World War 2 Blog
Germany after World War I
After World War I, Germany faced a difficult and uncertain time. The Weimar Republic (Germany’s first democracy) was established following the abdication of the Kaiser, but the country was burdened by the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which blamed Germany for the war and imposed heavy reparations. The 1920's saw extreme economic hardship, including devastating hyperinflation that wiped out people’s savings and widespread unemployment. Politically, Germany was unstable, with violent clashes between left- and right-wing groups threatening the fragile democracy. Although there was a brief period of recovery in the mid-1920s, the Great Depression hit hard in 1929, plunging the country into deeper crisis. This environment of fear and anger paved the way for the rise of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler.
The rise of the Nazi party in Germany
Origins of Nazism: Dietrich Eckart and Adolf Hitler
Dietrich Eckart (1868–1923) was a German poet, journalist, occultist and nationalist ideologue whose influence helped shape Adolf Hitler’s political awakening. A founding member of the Thule Society, a secretive Munich-based nationalist and antisemitic group, Eckart combined German mysticism with racial and political extremism. His ideas formed a cornerstone of early National Socialist ideology. In the chaotic years following Germany’s defeat in World War I, Eckart became both mentor and guide to a young Adolf Hitler. He introduced Hitler to influential nationalist circles and helped him refine his public speaking, rhetoric, and propaganda techniques. Eckart’s antisemitic and anti-democratic writings profoundly influenced Hitler’s worldview and his vision of a racially “pure” and authoritarian Germany.Adolf Hitler’s early life and entry into politics
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau am Inn, Austria. After serving as a soldier during the First World War, he returned to a defeated and divided Germany. The economic collapse and national humiliation following the Treaty of Versailles (1919) fueled his resentment toward the Weimar Republic and the Allied powers. In 1919, Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party (DAP), a small nationalist movement led by figures including Eckart. Under Hitler’s leadership, the group was soon renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) the Nazi Party. The party’s 25-point program (1920) outlined its radical nationalist, antisemitic, and anti-Marxist goals, calling for a new, powerful German Reich.The Beer Hall putsch and "Mein Kampf"
In November 1923, Hitler and his followers attempted to overthrow the Bavarian government in the failed Beer Hall Putsch. Imprisoned in Landsberg, Hitler used the time to write “Mein Kampf” (“My Struggle”), outlining his political ideology, racial theories, and future ambitions for Germany. After his release, Hitler shifted strategy from violent revolution to legal political means. The Nazi Party rebuilt its organization, using mass rallies, propaganda and symbols like the Swastika to attract growing support amid Germany’s deepening economic crisis.The SA, political violence, and propaganda
Under the leadership of Ernst Röhm, the Sturmabteilung (SA) commonly known as the Stormtroopers or Brownshirts emerged in the early 1920s as the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. Initially formed to protect Adolf Hitler’s political meetings and rallies, the SA quickly evolved into a force designed to intimidate and suppress political opponents, particularly communists, social democrats, and trade unionists. Throughout the Weimar Republic, the SA became infamous for its street battles and violent demonstrations, which created an atmosphere of chaos that undermined confidence in democratic institutions. Under Röhm’s command, the organization grew into a powerful mass movement numbering in the millions, giving the Nazi Party a visible and aggressive presence in German cities.At the same time, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, carefully crafted and spread the party’s message through newspapers, posters, and public speeches. This propaganda emphasized national revival, economic recovery, and the restoration of German pride after the humiliations of the Treaty of Versailles. It also scapegoated Jews, Marxists, and other minority groups, blaming them for Germany’s social and economic problems. Together, the violence of the SA and the propaganda of Goebbels created a powerful combination of fear and persuasion that helped the Nazis gain mass support and paved the way for Hitler’s rise to power in 1933..
