Class 9 Notes - CHAPTER 3: NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER

CONCEPTS:

BIRTH OF THE WEIMER REPUBLIC: Germany fought the First World War (1914–1918) along with the Austrian empire and against the Allies (England, France and Russia).

Germany initially made gains by occupying France and Belgium. However, the Allies won defeating Germany and the Central Powers in 1918.A National Assembly met at Weimer and established a democratic constitution with a federal structure. The republic, however, was not received well by its own people largely because of the terms it was forced to accept after Germany’s defeat at the end of the First World War. Many Germans held the new Weimer Republic responsible for not only the defeat in the war but the disgrace at Versailles.

The Effects of the War- The war had a devastating impact on the entire continent both psychologically and financially. From being a creditor, Europe became a debtor. The supporters of the Weimer Republic were criticised and became easy targets of attack in the conservative nationalist circles. Soldiers came to be placed above civilians. Aggressive war propaganda and national honour became important.

Political Radicalism and Economic Crisis: The birth of the Weimer Republic coincided with the uprising of the Spartacist League on the pattern of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. The Sparta cists founded the Communist Party of Germany. Political radicalisation was heightened by the economic crisis of 1923.  As Germany refused to pay the war reparations, France occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr. Germany retaliated with printing paper currency recklessly. The value of the mark collapsed. Prices of goods soared. There was hyperinflation.

The Years of Depression

1924–1928 saw some stability, yet it was built on sand. Germany was totally dependent on short term loans, largely from the USA. This support was withdrawn with the crash in 1929 of the Wall Street Exchange. German economy was hit badly. The middle class and working population were filled with the fear of Proletarianisation. The Weimer Republic had some inherent defects:

1. Proportional Representation

2. Article 48 which gave the President the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree.

HITLER’S RISE TO POWER

Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. He earned many medals for bravery in the First World War.The German defeat horrified him. The Treaty of Versailles made him furious. He joined theGerman Workers Party and renamed it National Socialist German Workers’ Party. This later came to be known as the Nazi Party. Nazism became a mass movement only during the Great Depression. The Nazi propaganda stirred hopes of a better future. Hitler was a powerful and effective speaker. He promised the people a strong nation where all would get employment.

The Destruction of Democracy — Hitler achieved the highest position in the cabinet of ministries on 30 January 1933. Hitler now set out to dismantle the structures of democratic rule. The Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly. Communists were hurriedly packed off to new established concentration camps. All political parties were banned. Special surveillance and security forces were created to control the people and rule with impunity.

Reconstruction: Economist Hjalmar Schacht was given the responsibility of economic recovery. This was to be done through a state funded work creation programme. Hitler pulled 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, one leader. He then took Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. Hitler had the unspoken support of England. Hitler did not stop here. He chose war as a way out of the Economic Crisis .Resources were to be accumulated through expansion of territory. In September 1940 Germany invaded Poland. This started a war with France and England. USA resisted involvement in the war. But when Japan extended its support to Hitler and bombarded Pearl Harbour, the USA entered the war. The war ended in 1945 with Hitler’s defeat and the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

THE NAZI WORLD VIEW

According to Nazi ideology there was no equality among the people, but only racial hierarchy. TheNazis quickly began to implement their dream of creating an exclusive racial community of pure Germans by physically eliminating all those who were considered undesirable. They wanted a society of pure and healthy Nordic Aryans. Jews, gypsies, blacks, Russian, Poles, even certain Germans and abnormal were considered undesirable.

The other aspect of Hitler’s ideology related to the geopolitical concept of Lebensraum, or living space. Jews were the worst sufferers in Nazi Germany. Hitler believed in pseudoscientific theories of race which said that conversion was no solution to the Jewish problem. It had to be solved through their total elimination. From 1933–1938 — the Nazis terrorised, pauperised and segregated the Jews, compelling them to leave the country. The next phase, 1939–1945, aimed at concentrating them in certain areas and then killing them in gas chambers in Poland.

The Racial Utopia

Genocide and war became two sides of the same coin. Occupied Poland was divided. Poles were forced to leave their homes and properties behind to be occupied by ethnic Germans brought in from occupied Europe.

