That's right! Germany is part of Europe.
As we learnt on the previous page, World War I ended with the defeat of Germany. And that had a great impact on Hitler’s world view and political beliefs. Hitler was a soldier and found it hard to accept the defeat of the German Empire. Many believed that Germany had not lost the war on the battlefield but due to betrayal from within. Socialists, communists and particularly Jews were blamed.
Hitler joined a new extreme party, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (German: NationalSozialistische Deutsche ArbeiterPartei, NSDAP). He quickly became its strongman because he could inspire people with his speeches. He noticed that propaganda against Jews struck a chord with audiences and voters. He claimed Jews were not only responsible for the unfair German defeat but were also preventing Germany’s recovery. Many people believed him. People were joining the party just to see Hitler make his speeches, which would leave the audience in a state of near hysteria and willing to do whatever he suggested.
With the promise to make Germany a large and economically powerful country Hitler’s party won the 1932 election. In 1933 he and his party came to power. Members of his party are called the National Socialists. The word 'Nazi' is an abbreviation for the German word 'Nationalsozialist'.
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