Exploiting crisis and the road to power
The Great Depression of 1929 had a catastrophic impact on Germany’s economy, leading to widespread unemployment, poverty and despair. By the early 1930s, millions of Germans were jobless, factories had closed and savings were wiped out. The Weimar Republic, already struggling with political instability and the lingering resentment from the Treaty of Versailles, rapidly lost public confidence. Amid this turmoil, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party capitalized on the crisis by promising strong leadership, national unity and economic recovery. Hitler’s powerful rhetoric and propaganda portrayed him as a man of action who could restore Germany’s former glory.As economic and social chaos deepened, support for extremist movements surged. In the Reichstag elections of 1932, the Nazi Party (NSDAP) emerged as the largest political faction in Germany, though it did not yet have an absolute majority. Political elites, hoping to control and use Hitler for their own ends, underestimated his ambitions. On January 30, 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, a decision that marked the beginning of the Third Reich and the end of democracy in Germany. Within months, Hitler consolidated power, transforming the nation into a totalitarian state that would soon plunge the world into war.
The Reichstag fire and the Nazi dictatorship
On February 27, 1933, the Reichstag building in Berlin was set ablaze. The Nazis blamed Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch communist, but later accounts including testimony from former SA members suggest the fire may have been part of a larger Nazi plot. The fire provided the pretext for the Enabling Act (March 1933), which granted Hitler dictatorial powers. Civil liberties were suspended, political opponents were arrested, and democracy in Germany was effectively extinguished.From dictatorship to genocide
Once in power, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party began a systematic campaign to transform every aspect of German society according to their totalitarian and racist ideology. Early measures focused on consolidating political control, silencing opposition, and promoting the idea of Aryan racial superiority through propaganda and education. By 1935, this ideology was codified into law with the Nuremberg Laws, which stripped Jewish citizens of their rights, excluded them from public life, and legally defined Jewish identity based on ancestry rather than religion. These laws marked a turning point, institutionalizing discrimination and laying the legal groundwork for broader racial persecution.As Nazi rule continued, anti-Jewish measures intensified, businesses were boycotted, property was confiscated, and Jews were forced into segregated ghettos. What began as social and legal exclusion evolved into a campaign of mass violence and extermination during World War II. This culminated in the Holocaust, the state-sponsored genocide that led to the murder of six million Jews, along with millions of others considered “undesirable” by the Nazi regime, including Roma people, people with disabilities, Slavic populations, and political dissidents. By the war’s end in 1945, Nazi policies had left an indelible scar on human history, serving as one of the most devastating examples of how prejudice and authoritarian power can lead to systematic mass murder.
Legacy of the Nazi era
The rise of the Nazi Party and the horrors of the Holocaust remain a stark reminder of the dangers of totalitarianism, racism and propaganda. The events of this period continue to shape global conversations about human rights, democracy and the responsibility to confront hate. We must be vigilant that a global war like the one World War II was, never happens again.Dietrich Eckart
The origins of Nazism can be traced back to Dietrich Eckart. Above picture was colored by myself.
Hitler's political manifesto
Adolf Hitler embarked on writing Mein Kampf while incarcerated after his unsuccessful coup in Munich. The book was published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926 respectively.
Ernst Röhm
Hitler becomes Chancellor
Adolf Hitler and German President Paul von Hindenburg, shortly after Hindenburg's invitation for Hitler to become the Chancellor, on January 30, 1933.
Kristallnacht: Turning point in Nazi persecution of Jews
The night of November 9 to November 10, 1938, marked a pivotal moment in the escalating persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. Known as Kristallnacht, or the "Night of Broken Glass," this violent pogrom saw synagogues, Jewish homes, and businesses across Germany vandalized, looted, and set ablaze. The destruction was widespread, with countless shards of shattered glass littering the streets.
The immediate catalyst for Kristallnacht was the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by 17-year-old Herschel Grynszpan on November 7, 1938. Grynszpan's act was a desperate retaliation for the expulsion of his Jewish parents from Germany, a move that had forced them to flee to Paris. The death of vom Rath provided the Nazi regime with a pretext to unleash a wave of anti-Jewish violence.
In the aftermath of Kristallnacht, thousands of Jews were arrested, deported to concentration camps, and subjected to further persecution. The pogrom marked a significant escalation in the systematic discrimination and violence against Jews in Nazi Germany, paving the way for the Holocaust.
