The end of hostilities in World War I brings whirlwind change to a vanquished Germany. As the country struggles to transition from an imperial regime to a fledgling democracy, a series of punitive measures imposed by Allied victors in the Treaty of Versailles cripples the German economy and fuels a growing resentment toward the new government. Adolf Hitler, a native Austrian who fought with the Germans during the Great War, begins electrifying crowds with blistering tirades against those in power who “betrayed” the German people. He also vilifies German Jews, casting them to blame for most of the country’s domestic ills. Pledging a German rebirth and return to global prestige, Hitler’s Nazi Party swells with followers, and in 1932, wins a plurality of seats in the Reichstag (Parliament). Though Hitler loses the presidential election to a popular incumbent, he is appointed chancellor—essentially the head of government—as a conciliatory gesture.
GERMANY
German troops parade through Berlin
- PRELUDE TO WAR
- GERMANY
When the incumbent dies in 1934, Hitler abolishes the elected office of president, and, with the backing of the military, his own paramilitary force (the SS) and the Reichstag, becomes dictator with absolute power. He begins rapidly rebuilding the German military as his government strips German Jews of their political and civil rights. In 1938, a fully re-armed Germany annexes Austria and Czechoslovakia without firing a shot. Britain and France protest but remain idle, unwilling to risk conflict, and an emboldened Hitler soon looks east, toward Poland and the Soviet Union, where abundant natural resources await.
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