the road to world war two

The First World War ended on the 11th November 1918 after 4 years and 10 million dead. The damage and destruction both physically and to humanity led to it being called 'The War to end all Wars'  Sadly, this was not the case. In 2 decades a second and much more deadly war would kill 60 million people across the globe . How did this happen?

the treaty of versailles

Every war needs a conclusion or a Treaty to finish it off. In June 1919 the Allied powers (Britain, France, Italy and the US) met in Paris. They drew up the TREATY OF VERSAILLES. ​

overview mindmap

Adolf Hitler was one of the most evil men in history. 

• He was an Austrian. 
• When he was younger he had a difficult family life. He had a difficult relationship with his father who bullied him.  He was adored and spoilt by his mother.  Both his parents died when Hitler was relatively young.
• He went to Austria, where he failed to get into Vienna Art academy. This failure soon left him penniless and struggling on the streets of Vienna.  
• He as rescued in a way by the outbreak of World War 1.  He went to fight for Germany, winning the Iron cross and twice being badly injured. He was devastated & angry when Germany lost the war in 1918. 
• Many Germans like Hitler looked for people to blame for losing the war. One group of people Hitler blamed for was the Jews. Hitler noticed how some Jewish people spoke differently, dressed differently and had their own religion. He associated them with another hated political theory - Communism. To him they were 'different' and couldn't be 'proper' Germans

In the 1920's Hitler was put in prison for attempting to take over Germany in a failed revolution.  It was in prison that he wrote a book. It was called MEIN KAMPF ( My struggle) In the book he described all his political ideas. Many of them were based on hatred for other groups of people. Hitler would use these ideas to build up his Nazi party when he left prison.

​Hitler's aim was to INDOCTRINATE people. This means he wanted to BRAINWASH them into thinking what he and the Nazis thought. 
In order to have the Holocaust he would need the German people to support him. 
Hitler would use TWO different methods to control people: TERROR & PROPAGANDA

The lives of WOMEN were completely changed by the Nazis.  Hitler had very clear ideas about their role in his Nazi Germany.  These ideas were summed up in the THREE K's:

The Nazis regarded women as inferior (weaker) to men BUT they also thought they had an important role in Nazi society. 

The ideal German women should:

• Be a HOMEMAKER.
• Have as many children as possible!  - The Nazis even gave a GERMAN MOTHERHOOD MEDAL for mothers of over 4 children! The Nazis wanted the birth rate to increase as part of their aim to create a Great German nation and large German army to achieve this!
• They should NOT smoke, dye their hair  or wear their hair short as this was considered unladylike
  - They should devote their lives to their racially pure husband and children
  - They should not have a job
  - They should wear flat shoes 
  - They should not be too slim - as this discouraged pregnancy

The lives of women were profoundly affected by Nazi rule. This affected women in many ways:

1) EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS
​A women's role, according to the Nazis, was at home. Therefore from 1933 they were discouraged from work.  Some women were forced from their jobs especially in government jobs, law or medicine.  They were not counted on the unemployment registers. Their jobs were then given to unemployed men to help fulfil Nazi promises of reducing unemployment.

2) UNIVERSITY RESTRICTIONS
​Women were also discouraged from further education / university. They were restricted to 10% of university places. Education was not necessary for those who were supposed to get married and have children. ​

3) ORGANISATIONS
​Before the Nazis came to power there were many different women's organisations. In 1933 these were all brought under one body - THE WOMEN'S FRONT.  

• This was led by Gertrude Scholtz- Klink
• They organised Mother's schools  to train women in household and parenting skills.
• It organised courses, lectures and radio programmes on household topics

4) CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

• MARRIAGE LOANS were provided under the Law for the encouragement of Marriage (1933) It allowed for newly married couples to apply for a Special loan of 1000 Reichsmarks. This was the equivalent of about 9 months salary (About £16,000 today) The repayments for this loan were reduced by 25% for each child born. Therefore if there were four children born there was nothing to pay off. It encouraged couples to have bigger families. Up to 800,000 couples took up this offer. 
• PEOPLES WELFARE ORGANISATION was set up in 1933 to provide financial assistance to poorer families. 
• THE MOTHERHOOD CROSS: This was a special cross awarded to mothers on August 12th (Hitler's mothers birthday) A Bronze cross was for 4 children ; A Silver cross was for 6  children. A Gold cross is for 8 Children and was presented by Hitler personally. Passers by had to give the Hitler salute to mothers displaying the Gold Motherhood cross. 
• CONTRACEPTION became very difficult to obtain and Abortion was given the death penalty. 
• CHILDLESS COUPLES: were allowed to get divorce much more easily so they could marry again and find a suitable partner. It was even encouraged for husbands to have affairs. 
• LEBENSBORN (Spring of Life) These were special homes where unmarried women could visit to become pregnant by aryan SS men. Up to 20,000 children were born this way. ​

6) PUNISHMENTS
​A concentration camp devoted to women who opposed the Nazis or whose behaviour was unacceptable was set up in Moringen.

• Prisoners included political opponents, Communists, Jehovah's witnesses or those women who had broken the Nuremberg laws by marrying a Jew for example.
• The infamous Ravensbruck camp was set up later in the war for female inmates. ​

7) PERSONAL RESTRICTIONS:
​As has been discussed earlier women also faced other restrictions to their appearance and actions which affected their freedoms and even the way they looked, dressed and acted.

Young people were highly valued in Nazi society. Hitler had recognised how important they would be since the start of the party in the 1920's. The HITLER YOUTH was one of the first organisations he set up in 1926.
Young people were important for a number of reasons:

1. They could be easily indoctrinated to become devoted Nazis. The Nazis saw indoctrination (brainwashing) of young people with Nazi ideas as the key to the future control of Germany.  .The earlier they were indoctrinated, the less likely they would be to question Nazi ideas in adulthood  
2. They could also form key parts of Hitler's ideology - BOYS would  help build up the army and create a Greater Germany ;  GIRLS: would be future housewives and mothers building up the German population.