Destruction of democracy - Class 9 PDF Download

On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Hindenburg. His Nazi government, called the Third Reich implemented many undemocratic policies like The Reichstag Fire Decree, The Enabling Act, the Gestapo and the Concentration Camps. 

Communist leaders that opposed him were forcibly arrested and imprisoned and made to work free for the government. The Enabling Act was passed on 23rd March 1933 which gave Hitler the power to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag.

Nazi appointed secret state police called the Gestapo which roamed the streets. They were supported by the Shield Squadron, an intelligence service and paramilitary stormtroopers. The extermination camps were purely meant for killing prisoners that were unable to work or undesirable to the Nazis.

In 1934, after President Hindenburg’s death, Hitler combined the offices of the President and Chancellor and became the sole leader of Germany.

Advising Hitler on economic growth was Dr Hjalmar and Schacht Germany’s Minister of Economics used innovative policies, to reduce the economic deficit by creating new trade agreements with South-east Europe. He started building highways called Autobahns Volkswagen to become a symbol of the German worker’s newfound prosperity.

With the success of Volkswagen factory, the German economy became the quickest, among all world economies, to recover from the Great Depression. In order to spread his military might, Hitler ordered 32,000 soldiers to reoccupy the Rhineland on 7th March 1936.

After Hitler annexed Czechoslovakia and Austria, he invaded Poland in September 1939, sparking off World War Two. To gain support, Germany entered the Tripartite Pact or Three Power Pact in September 1940 with Italy and Japan, This agreement established the Axis Powers in World War Two. Initially Germany was winning the war but it invaded the Soviet Union on 22nd June 1941 it was pushed back by 1945 all the way to Berlin. Japan meanwhile on December 1941, attacked the US base at Pearl Harbor, forcing the United States to enter World War Two.

The Americans dropped nuclear atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki—on 6th an 9th august 1945.

Hitler’s efforts to restructure Germany ended the world war in May 1945. His determination to revive the German economy was ultimately based on anti-democratic go-to-war ideologies.