answer: Nazis held massive rallies and public meetings in Germany to demonstrate the support for Hitler and instil a sense of unity among the people. 

26. When did German President Hindenburg offer the Chancellorship to Hitler?

Answer: On 30th January, 1933 President Hindenburg offered the Chancellorship to Hitler.

27. What was the significance of the Enabling Act?

Answer: The Enabling Act enabled Hitler to sideline Parliament and rule by decree.

28. What does the term ‘Genocidal War’ refer to?

Answer:  The term ‘Genocidal War’ refers to the mass murder of selected groups of innocent civilians in Europe by Germany during the Second World War. 

29. When did the US enter the Second World War?

Answer: When Japan extended its support to Hitler and bombed the US base at Pearl Harbour on 7th December, 1941, the US entered the Second World War. 

30. Hitler’s views on racialism were based on which thinkers?

Answer:  Hitler’s views on racialism were based on views of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer. 

31. What was the Nazi argument for their imperialist ambitions ?

Answer: The Nazi argument for their imperialist ambitions was that the strongest race would survive and the weak perish. To retain purity of the Aryan race, they had to dominate the world. 

32.Name some countries which became victims of Hitler’s aggressive policy.

Answer: Some countries which became victims of Hitler’s aggressive policy were Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Holland, Belgium, France, countries of North Africa and Russia. 

33. How were the deputies of Reichstag appointed?

Answer:  The deputies of the Reichstag were elected on the basis of universal adult franchise including women.

34. When was the Youth League of Nazis founded?

Answer: The Youth League of the Nazis was founded in 1922. 

35. What was The Eternal Jew’?

Answer:  It was the most infamous film which was made to create hatred for Jews. 

36. Who was regarded as the most important citizen according to Hitler?

Answer: The mothers were regarded as most important citizens according to Hitler. 

37. Who is the author of the book Third Reich of Dreams’?

Answer: Charlotte Beradt is the author of this book. 

38. For what was Auschwitz notorious during the Nazi period ?

Answer:  Auschwitz was notorious for gas chambers used for mass human killing.

39. When did the Second World War end in Europe?

Answer:  The Second World War ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat. 

40. Who was Hitler’s propoganda Minister?

Answer:  Goebbels. 

41. How Hitler’s end came?

Answer: Hitler/his Propoganda Minister Goebbels and his entire family committed suicide collectively in his Berlin bunker in April. 

42. What was Nazism?

Answer:  It was a system introduced by Hitler, which had a structure of ideas about the world and politics.

43. Which tribunal was set up after world war II to punish the Nazis for their crime against humanity?

Answer: An International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was set up to prosecute Nazi was criminals for Crimes Against Peace &: Crimes Against Humanity and for War Crimes. 

44. What was ‘Genocidal war’?

Answer:  It was a war which resulted in the mass murder of selected groups of innocent civilians of Europe.

45. How was Germany defeated in World War I?

Answer:  Germany made initial gains by occupying France and Belgium. However the allies (England, France and Russia) strengthened by US entry in 1917, won, defeating Germany in November 1918. 

46. How Germany adopted democratic Constitution?

Answer: After Germany’s defeat in World War I and the abdication of the emperor, a National Assembly met at Weimer and established a democratic constitution with a federal structure. 

47. What was Reichstag?

Answer:  It was the German Parliament formed on the basis of equal and universal votes cast by all adults including women. 

48. Name the peace treaty signed after World War I.

Answer:  It was called ‘Treaty of Versailles’. 

49. How was Weimer Republic made to pay for the sins of old empire?

Answer: The Weimer Republic carried the burden of war guilt (World War I) and National humiliation and was financially crippled by being forced to pay war compensation. 

50. Who were called ‘November Criminals’?

Answer: Those who supported the Weimer Republic mainly Socialists, Catholics and Democrats were mockingly called the ‘November Criminals’. 

51. Who were Free Corps?

Answer:  There was an uprising in Berlin, demanding Soviet style government in Germany. Weimer Republic crushed this uprising with the help of a war veterans, organisation called Free Crops. 

52. What happened when Germany refused to pay war reparation to France?

Answer:  In 1923 Germany refused to pay, the French occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr, to claim their coal. 

53. Why the value of German currency ‘mark’ fell?

Answer: When French occupied Ruhr area, Germany retaliated with passive resistance and printed paper currency recklessly. With too much printed money in circulation, the value of the German mark fell. 

54. What does ‘Hyperinflation’ mean?

Answer:  It’s a situation when prices rise phenomenally high.

55. How Germany came out of this financial crisis?

Answer: The Americans bailed Germany out of the crisis by introducing ‘Dawes Plan’, which reworked the terms of reparation to ease the financial burden on Germany 

56. What was the condition of unemployed youth in Germany during economic crisis?

Answer:  Unemployed youths played cards or simply sat at street corners, or desperately queued up at the local employment exchange. 

57. What does ‘Proletarianisation’ mean?

Answer: It is a fear or anxiety of being reduced to the ranks of the working class, or worse still, the unemployed. 

58. What was ‘Article 48’ of Weimer Republic?

Answer: It gave the President the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree. 

59. Who was Hitler?

Answer:   Hitler was born in 1889 in Austria, spent his youth in poverty. When the World War I broke out, he enrolled for army, acted as a messenger in the front, became a corporal and earned medals for bravery. 

60. How ‘Nazi Party’ was formed?

Answer:  Hitler joined a small group called German Workers Party. He subsequently took over the organisation and renamed it National Socialist German Workers Party. This party came to be known as ‘Nazi Party’. 

61. Under which situation Nazi Propoganda was appreciated?

Answer:  After 1929, banks collapsed and businesses shut down, workers lost their jobs and the middle classes were threatened with destitution. In such a situation Nazi propaganda won people’s hearts. 

62. What promise was made by Hitler as a leader of Germany to the people.

Answer: He promised to build a strong nation, undo the injustices of the Treaty of Versailles and restore the dignity of the German people. 

63. How Nazis mobilised the masses?

Answer:   Nazis held massive rallies and public meetings, used the red banners with the Swastika, the Nazi Salute and the ritualised rounds of applause after the speeches.

64. How Nazis projected Hitler?

Answer: Nazi propoganda skilfully projected Hitler as a messiah, a saviour, as someone who had arrived to relieve people from their distress. 

65. When and by whom Hitler was offered highest position in the Cabinet of ministers?

Answer:   On 30th January, 1933, President Hindenburg offered the Chancellorship, the highest position in the cabinet of ministers to Hitler. 

66. How Hitler started dismantling democratic rule in Germany?

Answer:    A mysterious fire that broke out in the German Parliament building in February facilitated the move of Hitler. 

67. What does ‘The fire Decree’?

Answer:   Fire Decree of 28th February 1933 indefinitely suspened civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly that had been guaranteed by the Weimer Constitution. 

68. What was ‘Concentration Camp’?

Answer:  It was a camp where people were isolated and detained without due process of law. Typically, it was surrounded by electrified barbed wire fences. 

69. What was ‘Enabling Act’?

Answer: This Act established dictatorship in Germany. It gave Hitler all powers to sideline Parliament and rule by decree. All political parties and trade unions were banned except for the Nazi Party and its affiliates.

