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CBSE Class 9 History Notes Chapter 1 – The French Revolution

The French Revolution

In 1789, in the wake of early morning, the city of Paris was in a state of alarm.
Rumours spread that the King would open fire upon the citizens. People started
gathering, and they started breaking down a number of government buildings
in search of arms. The commander of the Bastille was killed in the armed fight,
and the prisoners were released. People hated the Bastille as it stood for the
despotic power of the king. People protested against the high price of bread. A
new chain of events began, which led to the execution of the King in France.

French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

Louis XVI, in 1774, ascended the throne of France. Financial France was
drained because of the war. France, under Louis XVI, helped the thirteen Amer-
ican colonies to gain their independence from Britain. Taxes were increased to
meet regular expenses, such as the cost of maintaining an army, the court, and
running government offices or universities. The country of France was divided
into three estates in the eighteenth century. The feudal system was part of the
society’s estates dating back to the middle ages. 90 percent of the population
was dominated by peasants, but only a small number of them owned the land
they cultivated. 60 percent was owned by nobles, the Church and other richer
members of the third estate. The clergy and the nobility, members of the first
two estates, enjoyed certain privileges by birth. These groups of members were
exempted from paying taxes and enjoyed feudal privileges. All members of the
third estate had to pay taxes to the state, which included a direct tax, called
taille, and a number of indirect taxes, which were levied on articles of everyday
consumption like salt or tobacco.

The Struggle to Survive

The increase in population led to a rapid increase in the requirement for food
grains. Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand, due to which
the price of bread rose rapidly. Due to the low wages paid to the labourers, the
gap between the poor and the rich widened. Things became worse whenever
drought or hail reduced the harvest.

A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges

Peasants used to participate in revolts against taxes and food scarcity. The
group of the third estate had become prosperous and had access to education
and new ideas. In the eighteenth century, new social groups emerged, termed
the middle class, who earned their wealth through expanding overseas trade
and by manufacturing woollen and silk textiles that were either exported or
bought by the richer members of society. The third estate included professions
such as lawyers or administrative officials. A person’s social position was de-
pendent on their merit.
All these groups were educated and believed that no group in society should be
privileged by birth. Rather, a person’s social position must depend on his merit.
A new form of government was proposed by Rousseau based on a social con-
tract between people and their representatives.

Similarly, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government be-

tween the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. In the USA, this model of
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government was put into force. Louis Louis XVI planned to impose further taxes
to meet the expenses.
The Outbreak of the Revolution
In France, the monarch didn’t have the power to impose taxes. They had to call
a meeting of the Estates-General, a political body to which the three estates
sent their representatives, to pass proposals for new taxes. Louis XVI, on 5 May
1789, called an assembly to pass proposals for new taxes. Representatives
from the first and second estates were present, and the third estate was repre-
sented by its prosperous and educated members. According to the principle,
each estate had one vote. But, representatives from the third estate demanded
each member would have one vote. The demand was rejected, so members of
the third estate walked out to protest. They swore not to disperse till a consti-
tution was drafted for France that would limit the powers of the monarch.

Due to the severe winter, bread prices rose, and people had to spend hours in
long queues. Rumours spread that the lords of the manor hired bands of brig-
ands to destroy the ripe crops. In fear, peasants started looting hoarded grain
and burnt down documents containing records of manorial dues. Nobles fled
from their homes. Louis XVI accorded recognition to the National Assembly and
accepted the principle that his powers would, from now on, be checked by a
constitution. The Assembly passed a decree abolishing the feudal system of
obligations and taxes on 4 August 1789. Tithes were abolished, and lands
owned by the Church were confiscated.

France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

In 1791, The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution, and its
main object was to limit the powers of the monarch. These powers were now
separated and assigned to different institutions – the legislature, executive and
judiciary. France became a constitutional monarchy.
Citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly, but un-
fortunately, not every citizen had the right to vote. Men above 25 years of age
who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage were entitled to
vote. The Constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citi-
zen. Rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, and
equality before the law were established as ‘natural and inalienable’ rights;
that is, they belonged to each human being by birth and could not be taken
away.

