Hitler's Rise to Power

          In 1919, the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NAZI) was founded by nationalist Germans who were angry over Germany's defeat in World War I.  Nazis believed that Germany's defeat was caused by the betrayal of German military commanders as well as a Jewish conspiracy to ruin Germany.  Nazis sought to exterminate groups that they labeled "degenerate" in order to preserve the integrity of the German master race.
      Hitler became the 55th member of the Nazi party after meeting some party members who were in the military. Early party officials were drawn to Hitler's speaking abilities and believed that he could help the party recruit new membership.  In the early1920s, Nazi membership was small and the political party was viewed as being more obscure and too right wing for most Germans. Inspired by a political coup in Italy, Hitler believed that in order to take over Germany there needed to be a violent sudden uprising.  On November 8, 1923, Hitler launched his attempted coup in Munich with disastrous results.
         With Hitler's arrest after the Beer Hall Putsch it appeared that the Nazis would become obsolete over the coming years.  Following his release from prison, Hitler reorganized the Nazi Party and began to focus more attention on upcoming political elections.  Within ten years the Nazis would rise from a fringe political group to the most powerful political party in all of Germany.

Link to notes

For H.W. tonight

Read pages 27-32 in the Facing History Packet

  Then answer  4 of the following questions on a separate piece of paper.


1. Jews lived under Assyrian, Roman,  Persian, Egyptian, and Greek rulers.  How did Jewish religious beliefs differ from their rulers? How did this help contribute to the Jews becoming a "they" group?


2. Using the reading, describe two examples of anti-semitism that led to violence against Jews.


3. How did Thomas Monmouth helped spread anti-semtism in Europe?


4. Why do you think some people in England believed the story of William's murder?


5. Making a connection to today.  Has advancement in technology helped more in spreading rumors or helped more in people discovering the truth?


6. What are some methods or strategies do you feel are successful in combatting rumors?