70. Which Security forces were created by Nazis to control order in society?

Answer: Besides Regular police in green uniform, there was Gestapo (Secret State Police) the SS (the protection squads). Criminal Police and Security Service. 

71. Which famous economist was appointed by Hitler for economic recovery of Germany?

Answer:  Economist Hjalmar Schacht was appointed, who aimed at full production and full employment through a state funded work-creation programme. 

72. How did Hitler follow the slogan of ‘One people, one empire and one leader’?

Answer: Hitler pulled his country out of the League of Nations in 1933, reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936, and integrated Austria and Germany in 1938 under the slogan ‘One people, one empire and one leader’.

73. What was the immediate cause of World War II?

Answer:   In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, this became the immediate cause of World War II.

74. Among which three countries ‘Tripartite Pact’ was signed?

Answer:  In September 1940, a tripartite pact was signed between Germany, Italy and Japan. 

75. When did US enter the World War II?

Answer: When Japan extended its support to Hitler and bombed the US base at Pearl Harbor, the US entered into World War II. 

76. When did Second World War end?

Answer:  The war ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat and the US dropping of the atom bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. 

77. What social hierarchy was formed by Hitler?

Answer:  In Hitler’s view, blond, blue eyed, Nordic German Aryans were at the top, while Jews were located at the lowest rung. 

78. Who was Darwin?

Answer: Darwin was a natural scientist who tried to explain the creation of plants and animals through the concept of evolution and natural selection. 

79. Who was Herbert Spencer?

Answer:  Herbert Spencer believed in the idea of survival of the fittest. According to this idea, only those species survived on earth that could adapt themselves to changing climatic conditions. 

80. What were Nazi views about Aryan Race?

Answer: According to Nazis, the strongest race world survive and the weak world perish. The Aryan race was the finest, it had to retain its purity, become stronger and dominate the world. 

81. Who were considered ‘undesirable’ by Hitler?

Answer: Jews, Gypsies and blacks living in Nazi Germany were considered as inferior races, who threatened the biological purity of ‘Superior Aryan’ race, and were called undesirable by Hitler. 

82. Why Jews were the worst sufferers in Nazi Germany?

Answer:  Nazis felt that Jews were killers of Christ and were also considered killers of US usurers (Moneylenders).

83. What was ‘Pseudoscientific theory of race’ followed by Hitler?

Answer:  It held that conversion was no solution to ‘the Jewish problem’. It could be solved only through their total elimination. They were often prosecuted through periodic organised violence and expulsion from the land. 

84. How were Polish children treated by Nazis?

Answer:  Polish children who looked like Aryans were forcibly snatched from their mothers and examined by race experts. If they passed the race tests they were raised in German families and if not, they were deposited in orphanage where most perished. 

85. How schools in Nazi Germany were ‘cleansed’ and ‘purified’?

Answer:  Teachers who were Jews or seen as ‘politically unreliable’ were dismissed. Children were segregated as Germans and Jews could not sit together or play.

86. What was ‘Jungvolk’?

Answer: These were Nazi youth groups for children below 14 years of age.

87. How honour crosses were awarded to women for producing children?

Answer: A bronze cross was given for four children, silver for six and gold for eight or more. These crosses were awarded to the women who produced desirable children. 

88. Which terms were used by Nazis for torturing ‘undesirable’?

Answer:  In their official communications, mass killings were termed Special treatment, final solution (for the Jews), euthanasia (for the disabled), selection and disinfections, etc. ‘Evacuation’ meant deporting people to gas chambers. 

89. What were the ‘gas chambers’ called?

Answer:  Gas chambers were called ‘disinfection areas’ and looked like bathrooms equipped with fake showerheads. 

90. Which was the most in famous film in which orthodox Jews were stereotyped and marked?

Answer:  The film was ‘The Eternal Jew’. 

91. How were ‘Jews’ referred in films?

Answer: Jews were refered as Vermin, rats and pests and their movements were compared to those of rodents. 

92. Who wrote the book ‘Third Reich of Dreams’?

Answer:  It was written by Charlotte Beradt. 

93. What was ‘Holocaust’?

Answer: The Jews wanted the world to remember the atrocities and sufferings they had endured during the Nazi killing operations which were called the Holocaust.

94. How do we come to know about Holocaust today? 

Answer: Memory of Holocaust is in memoirs, fiction, documentaries, poetry, memorials and museums in many parts of the world today.  

Short Answer Type Questions

1. What was written in this book?

Answer: Charlotte Beradt secretly recorded people’s dreams in her diary and later published them in this book. She described how Jews themselves began believing in the Nazi stereotypes about them. They dreamt of their hooked noses, black hair and eyes, Jewish looks and body movements. 

2. What was the name of the Nazi Youth organisation which consisted of all German boys of 14 to 18 years of age? 

Answer:   The Youth League of the Nazis was founded in 1922. Four years later it was renamed as Hitler Youth and consisted of all German boys of 14 to 18 years of age. To unify the youth movement under Nazi control, all other youth organizations were systematically dissolved and finally banned. 

3. Who was Hitler? How did. Hitler reconstruct Germany?

Answer: Adolf Hitler was the founder of the Nazi party, who became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933. He soon became the dictator of Germany. To reconstruct Germany, Hitler assigned the responsibility of economic recovery to the economist Hjalmar Schacht. In 1933, Hitler pulled out of the League of Nations, reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936 and integrated Austria and Germany in 1938 under the slogan, ‘One people, one empire, and one leader’. 

4. Examine any three inherent defects in the Weimar Constitution. Or Explain the inherent defects of the Weimar constitution that made republic unstable and vulnerable to dictatorship. Or State any three factors which made the Weimar Republic politically fragile.

Answer:   The Weimar Constitution had three inherent defects (i) It was based on proportional representation, which made achieving a majority by one party virtually impossible. Only coalition governments ruled. (ii) Existence of Article 48 in the constitution, which gave the President the power to impose emergency suspend civil rights and rule by decree. (iii) Due to 20 different coalition governments being formed, people lost confidence in the democratic Parliamentary system, as it offered no solutions to their problems. 

5. Nazis used chilling words as an art of propaganda. Justify.

Answer:  The Nazi regime used chilling words as an art of propaganda. They never used the words ‘kill’ or ‘murder’ in their official communications. The term ‘special treatment’, ‘final solution’ (for the Jews). ‘Euthanasia’ (for the disabled), ‘selection’ and ‘disinfection’ were used. Gas chambers looked like bathrooms and were labelled as ‘Disinfection Area’. Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slogans and leaflets. Media played an important role to popularise Nazi ideas. 

6. What was the impact of the Great Depression on the US?

Answer:  The Wall Street Exchange of USA crashed in 1929. As a result, values of shares dropped drastically and the national income of the USA fell by half. Hundreds of American banks, factories, mining companies and business firms went bankrupt. There was large scale unemployment, poverty and starvation in the country. The effects of this recession in the US economy were felt worldwide. It is known as the Great Depression of 1929. 