France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

In April 1792, the National Assembly voted for a war against Prussia and Aus-
tria. Marseillaise became the national anthem of France. While men were away
fighting in the war, women took care of their families. Large sections of the
population demanded that the revolution had to be carried further, as the Con-
stitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections of society. Po-
litical clubs were formed, and among them, Jacobins became the most success-
ful club. Members of the Jacobin club included small shopkeepers, artisans such
as shoemakers, pastry cooks, watch-makers, printers, as well as servants and
daily-wage workers. Jacobin members started wearing long striped trousers
similar to those worn by dockworkers. These Jacobins were called the sans-cu-
lottes, literally meaning ‘those without knee breeches’. On August 10 1792, Ja-
cobins stormed the Palace of the Tuileries and held the king hostage for several
hours. Elections were held, and all men of 21 years and above got the right to
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vote. The monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792, and France was de-
clared a republic. Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of
treason.

The Reign of Terror

The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror. People whom Robe -
spierre saw as enemies of the republic were arrested, imprisoned and then tried by a
revolutionary tribunal. If they were declared guilty by the court, then they were guil-
lotined. The guillotine is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a per -
son is beheaded, named after Dr Guillotin. Laws were issued to place a maximum ceil -
ing on wages and prices. Meat and bread were rationed. Expensive white flour was for-
bidden to use. Equality was practised through forms of speech and address. All French
men and women were addressed as Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen). In July 1794, he
was convicted by a court, arrested and the next day sent to the guillotine.

A Directory Rules France

The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize
power. According to the new constitution, non-propertied sections of society were de-
nied voting. It provided for two elected legislative councils. The government appointed
a Directory consisting of executives made up of five members. Political instability
paved the way for a military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Did Women have a Revolution?

Women were active participants from the beginning, which brought important changes
in the country of France. Women from the third estate had to work for a living, and
they didn’t have access to education or job training. Daughters of nobles of the third
estate were allowed to study at a convent. Working women also had to care for their
families. Compared to men, their wages were lower. Women also started their political
clubs and newspapers. The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was one
of the most famous women’s clubs. They demanded equal political rights as men, the
right to vote and to hold political office. The revolutionary government introduced laws
to improve the lives of women. Schooling became compulsory, divorce was made le-
gal, and they could run small businesses. During the Reign of Terror, the government
closed women’s clubs banning their political activities. After much struggle, women in
France in 1946 won the right to vote.

The Abolition of Slavery

Jacobin’s regime’s most revolutionary social reform was the abolition of slavery in the
French colonies. In the seventeenth century, the slavery trade began. Slaves were
brought from local chieftains, branded and shackled and packed tightly into ships for
the three-month-long voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Slave labour met
the growing demand in European markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo. Throughout
the eighteenth century, there was little criticism of slavery in France. In 1794, the Con-
vention legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas possessions. Napoleon in-
troduced slavery after ten years. In 1848, slavery was abolished in French colonies.

The Revolution and Everyday Life

France during 1789 saw changes in the lives of men, women and children. The aboli-
tion of censorship happened in the summer of 1789. Declaration of the Rights of Man
and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and expression to be a natural right. Free-
dom of the press meant opposing views of events could be expressed. Plays, songs
and festive processions attracted large numbers of people.
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Conclusion
Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804 and introduced many
laws, such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and
measures provided by the decimal system. Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in
1815. The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of
the French Revolution. Colonised peoples reworked the idea of freedom to create a
sovereign nation-state.

CBSE Class 9 Notes Chapter 2 – Socialism in Europe and the Russian

Revolution

The Age of Social Change

After the revolution, individual rights and social power began to be discussed in
many parts of the world, including Europe and Asia. Colonial development re-
shaped ideas of societal change, but everyone was not in favour of the com-
plete transformation of society. Through the revolution in Russia, socialism be-
came one of the most significant and powerful ideas to shape society in the
twentieth century.

Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives

Liberals wanted a nation which tolerated all religions. They opposed the uncon-
trolled power of dynastic rules and argued for a representative, elected parlia-
mentary government subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that
was independent of rulers and officials. They wanted a government based on
the majority of a country’s population. Conservatives, after the nineteenth cen-
tury, accepted changes but also believed the past needed to be respected and
change should begin slowly.

