Rise & Fall of the Nazis | Episode 1: Nazism is Born | Free Documentary History

[Music] they invaded peaceful Nations criminal regime slaughtered innocent people in murder and terrible crimes but at the same time trying to make it look as though it's correct committed genocide he likened the Jews to a virus but how did Adolf Hitler and his small band of criminal conspirators persuade the German people to follow him on this horrific path is clearly insane but his mouth would foam with rage because he's like a sort of a rabid dog this series offers a unique perspective on the Third Reich it shows how Hitler and his inner circle created an illusion of justice and legality while behind the scenes they subverted democracy and planned a monstrous secret conspiracy based on a warped ideology and phony science foreign [Music] it's the story of a gangster regime that used not only violence and suppression but which carefully groomed the German people into willing complicity in the worst crimes in history [Music] [Music] [Music] the story of the rise of the Nazi Party begins in the final days of World War One a young soldier called Adolf Hitler is in hospital he has been blinded in a mustard gas attack and is recovering from his wounds with mustard gas you'd get irritation of the eyes there will be blisters coming out over your body you'd suffer from nausea you'd be vomiting he had a burning eyes as he described it like burning coals in his head Austrian by birth Hitler makes Germany his home [Music] he feels such a love for this country that he celebrates in his adopted town of Munich when Germany declares war in 1914. [Music] he signs up for the Army and he serves his Emperor and his country running messages Under Fire at the front line I Brave and wins the Iron Cross first class and second class [Music] but he is so distant disappears seen by his colleagues as a peculiar they thought he was a weirdo an odd fish he never made friends easily he wasn't a sociable person he never become he was like sort of somebody who was a loner people thought he was a bit strange and a bit odd compulsive in his cleanliness with an aversion to smoking drinking and women his comrades call him the white crow and the woman hater to engage in the normal social activities that soldiers do gaunt weak and Delirious half-blind from gas this is a very different Adolf Hitler from the man who will terrorize Europe this is Hitler at his lowest ebb then as he lies recuperating there comes news that would shape his life forever one day in November a priest comes into the ward and the Priestess them the war is over we've lost we're going home [Music] World War one is over Germany has surrendered Germany somehow had lost it without the French or the British ever being on German soil Hitler is utterly distraught the idea that you've suddenly been told that you've lost this war and it seems to have come completely out the blue is of course going to make you absolutely berserk and Hitler as we know was always the type of man who would go berserk at the slightest opportunity the painful question for Hitler is how could he have been betrayed like this who could be responsible for this outrage crippled by despair in his own words he is plunged once again into blindness [Music] would later state I buried my burning head in the covers and pillows he said he cried more than he'd even cried on the day his mother died in his Delirious State the culprits swelled through his mind he starts to blame those he sees as responsible Jews communists the left-wing politicians back home who had meekly surrendered even though the German army that Hitler had fought in was undefeated foreign says I felt intense hatred intense hatred for the people who had done this to us and the most convenient Theory to subscribe to was this idea that people like him had been stabbed in the back he'd been defeated not through failure of military arms but by the stab in the back by defeat politicians and corrupt Jewish bankers and financiers betraying the German people betraying the great German army Hitler later wrote about how this moment transformed him forever when I was confined to bed the idea came to me that I would liberate Germany that I would make it great I knew immediately that it would be realized there is another version of how he acquires his destiny The Story Goes that during his Hospital stay Hitler was hypnotized by a psychologist Professor Edmund Foster Foster was treating Hitler's blindness which he diagnosed as hysterical in other words caused by some mental trauma rather than physical injury due to gas and forth said sit up man how dare you give in to weakness so he sits up and he said lesser men will stay blind but greater men tightened they'll overcome their blindness are you a Titan using a candle he convinced his Hitler that if he could see the flame then it would be proof of his uniqueness as a human being and his Destiny one day to lead Germany to Greatness well he's got this Svengali figure hovering over him saying Adolf one day you will be the future rabble-rousing leader of Germany and you will lead Germany back to becoming the greatest power in Europe [Music] it works Hitler sees the flame and his sight quickly returns something has been awakened in Adolf Hitler you're thinking actually yes you know what maybe I am that type of man although contended by some this encounter goes a little way to explain Hitler's