7. What were the main features of Hitler’s geopolitical concept of Lebensraum? Give three features.

Answer:  The main features of Hitler’s geopolitical concept of Lebensraum or living space were (i) He believed that new territories had to be acquired for settlement. (ii) The settlers in new lands would be able to maintain intimate links with the place of their origin. (iii) The new settlements would enhance the material resources and power of the German nations. By capturing Poland, Hitler put his new ideas into practice. 

8. Explain the impact of the First World War on European society and polity. Or State any three effects of the First World War over Europe. Or First World War left deep imprint on European society and polity. Support the statement with three examples.

Answer:  The First World War left a deep imprint on European society and polity. It had a devastating impact on the entire continent. (i) In society, soldiers were ranked higher than civilians. Trench life of the soldiers was glorified by the media. (ii) Politicians and publicists laid great stress on the need for men to be aggressive and masculine. (iii) Aggressive war propaganda and national honour occupied centre stage in the public sphere. (iv) People’s support grew for the recently established dictatorships. (v) Democracy as a young and fragile idea could not survive the instabilities of interwar Europe. 

9. What were the main features of Nazism?

Answer: The Nazis were against democracy and socialism. They. believed that there was no equality between people, but only a racial hierarchy. They stressed on the superiority of the Nordic Aryan Race. All other races were classified as ‘undesirable’. Jews, Gypsies and Blacks living in Nazi Germany were considered as undesirable and were largely persecuted. The Nazis glorified war and believed in the geopolitical concept of Lebensraum or living space meaning that they could acquire new territories through war. 

10. How was Nazi ideology taught to the youth in Germany?

Answer:  Hitler believed that a strong Nazi society could be established only by teaching children Nazi ideology. Youth organisation like ‘Jung volk’ tutored ten year old children. At the age of 14th, all boys had to join ‘Hitler Youth’ where they learnt to worship war, glorify aggression, condemn democracy and hate Jews, Communists, Gypsies and all ‘undesirables’. After a period of rigorous ideological and physical training, they joined the labour service, usually at the age of 18th. 

11. How would you have reacted to Hitler’s ideas if you were (i) A Jewish Woman (ii)A non-Jewish Woman

Answer:  (i) If I were a Jewish woman, I would have condemned Hitlers ideas. I would have pleaded for a safe shelter as I felt insecure in Germany. (ii) If I were a non-Jewish woman, I would try to mobilise support secretly and would have helped the victims of Nazi persecution. I did not support Hitler’s view about Jews being ‘undesirable’, because I had a number of Jewish friends. They were just like other human beings. They should not be called ‘undesirables’. 

12. What was the Enabling Act? Or When was the Enabling Act passed in Germany? How did this act establish dictatorship of Hitler in Germany?

Answer: On 3rd March, 1933, the famous Enabling Act was passed. This Act established dictatorship in Germany. It gave Hitler all powers to sideline Parliament and rule by decree. All political parties and trade unions were banned in Germany, except the Nazi party and its affiliates. The new state machinery under Hitler established complete control over the economy, media, army and judiciary. 

13. If you were a student sitting in one of these classes, how would you have felt towards Jews?

Answer:  If I had been a student sitting in one of these classes, I would have felt very bad, as I would be missing my friends, who used to play with me earlier. I would have felt sympathetic towards them and would have hated the government for this action. 

14. Have you ever thought of the stereotypes of other communities that people around you believe in? How have they acquired them?

Answer: I have thought about the stereotypes of other communities that we believe in. They are usually acquired from their ancestors and the traditions and customs of the community to which they belong. 

15. What do you think this poster is trying to depict?

Answer:  The poster is making fun of Jews, by depicting that they are only interested in making money, by whatever means at their disposal. It is trying to show that Jews are greedy. The fatness of the man depicted indicates that the poster maker felt that the greed of Jews is excessive.

16. Write a short note on the eleven-year-old Helmuth’s experiences of Germany.

Answer: Helmuth was in bed when he heard his parents discussing something seriously. His father was a doctor who was discussing with his wife that either they had to commit suicide or the Jews would kill them for revenge. Next day, the father spent some time with his son Helmuth and later, shot himself in his office. His uniform was silently burnt in the family’s fireplace. Helmuth was so traumatised by this incident that he refused to eat at home for the fear that his mother would poison him. This was the tragic end of his father, who was a Nazi supporter. 

17. What do you understand by the ‘Genocidal War’ in Germany?

Answer: It means the mass murder of selected groups of innocent civilians of Europe. Nazis killed the Jews, Gypsies and the Polish civilians. They killed people in poisoned gas chambers. Number of people killed included six million Jews, 2,00,000 Gypsies, one million Polish civilians, 70,000 Germans, who were considered mentally and physically disabled besides many political opponents.

18. What was ‘Political Radicalism’?

Answer:  It was an uprising by the Spartacist League against the Weimar Republic. This league demanded a Soviet style governance based on Bolsheviks’ ideals. The Weimer Republic crushed this uprising with the help of the war veterans organisation called the ‘Free Corps’. Spartacists later formed the Communist Party of Germany. Communists and socialists both wanted political radicalism against Hitler’s rule. 

19. Describe the events leading to the economic crisis in Germany.

Answer: Germany had fought World War I largely on loans and had to pay war reparations in gold. This depleted the gold reserves in the country. In 1923, Germany refused to pay and the French occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr to claim their coal. Germany retaliated and printed paper currency ruthlessly. With too much printed money in circulation, the value of German mark fell. As the value of mark collapsed, prices of goods increased. This crisis in which Germans had to carry cartloads of currency notes to buy a loaf of bread, was known as ‘hyperinflation’. 

20. How did the economic crisis begin in the USA?

Answer:  In USA, it began with the crash of the Wall Street Exchange in 1929, when USA could not recover back loans. Fearing a fall in price, people made frantic efforts to sell their shares. On a single day, 13 million shares were sold. Factories shut down, banks became bankrupt, exports fell, farmers were badly hit, leading to unemployment. 

21. What were the weaknesses of the Weimer Republic?

Answer:   The Weimer Constitution had some inherent defects which made it unstable. Due to proportional representation, one single party could not come to power, rather a coalition government was formed. Another defect was the Article 48, which gave the President the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree. Within a short period of time, many governments changed and this made people lose confidence in the democratic parliamentary system which seemed to offer no solutions.

22. Describe the formation of the Nazi Party.

Answer:  Economic crisis formed the background to Hitler’s rise to power. Hitler was born in Austria and spent his youth in poverty. In the First World War, he joined the army and acted as messenger in the front. The Treaty of Versailles and the defeat of Germany in World War I made him furious and horrified. In 1919, he joined a small group called the German Workers’ Party and renamed it after taking over that party as, ‘The National Socialist German Workers’ Party’. This party later on, came to be known as the ‘Nazi Party’.

23. How did Hitler capture power in Germany?

Answer:  In 1923, Hitler marched to Berlin with his followers to capture power. He failed and was arrested for treason and later released. But during the Great Depression, Nazism became a mass movement. During the economic depression, the Nazi propaganda stirred hopes of a better future. By 1932, the Nazi Party had become the largest party and Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. 