Industrial Society and Social Change

Industrial Revolution led to changes in social and economic life, new cities
came up, and new industrialised regions developed. Men, women and children
came to factories in search of work. But, unfortunately, working hours were
long, and wages were poor. There was unemployment during the time of low
demand for industrial goods. Liberals and radicals made wealth through trade
or industrial ventures. According to them, society can be developed if the free-
dom of individuals is ensured, if the poor can labour, and if those with capital
can operate without restraint. In France, Italy, Germany and Russia, revolution-
aries overthrow existing monarchs. Nationalists talked of revolutions to create
‘nations’ with equal rights.

The Coming of Socialism to Europe

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Socialism was a well-known body of ideas by the mid-nineteenth century in Eu-
rope. Socialists were against private property and saw it as the root of all social
ills of the time. They wanted to change it and campaigned for it. Robert Owen
(1771-1858) sought to build a cooperative community called New Harmony in
Indiana (USA). Louis Blanc (1813-1882) wanted the government to encourage
cooperatives and replace capitalist enterprises. Karl Marx (1818-1883) and
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) added other ideas to this body of arguments. Ac-
cording to Marx, industrial society was ‘capitalist’ who owned the capital in-
vested in factories, and the profit of capitalists was produced by workers. Capi-
talism and the rule of private property were overthrown. Marx believed that a
communist society was the natural society of the future.

Support for Socialism

By the 1870s, socialist ideas spread through Europe, and they formed an inter-
national body – namely, the Second International. Associations were formed by
workers in Germany and England to fight for better living and working condi-
tions. The Labour Party and Socialist Party were formed by socialists and trade
unionists by 1905.

The Russian Revolution

In the October Revolution of 1917, socialists took over the government in Rus-
sia. The fall of the monarchy in February 1917 and the events of October were
termed the Russian Revolution.

The Russian Empire in 1914

In 1914, Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II and its empire. The Russian Em-
pire included current-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland,
Ukraine and Belarus, stretching to the Pacific and comprised today’s Central
Asian states, as well as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The majority of the
population was Russian Orthodox Christianity.

Economy and Society

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Russian population was domi-
nated by agriculturalists, who used to cultivate for the market as well as for
their own needs. St Petersburg and Moscow were prominent industrial areas.
Craftsmen undertook much of the production, but large factories existed along-
side craft workshops. In the 1890s, more factories were set up, and foreign in-
vestment in industry increased. Large factories were supervised by the govern-
ment to ensure minimum wages and limited hours of work. Workers were a di-
vided social group. They were also divided by their skill. Despite divisions,
workers united to stop work when they disagreed with employers about dis-
missals or work conditions.

Peasants cultivated most of the land, but the nobility, the crown and the Ortho-
dox Church owned large properties. Nobles got power and position through
their services to the Tsar. In Russia, peasants wanted the land of the nobles.
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Socialism in Russia

Political parties in Russia were legal before 1914. In 1898, socialists founded
the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party, which respected Marx’s ideas.
Some Russian socialists felt that the Russian peasant custom of dividing land
periodically made them natural socialists. Throughout the nineteenth century,
socialists were active in the countryside and formed the Socialist Revolutionary
Party in 1900. The party struggled for peasants’ rights and demanded land be-
longing to nobles be transferred to peasants. The party was divided over the
strategy of the organisation. According to Vladimir Lenin, in a repressive soci-
ety like Tsarist Russia, the party should be disciplined and should control the
number and quality of its members. Mensheviks thought that the party should
be open to all.

A Turbulent Time: The 1905 Revolution

Russia was an autocracy, and even at the beginning of the twentieth century,
the Tsar was not subject to Parliament. During the Revolution of 1905, Russia,
along with the Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries, worked with
peasants and workers to demand a constitution. For Russian workers, bad
times started from the year 1904 as prices of essential goods rose and their
real wages declined by 20 per cent. Workers went on strike demanding a re-
duction in the working day to eight hours, an increase in wages and an im-
provement in working conditions. The procession was attacked by the police
and the Cossacks when it reached the Winter Palace. The incident, known as
Bloody Sunday, started a series of events which resulted in the 1905 Revolu-
tion. During the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar allowed the creation of an elected
consultative Parliament or Duma. After 1905, most committees and unions
worked unofficially since they were declared illegal.

