When you can accomplish the learning objectives for this lesson, you should begin work on the lesson essay described below. You may use any assigned readings, your notes, and other course-related materials to complete this assignment. Be sure to reread the essay grading criteria on the Grades and Assessments page.
This essay should be about 750 words long, typed double space with one-inch margins on each side. It is worth 100 points and should address the following:
What does General Ludendorff’s notion of a “stab-in-the-back” refer to? Discuss the political implications of this theory for the newly founded Weimar Republic in 1919. You should take into account both the relationship between civil government and the military command and the public’s perception of the republic and the lost war.
After completing this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
· Define crucial terms and events such as the stab-in-the-back legend, Kapp-Putsch, NSDAP, SA, SS, Night of the Long Knives, and Ermächtigungsgesetz.
· Provide a brief summary of the Treaty of Versailles.
· Summarize the various reasons the Weimar Republic was an emergency solution disliked by large segments of the German population.
· Broadly discuss the genesis of the NSDAP and its development until 1933.
· Enumerate the major political goals of Hitler and the NSDAP.
· Provide an account of how Hitler established a totalitarian regime within the first six months of his being voted chancellor.