24. What promises did Hitler make to the Germans when he came to power?

Answer:  (i) He promised to build a strong nation and undo the justice of Treaty of Versailles and restore the dignity of the German people. (ii) He promised employment for those looking for work. (iii) He promised to protect Germany from all foreign influences and secure his country’s future. 

25. Give a brief account of Hitler’s entry into World War II.

Answer:  In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland with the result that it started a war with France and England. In September 1940, Tripartite Pact with Italy and Japan and Germany was signed. By the end of 1940, Hitler had almost won all the wars. Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941. The Soviet Red Army gave a crushing defeat to the German soldiers. In the meantime, the US also entered the war when the Japanese bombed the US base at Pearl Harbour. The war ended in May 1945, with Hitler’s defeat and US dropping of atom bomb on Hiroshima in Japan. 

26. What was Hitler’s ideology?

Answer:  Hitler’s ideology was related to the geopolitical concept of living space. He believed that new territories had to be acquired for settlement. This would enhance the area of the mother country and it would also enhance the material resources and power of the German nation.

27. How did the Nazis develop a hatred for the Jews?

Answer:  Nazis believed that the Jews were the killers of Christ. Until medieval times, Jews were not allowed to any land. They survived mainly through trade and money lending. They lived in separately marked areas  called the ghettos. Hitler’s hatred for the Jews was based on pseudoscientific theories of race. They were terrorised, segregated and compelled to leave the country During World War II, they were killed in gas chambers in Poland. 

28. How did common people react to Nazism?

Answer: Many people would see the world through Nazi’s eyes and hated the Jews. They marked the houses of the Jews and reported suspicious neighbours. However, many Germans were not Nazis. They preferred to look away and did not react against the Jews.  

29. How did Hitler and his minister Goebbels’ end come after World War II?

Answer:  In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies. Anticipating what was coming, Hitler, his propaganda Minister Goebbels and his entire family committed suicide collectively in his Berlin Bunker in April. At the end of the war, an International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was set up to prosecute Nazi war criminals for crimes against peace, for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Germany’s conduct during the war especially those actions which came to be called Crimes Against Humanity, raised serious and ethical questions and invited worldwide condemnation. 

30. How was German Parliament established after First World War?

Answer:  The defeat of imperial Germany and the abdication of the emperor gave an opportunity to parliamentary parties to recast German polity National Assembly met at Weimer and established a democratic constitution with a federal structure. Deputies were now elected to the German Parliament or Reichstag, on the basis of equal and universal votes cast by all adults including women.

31. What do you understand by ‘Hyperinflation’?

Answer:  With too much of printed money in circulation, the value of German mark fell. As the value of German mark collapsed, prices of goods soared. The image of Germans carrying cartloads of currency notes to buy a loaf of bread was widely publicised evoking worldwide sympathy This crisis came to be known as ‘hyperinflation’, a situation when prices rise phenomenally high. 

32. What was Hitler’s propaganda to gain power?

Answer: Hitler devised a new style of politics. He understood the significance of rituals and spectacle in mass mobilisation. Nazis held massive rallies and public meetings to demonstrate the support for Hitler and instil a sense of unity among the people. The red banners with the Swastika, the Nazi Salute and the ritualised rounds of applause after the speeches were all part of this spectacle of power. Nazi propaganda skilfully projected Hitler as a’ Messiah, a saviour, as someone who had arrived to deliver people from their distress 

33. What do you know about Enabling Act?

Answer:  On 3 March 1933, the famous Enabling Act was passed. This Act established dictatorship in Germany. It gave Hitler all powers to sideline parliament and rule by decree. All political parties and trade unions were banned except for the Nazi party and its affiliates. The state established complete control over the economy, media, army and judiciary. 

34. How was economic recovery made in Germany?

Answer: Hitler assigned the responsibility of economic recovery to the economist Hjalmar Schacht. Who aimed at full production and full employment through a state-funded work-creation programme. This project produced the famous German superhighways and the people’s car, the Volkswagen. 

35. What was Hitler’s foreign policy? 

Answer: In foreign policy Hitler acquired quick successes. He pulled out of League of Nations in 1933, reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936, and integrated Austria and Germany in 1938 under the slogan, ‘One people, one empire and one leader’. He then went on to the west German – speaking Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia – and gulped the entire country. In all this he had the unspoken support of England, which had considered the Versailles verdict too harsh. These quick successes at home and abroad seemed to reverse the destiny of the country. 

36. How was a ‘Racial State’ established by Hitler in Germany?

Answer: Nazis wanted an exclusive racial community of pure Germans. Nazis wanted only a society of ‘pure and healthy’ Nordic Aryans. This meant that even those Germans who were seen as impure or abnormal had no right to live. Jews were considered undesirable. Many Gypsies and Blacks were also considered as inferior Germans. Even Russians and Polish were considered subhuman and were forced to work as slave labourers. Many of them died through hard work and starvation. 

37. How was media used to propagate Nazism?

Answer: Media was used by Nazis to propagate their ideas world over. Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slogans and leaflets. Socialists and liberals were stereotyped as weak and degenerated. Propaganda films were made to create hatred for the Jews. The most infamous film was ‘The Eternal Jew’. Orthodox Jews were shown with flowing beards wearing Kaftans, whereas in reality they looked like any other German. Jews were referred to as vermin, rats and pests. 

38. What do you know about Hitler’s personality?

Answer: Hitler was a powerful speaker. His passion and his words moved and inspired people. He promised to build a strong nation, undo the injustice of Versailles Treaty and restore the dignity of the German people. He promised employment for those looking for work, and a secure future for the youth. He promised to weed out all foreign influences and resist all foreign conspiracies against Germany. 

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Explain any five measures adopted by Hitler to establish dictatorship in Germany.

Answer: Having acquired power. Hitler set out to dismantle the structures of democratic rule. (i) Under his rule, the Fire Decree of 28th February, 1933 was passed which indefinitely suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly. (ii) Then he turned his arch enemies the communists, most of whom were hurriedly packed off to the newly established concentration camps. (iii) The Socialists, Democrats and Catholics also were arrested and killed. (iv) On 3rd March, 1933 the famous Enabling Act was passed. This Act established dictatorship in Germany. It gave Hitler all powers to control over the economy, media, army and judiciary. (v) All political parties and trade unions were banned. He controlled media, army and judiciary. 

2. What were the promises made by Hitler to people of Germany? Or Explain three factors which led to the rise of Hitler in Germany? Or State any three promises made by Adolf Hitler to the German society. Or How did Hitler effectively mobilise popular support in Germany? Explain in five points.

Answer: During the Great Depression (1929-1932) Nazism became a mass movement and the Nazi propaganda created hopes of a better future for the German people. Hitler gave some promises (i) He promised to build Germany into a strong nation. (ii) He promised to undo the injustice and humiliation caused by the Treaty of Versailles and restore the dignity of the German people. (iii) He promised employment for those looking for work. (iv) He promised to secure future of the youth. (v) He promised to weed out all foreign influence and resist all foreign conspiracies against Germany. 

3. Explain any four points of Hitler’s foreign policy. What did Schacht advice to Hitler? Or Describe any three important points of Hitler’s foreign policy. Or Describe Hitler’s foreign policy before the Second World War.