The First World War and the Russian Empire

In 1914, war broke out between two European alliances – Germany, Austria and
Turkey (the Central powers) and France, Britain and Russia (later Italy and Ro-
mania). This was the First World War. The war became popular, and as it con-
tinued, the Tsar refused to consult the main parties in the Duma. Support wore
thin. The First World War was different on the easter front and on the western
front. Between 1914 and 1916 Russian army lost badly in Germany and Aus-
tria. Russian army destroyed crops and buildings to prevent the enemy from
being able to live off the land. The country was cut off from other suppliers of
industrial goods by German control of the Baltic Sea. Railway lines began to
break down by 1916. For the people in the cities, bread and flour became
scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops were common.

The February Revolution in Petrograd

Petrograd City is divided among its people. On the right bank of the River Neva,
workers’ quarters and factories were located and on the left bank located fash-
ionable areas such as the Winter Palace and official buildings. Food shortages
deeply affected the workers’ quarters. On the right bank, a factory was shut
down on February 22. Women also led the way to strikes, and it is called Inter-
national Women’s Day. The government imposed a curfew as the fashionable
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quarters and official buildings were surrounded by workers. Duma was sus-
pended on 25th February. The streets thronged with demonstrators raising slo-
gans about bread, wages, better hours and democracy. The government called
out the cavalry, but they refused to fire on the demonstrators. Soldiers and
striking workers gathered to form a ‘soviet’ or ‘council’ in the same building
where the Duma met, and it is termed the Petrograd Soviet. Soviet leaders and
Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country. Russia’s fu-
ture would be decided by a constituent assembly elected on the basis of uni-
versal adult suffrage. Petrograd led the February Revolution which brought
down the monarchy in February 1917.

After February

Under the Provisional Government, army officials, landowners and industrialists

were influential. Liberals and socialists worked towards an elected government.
Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed. In April 1917,
the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from his exile. Lenin de-
manded three things termed as ‘April Theses’. He wanted war to end, land to
be transferred to the peasants, and banks to be nationalised. He also empha-
sised renaming the Bolshevik Party to the Communist Party. Workers’ move-
ment spread throughout the summer. Factory committees formed, and trade
unions grew in numbers. When the Provisional Government saw its power re-
duced and Bolshevik influence grew, they decided to take stern measures
against the spreading discontent. In the countryside, peasants and their Social-
ist Revolutionary leaders pressed for a redistribution of land. Encouraged by
the Socialist Revolutionaries, peasants seized land between July and Septem-
ber 1917.

The Revolution of October 1917

The conflict between the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks grew. On
16 October 1917, Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and the Bolshevik
Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power. To organise the seizure, a Military
Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviet under Leon Trotskii. The
Military Revolutionary Committee ordered its supporters to seize government
offices and arrest ministers. By nightfall, the city was under the committee’s
control and the ministers had surrendered. At a meeting of the All Russian Con-
gress of Soviets in Petrograd, the majority approved the Bolshevik action.

What Changed after October?

Industry and banks were nationalised in November 1917, which meant that the
government took over ownership and management. Land was declared as so-
cial property, and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility. The
Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik). Elec-
tions were conducted in November 1917 to the Constituent Assembly, but they
failed in the majority. In January 1918, the Assembly rejected Bolshevik mea-
sures and Lenin dismissed the Assembly. Despite opposition, in March 1918,
the Bolsheviks made peace with Germany at Brest Litovsk. The Bolsheviks par-
ticipated in the elections to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which became
the Parliament of the country. Russia became a one-party state. After October
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1917, this led to experiments in the arts and architecture. But many became
disillusioned because of the censorship the Party encouraged.

The Civil War

The Russian Army broke up and their leaders moved to south Russia and or -
ganised troops to fight the Bolsheviks (the ‘Reds’). During 1918 and 1919, the
Russian Empire was controlled by the ‘Greens’ (Socialist Revolutionaries) and
‘Whites’ (pro-Tsarists), backed by French, American, British and Japanese
troops. These troops and the Bolsheviks fought a civil war. By January 1920,
the Bolsheviks controlled most of the former Russian empire. In the name of
defending socialism, Bolshevik colonists brutally massacred local nationalists.
Most non-Russian nationalities were given political autonomy in the Soviet
Union (USSR) – the state the Bolsheviks created from the Russian empire in De-
cember 1922.

