How Did Hitler Use Conscription In Germany

The Treaty of Versailles had prohibited Anschluss with Austria and excluded 750,000 Germans from Germany. There was a large German community in Austria as well as the area of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia and the Polish Corridor. Hitler had promised the German people to incorporate all the Germans into the Third Reich and according to Churchill, Hitler “made it clear that the path to power lay through aggression and violence” (Churchill, 1948, pg.43). He promised the Germans that he would do anything necessary to achieve his goal.

Once in power Hitler quickly established himself as dictator. He started hauling off thousands of anti-Nazis to concentration camps. The economy, the media, and all cultural activities were brought under Nazi authority by making an individual’s livelihood dependent on their political loyalty. His desire was to establish German rule over Europe and other parts of the world. He realized that this would lead to a European conflict and so he started his plan to conquer Europe by invading Poland in 1939 and started World War ll . The war started off good for the Germans but once the United States entered the war they started to lose. As time passed, defeat became more certain, but Hitler refused to give up. Finally with all of Germany overrun by Allied

Then a month later President Hindenburg died, which made Hitler the head of state. This allowed him to control all aspects of Germany, and also allowed him to start rebuilding the military forces that had been ordered to disband with the passing of the Treaty of Versailles. This was probably the biggest step thus far that would send Germany to war yet again. Along with that he had personally taken over as leader of the military when Werner von Blomberg had openly told Hitler that he disagreed with him about having the military ready to go to war as soon as 1938. (Shire, 1960) Over the next few months he had stripped 16 generals and had 44 more transferred because they were believed to not be sufficiently pro-Nazi.

Hitler promised Germany that he would build up their army, totally re-arm them. He believed he also had the right to militarize the Rhineland, and place troops on his own frontier. Building up their army would in turn provide Germany with many jobs lost in the Great Depression. Austria was also economically unstable at the time. Hitler also promised that he would unite with Austria, and to solve their problems as well.

World War II was a devastating war where millions of soldiers and civilians died. Adolf Hitler played a huge part in World War II and was one of the major reasons the war happened. Hitler started to take over countries like Austria with little or no resistance. When he later tried to invade Poland, Britain declared war. Even though there was very little fighting at the time Britain declared war. Hitler’s ideas and goals for Germany were what initially caused World War II and later led to the holocaust. His need for more space for Germany led him to start taking over countries and initially started the war with Britain and he wanted a superior Aryan race which is the reason for the Holocaust. Hitler stated the three reasons for starting this war in his Journal Mein Kampf. His goals were to get rid of the Treaty of Versailles, make a Greater Germany, and he wanted more living space for his people.

As stated in the New York Times, "...Germany today cast off the last shackles fastened upon her by the Treaty of Versailles when Adolf Hitler, as commander-in-chief of the Reich defense forces, sent his new battalions into the Rhineland’s demilitarized zone. . . ." (Document3). Hitler had challenged every condition in the Treaty of Versailles and violated every negotiation made. Territorial aggression and pushed every limit he was given, that disrupted peace. Hitler himself expresses his idea as stated "Oppressed territories are led back to the bosom of a common Reich, not by flaming protests, but by a mighty sword" (Document1). He also, rebuilt the German military and used extreme nationalism to unite Germany. A British historian, A.J.P Taylor expressed, " ...Hitler when he had come to power by constitutional means and was apparently supported by a large majority of the German people?"(Document8). Hitler had gathers supporters through his ideas and his speeches of hope. Hitler's leadership threatened the whole continent of Europe's peace. If his leadership was the ignition to the fire then state or the economy kept the fire running through the

Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party used nationalism to great effect in Germany that spured the Second World World. After WWI, many Germans blamed the new government for accepting the unfair treaty as conditions became miserable. People who could not find jobs began to drift into the Communist and National Socialist parties established by Hitler. They decided that it was the necessary solution. In 1933, Hitler came to power as dictator of Germany and preached a racist brand of fascism. He promised to end the humiliating conditions caused by the German defeat in WWI. He knew how to win people's obedience and trust, through their fears and insecurities. He almost immediately got Germany back into the factories and began secretly building up army and weapons. His real motives were to expand German territory and dominate Europe and the whole world that became the prelude to another war.