Answer: In foreign policy Adolf Hitler took quick and successful steps. (i) He pulled Germany out of the League of Nations in 1993. (ii) He integrated Austria and Germany in 1938 under the slogan ‘one people, one empire and one leader’. (iii) He then captured German-speaking Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia and later the entire country. (iv) Hitler got unspoken support of England, which had considered the Versailles Treaty as too harsh. (v) These quick success at home and abroad helped to reverse the destiny of the country.

4. Describe any five effects of the First World War on Germany. Or Explain any three effects of the First World War on Germany.

Answer:  (i) The First World War left a deep imprint on European society. The war had a devastating impact on the entire continent both psychologically and financially. (ii) Financially there was a great economic loss. The Weimar Republic was being made to pay compensation. (iii) Formation of League of Nations took place to prevent the Second World War. (iv) Germany lost its overseas colonies. (v) The Allied powers demilitarised Germany to weaken its powers. (vi) Many of Germany’s territories were annexed and distributed amongst Allied Powers. 

5. How did the common people react to Nazism?

Answer:  (i) Many people saw the world through Nazi eyes. (ii) They spoke their mind in Nazi language. (iii) They felt hatred and anger when they saw someone looked like a Jew. iv) They marked the houses of Jews and reported about their suspicious neighbours. (v) Common men really believed that Nazism would bring hap piness and prosperity for them. (vi) The large majority of Germans were passive onlookers, they were scared to act on protest against Nazism. (vii) But many German organised active resistance to Nazism, braving police repression and death. 

6. Explain any three points to prove that Nazi rule was barbarous.

Answer:  (i) In Nazi Germany only Nordic German Aryans were considered ‘desirable’. Jews, Gypsies, Blacks, Russians, Polish people were brutally killed in gas chambers. (ii) The Jews and Communists were tortured in concentration camps. Even ‘undesirable children’ were segregated and taken to the gas chambers. (iii) Special surveillance and security forces were created to control and carried atrocities against the selected group of innocent people. The extra constitutional powers given to them, which made Nazi state its reputation as the most dreaded criminal state. 

7. Describe the Hitler’s policy towards the Jews? Or How were the Jews worst sufferers in the Nazi government?

Answer: Once in power, the Nazis quickly began to implement their dream of creating a racial society of ‘pure and healthy Nordic Aryans. They were alone considered ‘desirables’. (i) The Jews were the worst sufferer in Nazi Germany. The Nazi hatred of the Jews was rooted in the traditional Christian hostility towards them. They had been stereotyped as killers of Christ and usurers. (ii) In Nazi Germany, they lived in separately marked areas called ghettos. They were often persecuted through  periodic  organised  violence  and expulsion from the land. (iii) From 1933 to 1938, the Nazis terrorized pauperised and segregated the Jews, compelling them to leave Germany. (iv) Hitler believed that ‘the Jewish problem’ could be solved only through total elimination. As a result they were largely killed gas chambers. As many as 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis, what was known as ‘genocidal war’? 

8. Evaluate the use of media by the Nazis to popularise their ideology in Germany 

Answer: The Nazi regime used language and media with care to win supports for the regime and popularise its worldviews. (i) Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slogans and leaflets. (ii) In posters, enemies of Germany were stereotyped, mocked and abused. (iii) Socialists and liberals were represented as weak and degenerate. They were criticised as malicious foreign agents. (iv) Propaganda films were produced to create hatred for Jews. (v) Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and marked, they were shown with flowing beards, wearing Kaftans and referred to as vermin, rats and pests. (vi) Through media, Nazism worked on the minds of the people and turned their hatred at those marked as ‘undesirable’ by them.

9. Describe the effects of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany. Or Discuss any three major clauses of the ‘Treaty of Versailles’? Or The Treaty of Versailles sowed the seeds of the Second World War. Justify.

Answer:  This treaty had a far reaching impact and paved the way for the rise of Nazism in Germany and the Second World War. (i) After signing this treaty, Germany lost its overseas colonies, a tenth of its population, 13 per cent of its territories, 75 per cent of its iron and 26 per cent of its coal to France, Poland, Denmark and Lithuania. (ii) The war guilt clause held Germany responsible for the war and Germany was forced to pay compensation amounting to 6 billion. (iii) The treaty made provisions for demilitarization of Germany to further weaken it. Thus, the Treaty of Versailles was harsh, humiliating and devastating for the economy and national honour of the Germans. Its clauses became the causes for the rise of Nazism. 

10. What is Nazism? Why did Nazism become popular in Germany by 1930? Or What were the reasons for the rise of Nazism in Germany? Or Why did Nazism become popular in Germany by 1930? Explain.

Answer: Nazism was a political system introduced by Hitler in Germany to establish dictatorship which propagated extreme hatred against the Jews is called Nazism. Some of the main causes of the rise and popularity of Nazism in Germany are (i) The humiliating Versailles Treaty created a need to avenge of the defeat the First World War and restore the old prestige of Germany. (ii) Germany witnessed a grave economic crisis and Hitler promised the people prosperity and peace. (iii) Due to the Weimar Republic being weakened. Hitler took the opportunity and inspired the people. (iv) Hitler had a strong personality and mass appeal which contributed a lot to the popularity of Nazism in Germany. 

11. Describe the problems faced by the Weimar Republic. Or Describe any three problems faced by Weimar Republic in Germany. Or Explain any five problems faced by the Weimar Republic in Germany

Answer:  (i) The Weimar Republic had to sign the humiliating Treaty of Versailles. (ii) This Republic carried the burden of war guilt and was financially crippled by being forced to pay compensation. (iii) Hyperinflation made the German Mark valueless and caused immense hardship for the common man. This economic crisis led to widespread inflation, misery and despair. (iv) In the Weimar Republic, both the communists and socialists became irreconcilable enemies and could not make common cause against Hitler. (v) Both revolutionaries and militant nationalists craved for radical solutions, which was not easy. Within its short life, the Weimar Republic saw twenty different cabinets and the liberal use of Article 48. All these created a political crisis in Germany. (vi) It became very unpopular among the German, because it lost the pride of the nation in the hands of Allies powers. 

12. What are the peculiar features of Nazi thinking?

Answer: The peculiar features of Nazi thinking were (i) They believed that the strong should rule the world and the rest should accept their leadership. (ii) They believed in racial hierarchy, where the Nordic German Aryans were at the top and the Jews at the lowest rung. (iii) The Nazis believed that the Jews were their greatest enemies. So the Jews were tortured and killed. (iv) From a very young age, children were indoctrinated both inside and outside school with the Nazi ideology of nationalism and war. (v) The Nazis believed in the geopolitical concept of Lebensraum or living space, i.e., new territories had to be acquired for the German nation. (vi) Women were seen as mere bearers of the Aryan culture and race.

13. Explain why Nazi propaganda was effective in creating a hatred for Jews?

Answer: Nazi propaganda was effective in creating hatred for the Jews because Nazis successfully exploited the low position of the Jews in medieval times as there was a traditional Christian hatred against the Jews. (ii) The Jews were affluent being mainly traders and moneylenders. The economically shattered, unemployed German people easily developed hatred against them. (iii) The Jews lived separately in marked areas called ghettos; they therefore became easy targets. (iv) The Nazis introduced the hatred theory against the Jews from the very beginning of the child’s school life so that they grew up with this hatred. (v) Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, posters, slogans, leaflets, films, etc. This propaganda worked on the minds and emotions of the German people. 

