Chapter 3, INDIA AND THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD I
Nazism and The Rise of Hitler
NCERT Solutions of History Textbook Exercise
Q.1: Describe the
problems faced by the Weimer Republic.
Answer: After the defeat of the imperial Germany at
the end of the First World War, King Kaiser William II fled to Holland to save
his life. Taking this opportunity, the Parliamentary Parties met at Weimer and
established a Republic on November 1918 popularly known as Weimer Republic. This
Republic was not received well by the Germans mainly because of the terms which
the Republic was forced to accept by the Allied Forces after German’s defeat in
the First World War. The Republic had to face many problems, some of which are
given below:-
=> The
Republic was forced to sign a peace treaty at Versailles in June 1919. The
terms and conditions of this peace treaty were too harsh and humiliating. According
to this treaty Germany lost its overseas colonies, 13 percent of its
territories, 75 percent of its iron and 26 percent of its coal reserves. Also
the Allied Powers demilitarized Germany to weaken its powers. So, this Republic
was defamed and became unpopular among its own people from the very beginning.
=>
Germany had to agree to pay huge war compensation to 6 billion pounds to the
Allied Countries. With all its resources, the Republic could never pay such a
huge amount and so, many Germans held the new Weimer Republic responsible for
agreeing to these conditions.
=>
Because of its weak position, those who supported the republic like -
Socialists, Catholics, Democrats became easy targets of attack in the
Conservative Nationalist Circles.
=>
Because of the opposition of the Allied Powers, Germans could not become a
member of the League of Nations till 1925. Such a thing created most resentment
in Germany and particularly for the Weimer Republic.
=>
Germany had fought the war largely on loans and had to pay war reparations in
gold. With the depleted gold reserves, scarce resources and crippled economic
conditions the Republic was no more able to pay war compensations. Under this
situation the new Republic had to face a tough opposition from the neighbouring
countries as they occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr to claim the coal
reserves.
=> All in
all there was devastation, starvation, unemployment, total despair among the
youth and humiliation everywhere. The country was passing through a situation
of hyperinflation and the Republic failed to solve the economic problems of the
people. Last but not the least; the German economy was the worst hit by the
world-wide economic crisis of 1929 - 1933.
So, the Weimer Republic had to face too
many difficulties since its inception. Indeed the Republic was too young and
vulnerable to survive so many problems within and outside the country and
ultimately, it failed when Hitler sealed its fate in 1933.
Q.2: Discuss why Nazism became
popular in Germany in 1930.
Answer: The story of the Rise of Nazism in Germany
is not limited to a few specific events or causes. It is the result of the
working of an elaborate and frightening system which operated at different
levels. Nevertheless, some of the main causes of the Rise and Popularity of
Nazism in Germany can be mentioned as follows:
=> Treaty
of Versailles: Germany was forced to sign a peace treaty at Versailles
after her defeat in the First World War. This treaty was so harsh and
humiliating for the Germans which they could not accept by heart and ultimately
led to the rise of Hitler’s Nazism in Germany. Because of the various terms of
this treaty Germany had to sacrifice much of its territories, colonies, natural
resources, military power and also had to pay huge war compensation. This
created a feeling of sheer dissatisfaction among the people of Germany who
visualized Hitler of the Nazi Party as the symbol of revival of the lost
glories of Germany.
=> Economic
Crises: The Nazis did not have much popularity until the early 1930s. The
German economy was the worst hit by the by the world-wide economic crisis of
1929 - 1933. The country was passing through a situation of hyperinflation. It
was during this period of Great Depression when Nazism became a mass movement.
=> Political
Turmoil: There were many political parties in Germany such as Nationalists,
Royalists, Communists, Social Democrats etc. although none of them was enjoying
majority in the democratic government. The Party strife was at its peak. This
along with various other crises within the country continuously weakened the
Republic government and ultimately giving an opportunity to the Nazis to
capture the power.
