Exercises on Adolf Hitler and Nazism

(Ameosc – adapted) In several countries, during the 1920s and 1930s, there was the rise of movements classified as fascists, whose characteristics, according to historians, are the obsessive concern for the community, seen as a victim of humiliation and in need of immediate purification. These are fascist practices used to come to power in this period:

I. cult of violence and will as means of achieving success;

II. emphasis on a male leader who is considered the only one capable of ending the crisis and directing the community towards its destiny;

III. focus on socialist and liberal policies, which are used as tools of action;

IV. preaches the development of the individual and his qualities, which must stand out in the face of the collective horde.

They are correct:

a) only item II is correct.

b) only items I and II are correct.

c) all items are correct.

d) only items I, III and IV are correct.

e) all items are incorrect.

(Ibade) Regarding the German-Soviet non-aggression pact (1939), it is correct to state that:

a) signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, it guaranteed that the territory of Poland would go to the Nazis.

b) signed in Moscow by Soviet Minister Viacheslav Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop, it divided Poland between the two powers and avoided a direct confrontation between them.

c) personally signed by Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, in a secret ceremony in Poland, the agreement allowed Germany to fight the war on only one front and retain half of Poland.

d) signed in Berlin with the presence of the main Russian politicians, the agreement established the division of Poland between the two countries.

e) signed in Italy, it established that the Soviets would enter the war, aiding Germany.

(Ameosc – adapted) The so-called Weimar Republic was a period in German history that took place between 1919 and 1933. About this period, it is correct to say that:

a) its emergence is linked to the end of the First World War and the German defeat, as a way of recovering the economy and the political crisis that spread in the country, obtaining good results and high degree of economic development.

b) until 1924, the Weimar Republic was marked, from an economic point of view, by rapid industrial growth and production of goods and services, from the industrial sector to the simple trade.

c) the structure of the Weimar Republic then became parliamentary, divided into two houses of social representation:the Reichstag (Parliament) and the Reichsrat (Assembly).

d) the growth of Nazism and its progressive advance within the German parliament led to the deposition of von Hindenburg by a coup d'état applied by Adolf Hitler, who became chancellor of the government.

e) Hitler spent three years in prison in the Weimar Republic for leading a coup in Saxony.

While in prison, Hitler wrote the basic work of the Nazi movement, the “Mein Kampf”. Mark the CORRECT alternative.

a) Nazism, like fascism, rejected political liberalism, socialism and aimed to obtain absolute control of the population. The main differentiating element was Arianism.

b) Unlike Nazism, teachers of the Fascist regime were not obliged to comply with the program defined by the State.

c) Nationalist stimuli motivated the implementation of Italian fascism, unlike other right-wing totalitarian regimes.

d) Hitler, at the height of Nazism, persecuted Jews and Slavs, but encouraged the functioning of trade union organizations.

e) Germany managed to faithfully comply with the Treaty of Versailles, despite the economic crisis of German capitalism and the mass unemployment of the population.

Adolf Hitler's parents were named Alois Hitler and Klara Pölzl. Hitler's father, who was a strict and disciplinarian man, worked as:

a) police.

b) customs inspector.

c) tax auditor.

d) merchant.

e) watchmaker.

World War I was a conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918 and caused the deaths of 10 million people. Hitler participated in this conflict in what way?

a) He enlisted in the Austrian army and acted as a spy.

b) He enlisted in the German army and acted as a messenger.

c) He enlisted in the German army and acted as a translator.

d) He enlisted in the Austrian army and served as a nurse.

e) He enlisted in the German army and served as a cavalryman.

During his youth, the great frustration Adolf Hitler faced was:

a) have their applications to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna rejected.

b) not be accepted by the Austrian army.

c) have a frustrated romance with Eva Braun.

d) forced to flee Vienna.

e) having seen your family's financial condition worsen.

The person chosen by Hitler to be responsible for Nazi Party propaganda was:

a) Rudolf Hess.

b) Reinhard Heydrich.

c) Hermann Göring.

d) Heinrich Himmler.

e) Joseph Goebbels.

In the 1932 presidential election, Hitler ran for the Nazi Party and was defeated by:

a) Paul von Hindenburg.

b) Ernst Thälmann.

c) Theodor Duesterberg.

d) Gustav A. Winter.

e) He was not defeated.