14. In what ways did the Nazi state seek to establish total control over its people?

Answer: After becoming the Chancellor of Germany (1933), Hitler captured all powers. (i) All political parties and trade unions were banned except the Nazi Party and its affiliates. (ii) The state established total control over the economy, media, army and judiciary. (iii) Germany became almost a police state. Special surveillance, security forces, secret state police (Gestapo) were created to control the society. (iv) The Nazi rule glorified war and chose the path of war as a way out of the economic crisis. (v) The Nazi rule targeted the Jews as the cause of all miseries and undertook genocidal war against the Jews. (vi) Hitler introduced a massive programme of militarisation to enhance the military power of Germany and to restore her international honour and glory.

15. State any five measures taken by the Nazis to create a pure German racial state. Or Explain any three steps taken by Hitler to establish racial state. Or Explain the Nazi idea of a racial state.

Answer:  (i) Nazi ideology stated that the Nordic German Aryans were at the top and the Jews were located at the lowest rung of society. (ii) The Jews, gypsies and blacks were regarded as racially impure and ‘undesirable’, and they were widely persecuted. (iii) Under the Euthanasia programme, many Germans who were considered mentally or  physically unfit were condemned to death. (iv) Russians and Poles were considered as subhuman and captured civilians from Russia and Poland were forced to work as slave labour. (v) From 1933 to 1938, the Nazis terrorised, pauperised and segregated the Jews, compelling them to leave Germany. From 1939 to 1945, a large number of them were killed in gas chambers in Poland.

16. How were the ideas of Darwin and Herbert Spencer adopted by Hitler or Nazis? Explain.

Answer:   Hitler’s racism borrowed from thinkers like Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). Darwin was a natural scientist who tried to explain the creation of plants and animals through the concepts of evolution and natural selection. In 1859, Darwin published ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’ in which he proposed a theory of evolution by the process of natural selection. But he never advocated human intervention in what he thought was a purely natural process of selection. His ideas were used by racist politicians to justify imperial rule over conquered peoples.

Herbert Spencer was deeply influenced by Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’ and gave the idea of ‘Survival of the Fittest’ in his book, ‘Principles of Biology’. He developed an all embracing conception of evolution as the progressive development of the physical world, biological organism, the human mind and human culture and societies. According to his ideas, only those species survival on Earth that could adopt themselves to changing climatic conditions. Adopting his idea, the Nazi government suggested that the strongest race, i.e., Nordic German Aryans would survive and the weak ones would perish. 

17. What were the effects of great economics depression of 1929-1932 on Germany?

Answer: The German economy was the worst hit by the economic crisis caused by the Great Economic Depression (1929-1932) in the USA. German investments and industrial was largely dependent on loan from the USA. The Wall Street Exchange crashed in 1929, the USA withdrew the support from Germany.

(i) By 1932, industrial production was reduced to 40 per cent of the 1929 level. (ii) The number of unemployed was 6 million. People with ‘willing to do any work’ placard could be seen on the street. Unemployment rate reached nearly 30 per cent in 1932. (iii) Unemployed youths sometimes involved in criminal activities. They were seen playing cards, sitting at street corners or desperately queuing up at local employment exchange. (iv) The Germany currency (mark) collapsed, prices rose phenomenally high due to hyper inflation. (v) The economic crisis created deep anxieties and fear in people. As business got ruined, small businessmen, self-employed and retailers were filled with the fear of proletarianisation, an anxiety of being reduced to the ranks of workers or unemployed. (vi) Big businessmen were also in crisis. (vii) The large mass of peasantry was affected by a sharp fall in agricultural prices. (viii) Women, unable to feed their children properly, were filled with a sense of despair. 

18. Describe the impact of economic depression of Germany? Or Describe the impact of great economic depression (1929-1932) on various sections of society in Germany?

Answer:   Hitler was a powerful orator. His speech could mesmerise the masses (i) He promised to build strong nation, undo the injustice of the Versailles Treaty and restore the dignity of the German people. (ii) He assured employment for unemployed people and a secured future for the youths. (iii) He promised to control all foreign influence and resist all foreign conspiracies against Germany. (iv) He introduced a new style of politics. Nazi party held massive rallies and public meetings to demonstrate the supports for Hitler and these massive mobilization created a sense of unity among German people. (v) Nazi propaganda skillfully projected Hitler as a messiah, a saviour as someone who had arrived to save people from their distress. (vi) Hitler came during such a period when the dignity and pride of German people were totally shattered due to the defeat in First World War and humiliating Treaty of Versailles. The crisis in the economy, polity and society formed the background of Hitler’s rise to power. 

19. What does citizenship mean to you? Look at Chapters 1 and 3 and write 200 words on how the French Revolution and Nazism defined citizenship.

Answer:   To me, citizenship means the right to live freely in the country of my birth or the country where I desire to live. The French Revolution defined citizenship in a way which was different from the way that the Nazism defined it. The French people thought that all men have equal rights as they are born equal. The rights of a citizen include liberty, security, owning of property and resisting oppression. Also they believed in the freedom of expression, whether verbal or in writing, art, etc. They believed in the rule of law and that no one can be above it. However, the Nazi definition of citizenship was quite different. It was defined with the perspective of racial discrimination against all except the ‘pure Aryan’ Nordic race. So they said that Jews and other ‘undesirable’ population would not be considered as citizens of Germany. These people were given very harsh treatment like death in the gas chamber or banishment to concentration camps. Many of them were forced to flee to other countries because of this. 

20. What did the Nuremberg Laws mean to the ‘undesirables’ in Nazi Germany? What other legal measures were taken against them to make them feel unwanted?

Answer: Basically, the Nuremberg Laws meant that the ‘undesirables’ had no rights to live along with the other citizens. These included Jews, Gypsies, ‘Blacks’ and other nationalities like Polish and Russian people. These laws, promulgated in 1935, stated (i) Only persons of German or related blood would be German citizens, enjoying the protection of the German Empire. (ii) Marriages between Germans and the ‘undesirables’ were forbidden. Extramarital relations between them also became a crime. Other legal measures included (i) Boycott of Jewish businesses. (ii) Expulsion of Jews from government services. (iii) Confiscation and forcible selling of the properties of Jews. 

21. What was the impact of World War I on Germany’s politics and society?

Answer:  Effect on political life  (i) Unfortunately, the infant Weimer Republic was made to pay for the sins of the old empire. (ii) The republic was financially crippled and was forced to pay war compensation. 

Effect on society  (i) Soldiers came to be placed above civilians. (ii) The media glorified trench warfare, where soldiers lived miserable lives. (iii) Aggressive war propaganda and national honour held an important place in the lives of people. 