Making a Socialist Society

During the civil war, industries and banks kept nationalised. Peasants were per-
mitted to cultivate the land. A centralised planning process was introduced.
Officials worked on how the economy will work and set targets for a five-year
period. During the first two ‘Plans’, the government fixed all prices to promote
industrial growth (1927-1932 and 1933-1938). Centralised planning led to eco-
nomic growth. But, rapid construction led to poor working conditions. A school-
ing system was developed, and arrangements were made for factory workers
and peasants to enter universities. For women workers, crèches were estab-
lished in factories for the children. Cheap public health care was provided.
Model living quarters were set up for workers.

Stalinism and Collectivisation

The period of the early Planned Economy led to the disaster of the collectivisa-
tion of agriculture.

By 1927- 1928, the towns in Soviet Russia faced an acute problem of grain sup-
plies. Stalin introduced firm emergency measures. In 1928, party members
toured the grain-producing areas, supervising enforced grain collections and
raiding ‘kulaks’ – the name for well-to-do peasants. After 1917, the land was
given over to peasants. From 1929, the Party forced all peasants to cultivate in
collective farms (kolkhoz). Peasants worked on the land, and the kolkhoz profit
was shared. Between 1929 and 1931, the number of cattle fell by one-third.
The government of Stalin allowed some independent cultivation but treated
such cultivators unsympathetically. In spite of collectivisation, production did
not increase immediately and due to bad harvests of 1930-1933, over 4 million
people died. Throughout the country, accusations were made, and by 1939,
over 2 million were in prisons or labour camps.

The Global Influence of the Russian Revolution and the USSR

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In many countries, communist parties were formed, like the Communist Party
of Great Britain. Non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the Con-
ference of the Peoples of the East (1920). The Bolshevik-founded Comintern
(an international union of pro-Bolshevik socialist parties). Before the outbreak
of the Second World War, the USSR had given socialism a global face and world
stature. The USSR became a great power, and its industries and agriculture de-
veloped, and the poor were being fed. By the end of the twentieth century, the
international reputation of the USSR as a socialist country had declined.

Frequently Asked Questions on CBSE Class 8 History Notes Chapter 2:

Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

Q1
How and when did socialism spread in Europe?
Ideas of socialism were well known by the mid of 19th century. The main fea-
tures of socialism were: 1. Collective ownership 2. Economics, social equality 3.
Economic planning
Q2
When did the Russian Revolution take place?
The Russian Revolution started in the year 1917 and ended in 1923.
Q3
Who was the backbone of the Russian Revolution?
The Russian Revolution was majorly led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir
Lenin in November 1917.

CBSE Class 9 History Notes Chapter 3 – Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

Birth of the Weimar Republic

In the early years of the twentieth century, Germany fought the First World War
(1914-1918) alongside the Austrian Empire and against the Allies (England,
France and Russia.). All resources of Europe were drained out because of the
war. Germany occupied France and Belgium. But, unfortunately, the Allies,
strengthened by the US entry in 1917, won, defeating Germany and the Central
Powers in November 1918. At Weimar, the National Assembly met and estab-
lished a democratic constitution with a federal structure. In the German Parlia-
ment, deputies were elected on the basis of equal and universal votes cast by
all adults, including women. Germany lost its overseas colonies. The War Guilt
Clause held Germany responsible for the war and the damages the Allied coun-
tries suffered. The Allied armies occupied Rhineland in the 1920s.

The Effects of the War

The entire continent was devastated by the war, both psychologically and fi-
nancially. The war of guilt and national humiliation was carried by the Republic,
which was financially crippled by being forced to pay compensation. Socialists,
Catholics and Democrats supported the Weimar Republic, and they were mock-
ingly called the ‘November criminals’. The First World War left a deep imprint
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on European society and polity. Soldiers are placed above civilians, but unfortu-
nately, soldiers live a miserable life. Democracy was a young and fragile idea
which could not survive the instabilities of interwar Europe.

Political Radicalism and Economic Crises

The Weimar Republic’s birth coincided with the revolutionary uprising of the
Spartacist League on the pattern of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. They
crushed the uprising with the help of a war veterans organisation called Free
Corps. Communists and Socialists became enemies. Political radicalisation was
heightened by the economic crisis of 1923. Germany refused to pay, and the
French occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr, to claim their coal. The image
of Germans carrying cartloads of currency notes to buy a loaf of bread was
widely publicised, evoking worldwide sympathy. This crisis came to be known
as hyperinflation, a situation when prices rise phenomenally high.