Holocaust: Nazi Germany's genocide of European Jews
The Nazi regime's genocidal campaign against European Jews, known as the Holocaust, was implemented under the horrific policy dubbed the "Final Solution." This term was adopted in July 1941 to describe the systematic extermination of individuals identified as Jews across Europe and beyond. The campaign's horrific escalation began with the segregation of Jews into ghettos, culminating in the full implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question."
The Wannsee Conference in Berlin on January 20, 1942, formalized this genocidal policy by Nazi officials. The devastating consequences of this plan led to the Holocaust, a period marked by the methodical and widespread extermination of European Jews.
The Holocaust history
Herschel Grynszpan, surrounded by police officers, following his initial interrogation at police headquarters in Paris, France, on November 7, 1938.
The definition of the Holocaust also known as the Shoah (Hebrew) is exceptionally complex. But it can be stated that it was the genocide of the European Jews during WW2.
When did World War II start?
On September 1, 1939, the world was plunged into a devastating war as Nazi Germany launched a brutal invasion of Poland. This unprovoked attack, carried out without a formal declaration of war, marked the beginning of World War II. Despite Poland's efforts to maintain peace, Nazi Germany's unfounded claims of an imminent Polish attack served as a pretext for the invasion.
The invasion of Poland was a horrific act of aggression, marked by extreme violence and brutality. Nazi forces inflicted immense suffering on the Polish population, resulting in the deaths of millions of civilians, including over 2 million Jews. The country's infrastructure was systematically destroyed, leaving a lasting legacy of destruction.
In response to Germany's aggression, France and Britain declared war on Nazi Germany on September 3, 1939. The invasion of Poland served as a grim harbinger of the atrocities to come, setting the stage for a global conflict of unprecedented scale and devastation. The war would leave an enduring mark on human history as one of the deadliest and most destructive conflicts ever witnessed.
Germany invades Poland
The most decisive battles of WW2
D-Day: Turning point of WW2
What was D-Day?
D-Day was the the Allied answer to occupancy and hostile regime of Nazi Germany with the end goal of putting an end to WW2. At 06:30 am on Tuesday June 6th, 1944 Operation Neptune or D-Day (amphibious assault) is unleashed along a 60 mile stretch of coast between the Cotentin Peninsula and the Orne River in Normandy, France. The invasion on the shores of Normandy were part of Operation Overlord (Allied invasion of Normandy).
Planning for D-Day
Planning for the operation began in 1943. Overlord was an Allied military operation of unprecedented scale, with an amphibious assault from Allied troops on the beaches combined with Allied airborne operations behind enemy lines inland. The Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main landings.
D-Day was originally planned for June 5
In the months leading up to the invasion, the weather was far from ideal and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours until June 6th, 1944. A further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable.
The landings beaches in Normandy
The amphibious assault focused on five separate beaches in Normandy codenamed Omaha, Utah (American sector), Gold, Sword (British sector), and Juno (Canadian sector). At the end of the day small beachheads had been secured. It would turn out to be the turning point of World War 2 in western Europe. With over 156.000 troops, 5.000 landing craft, and 2.800 combat aircraft, the Allies launched a massive assault along a 50-mile stretch of coastline. Despite fierce resistance from German forces, the Allies managed to secure a foothold in Normandy, paving the way for a long and arduous campaign to liberate France and other occupied territories.
Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe Dwight D. Eisenhower, visited the Ohrdruf concentration camp on April 15, 1945. He said:
“The other day I visited a German internment camp (Ohrdruf). I never dreamed that such cruelty, bestiality and savagery could really exist in this world! It was horrible. I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to “propaganda.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Discover the history of the Nazi concentration camps
The Netherlands is liberated!
On May 5th, in Hotel de Wereld in Wageningen (NL), Canadian General Charles Foulkes and German General Johannes Blaskowitz met to arrange the implementation of the surrender. The formal agreement was signed on May 6th at Wageningen University. Although the real capitulation occurred on May 4th, May 5th became Liberation Day, symbolizing the moment freedom truly returned to the Netherlands.
