Lecture Summary: Rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany

1930s Context

• Germany's Transformation: From a defeated WWI nation to a military powerhouse.
• Key Figure: Adolf Hitler's role in reinvigorating Germany and promoting war.

Weimar Germany

• Energy and Terror: New energetic movements and the role of terror in dictatorship.
• Hitler's Magnetism: Ability to rally masses and influence people; developed during his time in Landsberg Prison.

Historical Background

• 19th Century Germany: Powerful, prosperous, and advanced. Highly militarized under the Hohenzollern monarchy.
• Britain's Fear: Of Germany's growing industrial and military capabilities.
• Imperial Ambitions: Germany sought to be a major European imperial state alongside others, causing tension.

Early Life of Hitler

• Austria-Hungary: Born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau. Unhappy childhood with a harsh father and protective mother.
• Vienna: Moved to study art, rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts. Influenced by café society, but struggled as an artist.
• Munich Move (1913): Driven by German nationalism and avoiding Austrian conscription.

World War I Experience

• Service: Joined German Army as a corporal, serving primarily as a battalion runner. Energetically supported the war effort.
• Awards and Injuries: Received the Iron Cross First and Second Class. Gassed in 1918.
• Impact: Developed deep resentment and belief in the