conviction that he will go from a simple Corporal to a great leader [Music] just days after the German surrender Hitler emerges bewildered and battered into a world in total chaos the once proud German people are wretched and downtrodden there's poverty and starvation Emperor he had fought and suffered for has abdicated Law and Order is breaking down A revolution is sweeping across the country [Music] for a patriotic German Soldier there is nothing the German Army is being disbanded he has no education no social standing zero prospects he returns to his chosen home the Bavarian city of Munich Munich was in total political chaos at the end of 1918 beginning of 1919. what he Witnesses from his dingy apartment in the city is frightening there'd been socialist Revolution a Marxist was running Bavaria the Socialists were in power the old order is out Chaos Rings leftist thugs are fighting running battles with militants from the right violent confrontations between the two sides are commonplace [Applause] there were fights bitter fights on the streets every night bloody battle I mean hundreds there are 700 deaths in from eight months to Hitler the hated marxists are the Enemy Within they are dangerous as they are part of an international movement with no sense of patriotism [Applause] communism despises the very idea of nationhood and has no respect for the German nationalism that Hitler so admires comes something that makes a bad situation even worse a spark that risks igniting it all in the summer of 1919. [Applause] [Music] across Europe the Victorious allies are gathering in Paris on the 28th of June 1919 they and Germany sign a momentous document the Versailles treaty there is widespread rejoicing on the streets but for Germany Versailles spells catastrophe the treaty demands revenge for World War One it's a further humiliation which deeply affects Hitler he cannot accept that Germany deserves such unjust treatment nobody could have believed that Germany would receive such a harsh settlement in the Treaty of Versailles Germany is ordered to pay a huge 226 billion gold marks penalty for starting the war it's the equivalent of 860 billion dollars in today's money that sum is made even harder to stomach by a massive reduction of territory 13 of Germany's territory is lost [Music] six million Germans lose their citizenship and are forced to become part of new countries like Czechoslovakia and Poland one-fifth of German industry is taken over by the allies and here they were being truncated being damaged and being deprived of a large section of the population so that added to the shame of defeat meant that Germany that the people themselves individually felt a very deep sense of pain Hitler's anger grows the former star of Europe and Rising industrial Powerhouse has been crippled in Germany most people just breathe deeply and try to get on with life a new democratic government takes shape it's called the Weimar Republic and is named after the German City where it was founded created in August 1919 it is designed to replace the autocratic militaristic rule of the Kaiser and his generals Hitler regards the Weimar Republic as an abomination to him it is weak dominated by the very same Jewish and liberal politicians who had stabbed Germany in the back and surrendered in World War One but at this stage he can do nothing about it he has no connections with politics at all then an unlikely job offer comes along the one body that's going to give Hitler any chance of employment is the Army in which he's still technically serving and one day he's approached by a man called Karl mare who is the officer in charge of the kind of Bavarian Army's information Department mayor sees something in Hitler it gives him the job of spying on the numerous new political parties that meet in the city's beer halls and Cellars [Music] beer Halls are an essential part of Southern German political activity these beer Halls will become of political forums nationalists will go around them and give speeches so would socialists mayor sends him to observe a fringe right-wing group The grandly named German Workers Party was basically their two blokes and a ferret it was amateral it was yet another one of these very small noxious febrile anti-semitic angry groups of men meeting in beer halls and venting their spleen at that time it was nothing special in the Autumn of 1919 Hitler attends their meetings taking notes for mayor [Music] what he hears begins to inspire him but it just so happened on that night something snapped something spoke to him he likes the party's communist bashing rhetoric and the hatred of the Jews and the Socialists [Applause] and rather simply observe and report back he then joins in he quickly noticed by the party leader Anton Drexler Draxler said what's your name he said my name's Adolf Hitler he said would you be interested in joining this party [Music] Adolf Hitler's journey into politics has begun quickly he has made propaganda chief he begins to dominate the small leadership Committee of seven that meet and within a very short time people are Anton Drexler realized this is the man we can't do without him this this is the man who's going to carry us forward we'll say much about Hitler seizing the moment in those Munich Beer Halls jumping onto tables and giving impassioned impromptu speeches which carried people along so he dominates in a way that his colleagues in the war had been astounded