In February 1933, the German Parliament was set on fire and this measure was used by Hitler as a justification for radicalizing the German government. The person responsible for this fire was:

a) Hjalmar Schacht.

b) Gerhard Wagner.

c) Wilhelm Frick.

d) Marinus van der Lubbe.

e) Herschel Grynszpan.

The attack on Jews throughout Germany during the Kristallnacht was Hitler's reprisal for what event?

a) The failure of the Berlin Conference negotiations.

b) The increase in tension in relations between Germany and the Soviet Union.

c) The popular protests of thousands of people in Berlin.

d) The sanctions imposed by the United States on Germany.

e) The murder of a German diplomat in Paris.

Operation Valkyrie, which attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1942, was carried out by one:

a) German Jew.

b) Soviet spy.

c) civil.

d) Nazi officer.

e) none of the alternatives.

Alternative B.

Nazism and fascism had in their principles the exaltation of the leader (duce, for the Italians, and führer, for the Germans). In the case of Nazism, there was even the greeting Heil Hitler to glorify the party leader. Hitler was an outspoken supporter of war and spoke openly that it would define Germany's destiny.

Alternative B.

The non-aggression pact, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was an agreement signed between Germany and the Soviet Union in August 1939. The two nations established peace between themselves, even if there was war in Europe, and secretly agreed to the division of Polish territory.

Alternative C.

During the Weimar Republic, Germany was consolidated as a democratic republic based on parliamentarism and bicameralism, that is, it had two legislative chambers. The Reichstag was formed by popular election, while the Reichsrat was formed by people appointed by the Germanic states.

Alternative A.

The Nazi ideology was openly anti-liberal and anti-socialist, and its authoritarian vein advocated that the entire population should be faithful and obedient to the State, with no room for contesting ideas. In the case of Nazism, there was still the racial issue as a strong element, as the Nazis considered the Germans (they called themselves Aryans) a superior race.

Alternative B.

Adolf Hitler's father, Alois Hitler, was a strict, disciplinarian man and made his career as a civil servant. When Adolf was born, his father worked as a customs inspector in Branau am Imm, an Austrian town on the border with Germany. Adolf's relationship with Alois was never good.

Alternative B.

Hitler enlisted to fight for the German army and joined the Second Reserve Battalion of the Second Regiment. During World War I, he served as a messenger, performing well in the role and even being awarded the Iron Cross. Throughout the conflict, Hitler achieved only the rank of corporal.

Alternative A.

Hitler's lifelong dream was to pursue a career as an artist—a dream that caused him to have big arguments with his father, who wanted him to be a civil servant. Hitler moved to Vienna, the capital of Austria, to try to join the Academy of Fine Arts, but his application was rejected twice.

Alternative E.

Hitler chose the German Joseph Goebbels to be the party's propagandist. It was Goebbels who created the typical aesthetic of Nazism, with the aim of valuing the party's ideology and the image of Hitler himself. He was appointed Minister of Propaganda after Hitler assumed German power. With the German defeat in the war, Goebbels committed suicide in 1945.

Alternative A.

In the 1932 election, Adolf Hitler went to the second round of the contest, after receiving 30% of the votes in the first round. In that second round, Hitler ran against Paul von Hindenburg and Ernst Thälmann and came in second with 37% of the vote. The winner of that contest was Hindenburg, who got 53% of the votes.

Alternative D.

Marinus van der Lubbe went down in history for being responsible for burning down the German Parliament in 1933. He was a Dutch socialist and, as far as we know, acted on his own when set fire to Parliament. However, some historians dispute this version and point out that the fire may have been planned by the Nazis.

Alternative E.

The Crystal Night was a coordinated attack by the Nazi Party against Jews throughout Germany and took place in November 1938. This attack was a reprisal by the Nazis against the assassination of German diplomat Ernst with Rath in Paris. The diplomat's killer was a 17-year-old Jew named Herschel Grynszpan.

Alternative D.

Operation Valkyrie was an elaborate conspiracy by the German Resistance, the Hitler opposition group that was formed within the upper echelons of the Nazi Party. This conspiracy planned the assassination of Hitler and was carried out by German army officer Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. The plan failed.