Hitler’s rise to power was the result of many factors, but Hitler’s ability to take advantage of Germany’s poor leadership and economical and political conditions was the most significant factor. His ability to manipulate the media and the German public whilst taking advantage of Germany’s poor leadership resulted in both the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler and the nazi party. During the early 1920s, Germany was struggling with economic instability and political uncertainty. Germany, after being defeated in the Great War, was forced to sign the unforgiving treaty of Versailles, which the Weimar Republic was held responsible for. This brought forward feelings of fear, anger and

Hitler from the start of his chancellorship, on the 31st of January 1933, knew that if he wanted to make Germany strong again he would have to be prepared to go to war. In 1933 he began the secret equipment of the German army, so he came public with this plan in 1935. Also the economic distress in Weimar Germany and by having their ‘brown shirts’, the Nazis became a governmental force. On January 30 1933, Hitler was placed in a position take power when he was appointed Reich president by President Paul von Hindenburg. Although Britain and France were aware of Hitler’s plans, they were probably more concerned about the rise of socialism and believed that a stronger Germany might help to prevent the spread the socialism to the western side. In this paragraph I have explained how evil Hitler was involved in causing World War 2, the plans he had and the fear of socialism was going to be stop by a strong Germany.

The Treaty of Versailles left Germany extremely vulnerable to invasion, making them scared and searching for a leader. Many Germans disagreed with the treaty because it weakened their country. Hitler despised the Treaty of Versailles because he wanted Germany to be in power again. His anger towards the treaty motivated him to strive for power. In order to rise to power, he manipulated people by reminding them of propositions of the treaty that they disagreed with and promising to change

On the other hand, the army was a symbol of pride, therefore, to have such a small army was humiliating for them and after the Treaty, Hitler managed to use this into his favour as he kept reminding Germans of this humiliation and consequently, he gained more support. Hitler came into power because he wanted to overthrow the Treaty of Versailles and restore German pride and consequently gain more support. Hitler succeeded to make the Germans believe that the Jews and the leaders who signed the treaty were to be blamed and eventually called them November Criminals. He clearly portrayed those ideas in his book, Mein Kampf, which he wrote when he was in prison following a disastrous outcome of the Munich putsch. He had realised that he could take control of Germany by force, so, he managed to increase his support by displaying how the Treaty of Versailles was impacting Germany. He particularly wanted to rearm Germany following its disarmament as per the Treaty. German citizens hated the fact that they had to disarm and Hitler managed to use this hatred to convince them and gain

After World War I, Germany was deeply influenced by Hitler’s ideology. He was able to influence a nation to support his view of an superior race and Germany would be a great nation again. The field of social psychology can be applied to how Hitler was able to manipulate his country into following his ideology. One tactic that Hitler used was the foot in the door phenomenon. By fulfilling little promise to the people of Germany, the citizen were more likely to agree with bigger demands under Hitler’s authority. The conditions after World War I was idea for Hitler to gain a foot in the door. The economy in Germany crashed and left with a massive debt because of the war. When Hitler promised to make Germany great again and created more jobs for

Living space then, was a necessary objective in Hitler 's eyes, but in order to achieve this space he needed to develop Germany 's army first. So he did. Between 1933 and 1939 the Treaty of Versailles was secretly avoided to massively increase the size of the German army, from 100,000 to 300,00017. The Luftwaffe, German air force, also rapidly increased and by 1940 it was the strongest among all the European powers. The German war machine was impressive, in just six years it went from being the weakest army to one of the strongest18. However, this created a vicious circle in terms of foreign policy for Germany: Hitler wanted living space, so he built up the army. However, in order to pay for this rapid rearmament, he had to conquer territories. Thus, Hitler made war profitable and a key part of the foreign policy of Germany19.

Like many Germans, Hitler believed that the Treaty of Versailles was unjust. He hated the Treaty and the German politicians were in his view, “November Criminals”. The worst aspect of the Treaty was that it was a reminder to the Germans of their defeat in the First World War and their humiliation by the Allies. His promise to the German people was that if he was the leader of Germany he would reverse this. By the time Hitler came to power, some of these terms had already been changed. The

Through the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression of 1929, and political appointment by incompetent yet manipulative government officials, Adolf Hitler was able to silently rise to power in Germany, consequently causing the Second World War.