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Nazi's Form their own Political Party
At this time, the Nazi's (NSDAP) were a minor political party that idealized nationalism and used anti-Semitic ideas. This party evolved from Germany’s previous government called the Weimar Republic. -
Hitler assumes control of the Nazis
After originally being a spy for the army investigating the party, Adolf Hitler became the Nazi's fuehrer (absolute leader) and blamed the government along with all minority groups for Germany's problems. He created the Sturmabteilung (Brownshirt's) to fight and “deal with” opponents. -
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Hitler Is Arrested and the Nazis Gain Support
After trying to overthrow the government, Hitler got arrested which led to lots of publicity for the Nazi party. When he was released, he made the NSDAP an official party. While being popular with the farmers, they did not appeal with Germany’s Congress who refused to increase their representation. -
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The Great Depression
Due to the desperation of the people during the Great Depression that stemmed from the government’s mishandling of the economy, common folk turned to radical political parties to bring the country out of debt and poverty. This caused the Nazi’s representation in Congress to increase nine-fold, with them holding 230 seats by July of 1932. -
Concentration Camps Opening
Hitler started the building of concentration camps to hold prisoners, yet soon would use them to kill millions of Jews. -
The Chancellor's Deal
As support for his party continued to grow, Germany’s president still denied Hitler Chancellorship and instead gave it to defense minister Kurt von Schleicher. Franz Von Papen, Hitler’s ally, however, believed that with the right advisors, the Nazi’s radicalness could be curved while still maintaining their voting power. He convinced the President who then appointed Hitler to Chancellorship. -
The Reichstag Fire
Initially, Hitler had little power as Chancellor. This ultimately changed however, when there was a fire in the Congress Reichstag building that was found to be purposefully instigated. Hitler used this opportunity to seize control of the government by requesting the President to invoke emergency Article 48 which allowed the Chancellor to restrict the rights of the people and increase control. Since the article was written so vaguely, the Nazi’s were able to “set their own legal limits.” -
The Enabling Act
The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to rule without the Reichstag, the chancellor did not have to follow the constitution and were able to bypass laws without Reichstag approval, Nazis rigged the vote in order for Hitler to win -
Hindenburg’s Death and the Aftermath
German forces supported Hitler after he killed many leaders of his opposition (stormtroopers), months later, President Hindenburg died Hitler gained control of the government and was titled as fuehrer -
Rearmament
Hitler unveiled a Four-Year Plan in preparation for Germany to go to war, also reinstated the draft, after four years Germany had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and warcarfts -
The Rhineland
Hitler commanded German forces to invade Rhineland, breaking the Versailles Treaty, yet France and Great Britain did not combat the attack -
New Foreign Policy
Hitler introduced a new strategy to increase Germany's economic growth, stating the need to expand into Eastern Europe in order to gain more land and access to natural resources -
Anschluss
Hitler threatened the Austrian Chancellor with invasion if he did not give up his power to the Nazi group in Austria, and after not receiving foreign help, the chancellor resigned and Hitler combined governments with Germany and Austria -
Czechoslovakia and the Munich Agreement
Hitler stated that German people in Sudetenland were being oppressed by Czechs, and after meeting with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain multiple times, he agreed to meet his demands. However, Benito Mussolini and Edouard Daladier also discussed the crisis, where they signed an agreement, allowing immediate Nazi invasion of Sudetenland. Two days later the land was forcefully invaded with troops.