YOUTH IN NAZI GERMANY

Hitler felt that a strong Nazi society could be established by teaching Nazi ideology to children.All schools were given German teachers. Children were divided into two groups — desirable and 3undesirable. Textbooks were rewritten, functions of sports in schools was to nurture the spirit of violence and aggression. Ten-year-olds had to enter Jungvolk. At 14, all boys joined ‘HitlerYouth’, they joined the Labour Service at 18.

The Nazi Cult of Motherhood — Women were told to be good mothers and rear pure blooded Aryan children. They were encouraged to produce many children.

The Art of Propaganda —the Nazi regime used language and media with care and often to great effect. They used films, pictures, radio, posters, etc. to spread hatred for Jews

Crimes against Humanity — People saw the world through Nazi eyes and spoke the Nazi language. At times even the Jews began to believe in the Nazi stereotypes about them.

Knowledge about the Holocaust —It was only after the war ended that people came to know about what had happened. The Jews wanted the world to know about the atrocities and sufferings they had endured during the Nazi killing operations. They just wanted to live, even if it was for a few hours, to tell the world about the Holocaust. SUMMATIVE 

Class 9 Notes - CHAPTER 2: SOCIALISM IN EUROPE AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION CONCEPTS THE AGE OF SOCIAL CHANGE

Liberals: Wanted a nation which tolerated all religions. They argued for an elected Parliamentary government, subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that was Independent of rulers and officials. They were not democrats.

Radicals: Wanted a nation in which government was based on the majority of a country’s Population. They disliked concentration of property in hands of a few, not the existence of private property.

Conservatives: They resisted change. After the revolution they started accepting changeProvided it was slow and had links and respected the past.

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION:

Economy and Society: Most of the Russian population were agriculturalist. Industries were being set up which was mostly private property of industrialists. Workers were divided into groups but they get united to strike work when they were dissatisfied. Peasants had no respect for nobility, very unlike the French peasant. Russian peasants were the only peasant community which pooled their land and their commune divided it.

Socialism in Russia: All political parties were illegal in Russia before 1914.

The Russian Socialist Democratic Labour Party was formed in 1900. It struggled to give peasants their rights over land that belonged to nobles. As land was divided among peasants periodically and it was felt that peasants and not workers would be the main source of the revolution. But Lenin did not agree with this as he felt that peasants were not one social group. The party was divided into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.

The 1905 Revolution: Russia was an autocracy. The Tsar was not subject to the parliament. Liberals wanted to end this state of affairs. They worked towards demanding a constitution during the Revolution of 1905.

Bloody Sunday: Prices of essential goods rose so quickly by 1904 that the real wages declined by 20%. During this time, four members of the Putilov Iron Works were dismissed. Action was called for. Over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike demanding a reduction in working hours and increase in wages. This procession was attacked by the police and Cossacks. Over 100 workers were killed. Strikes took place as a reaction. People demanded a constituent assembly. The Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. The Tsar dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and announced the election of a second Duma.

The First World War and the Russian Empire : In Russia, the war was initially very popular but later the support grew thin. Anti-German sentiments ran high. Russian armies lost badly in Germany and Austria. There were 7 million casualties and 3 million refugees in Russia. The war also affected the industry. There was labour shortage, railway lines were shut down and small workshops were closed down. There was shortage of grain and hence of bread.

THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION IN PETROGRAD EVENTS:

In the winter of 1917, Petrograd was grim. There was food shortage in the workers’ quarters.

22 February: a lockout took place at a factory. Workers of 50 other factories joined insympathy. Women also led and participated in the strikes. This came to be called the International Women’s Day An officer was shot at the barracks of a regiment and other regiments mutinied, voting to join the striking workers gathered to form a soviet or council. This was the Petrograd Soviet.A delegation went to meet the Tsar, military commanders advised him to abdicate.The Tsar abdicated on 2nd March.

A Provincial Government was formed by the Soviet and Duma leaders to run the country.The people involved were the parliamentarians, workers, women workers, soldiers and military commanders.

Effects:

Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed.Soviets were set up everywhere.

In individual areas factory committees were formed which began questioning the way industrialists ran their factories. Soldiers’ committees were formed in the army.The provisional government saw its power declining and Bolshevik influence grow. It decided to take stern measures against the spreading discontent.It resisted attempts by workers to run factories and arrested leaders.