The Years of Depression

The years between 1924 and 1928 saw some stability. The support of short-
term loans was withdrawn when the Wall Street Exchange crashed in 1929. The
Great Economic Depression started, and over the next three years, between
1929 and 1932, the national income of the USA fell by half. The economy of
Germany was the worst hit. Workers became jobless and went on streets with
placards saying, ‘Willing to do any work’. Youths indulged themselves in crimi-
nal activities. The middle class and small businessmen were filled with the fear
of proletarianisation, anxiety of being reduced to the ranks of the working class
or unemployment. Politically also, the Weimar Republic was fragile. The
Weimar Constitution, due to some inherent defects, made it unstable and vul-
nerable to dictatorship. One inherent defect was proportional representation.
Another defect was Article 48, which gave the President the powers to impose
emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree.

Hitler’s Rise to Power

Hilter rose to power. He was born in 1889 in Austria and spent his youth in
poverty. In the First World War, he enrolled on the army, acted as a messenger
in the front, became a corporal, and earned medals for bravery. Hitler joined a
small group called the German Workers’ Party in 1919. He took over the organ-
isation and renamed it the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, which
later came to be known as the Nazi Party. In 1923, he planned to seize control
of Bavaria, march to Berlin and capture power. During the Great Depression,
Nazism became a mass movement. After 1929, banks collapsed, businesses
shut down, workers lost their jobs, and the middle classes were threatened
with destitution. In such a situation, Nazi propaganda stirred hopes of a better
future.

Hitler was a powerful speaker, and his words moved people. In his speech, he
promised to build a strong nation, undo the injustice of the Versailles Treaty
and restore the dignity of the German people. He also promised employment
for those looking for work and a secure future for the youth. He promised to re -
move all foreign influences and resist all foreign ‘conspiracies’ against Ger-
many. Hitler started following a new style of politics, and his followers held big
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rallies and public meetings to demonstrate support. According to the Nazi pro-
paganda, Hitler was called a messiah, a saviour, and someone who had arrived
to deliver people from their distress.

The Destruction of Democracy

President Hindenburg offered the Chancellorship, on 30 January 1933, the high-

est position in the cabinet of ministers, to Hitler. The Fire Decree of 28 Febru-
ary 1933 suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly
that had been guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution. On 3 March 1933, the
famous Enabling Act was passed, which established a dictatorship in Germany.
The state took control over the economy, media, army and judiciary. Apart
from the already existing regular police in a green uniform and the SA or the
Storm Troopers, these included the Gestapo (secret state police), the SS (the
protection squads), criminal police and the Security Service (SD).

Reconstruction

Economic recovery was assigned to the economist Hjalmar Schacht by Hitler,

who aimed at full production and full employment through a state-funded work-
creation programme. This project produced the famous German superhighways
and the people’s car, the Volkswagen. Hitler ruled out the League of Nations in
1933, reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936, and integrated Austria and Germany
in 1938 under the slogan, One people, One empire and One leader. Schacht ad-
vised Hitler against investing hugely in rearmament as the state still ran on
deficit financing.

The Nazi Worldview

Nazis are linked to a system of belief and a set of practices. According to their
ideology, there was no equality between people but only a racial hierarchy. The
racism of Hitler was borrowed from thinkers like Charles Darwin and Herbert
Spencer. The argument of the Nazis was simple: the strongest race would sur-
vive, and the weak ones would perish. The Aryan race was the finest who re-
tained its purity, became stronger and dominated the world. The other aspect
of Hitler’s ideology related to the geopolitical concept of Lebensraum, or living
space. Hitler intended to extend German boundaries by moving eastwards to
concentrate all Germans geographically in one place.