her the leadership he shows the skill the ability to steer things his way remarkable in Munich Hitler develops what will become the foundation of the Nazi party's ideology a 25-point Manifesto the 25 points remain sacrosanct all the way through this was what we were rallying around if we were Nazis they're like tablets of stone they're like something out the Bible they're like Commandments it was against unfettered capitalism was against Jews and was against Anarchy it was against bolshevism foreign policy goals were simple to seize back all the lands the Allies had taken at the Treaty of Versailles and an end to reparations the crippling payments for the war demanded by the Allied powers Hitler's great achievement is genius I think one is fair to say was to know what simple ideas to put across alongside his new Manifesto he gave the party a new name and a new emblem a blood red flag with the swastika at its heart one of Hitler's great elements of his political genius is to recognize the power of iconography the visceral image of black on red really does have a powerful impact on the psyche there is some genius in the Simplicity of its message the flag becomes the calling card for the new party it Incorporated the colors of the old German Empire with the ancient Aryan image of the swastika so its colors were nod to the past but its symbol felt modern it plays of course on the tradition of the Christian cross Germany is still at this point is an incredibly religious Society it's a very brutal simple brand it's from its beginning it was a rallying brand it's a clear symbol with bright colors and it did look good on flags and it did look good when they marched down the streets so he given them a clear identification along with the emblem comes a new title the National Socialist Workers Party or Nazis the Nazi party is born Hitler tried to fuse the two forces of socialism which obviously had an enormous appeal to the German working class and nationalism together in one by 1921 Hitler becomes leader of the Nazis at this stage his new movement does not believe in democracy he wants to seize power by force this approach resonates with a new man in the audience at party meetings a man who will help him take the Nazis to their greatest Heights Hermann Gurion gurring is Misfit number two Gering is obviously sympathetic to all these rightist ideas and obviously in the Munich of the early twenties there's one man who's starting to dominate this political scene and that's Adolf Hitler going like Hitler is a veteran of world war one but unlike Hitler his War record is the stuff of Legend he was a star he was well known he was a flamboyant character in those early days he hadn't yet become the caricature fat man that we are so familiar with today he was lean and mean and handsome at first he served as an infantryman but then he becomes a pilot and commands not just any Squadron but the most famous of the war the Red Barons Flying Circus enemy aircraft and even wins the German Empire's highest award for gallantry the Blue Max medal then in the dying days of World War One the war hero is beaten up by a leftist gang it is something that will Mark him forever the humiliation gets worse after the war he is unemployed spending his days hunting for a job like Hitler he becomes appalled at the state Germany now finds itself in the former air ace is eventually forced to make a living on the road as a comedy stunt pilot performing aerobatics and then one Monday night he turns up and sees Hitler talk and gurring's just blown away and he says finally I've come across someone who's got a clear and definite aim and suddenly it's this kind of moment of epiphany for going this is the man [Music] a day after first seeing Hitler talk the two men who will become the most powerful Nazis in history meet Hitler signs going up straight away recruiting him into the party itranguring met there was a really good fit what going represented to Hitler was a kind of war hero he had always been looking for as for going he doesn't buy into all Hitler's policies but he is seduced by the prospect of power a shrewd self-regarding individual who sees in the politics of the Nazi party a means of self-promotion [Music] together they start to bring the fledgling Nazi party out of the shadows and into public life Hitler starts to move into the open but on a very small scale he refines his oratory skills in the beer Cellars and Halls of Munich Hitler emerges very very quickly he basically knows how to whip up a crowd he can read a crowd he's very sensitive to the mood of crowds he knows when to be quiet he knows when to be loud he knows how to manipulate he knows what the crowd wants to hear he gives them what they want [Applause] but rabble rousing is not the only way he will get his message across December 1920 he buys a weekly paper the volkisha he begins to realize that he needs to operate on a bigger scale he purchases the shares in the focus of where the effective use of big headlines attention grabbing content and images is combined to forge the image of a party which is simultaneously reactionary in content but incredibly modern and this illustrates I think the Nazis way of using every form of modern Media communication before other parties actually latched onto it [Music] the paper now becomes a Major Tool in pushing the Nazi message to A Wider public circulation rises from 8 000 to 25 000 readers but the