CH-3 HISTORY CLASS IX (NAZISM AND RISE OF HITLER)

Q1. What were the terms of the ‘Treaty of Versailles’?

OR
Why was ‘Treaty of Versailles’ termed harsh and humiliating?
ANS. 1. Treaty of Versailles was harsh and humiliating for the Germans because:
1. Germany lost its overseas colonies.
2. It lost one tenth of its population and 13% of its territories.
3. It lost 75% of its iron and 26% of its coal to France, Poland, Denmark and Lithuania.
4. The Allied powers demilitarised Germany and their armies occupied the resource rich Rhine land.
5. According to the ‘War Guilt Clause’ Germany had to pay a compensation of 6 billion pounds to Allies.
Q2. Why was the Weimar Republic called November Criminals?
Ans. The Weimar Republic considered as the "November Criminals" because of the following reasons:-
1. It was forced to accept the Treaty of Versailles after Germany’s defeat at the end of the First World War.
2. The republic carried the burden of war guilt and national humiliation.
3. They became easy targets of attack by the conservatives.
Q3. What was the effect of WW 1 on European society and polity?
ANS.
1. The war drained the continent of Europe both psychologically and financially.
2. From a continent of creditors Europe turned into one of debtors.
3. Soldiers came to be placed above civilians.
4. Publicists laid stress on the need of men to be aggressive, strong and masculine.
5. Media glorified trench life.
6. War propaganda and national honour occupied a centre stage.
7. Democracy could not survive in many of the regions.
Q4. What were the causes of economic crisis in Germany around 1923?
OR
What do you understand by hyperinflation in Germany? What were its causes?
ANS. Definition of hyperinflation: A situation when prices rise phenomenally high. __
Causes:
1. Constant opposition to the Weimar Republic.
2. War reparations which were to be paid in gold.
3. Occupation of the Ruhr industrial region by the French.
4. Falling value of the German mark due to reckless printing of paper currency. It resulted in hyperinflation.

Q5. What were the reasons for the rise of Nazism in Germany?
ANS.
1. The economic crises and political radicalisation.
2. Weimar republic was fragile with numerous inherent defects.
3. Nazi propaganda promising better future and rebuilding of German economy.

Q6. List the events that led to the destruction of democracy in Germany.
OR
What led to the emergence of ‘dictatorship’ in Germany?
OR
What was the ‘Enabling Act of 1933’? Why was it passed?
ANS. The events that led to the destruction of democracy were:
 1. Hitler was offered the ‘Chancellorship’ on 30th January 1933. After acquiring power, Hitler set out to dismantle
the democratic rule.
2. A mysterious fire in the German Parliament building gave Hitler the golden opportunity to do so.
3. The ‘Fire Decree of 28th February 1933 suspended the civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly.
4. All political parties except the Nazi party and its affiliates were banned.
5. ENABLING ACT OF 3 MARCH 1933:
a) This act established dictatorship in Germany.
b) Hitler acquired the power to sideline the parliament and rule by decree.
c) The state established total control over economy, media, army and judiciary.
Q7. How did Hitler influence the people of Germany?
ANS.
1. Hitler was a powerful speaker and promised to build a strong nation.
2. He promised to undo the injustice of Treaty of Versailles and restore the dignity of the German people.
3. He promised to weed out all foreign influences and conspiracies against Germany.
4. He promised employment and secure future for the youth.
Q8. Explain Hitler’s reconstruction programme.
ANS.

1. Economist Hjalmar Schacht was responsible for the economic recovery through a reconstruction programme.
2. He helped to generate employment through a state funded work creation programme.
3. Hitler pulled out of League of Nations and reoccupied Rhineland.
4. He integrated Austria and Germany.
5. He took over Czechoslovakia with the silent support from England.
6. He believed in accumulation of resources through expansion of territory.
7. The ‘Tripartite Pact’ of 1940, between Germany, Italy, and Japan further strengthened Hitler’s power in Europe
and across the continents.

Q9. ‘Hitler’s march to power was a back door entry.’ Explain.

OR
What steps did Hitler take to systematically destroy democracy?
ANS.
1. Hitler systematically dismantled the democratic rule.
2. Fire in the parliament building, in February 1933, destroyed many documents.
3. The Enabling act passed on 3rd March 1933, gave Hitler the power to overrule the Parliament and rule by decree.
4. Most of his political opponents were sent to concentration camps.
5. All political parties and trade unions were banned.
6. The state had complete control over economy, media, army and judiciary.
7. Special surveillance and security forces were created to control and order the society in the ways that Nazi’s
wanted.

Q10. What was Nazi ideology for a racial state?