Peasants and the socialist revolutionary leaders pressed for a redistribution of land. Land committees were formed and peasants seized land between July and September 1917.

OCTOBER REVOLUTION:

16th October 1917 — Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power. A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviet to organise seizure.

Uprising began on 24th October. Prime Minister Kerenskii left the city to summon troops.Military men loyal to the government seized the buildings of two Bolshevik newspapers. Progovernment troops were sent to take over telephone and telegraph offices and protect the Winter Palace.In response Military Revolutionary Committee ordered to seize government offices and arrest the ministers.The ‘Aurora’ ship shelled the Winter Palace. Other ships took over strategic points.By night the city had been taken over and ministers had surrendered.

All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd approved the Bolshevik action.Heavy fighting in Moscow by December, the Bolsheviks controlled the Moscow - Petrograd area. The people involved were Lenin, the Bolsheviks, and troops (pro-government).

Effects

Most of the industries and banks were nationalised in November 1917.Land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.Use of old titles was banned.New uniforms were designed for the army and officials.Russia became a one party state.Trade unions were kept under party control.A process of centralised planning was introduced. This led to economic growth.Industrial production increased.An extended schooling system developed.Collectivisation of farms started.

The Civil War- When the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution; the Russian army began to break up. Non-Bolshevik socialists, liberals and supporters of autocracy condemned the Bolshevik uprising. They were supported by French, American, British and Japanese troops. All these fought a war with the Bolsheviks.

Making a Socialist Society — The Bolsheviks kept industries and banks nationalised during the civil war. A process of centralised planning was introduced. Rapid construction and industrialisation started. An extended schooling system developed.

Stalin and Collective Farming — Stalin believed that rich peasants and traders stocked supplies to create shortage of grains. Hence, collectivisation was the need of the hour. This system would also help to modernise farms. Those farmers who resisted collectivisation were punished, deported or exiled.

GLOBAL INFLUENCE:

By the 1950s, it was recognised in the country and outside that everything was not in keeping with the ideals of the Russian revolution. Though its industries and agriculture had developed and the poor were being fed, the essential freedom to its citizens was being denied. However, it was recognised that social ideals still enjoyed respect among the Russians. But in each country the ideas of socialism were rethought in a variety of different ways.

Class 9 Notes - CHAPTER 1: The French Revolution

French Society Before the Revolution

1774, King Louis XVI ascended the throne of France at the age of 20. He was married to Marie Antoinette and led an extravagant life.

He decided to support the American War of Independence and hence increased France’s debt to over 3 billion Livres.

The 18^th century French society was divided into three estates. The first estate consisted of the clergy.

The second estate comprised the nobility while the third estate, which formed about 97% of the population, consisted of the merchants, officials, peasants, artisans and servants.

The clergy and nobility did not have to pay any taxes. It was only the third estate that paid taxes. A part of third class called the middle class was part of the third estate. This group consisted of educated people such as teachers, lawyers, artisans and merchants.  They started to question the privileges being enjoyed by the nobility.

In the midst these thoughts, the increase in the price of bread added to the existing taxes, resulting in riots. King Louis decided to convene the Estates General and put forth his proposal.

Outbreak of the Revolution

The financial condition in France was in a pitiable state. Louis had almost bankrupted France with a 3 million livre debt. In order to increase the taxes to offset this permission was needed from all three estates.

The Estates General was convened on 5th May 1789 at Versailles comprising representatives from all three estates.

The members of the third estate gathered on 20th June, 1789 in Versailles and declared themselves as the National Assembly and decided to draft a constitution that would limit the powers of the King.

Their key leaders were Mirabeau and Abbe Sieyes. On August 4th 1789 Louis recognized the National Assembly and agreed to abide by their framework. The National Assembly abolished the feudal system of taxes, tithes and the special privileges enjoyed by the clergy and nobles by birth.

France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

So the recognition of the National Assembly by King Louis and him agreeing to their demands was a victory for the entire Third Estate.

 

In 1791, the National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution. As per the new constitution, France became a constitutional monarchy with the King, or the Executive, having to share power with the legislature and the Judiciary.

 

Only men who were older than 25 years and who paid taxes were allowed to vote. The constitution commenced with the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

 

It stated that the right to life, to freedom of speech, to freedom of opinion and to equality before the law were intrinsic to all human beings.