Nazis are still only a small Fringe organization if they are to fulfill Hitler's plan of seizing Power by force they need more than newspapers they need muscle he's conscious on the streets in Disturbed Germany you need the heavy mob we've got to remember that politics in Germany at that time was violent very much militarized enter the essay the storm up Thailand Hitler's brown-shirted Heavies the sa are very much the anti-intellectual movement of the Nazi party they are disaffected people who have fallen through the cracks of the Weimar system a lot of them are young men who are unemployed and For Whom the promise of Weimar capitalism hasn't really come true the recruiting message is simple come and join a cause we'll give you a uniform we'll let you bash heads well you kick Communists and Jews you'll have a whale of a Time lad and we provide the beer as well deformed sa get involved in Street pools [Music] they eject hecklers from meetings intimidate opponents they are also ill-disciplined now Hitler has the perfect role for his trusted Ally Airman guring in 1923 he is put in charge of the SA the former war hero soon knocks the brown shirts into shape Hitler would later State I gave him a disheveled rabble in a very short time he had organized a division of 11 000 men thank you by now Nazi party membership is still small but expanding to 14 000 members from the 2000 Hitler started with for the first time there are offices outside Munich as the party expands its base then member number 14303 signs up Heinrich Himmler who joins the party in the summer of 1923 Himmler is an altogether less impressive character than gurring and Hitler he presents himself as a heroic figure a dashing fencer and officer Cadet but in truth he is anything but [Music] he is a former chicken farmer who studies Agronomy at Munich University [Music] his hobbies include diary writing and stamp collecting one of the things that drives Himmler is the fact that he's a bit younger and he hasn't properly served in the war he's born in 1900 and towards the end of the war he's only in a training Battalion and so he never actually sees service on the front and this really annoys him but he comes out of the war almost a shame that he hadn't done more his life is sad to put it in in short terms he'd be looking for a cause something he'd relate to somebody could put his great energies into Himmler is drawn by Hitler's populist message and right-wing beliefs but he is also driven by his personal loathing of the Jews in his diary which has survived we see him talking about the Jewish question all the way through from about 1918 to 1922 and he talks about the Jews as the scourge of humanity they have to be removed from society so he's very strong on the anti-semitic policy of the Nazis and of course Himmler goes on to be the leader of the SS which eventually plans the final solution [Music] at first Himmler remains on the margins of the Nazi party in a paramilitary group Loosely connected to Hitler [Music] there are few indications that he will become the most murderous and feared Jew hater of them all nevertheless the three major Nazi players the three Misfits who would shape the Nazi party's future are now in place all they need is a maturity to strike now events conspire to help them [Music] Germany plunges into economic disaster hyperinflation is gripping the economy grotesque mismanagement of the nation's finances means that a loaf of bread rises from 165 marks to over 1 billion in the space of 10 months for ordinary Germans on fixed Wages that's an unimaginable increase it is the workers who suffer most he can buy less his wife in the shops can buy less his children have less so for the working class it was a deeply disillusioning time a pound of meat Rises to 9 billion marks a beer to 52 billion the middle classes were also affected those who had been carefully saving for a secure future saw their hopes ruined the tragedy for middle class was that most of them had invested were still investing in pensions and they found that these were almost wiped out within two or three days given the pace of inflation so the stability the middle class buy into through their pensions and their income their investment that was that was shattered so the middle class feel their Moorings of their lives are being taken away from them once more unrest returns to Germany's streets for the Weimar government disaster Germany defaults on its reparations payments to the allies in lieu of payment French and Belgian troops seized the only asset Germany has they occupy the rur the industrial Heartland of the country the rule was the main Center of industrial activity in post-war Germany and for that to be occupied by the French what's shattering blow they actually took away the basis of their economy for that period foreign troops boots are on German Sovereign territory there's nothing worse for proud people than to be occupied it reminded them of just how vulnerable they were to the vindictiveness of the allies these allies are determined to hold back the German economy they're taking our money they want Total humiliation from the German people so this was a rallying call if you like for nationalism yeah in Munich Hitler has now risen to head of the Bavarian camp boond a loose affiliation of fellow right-wing revolutionaries the so-called Combat League a set of disparate nationalist group militarist groups in the early 20s the