NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler are prepared by expert teachers. These solutions contain answers to all questions provided in History (India and the Contemporary World – I) textbook. Students can also download the PDF of NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 3 for free.
NCERT Book Solutions For Class 9 History Chapter 3 PDF
Question 1: Describe the problems faced by the Weimar Republic.
Answer: The problems faced by the Weimar Republic were:
Versailles treaty: The Versailles Peace Treaty at the end of the First World War dispossessed Germany of its territories, its resources and its pride as a nation. He also had to pay 6 billion pounds as war compensation. Despite the harsh terms, the Weimar Republic accepted the humiliating treaty, thereby making it unpopular amongst the German masses.
Economic Crisis: The German state was financially crippled due to overwhelming war debts which had to be paid in gold. Subsequently god reserves depleted and value of German mark fell. Prices of essential goods rose dramatically.
Political defects: The Weimar Republic was weak due to inherent constitutional irregularities such as proportional representation and Article 48 (which gave the President the power to impose emergency and rule by decree). The democratic parliamentary system seemed to give the people no solutions or benefits in the times of the severe economic crisis.
Question 2: Discuss why Nazism became popular in Germany by 1930.
Answer: The end of World War I had changed the political landscape of Germany. Right from the beginning, the infant Weimar Republic was beset by problems.
(I) The harsh Versailles Treaty was a serious blow to the national prestige of the Germans and to the economy
(II) The economic situation was worsened by the Great Depression of 1929, which had severely affected the already fragile German economy. The inability of the Weimar Republic to remedy the situation only further inflamed public sentiments.
(III) The political scenario was not any better as the various political factions, such as the communists and socialists fought with each other that stalled any policy that would uplift the plight of the German people.
(IV) It was in this background that Hitler would organise the fledgling National Socialist German Worker’s party, otherwise known as the Nazi party into a mass movement.
(V) By implementing Nazi ideals, Hitler promised to undo the injustice of the Versailles treaty and restore the dignity of the German people, promising economic security and to build a strong German nation free from all foreign influences and ‘conspiracies’.
(VI) He found strong support among the German middle class, who were threatened with destitution due to economic collapse that had shut down banks, businesses and factories.
(VII) Nazi propaganda, along with Hitler’s powerful oratory skills, successfully portrayed Hitler as a saviour and Nazism as the means to deliver the German people from the distress of living in a time of acute economic and political crisis.
Question 3: What are the peculiar features of Nazi thinking?
Answer: Nazi ideologies were …
a. There is no equality among people.
b. The Nordic German Aryans were the best race.
c. the Jews were considered the lowest race.
d. Nazism believed in the survival of the fittest.
e. New territories had to be captured to enhance the motherland.
f. New territories would enhance natural resources and make Germany a powerful nation.
When the Nazi Party came to power it began to implement these ideologies.
Question 4: Explain why Nazi propaganda was effective in creating a hatred for Jews.
Answer: Nazi propaganda was effective in creating hatred for the Jews:
- The Nazis used the language and media effectively with great care. The racial theory put forward by the Nazis that the Jews belonged to a lower race and as such were undesirable.
- The traditional Christian hatred for the Jews, because they were accused to have killed Christ, was fully exploited by the Nazis in order to make the Germans pre-judicial against Jews.
- The Nazis injected hatred against the Jews even in the minds of the children from the very beginning during the days of their schooling. The teachers who were Jews were dismissed and Jews children were thrown out of the schools. Such methods and new ideological training to the new generation of children went a long way in making the Nazi’s propaganda quite effective in creating hatred for the Jews.
- Propaganda films were made to create hatred for the Jews. Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and marked. For example, one such film was ‘The Eternal Jew’.
Question 5: Explain what role women had in Nazi society. Return to Chapter 1 on the French Revolution. Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the role of women in the two periods.
Answer: Women in Nazi society were relegated to housewives who were charged with upholding the honour of the German race by limiting contacts with ‘undesirables’ and raising as many as pure-blooded children as possible. Those who conformed to this role were given favoured treatment in hospitals, concessions in shops, theatre tickets and railway fares. Despite Hitler’s statement on ‘women being the most important citizen’, it did not apply to every woman. Especially those who deviated from Nazi ideology. Those that did, risked public humiliation, loss of civic honour, loss of family, jail sentence and even death.
This was in total contrast to the role of women in the French Revolution, Where women led movements and fought for the right to education and the right to equal wages as men. They could not be forced to marry against their will. They could also train for jobs, become artists or run small businesses. Schooling was made compulsory for them and they could even hold property.
Question 6: In what ways did the Nazi state seek to establish total control over its people?
Answer: The Nazis established control over its people by various means:
- They used different propaganda through posters or films to glorify their behaviour.
- Media was carefully used to win support for the regime and popularise it.
- Nazism worked on the minds of the people, tapped their emotions and turned their hatred and anger against those marked as ‘undesirable’.
- Special surveillance and security forces to control and order society in ways that the Nazis wanted, was created.
- The police forces had powers to rule with impunity. Genocide also created an atmosphere of fear and repression which helped them to establish total control over its people.