 

Visual symbols were used to share the message to the uneducated and illiterate people:

•       The broken chains stood for freedom

•       The blue white and red symbolized the national colours of France

•       The Red Phrygian cap was a sign of freedom and was worn by slaves when they became free

•       The all seeing eye stood for knowledge

•       The self devouring snake indicated eternity

•       The bundle of rods of fasces indicated strength in unity

•       The winged woman stood for the law

•       The sceptre was a symbol of royal power

•       The tablet also known as the law tablet signified equality

 

All women and children, and men who did not fall into the category of active citizens, were termed passive citizens, and were denied the right to vote.

 

The preamble to the constitution of 1791 consisted of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. These rights included the rights to life, the freedom of speech, the freedom of opinion and equality before the law.

France Becomes a Republic

The National Assembly succeeded in making France into a constitutional monarchy. King Louis XVI deprived of all his powers conspired to dissolve the National Assembly with the King of Prussia, Frederick William II.

The most successful political club was Jacobins, headed by Maximilian Robespierre. Jacobins were also

called sansculottes which meant ‘those without knee breeches’. They wore long striped trousers similar to dock workers and wore a red Phrygian cap that symbolized liberty.

On August 10, 1792 people stormed the palace of the Tuileries where King Louis and his family were hostage. On September 21, 1792 a new assembly called the Convention was formed and France was declared a Republic.

The national committee put King Louis on trial and found him guilty. On January 21, 1793, King Louis was beheaded while Queen Marie Antoinette was guillotined on October 16th of the same year. 

The Reign of Terror

King Louis was executed on 21st January 1793 at the Palace de la Concorde followed by the execution of the queen. The year following the formation of the French republic is referred to as the reign of terror.

Maximilian Robespierre suspended the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Robespierre started executing people he suspected of counter-terrorist activities.

 

Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern Chemistry, famous for discovering Oxygen and Hydrogen was executed.

 

Many rules were enforced on social and economic front. Camille Desmoulins, a revolutionary journalist opposed the Reign of Terror but was eventually executed.

 

In July 1794, Robespierre was charged with treason and sentenced to death. With the death of Robespierre ended the reign of terror.

Did Women have a Revolution?

 Women came into the forefront on October 5, 1789, when they marched to Versailles and brought King Louis the sixteenth back to Paris.

 

The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was formed in 1793 to voice its opinion and grievances against the constitution of 1791 which denied them the right to vote.

 The eminent writer and political activist, Olympe de Gouges opposed the constitution and the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen of 1791. She later drafted the Declaration of Rights for Women and Citizen.

 

Olympe de Gouges was charged with treason and was guillotined on November 2, 1793.

 

The revolution carried out by the women of France triggered the international suffrage movement, for the next two centuries. As a result of this movement, in 1946, the women of France won the right to exercise their franchise and equal wages.

The Abolition of Slavery

Before the French Revolution in 1789, France had three colonies of the Caribbean - Martinique, Guadeloupe and San Domingo under its control. These places were major suppliers of sugar, coffee, indigo and tobacco.

 

The triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and America began in the 17^th century.

 

Merchants sailed from the French ports to the African coast where they bought Negroes, who are natives of Africa, from the local chieftains.

 

Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes were flourishing economically because of the slave trade.

 

The National Convention voted to abolish slavery in all the French colonies on February 4, 1794.

 

Slavery was reintroduced in the French colonies by Napoleon Bonaparte. Slavery was finally abolished in

1848 by the French Second Republic.

Revolution and Everyday Life

After 1789 there was a significant difference in the lives of the French people, in the way they dressed, the language they spoke and the books they read.

 

After the storming of the Bastille in July 1789, censorship was abolished.

 

The government put into practice the ideologies of liberty, equality and fraternity.

 

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen contained in the Preamble of the Constitution of 1791 asserted that every citizen had the right to freedom of speech and expression.

 

Written material such as newspapers, books, pamphlets and pictures were spread throughout France.

 

Printed pictures and paintings were circulated, and pamphlets and books were read aloud for the illiterate. Plays, songs and processions made it easy for the common people to grasp the revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and justice.

 

Freedom of the press in the Declaration of 1791 supported the right to oppose views of events. This paved way for political clubs to convince the others of their position through the medium of print.