group is United by one thing the Weimar Republic must go since this is his moment there's chaos this is the perfect time for our battle group to actually seize control the only question is how the inspiration comes from abroad Europe's most successful fascist Benito Mussolini storms to power in Italy just months before in October 1922. he has acquired huge popular support and marches on Rome with his 30 000 black shirts [Music] Mussolini gets this band of fascist supporters they then March through the streets they go to the Palace of the king and then Mussolini takes power so this is a very romantic notion of how you can overthrow a major government and take power Mussolini and Hitler had many parallels like Hitler he was a former Soldier he had also been wounded like Hitler Mussolini a former journalist understands the power of the press and while Mussolini has his black shirts Hitler has his brown shirts Hitler hears about this and he thinks this sounds like a good idea we could do this here we could take power in Munich and then march to Berlin and as we go to Berlin we can get all the people who want to get rid of the old democratic government and overthrow it that's the idea so the plot starts to hatch it hatches in little secrets of meetings and dinners the first challenge is who to lead the revolt Hitler is well aware he is too unknown to unite the whole of Germany he needs a figurehead he has a suitable person in mind General Eric ludendorff national hero of the German Rite and one of the great commanders of World War One [Music] so ludendorff had this military position which was highly attractive to the Nazis they were so pleased he joined their course he pressed all the right buttons we might say in many ways you can see ludendorff as the kind of titular head the kind of symbolic head of this movement and whereas Hitler is often referred to as the drummer he's the one beating on the March he's the one who's making it go and it's ludendorf at its head and that's kind of how I used to see the two roles but ludendorff is a very very important figure [Music] next the plotters discuss the mechanics of how to seize power the aim is to challenge the Bavarian government in Munich as the first step towards challenging the government of Germany overall first the hijacker major political meeting of the leaders of Bavaria present will be the state prime minister Gustav vonkar he would force vonkar and the leaders of the state police and military to join the coup ludendorff would be critical in persuading the three men to come on side if someone as senior and as distinguished as ludendorff supported the Nazis and Hitler then that gave Hitler enormous prestige with Von Carr and the two others on his side Hitler believes he can get the Army and police to join the revolt simultaneously units including himmler's sa group will take control of the key military and police buildings in Munich the date is finally set [Music] Hitler makes his way to a public meeting at Munich's massive Burger brow killer what's on the evening of the 8th of November at around 8 15 when Hitler turns up in a red Mercedes at the Burger Bar Keller in Munich inside Gustav vonkar is addressing the crowd with him are the two chiefs of the Bavarian police and army so all the street triumvirate men who were running Barbara at that time were in this one beer hall at the same time he decided to go to the Burger brow killer and to seize the initiative at the meeting and to pin Von Carr down and the triumvirus to backing the revolution all across Munich sa activists get the call to Don their uniforms and head to assembly points around the city to be issued with rifles soon sa men armed with rifles and steel helmets arrive at the beer hall by truck together with 600 sa men Hitler storms the 3 000 strong meeting there is very theatrical to the stage with a pistol in his hand he declares the national revolution has broken out [Music] the leader of the revolution ludendorff wasn't even there he was late Hitler now takes the three state leaders into a back room and desperately tries to convince them himself to join the coup but of course the Bavarian triumvirate weren't ready or prepared to allow this gutter snipe orator to take over as Hitler argues Nazi sympathizers and brown shirts including Himmler continue moving in on Military buildings around the city [Music] Hitler has to turn the situation around [Music] Hitler needs these people on side if he is going to succeed pistol in hand he threatens to kill them but they won't budge you then have hours of these negotiations going on in which the Bavarian politicians are very reluctant to join Hitler but Hitler desperately needs them on side Ebonite is actually even though he's got a pistol as a negotiating tool it's ultimately it can't really be fired at these people that's not going to work so he storms back into the main hall of the burger Brown killer to address the crowd in a desperate speech he tries everything to win their support when he makes his impassioned speech in the beer killer and says the government is willing to give way to us they're willing for us to form the next government they won't they hadn't agreed to it but he claimed that was the case and he said outside the Army and the police have come to our side they hadn't but they cheer and clap and ball with the light [Applause] [Music] finally ludendorff arrives the mood is electric [Applause] with