Establishment of the Racial State

Nazis came into power and quickly began to implement their dream of creating
an exclusive racial community of pure Germans. They wanted a society of ‘pure
and healthy Nordic Aryans’. Under the Euthanasia Programme, Helmuth’s fa-
ther had condemned to death many Germans who were considered mentally or
physically unfit. Germany occupied Poland and parts of Russia captured civil-
ians and forced them to work as slave labour. Jews remained the worst suffer-
ers in Nazi Germany. Hitler hated Jews based on pseudoscientific theories of
race. From 1933 to 1938, the Nazis terrorised, pauperised and segregated the
Jews, compelling them to leave the country.

The Racial Utopia

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Genocide and war became two sides of the same coin. Poland was divided, and
much of north-western Poland was annexed to Germany.

People of Poland were forced to leave their homes and properties. Members of
the Polish intelligentsia were murdered in large numbers, and Polish children
who looked like Aryans were forcibly snatched from their mothers and exam-
ined by ‘race experts’.

Youth in Nazi Germany

Hitler was interested in the youth of the country. Schools were cleansed and
purified. Germans and Jews were not allowed to sit or play together. In the
1940s, Jews were taken to the gas chambers. Introduction of racial science to
justify Nazi ideas of race. Children were taught to be loyal and submissive, hate
Jews and worship Hitler. Youth organisations were responsible for educating
German youth in ‘the spirit of National Socialism’. At the age of 14, boys had to
join the Nazi youth organisation where they were taught to worship war, glorify
aggression and violence, condemn democracy, and hate Jews, communists,
Gypsies and all those categorised as ‘undesirable’. Later, they joined the
Labour Service at the age of 18 and served in the armed forces and entered
one of the Nazi organisations. In 1922, the Youth League of the Nazis was
founded.

The Nazi Cult of Motherhood

In Nazi Germany, children were told women were different from men. Boys
were taught to be aggressive, masculine and steel-hearted and girls were told
to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children. Girls had to
maintain the purity of the race, distance themselves from Jews, look after their
homes and teach their children Nazi values. But all mothers were not treated
equally. Honours Crosses were awarded to those who encouraged women to
produce more children. Bronze cross for four children, silver for six and gold for
eight or more. Women who maintained contact with Jews, Poles and Russians
were paraded through the town with shaved heads, blackened faces and plac-
ards hanging around their necks announcing, ‘I have sullied the honour of the
nation’.

The Art of Propaganda

Nazis termed mass killings as special treatment, the final solution (for the
Jews), euthanasia (for the disabled), selection and disinfection. ‘Evacuation’
meant deporting people to gas chambers. Gas chambers were labelled as ‘‘dis-
infection areas’, and looked like bathrooms equipped with fake showerheads.
Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slo-
gans and leaflets. Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and marked and were re-
ferred to as vermin, rats and pests. The Nazis made equal efforts to appeal to
all the different sections of the population. They sought to win their support by
suggesting that Nazis alone could solve all their problems.

Ordinary People and the Crimes Against Humanity

 Page 13 of 13
People started seeing the world through Nazi eyes and spoke their Nazi lan-
guage. They felt hatred and anger against Jews and genuinely believed Nazism
would bring prosperity and improve general well-being. Pastor Niemoeller
protested an uncanny silence amongst ordinary Germans against brutal and or-
ganised crimes committed in the Nazi empire. Charlotte Beradt’s book called
‘The Third Reich of Dreams’ describes how Jews themselves began believing in
the Nazi stereotypes about them.

Knowledge about the Holocaust

The war ended and Germany was defeated. While Germans were preoccupied
with their own plight, the Jews wanted the world to remember the atrocities
and sufferings they had endured during the Nazi killing operations – also called
the Holocaust. When they lost the war, the Nazi leadership distributed petrol to
its functionaries to destroy all incriminating evidence available in offices.

Students can go through Geography, History, Political Science and Economics

notes by visiting the CBSE Class 9 Social Science page at BYJU’S. Keep learning
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Frequently Asked Questions on CBSE Class 9 History Notes Chapter 3

Nazism and the Rise of Hitler
Q1
What are the main features of Nazism?
Nazism is a form of fascism which incorporates fervent antisemitism, anti-com-
munism, scientific racism, and the use of eugenics into its creed.
Q2
Who was Hitler?
Hitler was the leader of the Nazi Party (from 1920/21) and chancellor (Kanzler)
and Führer of Germany (1933–45).
Q3
What is a racial group?
Racial groups are populations of people based on their genealogy, skin colour
and physical traits.