22. What were the effects of the economic crisis on Germany?

Answer:  (i) The Germany’s economy was worst hit by economic crisis. (ii) Industrial production was reduced to 40 per cent. (iii) Workers lost their jobs and the number of unemployed reached six million. (iv) On the streets of Germany, men could be found with placards saying, “Willing to do any work”. (v) As jobs disappeared, the youth took to criminal activities. (vi) There was a sharp fall in agricultural prices and women were unable to feed their children. (vii) Salariedemployeessawtheirsavingsdiminishandcurrencyalsolostitsvalue. 

23. What efforts were made by Hitler to establish dictatorship?

Answer: Destruction of Democracy: Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany on 30th January 1933. He indefinitely suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly. Then he turned his attention to concentration camps set up for communists. Enabling Act This Act established dictatorship in Germany. It gave Hitler all powers to establish his rule. He banned all other political parties and trade unions. Security Forces Special security forces were created to control and order society in ways that the Nazis wanted. People could now be detained in Gestapo torture chambers, sent to concentration camps or arrested without any legal procedures. Foreign Policy Hitler first of all pulled his country out of the League of Nations. He reoccupied Rhineland area and integrated his country. Then he occupied Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia and later gobbled up the whole country. 

24. How did Hitler treat the Polish?

Answer: (i) Poles were forced to leave their homes and properties for ethnic Germans brought in from occupied Europe. (ii) Poles were then herded like cattle in other parts of Poland, called the destination for all undesirables of the empire. (iii) Members of Polish intelligentsia were murdered in large numbers. (iv) Polish children who looked like Aryans were forcibly snatched from their mothers and examined by race experts and if they passed the race tests, they were raised in German families, and if not they were deposited in orphanages. (v) With some of the largest ghettos and gas chambers, this part of Poland also served as the killing fields for the Jews. 

25. What kind of education was given in Nazi schools?

Answer:  (i) Jew teachers were dismissed from the schools. (ii) Children were segregated. Germans and Jews neither could sit together nor play together. (iii) Subsequently, undesirable children?Jews, the physically handicapped and Gypsies were thrown out of schools. (iv) School textbooks were rewritten. (v) Racial Science was introduced to justify Nazi’s ideas of race. (vi) Children were taught to be loyal and submissive, to hate the Jews and worship Hitler. (vii) Boxing was introduced as Hitler believed that it could make children iron hearted, strong and masculine. 

26. Explain the status of women in the German society.

Answer: Children in Nazi Germany were told that women were radically different from men. While boys were taught to be aggressive, masculine and steel hearted, girls were told to be good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children. Girls were supposed to look after, have and teach their children Nazi values. Women bearing  undesirable children were punished and those bearing desirable were awarded. They were given favoured treatment in hospitals and were given concessions in theatre tickets, railways fares and shops. To encourage women to produce more children, a bronze cross was given for four children, silver for six and gold for eight and more. Those who maintained contacts with the Jews, Poles or Russians were paraded through the town with shaved heads, blackened faces and placards hanging from their necks saying, “I have sullied the honour of the nation”. 

27. How was the Holocaust practised in Germany?

Answer:  Information of the Nazi’s atrocities on the Jews had opened up to the world after the defeat of Germany in World War II. The Jews wanted the world to remember the atrocities and sufferings they had endured during the Nazi killing operations called the Holocaust. A ghetto inhabitant had wanted to tell the world about what had happened in Nazi Germany. Many Jews had written diaries, kept notebooks and created archives that bore witness. On the other hand, when the war was lost, the Nazi leaders tried to burn all the evidences available in the offices. Yet, the history and the memory of the Holocaust lived on the memoirs, fiction, documentaries, poetry and museums in many parts of the world today. 

28. Trace the ‘destruction of democracy’ in Germany.

Answer: This came about in January 1933, when President Hindenburg offered the Chancellorship to Hitler. He suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly that were guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution in 1933. Then he turned to his arch-enemies, the Communists, who were hurriedly packed off to the newly established concentration camps. On 3 March, 1933 dictatorship was established in Germany. It gave all powers for Hitler to sideline parliament and rule by decree. All political parties and trade unions were banned except the Nazi Party and its affiliates. The state established complete control over the economy, media, army and judiciary. 

29. What was the Nazis’ ‘Art of Propaganda’?

Answer:  The Nazi regime used language and media with care. For example, the terms they coined to describe various practices were not only deceptive but chilling. Nazis never used the word ‘kill’ or ‘murder’ in their official communications. Mass killings were termed as special treatment, final solution for the Jews, euthanasia (for the disabled) and selection and disinfections. Evacuation meant deporting people to the gas chambers. Gas chambers were called disinfection areas. Nazi ideas spread through visual images, radio, posters, catchy slogans and leaflets. Propaganda films were made to create hatred for the Jews. Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and portrayed with flowing beads and kaftans. The Nazi’s were trying to appeal to the population and win their support by suggesting that they could alone solve all their problems.

30. How do you agree with the statement, “Treaty of Versailles laid the germs of another war and was a harsh treaty”?

Answer: The peace treaty at Versailles with the Allies was a harsh and humiliating one. Germany lost its overseas colonies, a tenth of its population, 13 per cent of its territories, 75 per cent of its iron and 26 per cent of its coal to France, Poland, Denmark and Lithuania. The Allied powers demilitarised Germany to weaken its powers. The War Guilt Clause held Germany responsible for the war and damages the Allied countries suffered. Germany was forced to pay compensation amounting to about 6 billion pounds. The Allied army also occupied the resource-rich Rhineland for much of the 1920s. Many Germans held the new Weimar Republic responsible for not only the defeat in the war but the disgrace at Versailles. 

31. What was the impact of World War I on European society?

Answer: The First World War left a deep imprint on European society and polity (i) Soldiers came to be placed above civilians. (ii) Politicians and publicists laid great success on the need for men to be aggressive, strong and masculine. (iii) The media glorified trench life but actually soldiers lived miserable lives in these trenches, trapped with rats feeding on corpses. (iv) They faced poisonous gas and enemy shelling, and witnessed their ranks reduce rapidly. (v) Aggressive war propaganda and national honour occupied centre stage in the public sphere, while popular support grew for conservative dictatorships that had recently come into being. 

32. Which special surveillance and security forces were created by Nazis?

Answer:  Apart from the already existing regular police in green uniform and the Storm Troopers (SA), these included the Gestapo (Secret State Police) the SS (the protection squads) criminal police and security service. It was the extra constitutional powers of these newly organised forces that gave the Nazi state its reputation as the most dreaded criminal state. People could now be detained in Gestapo torture chambers, rounded up and sent to concentration camps, deported at will or arrested without any legal procedures. The police forces acquired powers to rule with impunity. So, in this way special surveillance and security forces were created to control or order society in ways that Nazis wanted. 

33. When and how did Hitler invade Soviet Union?

Answer: By the end of 1940, Hitler was at the pinnacle of his power and now he moved towards Eastern Europe, after defeating France in the west. He attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941. In this historic blunder. Hitler exposed the German western front to British aerial bombing and the eastern front to the powerful Soviet armies. The Soviet Red Army inflicted a crushing and humiliating defeat on Germany at Stalingrad. After this, the Soviet Red Army hounded out the retreating German soldiers until they reached the heart of Berlin, establishing Soviet power over the entire Europe for half a century thereafter.