ludendorff in the room the three leaders of Bavaria agree to join the coup eventually after quite a lot of dithering and touring and throwing they agree meanwhile across Munich sa units including himmler's outfit have set up barricades and surrounded the Army and police buildings some Army and police units even agree to join the uprising seems the coup really might work but at other Army Barracks soldiers refused to side with the Nazis the coup in the balance everything depends on what Adolf Hitler does next Italy leaves the hall leaving ludendorff to keep control of things as Hitler heads across the city to check on the progress of his push ludendorff allows the Bavarian leaders to go very unwisely accepted the word of fonkar and his two military and police cohorts that they would um be good boys and support the put and let them go instead vonkar rallies troops against Hitler Carr goes back on his word and says no I'm here to control things Hitler now returns to the bear Hall and makes a critical error rather than go out and try to win over more army and police units he waits convinced they will come on side anyway he remains there passive for several hours they stay in the beer color for some time hoping that those outside will come around to their way of thinking by then people have sobered up and it's never quite the same meanwhile as Hitler Dithers in Berlin News of the push reaches the government it immediately issues a proclamation declaring Hitler and his supporters guilty of high treason it was high treason look at that to engage in treason attacking a sitting government was no small beer [Music] spirit is back in Munich are now all staring at the death penalty but it is ludendorff who takes charge and at one point you have ludendorff in this fantastic processant where he goes we will March finally with 2 000 men including ludendorff and gurring at his side the Nazis march on Central Munich [Music] but the authorities are waiting for them and have prepared defenses [Music] moment truth 16 Nazis are killed gurring is among the wounded in later years the official Nazi account would tell a very heroic version of these events few mentioned the four dead policemen nor did people dwell on how Hitler and Himmler fled the field of battle Hitler Escapes in an ambulance runs away from the scene of the crime if you like not really that heroic when you look at it and he ends up being arrested a couple of days later and then of course he's put on trial for high treason so really why it's called the beer hall pooches that Hitler for a little bit took over a beer hall it was very clear that Hitler didn't really know what to do and of course you know in later retellings by the Nazi party this was a very definite pre-arranged uh purposeful night but of course it was just a muddle it was a model by amateur revolutionaries who really didn't have the means or the ability to actually mount a proper coup oh and so the push becomes a cause for celebration in Nazi mythology and an annual Act of Remembrance in the Nazi calendar and he erected these enormous shrines to them right in the heart of Munich very close to where they had been shot down and on the anniversary of the pooch each year on November the 9th the Nazi leaders getting steadily more portly dressed themselves in their Old Brown uniforms that they'd worn at the time of the Butch gurring and Hitler in the front rank of the Marchers and were parade through the streets of Munich and this became a piece of theater to the muffled drum rolls no one was allowed to speak there was just total silence as the Nazi leadership paraded through and reenacted the putch each year they did this and they continued to do this right up until 1939 when a loan would-be assassin a left-wing worker called Georg Elsa detonated a bomb in the beer hall where the push had started almost wrecking it and after that the marches were discontinued but back in 1924 it seems as if it is all over for Adolf Hitler he is arrested his Nazi party is disbanded for starting a coup his newspaper the volkischer baobacter is also banned [Music] nevertheless even though he seems to be facing disaster Hitler has learned a crucial lesson that will ultimately carry him to power being On The Fringe of politics won't work [Music] most people don't support parties that try to seize power through Force if he wants to fulfill his destiny and become the leader of Germany you'll have to find another way the main lesson that Hitler learned from the pooch was that violence doesn't work especially unsuccessful violence he realized that if he was going to come to power he'd have to do so legally to do it constitutionally by using the electoral system we'll carry people with us we don't need a majority even we just need to be dominant in our thinking [Music] so even though Hitler's cool looks like a total failure fact the rise of the Nazis is only just beginning foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary - History

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full Documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), History, History Documentaries, Free Documentary History, History Documentary, The Rise of the Nazi Party, Rise of the Nazi Party Full Episodes, Adolf Hitler Documentary, Third Reich, Third Reich Documentary, Nazi Germany Documentary, Nazi Party Documentary

Id: KcfTOKgDdWQ

Length: 48min 58sec (2938 seconds)

Published: Tue May 09 2023