Dismantling Democracy

About This Lesson

In previous lessons, students traced the rise of the Nazi Party during the years of the Weimar Republic in Germany, and they explored the political climate that led both to the Nazis becoming the most popular political party in Germany and to the appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor. In this lesson, students will continue this unit’s historical case study by learning about the National Socialist revolution that followed Hitler’s appointment as chancellor and analyzing the steps the Nazis took in 1933 and 1934 to dismantle democracy in Germany and establish a dictatorship. In the process, students will continue to deepen and extend their study of democracy and reflect on the idea of democracy’s fragility. By examining how democracy was replaced with dictatorship in a relatively short period of time in Germany, students will begin to draw conclusions about the responsibilities shared by both leaders and citizens for democracy’s survival.

Essential Question

How can learning about the choices people made during past episodes of injustice, mass violence, or genocide help guide our choices today?

Guiding Questions

• What steps did the Nazis take to transform Germany into a dictatorship during their first two years in power?
• What can we learn from the rise of the Nazis about what makes democracy fragile?

Learning Objectives

Students will learn about the transformation of Germany into a dictatorship in 1933–1934 and draw conclusions, based on this history, about the values and institutions that might serve as a bulwark against dictatorship and make democracy possible.

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Contrast Democracy and Dictatorship

Start the class by asking students to review their notes, or the class chart, from their Lesson 9 discussion about the characteristics of democracy. Then introduce the concept of dictatorship. You might create a similar chart for dictatorship as you did for democracy, or you can simply provide students with the following definition:

• A government ruled by a single person (or a small group) who has absolute power to make and enforce laws without the consent of the people or other branches of the government.

Then show students the video From Democracy to Dictatorship (03:00), in which Holocaust survivor Alfred Wolf recalls how he realized that dictatorship was taking hold in Germany.  

After watching the video, ask students to respond in their journals to the following prompt:

• For Alfred Wolf, what were the signs that a dictatorship was replacing democracy in Germany in 1933? What else do you imagine might be a sign of such a change? What might you be able to do if you lived in a democracy that you wouldn’t be able to do if you lived in a dictatorship?

After a few minutes, ask students to share some of their ideas as you write them on the board.

Activity 2: Introduce Key Events in the Nazis’ First Two Years in Power

• Introduce the video Hitler’s Rise to Power, 1933–1934 (7:45). It provides an overview of the two years following Hitler’s appointment as chancellor of Germany. Explain to students that they will learn about some of the events that the video touches upon in more detail later in the lesson.  
• Pass out the handout Hitler’s Rise to Power, 1933–1934 Viewing Guide and instruct students to respond to the first two questions on the handout as they watch the video. You might briefly pause the film two or three times to allow students some extra time to write their notes. After the film, ask students to complete the two reflection questions on the handout. They can complete this step independently or with a partner.
• Debrief the video by reviewing the questions on the viewing guide and discussing the information students should have recorded. 

Activity 3: Explore Pivotal Choices in the Dismantling of Democracy

• Tell students that they will now work in groups to explore more deeply some specific choices the Nazis made to dismantle democracy and create a dictatorship in Germany. Each group will analyze the ways an individual event undermined democracy and share their conclusions about that event with the rest of the class.  
• Divide the class into small groups and provide each group with a copy of the handout Democracy to Dictatorship Reading Analysis and one additional reading: Shaping Public Opinion, Targeting Jews, “Restoring” Germany’s Civil Service, Where They Burn Books . . . , or Isolating Homosexuals.
• Give the groups time to complete their assigned reading and the handout. Tell students that they will be using the information they gather on their handouts for the next activity and should be prepared to share it with the class.

Activity 4: Discuss Democracy’s Fragility

Have a short discussion with students about the meaning of the word fragile. What does it mean for something to be fragile?

Then have students review their Democracy to Dictatorship Reading Analysis handouts, and discuss with them the questions below. Time permitting, use the Fishbowl teaching strategy to structure this conversation.

• In what ways is democracy fragile?
• What makes democracy strong (or less vulnerable to becoming a dictatorship)?
• Make sure that students support their thinking with information from their analysis handouts and the readings they analyzed. Record on the board important points that come up in the conversation, and instruct students to copy them into their journals at the end of the discussion.