U5D16 - Review: Lead-up to World War II

Hitler was able to gain the support of the people by exploiting the economic conditions in the Weimar Repu

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Hitler's Rise to Power

• Hyperinflation - Prices were going up and the value of money was going down.

  • The government tried fixing this by printing more money.

  • This only made money less valuable and therefore less usable.

Economic Conditions in the Weimar Republic

• Adolf Hitler exploited this frustration to rise to power

• He blamed the Weimar Republic for the crashed economy and claimed it was time for change

Hitler Exploits Economic Frustration

World War II officially began on September 1, 1939, when Adolf Hitler ordered the Nazi invasion of Poland.

In less than a month, Poland surrendered to the Nazis.

World War II Begins

• August 1939: Nazi Germany and the USSR sign a non-aggression pact.

• This means they agreed to support one another in World War II.

The Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

• Hitler and Stalin were complete opposites of each other, and believed the other was evil incarnate.

• Hitler didn't want Stalin as an enemy right away, so he formed an alliance with him.

Why is the non-agression pact significant?