=> Germany
had no faith in Democracy: After the defeat of Germany at the end of the
First World War, ‘Democracy’ was totally new for the Germans. They had no faith
in Parliamentary institutions. Democracy was indeed a young and fragile idea,
which could not survive the various problems which were prevailing in Germany
at that time. People preferred prestige and glory to liberty and freedom. They
supported Hitler whole-heartedly as he got the ability to fulfill their dreams.
=> Failure
of Weimar Republic: After the defeat in the First World War and Versailles Treaty
there was devastation, starvation, unemployment, total despair among the youth
and complete confusion everywhere in Germany. Weimar Republic failed to solve
the economic crises of the country. This provided a golden opportunity for the
Nazis to launch a campaign in its favour.
=> Hitler’s
Personality: Hitler was a powerful speaker, an able organizer, resourceful
person and a man of actions. He could
mobilize the mass in his favour by his passionate words. He promised to build a
strong nation, undo the injustice of the Versailles Treaty and restore the
dignity of the German people. In fact, his personality and actions contributed
maximum to the popularity of Nazism in Germany.
Q.3: What are the peculiarities
of Nazi thinking?
Answer: After the defeat in the First World War
Germany had to sign a harsh and humiliating treaty with the Allies. The treaty
multiplied the problems an already defeated Germany many times and also a
political uncertainty in the country. As a result, Hitler rose to the power. He
set up the Nazi party and succeeded in capturing the power and establishing the
dictatorship of the Nazi party in Germany. The dictatorial rule of the Nazi
party under the leadership of Hitler is termed as Nazism. Nazi ideology was
synonymous with Hitler’s worldview. The chief features of Nazi thinking were as
under:
=> The
state is above all. All powers should be vested in the State. People exist for
the State, not the State for the people.
=>
It was in favour of ending all types of parliamentary institutions and
glorified the rule of a great leader.
=>
It was in favour of crushing all types of party formations and opposition.
=>
It was in favour of rooting out liberalism, socialism and communism.
=>
It preached hatred for the Jews whom they thought, were responsible for the
economic misery of the Germans.
=> The
Nazi party considered Germany superior to all other nations and wanted to have
her influence all over the world.
=> It
wanted to mobilize the private and State efforts for her development of agriculture
and industries etc.
=> It
wanted to denounce the disgracing Treaty of Versailles.
=> It
extolled war and glorified the use of force.
=> It
aimed at increasing the German Empire and acquiring all the colonies snatched
away from her.
=> It
dreamt of creating a Racial State of ‘Pure Germans’ or ‘Nordic Aryans’ by
eliminating all others who were undesirable to them.
Q.4: Explain why Nazi
propaganda was effective in creating a hatred for the Jews.
Answer: Soon after assuming power in Germany in 1933
Hitler launched a vicious propaganda against the Jews which proved quite
successful in creating hatred for the Jews. Some of the reasons for the success
of the propaganda against the Jews were the following:
1)
Hitler had already created a niche for himself
in the minds of German people who began to consider him as their Messiah. They
used to believe Hitler just by his words. Thus, the personality cult created by
Hitler did all the wonder and the Nazi propaganda against the Jews proved
successful.
2)
The traditional Christian hatred for the
Jews, because they were accused to have killed Christ, was fully exploited by
the Nazis in order to make the Germans pre-judicial against Jews.
3)
The Nazis used the language and media
effectively with great care. The racial theory put forward by the Nazis that
the Jews belonged to a lower race and as such were undesirable.
4)
The Nazis injected hatred against the Jews
even in the minds of the children from the very beginning during the days of
their schooling. The teachers who were Jews were dismissed and Jews children
were thrown out of the schools. Such methods and new ideological training to
the new generation of children went a long way in making the Nazi’s propaganda
quite effective in creating hatred for the Jews.
5)
Propaganda films were made to create hatred
for the Jews. Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and marked. For example, one such
film was ‘The Eternal Jew’.
Q no. 5&6 are not there
ReplyDeleteno
ReplyDelete