The Rise of Hitler

In the last few classes we have been busy wrapping up World War I and discussing the interwar years and the climate that served as a foundation for Hitler's rise to power.

It is so important that you understand the various perspectives of different countries after World War I - The Paris Peace Conference and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles was the catalyst for the second World War. We did our simulation of the Paris Peace Conference so that you could understand the emotion after the Great War.

We then began investigating Hitler's rise to power by relating it to Dr. Seuss's 'Yertle the Turtle'. We also watched a clip from 'Triumph of the Will', a Nazi Propaganda film, read Hitler's April 10, 1923 speech, and viewed a clip of 'Schindler's List' - the intent was to understand the intense emotion of WWII. We will now tie all of our understanding together by discussing the chronology of the interwar years and Hitler's rise. You will be able to see how the emotion that we have spent so much time discussing will be the reason that World War II starts and escalates to the extent that it did.