OR
What were the features of Nazi thinking?
Ans. The Nazi’s dreamt of creating an exclusive racial state of pure Germans.
1. Such a society was to have pure, healthy, blue-eyed Nordic Aryans. They alone were considered ‘desirable’.
2. Jews, Gypsies, Blacks and those with physical or mental disability were classed as racial inferiors and therefore
‘undesirable’.
 3. Even Russians and Poles were considered subhuman.
4. The so called ‘undesirable’ threatened the biological purity of the Aryan race; hence they were widely
persecuted.
5. Nazi hatred for Jews was based on pseudoscientific theories of race.
6. Nazis terrorised, pauperised and segregated the Jews.
7. General government (in Poland) became the final destination for all ‘undesirables’ where they were killed in gas
chambers.
Q11. What was the Nazi stereotype about the Jews?
Ans.
1. Jews were stereotyped as killers of Christ and usurers.
2. They were mocked, abused and described as evil.
3. Orthodox Jews were shown with flowing beards, wearing kaftans.
4. They were referred to as rats, vermin and pests.
5. They were made to live in separately marked areas called ‘Ghettos’.
6. They were persecuted through periodic organised violence.
7. Nazis believed that the only solution to the ‘Jewish Problem’ was their total elimination.
Q12. ‘The Nazi regime used language and media with care and to great effect.’ Explain.
OR
How did Nazis manage the propaganda against the Jews?
OR
Write a short note on the ‘Art of Propaganda’.
Ans. The Nazi regime used language and media with care and to great effect.
1. The terms they used for their methods were deceptive.
2. Mass killings were termed ‘special treatment, final solution’ for the Jews.
3. Killing of the disabled was termed as ‘euthanasia, selection and disinfections.
4. ‘Evacuation’ meant deporting people to gas chambers.
5. The gas chambers were called the ‘disinfection areas’ and looked like bathrooms with fake shower heads.
6. Propaganda films, posters, images, catchy slogans and leaflets were made to create hatred for the Jews.
7. Nazis made efforts to win the support of the Germans by suggesting that they alone could solve their problems.

Q13. Write a short note on

a) NAZI IDEOLOGY ON YOUTH:
1. Hitler strongly believed in teaching children Nazi ideology.
2. Schools were ‘cleansed and ‘purified’. Jewish teachers and children were thrown out of the schools
3. Good German children were given ideological training on the basis of racial science.
4. Children were taught to be loyal, hate Jews and worship Hitler
5. Sports were encouraged to teach violence and aggression.
6. 10 year old had to enter ‘Jungvolk’ and at 14 all boys had to join ‘Hitler Youth’.
7. Here they were taught to worship war, glorify aggression, condemn democracy and hate Jews, gypsies and
communists.
8. After a period of rigorous training they joined the Labour service at the age of 18. Then they had to serve the
armed forces.
b) NAZI CULT OF MOTHERHOOD (ROLE OF WOMEN IN NAZI SOCIETY):
1. Girls were told to be good mothers and rear pure blooded Aryan children.
2. They were to teach children Nazi values.
3. Those women who produced racially desirable children were awarded and given concessions on railway and
theatre tickets.
 4. Women were awarded a bronze cross for producing four children, a mother of six was given silver cross and a
mother of eight or more children was awarded a gold cross.
5. Aryan women who broke rules were publically punished.
c) GREAT ECONOMIC DEPRESSION IN USA IN 1929:
1. It occurred due to overproduction that led to the collapse of the Wall Street Exchange(American Stock Market)
in 1929.
2. Capitalists reduced the wages of the workers. Their goods remained unsold.
3. Factories shut down, exports fell and speculators withdrew their money from the market.
4. The national income of USA fell by half.
5. The effects of this recession were felt worldwide.
Q14. How was World War II started? What was Germany’s role in it?
OR
How far was Germany responsible for the World War II?
Ans.
1. Hitler chose war as the way out of the economic crisis. He believed in expansion of territory to increase
resources.
2. In Sept. 1939 Germany invaded Poland. This started a war with France and England.
3. In Sept. 1940 Tripartite Pact between Germany, Italy and Japan further increased Hitler’s power.
4. Germany then attacked Soviet Union in June 1941.
5. USA was dragged into the war after the bombing of US Naval base at Pearl Harbour by Japan.
6. The war ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat and US dropping atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Q15. How did the world come to know about the Holocaust?
Ans.
1. The information about the Nazi atrocities could be realized only after the defeat of Germany at the World War.
2. The documents found in some of the ghettos, diaries of the sufferers notebooks smuggled out by the victims are
the main sources of information.
3. The History and the memory of the Holocaust live on in the memoirs, stories,poetry, documentaries and
museums across the world.