Introduction

World War II began in Europe after Hitler invaded Poland and the United Kingdom, France and other allies declared war on Germany. There are many factors for the war starting, but a major one is the emergence of Adolf Hitler as supreme leader of Germany. Without Hitler’s leadership and drive it is unlikely that the war would have taken place in the way it did.

The year is 1946 you are a partnership of two New Zealand Army Majors working for the Nuremburg trials commission in Germany. As members of New Zealand’s Army intelligence unit, you have been given the task of investigating how it was that Adolf Hitler first came to power in Germany. By investigating Hitler’s rise to power you will be able to report back to the Allied nations of; USA, Britain, France, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. This information can then be used to ensure that a leader like Hitler can never rise to power again!

Task

Your General has requested that you look into several distinct areas of Hitler’s life and the circumstances that led to his rise to power. After you have collected information on these topics your job will be to report back using a power point presentation, covering the areas below:

1. Hitler’s early life
2. Hitler’s military career
3. Hitler’s first political moves
4. The political climate in Germany after World War I
5. The economic climate in Germany after World War I
6. The effect of the great depression in Germany
7. What support did Hitler have?
8. What was Hitler willing to do to gain power

The websites on the resources post should be used to research these topics in detail. Make sure that you take down accurate information and think critically about all the topic questions! We must have accurate information so that the World will see no more Hitlers!

Process

1. Firstly you must visit the websites below and gather information by reading what is available and taking down accurate notes
   



2. Take any quotes and photographs which may be important to present your information on your power point
   



3. Make sure that each of the eight areas of investigation is researched.
   Once you have the required information you will need to prepare a power point slideshow to present back to the General (teacher). Please read the evaluation rubric.
   



4. Make sure the eight areas are covered with a slide for each topic. Try to avoid using more than 12 slides in total. You can use pictures or photos that you find throughout your research.
   



5. Prepare an oral report to be presented to the General along with the
   power point

Resources

www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/ - Chronological history of Hitler where by clicking on events/dates get page length description

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERhitler.htm -information on Hitler’s upbringing and family

www.johndclare.net/Weimar7.htm - reasons that Hitler came to power

www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/hitler_01.shtml - more detailed description of rise to power

www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/begins.htm - Impact of the great depression – economics

www.hitler.org/images/ - images of Hitlers rise to power

http://www.remember.org/guide/Facts.root.hitler.html

Evaluation

What will be assessed	Could be done better	Working at level	Outstanding
Research -Early Life -Military career -First political moves -German political climate -German economic climate -Great depression -Hitler’s support -Hitler’s capabilities	Areas of task insufficiently covered	Used websites listed to provide adequate and pertinent information	Used websites listed to provide good selection of material and links made between content.
Oral accompaniment	Oral accompaniment not sufficient or doesn’t accompany slide show	Oral accompaniment Follows slide show	Oral accompaniment compliments slide show and is rehearsed
Organisation, spelling and grammar	Organisation doesn’t make sense Intrusive errors of spelling and grammar	Good organisation of material. Few errors of spelling or grammar	Organisation of material flows and makes sense. No errors in spelling or grammar
Content	Insufficient coverage of content.	All areas of the topic are covered with sufficient depth	Has covered all the material and shows good understanding of consequences of actions.

Comments

Conclusion

Congratulations on a task well done soldier. Now that you have briefed the General the peace loving nations of the World will be safer. You should have learnt that there are many factors which lead to the rise of evil men. This assignment will have given you much to reflect on. As the Irish philosopher, politician and writer Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) said ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’. Through completing this task you may have highlighted that when good people are silent, people like Adolf Hitler can do terrible things!!