34. How did USA enter into World War II?

Answer: USA had resisted involvement in the war, it was unwilling to face another economic crisis after the war. But it could not stay out of the war for long. Japan was expanding its power in the east. It had occupied French Indo-China and was planning attacks on US naval bases in the Pacific. When Japan extended its support to Hitler and bombed the US base at Pearl Harbour, the US entered the Second World War. The war ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat and the US dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. 

35. How were Darwin and Herbert Spencer’s ideas adopted by Hitler or Nazis?

Answer:  Hitler borrowed racism from thinkers like Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer. Darwin was a natural scientist who tried to explain the creation of plants and animals through the concept of evolution and natural selection. Herbert Spencer later added the idea of survival of the fittest. According to this idea, only those species survived on earth that could adapt themselves to changing climatic conditions. Darwin never advocated human intervention in what he thought was a purely natural process of selection. However, his ideas were used by racist thinkers and politicians to justify imperial rule over conquered people. The Nazi argument was simple: the strongest race would survive and the weak ones would perish. The Aryan race was the finest. It had to retain its purity, become stronger and dominate the world. 

36. How did hatred develop for undesirable communities?

Answer: Jews were not the only community classified as ‘undesirable’. There were others too. Many ‘Gypsies’ and ‘Blacks’ living in Nazi Germany were considered as racial inferiors who threatened the biological purity of the superior Aryan race. They were widely persecuted. Even Russians and Poles were considered subhuman and hence undeserving of any humanity. When Germany occupied Poland and parts of Russia, captured civilians were forced to work as slave labour. Many of them died simply through hard work and starvation. 

37. What was Nazi’s school syllabus?

Answer: Good German children were subjected to a process of Nazi schooling, a prolonged period of ideological training. School textbooks were rewritten. Racial science was introduced to justify Nazi ideas of race. Stereotypes about Jews were popularised even through maths classes. Children were taught to be loyal and submissive, hate Jews and worship Hitler. Even the function of sports was to nurture a spirit of violence and aggression among children. Hilter believed that boxing could make children iron hearted, strong and masculine. 

38. How were women discriminated on child’s birth in Hitler’s society?

Answer: In 1933, Hitler said, “In my state the mother is the most important citizen. But in Nazi Germany all mothers were not treated equally.” Women who bore racially undesirable children were punished and those who produced racially desirable children were awarded. They were given favourable treatment in hospitals and were also entitled to concessions in shops and on theatre tickets and railways fares. To encourage women to produce many children. Honour Crosses were awarded. A bronze cross was given for four children, silver for six and gold for eight or more. All Aryan women who deviated from the prescribed code of conduct were publicly condemned and severely punished. 

39. Describe the problems faced by the Weimar Republic. 

Answer: The problems faced by Weimar Republic are the following: (i) The infant Weimar Republic was forced to pay for the sins of the old empire. The republic carried the burden of war guilt and national humiliation and was financially crippled by being forced to pay compensation. (ii) The Socialists, Catholics and Democrats who supported the Weimer Republic became easy target of attack in the conservative nationalist circles. They were mockingly called ‘November criminals’. (iii) There was revolutionary uprising of the Spartacist League on the pattern of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. (iv) Soviets of workers and sailors were established in many cities. There was demand for Soviet-style governance. The Weimar Republic crushed the uprising with the help of a war veterans’ organisation called, ‘Free Corps’. (v) The Spartacists later founded the Communist Party of Germany. Communists and Scientists henceforth became irreconcilable enemies and could not make common cause against Hitler. (vi) There was economic crisis of 1923. Prices of goods soared. The crisis came to be known as hyperinflation, a situation when prices rise phenomenally high. (vii) Politically too, the Weimar Republic was fragile. System of proportionate representation and Article 48 which gave President the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree. The Weimer Republic saw twenty different cabinets lasting on an average 239 days, and a liberal use of Article 48.   

40. How Germany came into the trap of ‘Hyper-Inflation’ situation after World War II? How were they saved?

Answer:  (i) Germany had fought the war largely on loans and had to pay war reparation in gold. (ii) This depleted gold reserves at a time when resources were scarce. (iii) In 1932, Germany refused to pay, and the French occupied its leading industrial area ‘Ruhr’, to claim their coal.               (iv) Germany retaliated with passive resistance and printed paper currency wrecklessly.     (v) With too much printed money in circulation, the value of the  German mark fell.     (vi) As the value of the mark collapsed, prices of goods soared.       (vii) The image of the Germany carrying cartloads of currency notes to buy a loaf of bread was widely publicised.                       (viii) This crisis came to be known as hyper-inflation, a situation when prices rise phenomenally high.                                 (ix) Eventually, the Americans intervened and bailed Germany out of  the crisis by introducing ‘The Dawes Plan’ which reworked the terms of separation to ease the financial burden on Germany. 

41. How worldwide economic crisis can affect the society also? Analyse this situation in Germany.

Answer:   (i) The economic crisis created deep anxieties and fears in people. (ii) The middle classes, especially salaried employees and pensioners, saw their savings diminish when the currency lost its value. (iii) Small businessmen, the self-employed and retailers suffered as their businesses got ruined. (iv) These sections ofsociety were filled with the fear of’Proletarianisation’, an anxiety of being reduced to the ranks of the working class, or worse still, the unemployed. (v) Only organised workers could manage to keep their heads above water, but unemployment weakened their bargaining power. (vi) Big business was in crisis. (vii) The large mass of peasantry was affected by a sharp fall in agricultural prices and women, unable to fill their children’s stomachs, were filled with a sense of deep despair. 

42. What kind of racial segregation was practised by Hitler?

Answer:   (i) Once in power, the Nazis quickly began to implement their dream creating an exclusive racial community of pure Germans by physically eliminating all those who were seen as ‘undesirable’ in the extended empire. (ii) Nazis wanted only a society of ‘pure and healthy Nordic Aryans’. (iii) They alone were considered ‘desirable’. (iv) Only they were seen as worthy of prospering and multiplying against all others who were classed as ‘undesirable’. (v) This meant that even those Germans who were seen as impure or abnormal had no right to exist. (vi) Under the Euthansia Programme, Helworth’s father along with other Nazi officials had condemned to death many Germans who were considered mentally or physically unfit. 

43. Had media played any role in the propaganda of Nazi regime? .

Answer:   (i) Media was carefully used to win support for the regime and popularise it worldwide. (ii) Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slogans and leaflets. (iii) In posters, groups identified as the ‘enemies’ of Germans were stereotyped, mocked, abused and described as evil. (iv) Socialists and liberals were represented as weak and degenerate. (v) They were attacked as malicious foreign agents. (vi) Propaganda films were made to create hatred for Jews. (vii) The most infamous film was ‘The Eternal Jews’. Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and mocked. (viii) They were shown with flowing beards wearing kaftans, whereas in reality it was difficult to distinguish German Jews by their outward appearance because they were a highly assimilated community. (ix) They were referred to as vermin, rats and pests. Their movements were compared to those of rodents. (x) Nazism worked on the minds of the people, tapped their emotions and turned their hatred and anger at those marked as ‘undesirable’.