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Ethan Young
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TEACHER COMMENTS

Packet #1: Hitler

Assertion 1 Idea: The Rise of Hitler

Question 1: What was the state of Germany prior to Hitlers coming to power?
EV: APPROVED CAPITALIZE WORDS WHICH NEED TO BE CAPITALIZED
Humiliated, early in 1919 they were forced to sign the treaty of Versailles, which officially
brought the conflict to a close and imposed very harsh penalties on Germany. The country
had to cede some of its best territories to the victors, pay huge reparations, and overall lost
much power and prestige. The traumatic effect the loss of the war had on the German people
cannot be overstressed.

Source #: 1
Citation: Don Nardo, PG 21
Question 2: How did Hitler gain support of the people?
EV: APPROVED Hitler used his own skills of oratory to appeal to the patriotism of the German
people by promising to break free of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. His aim of
ending the payment of reparations was especially popular. Hitlers plans to re-arm Germany
were also popular. By recruiting a large army and building a whole new navy and air force, he
would be able to reduce unemployment. With so many people out of work, this was an
appealing prospect. Germanys economy was in such a poor state that Hitlers promise of
strong government and stability was widely supported and not least by industrialists. By
attacking Jews in the world of business, Hitler appealed to their non-Jewish rivals.
Source #: 2
Citation: London Jewish Cultural Centre, Propaganda and Promises
Question 3: How did Hitler solidify power? (if you dont know what solidify means, google it)
EV: On February 27, 1933less than a month after Hitler had been named chancellorthe
Reichstag building burned down; blame fell on a young Dutch communist, but it may have
been a Nazi plot. Hitler seized the opportunity to convince members of the Reichstag to
approve an emergency decree that that legalized Nazi thuggery. Soon, he convinced the
center-to-right parties of the Reichstag to grant the government the freedom to decree laws
without parliamentary approval for the next four years. By July 1933 all political parties except
the NSDAP had been dissolved. Following the death of President von Hindenburg in August
1934, Hitler combined the roles of chancellor and president and assumed control of the
countrys military forces. With complete control of the country, Hitler initiated a new German
society that became known as the Third Reich; he proclaimed it would last 1,000 years. Not
content to rule Germany, he followed a policy of Lebensraum (living room) to seize lands
outside Germany to allow the German people to expand their living space.

APPROVED
Source #: 3
Citation: World History Group, Adolf Hitler

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Assertion 2 Idea: Hitlers maintenance of power
Question 1: How did Hitler improve/take steps to improve the economy?
EV: Hitler saw unemployment as a waste of resources, as any man not working was not
contributing to his country and therefore was not contributing to the war effort.
WAY MORE
Source #: 4
Citation: Marked by Teachers,

How did Hitler and the Nazis change the German economy and the lives of
Germany workers between 1933 and 1936?

Question 2: How did Hitler use his military to maintain control/expand his reign? (if you
dont know what reign means, google it)

EV: his expansion was bloodless. He renounced the terms of the Treaty of Versailles that
had ended the Great War and reclaimed land that had been ceded to France. When German
tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia, it was to "liberate" the Sudetenland where the population
was largely German. The Czechs expected Britain and France to stand by agreements to
protect the country, but with memories of the slaughter that had marked the First World War,
those countries chose to negotiate a settlement that preserved "peace in our time" at the
expense of the Czechs. Austria was the next country annexed.
OKAY - NOT GREAT
Source #: 5
Citation: World History Group, Adolf Hitler
Question 3: How did Hitler maintain control over the people/manipulate the people to
maintain control?
EV: APPROVED The Nazi Party took control of every area of life in Germany. A secret
police force was set up, the "Geheime Staats Polizei" (Gestapo). This was used to spy on
people at all times. Germans learned to keep their mouths shut. Any sign of complaint
could lead to arrest and "re-education" or to complete disappearance. In every block of
flats there was a warden who checked on people's comings and goings. The Nazis
controlled all books and newspapers, films and radio programmes. Any writers, painters
or composers that the Nazis did not approve of were banned. These included:
Mendelssohn, a German composer who was Jewish; Van Gogh, a Dutch painter who was
an impressionist; and H G Wells, a British novelist who wrote a book called "The Shape
of Things to Come" in which he predicted that a Second World War would lead to the
destruction of the world. MAYBE BRING IN HITLER YOUTH

APPROVED
Source #: 6
Citation: Modern World History, Nazi Germany

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Assertion 1 Idea: Hitlers fall from power
Question 1: When did things begin to go terribly wrong for Hitler?
EV: APPROVED BUT ADD IN THEY ARE ALLIES In mid-1944, before D-Day, Russia was
already unstoppable, even without an invasion of France. The part of the western allies was of
course very significant. The threat of an invasion that kept a significant part of the German
forces in the West, the air war that increasingly eroded Germany's ability to support its war
effort, and the continuing massive material support of the western allies to Russia, were all
very important contributing factors. But I think we can agree that by mid-1944 Germany was
already losing the war, because although it kept fighting fiercely, it could not stop Russia's
massive continued advance all over Eastern Europe, en route to Berlin.
Source #: 7
Citation: 2worldwar2,
The Russians had completely surrounded Berlin with an array of military might. it included
some 2.5 million well-armed and battle-hardened troops, 42,000 artillery pieces, 6,250 Tanks,
and 7,560 war planes. To meet this juggernaut, Hitler had only 44,000 soldiers and another
45,000 old men and young boys, every two of whom had to share a rifle.

Source #: 1
Citation: Don Nardo PG 87
Question 2: How did military losses in WWII affect the stability of Hitlers rule?
Many german generals had long before this recognized that their cause was hopeless, and
the new enemy onslaught only reinforced this conclusion. But Hitler refused to consider any
notions of defeat or surrender; it would be better if every man, woman, and child in Germany
died, he told some of associates. Fed up with the fuhrers fatalistic attitude, a group of officers
decided to take matters into their own hands. They were led by Colonel Claus S. von
Stauffenberg. He came to the conclusion that Hitlers lunatic disregard for human decency
had so besmirched the the name of the German fatherland that it stank in the nostrils of
civilized men everywhere. He would assassinate this madman and bring an end to the
senseless war.
MORE - I NEED TO KNOW THAT THE ATTEMPT FAILED
Source #: 1
Citation: Don Nardo, PG 84
Question 3: How did the peoples loss of faith in Hitler affect his rule/control of the country?
His generals and soldiers were cowards, Hitler charged, and everyone he had trusted had
betrayed him. On hearing that Himmler had, on his own initiative, begun secret peace
negotiations with the Western Allies, the fuhrer whined: Nothing now remains! Nothing is

spared me! No loyalty is kept, no honor observed! There is no bitterness, no betrayal that has
not yet been heaped upon me!
WEAK
Source #: 1
Citation: Don Nardo, PG 89
Question 4: How does Hitler die?
APPROVED (April 30th, 1945)Hitler swallowed a lethal dose of cyanide, after which Eva shot
him in the left temple with a revolver. Then she took the same poison, curled up beside him,
and expired. Some subordinates carried the bodies up to the chancellery courtyard, soaked
them in gasoline and set them ablaze.
DATES PLEASE
Source #: 1
Citation: Don Nardo, PG 90