What Did World War I Have to Do With the Holocaust?
The Holocaust, the attempted genocide of the Jewish people, is one of the most horrific events in all of history. The Nazis succeeded in murdering six million Jews and another five million others in a systematic process created specifically for killing.
Although the mass killings began in earnest in 1941 with the Einsatzgruppen and then, later, gas chambers, the path to genocide started much earlier.
Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party and later Fuhrer of Germany, was a central figure in the cause of the Holocaust, but it is impossible for one man to do all this alone. The entire German populace was disgraced by their loss in World War I and the subsequent peace treaty at Versailles created a vacuum of power within Germany that allowed for the rise of the Nazi Party.
Follow this timeline, divided into three sections, to learn about the growth of antisemitism, the rise of the Nazi Party, and the evolution of the Final Solution.
1914 to 1932 | 1933 to 1938 | 1939 to Present
June 28 -- Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria assassinated, leading to the start of World War I
August 3 - Adolf Hitler petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to join in a Bavarian regiment (granted)
December -- Hitler awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class
October 7 -- Hitler wounded in the leg by a grenade splinter during the Battle of the Somme
August 4 -- Hitler awarded the Iron Cross, First Class
October 13 -- Hitler suffered temporary blindness from a British gas attack
October 28 -- Munity by sailors at the Kiel Naval Base
November 9 -- Weimar Republic proclaimed
November 10 -- Hitler told of end of World War I while in a hospital recovering from a British gas attack
Hitler assigned job in the Press and News Bureau of the Political Department of the Army's district command
Hitler posted to a Munich regiment as an educational officer in the Press and Propaganda Office of the District Army Command
January 5 -- The German Workers' Party founded
January 15 -- Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg murdered
February 28 -- Scheidemann government resigned; replaced
June 28 -- The German delegates sign the Treaty of Versailles
July 31 -- Weimar Constitution adopted (became law August 11)
September -- Hitler received orders to look into the German Workers' Party - Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (joins)
February 24 -- German Workers' Party changes its name to National Socialist German Workers' Party - Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) (Nazi Party)
March 12-17 -- Kapp Putsch
Summer -- Hitler came up with the design for the Nazi flag and symbol
Summer -- Hitler organized the Ordnertruppe
Summer -- Hitler takes dictatorial control over the Nazis
October 5 -- Ordnertruppe officially named Sturmabteilung (SA)
June 24 -- Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau murdered (shot)
January 11 -- Ruhr occupied by French and Belgian forces because German was behind on reparations
November 9 -- Hitler attempts a coup, the Beer Hall Putsch (fails)
November 11 -- Hitler arrested
February 26 -- Hitler's trial for treason begins
April 1 -- Hitler sentenced to five years in prison in Landsberg fortress;
Writes Mein Kampf
December 20 -- Hitler released from prison
February 28 -- President Ebert died
July -- French troops completed their evacuation out of the Ruhr
Although the mass killings began in earnest in 1941 with the Einsatzgruppen and then, later, gas chambers, the path to genocide started much earlier.
Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party and later Fuhrer of Germany, was a central figure in the cause of the Holocaust, but it is impossible for one man to do all this alone. The entire German populace was disgraced by their loss in World War I and the subsequent peace treaty at Versailles created a vacuum of power within Germany that allowed for the rise of the Nazi Party.
Follow this timeline, divided into three sections, to learn about the growth of antisemitism, the rise of the Nazi Party, and the evolution of the Final Solution.
1914 to 1932 | 1933 to 1938 | 1939 to Present
1. 1914
June 28 -- Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria assassinated, leading to the start of World War I
August 3 - Adolf Hitler petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to join in a Bavarian regiment (granted)
December -- Hitler awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class
2. 1916
October 7 -- Hitler wounded in the leg by a grenade splinter during the Battle of the Somme
3. 1918
August 4 -- Hitler awarded the Iron Cross, First Class
October 13 -- Hitler suffered temporary blindness from a British gas attack
October 28 -- Munity by sailors at the Kiel Naval Base
November 9 -- Weimar Republic proclaimed
November 10 -- Hitler told of end of World War I while in a hospital recovering from a British gas attack
4. 1919
Hitler assigned job in the Press and News Bureau of the Political Department of the Army's district command
Hitler posted to a Munich regiment as an educational officer in the Press and Propaganda Office of the District Army Command
January 5 -- The German Workers' Party founded
January 15 -- Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg murdered
February 28 -- Scheidemann government resigned; replaced
June 28 -- The German delegates sign the Treaty of Versailles
July 31 -- Weimar Constitution adopted (became law August 11)
September -- Hitler received orders to look into the German Workers' Party - Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (joins)
5. 1920
February 24 -- German Workers' Party changes its name to National Socialist German Workers' Party - Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) (Nazi Party)
March 12-17 -- Kapp Putsch
Summer -- Hitler came up with the design for the Nazi flag and symbol
Summer -- Hitler organized the Ordnertruppe
6. 1921
Summer -- Hitler takes dictatorial control over the Nazis
October 5 -- Ordnertruppe officially named Sturmabteilung (SA)
7. 1922
June 24 -- Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau murdered (shot)
8. 1923
January 11 -- Ruhr occupied by French and Belgian forces because German was behind on reparations
November 9 -- Hitler attempts a coup, the Beer Hall Putsch (fails)
November 11 -- Hitler arrested
9. 1924
February 26 -- Hitler's trial for treason begins
April 1 -- Hitler sentenced to five years in prison in Landsberg fortress;
Writes Mein Kampf
December 20 -- Hitler released from prison
10. 1925
February 28 -- President Ebert died
July -- French troops completed their evacuation out of the Ruhr