Nazi Germany 1933-1939
Personalities
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)
Adolf Hitler was the Dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. He first joined the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1920, hoping to achieve a greatness for his country that would wipe away the stigma of defeat from World War I. He found an outlet for this desire in the Nazi party, and his skills as a political speaker and politician added to his success.
Hindenburg, the President of the Weimar Republic, was reluctant to appoint Hitler chancellor. However, it was clear that the public favored the charismatic leader, and finally, in January of 1933, Hindenburg gave in. Later, the burning of the Reichstag building allowed Hitler to declare a national emergency, and the Enabling Act was passed which allowed Hitler to rule by decree.
With this new power, Hitler used the Nazi party to project his racist views against the Jews. However, he did not attribute this hate to simple racism, rather Hitler believed that the Germans were the highest form of humanity. Hitler twisted the theory of natural selection to conclude that the Jews were like parasites feeding off of a larger animal (Germany) and he needed to get rid of them before they destroyed the host. Thus, Hitler justified the mass genocide of the Jewish people with Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest.
World War II started in 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. Eventually with the combined forces of the United States, France, Britain, and Russia, Germany was beaten back and they surrendered. However, Hitler did not live to see the surrender. Seven days prior to the surrender, Hitler and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide in a Berlin bomb shelter.
Ernst Röhm (1887-1934)
Prior to his term in the Nazi party, Röhm served on the staff of the Army’s District Command VII in Munich. In appearance, Röhm’s stocky, scar faced visage was well suited for the position he later took as head of S.A. Like many Nazis of his time, Röhm engaged in homosexual activities, a fact which is often associated with members of the S.A. Röhm’s ambition was centered around the goal of creating a strong nationalist Germany through a party based on the lower classes. To actualize this goal, Röhm played a strong part in organizing the first Nazi strong-arm squads, which later evolved into the S.A. The S.A. was an army of brown-shirted storm troopers whom Röhm commanded until Hitler, in a ploy to get the army to submit to civilian control, gave the order to have all members of the S.A. murdered. This ploy came to be known as the Night of the Long Knives, and spelt the doom of the S.A. Röhm had worked so hard to create.
Herman Göring (1893-1946)
Göring joined the Nazi party in 1922, and helped organize the S.A. Prior to achieving the position of second in command to Hitler during the Third Reich, Göring helped Hitler gain power, as well as greatly expanding the Gestapo, or the State Police Force. Between 1933 and 1939 he enjoyed the most success of his career. However, during World War II, he proved incompetent, earning Hitler's disapproval. Because of this, his position and power in the government of the Third Reich deteriorated. He was found guilty of war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials, but he committed suicide prior to his execution.
Heinrich Himmler
In 1929 Hitler chose Himmler to lead a group of men who, at the time, were simply bodyguards. Prior to his contributions to the Nazi party, Himmler was a chicken farmer in the German city of Waldtrudering, near Munich. However, after being recruited by Hitler, Himmler transformed these bodyguards into a dominating force in the Nazi party which came to strike terror into the hearts of many. The S.S. was a division of the S.A., and was overseen by Röhm, whom Himmler despised. In June of 1933 the S.S. was ordered to execute all members of the S.A. This attempt by Hitler to gain the Army’s favor was a crowning moment in Himmler’s career, and came to be known as the Night of Long Knives.