Discussion  Why is Jesse Owens saluting, and why is Luz Long extending his arm? They are saluting their countries' flags [raised for the medal winners], Owens with a U.S. military salute and Long with the Nazi salute.

Discussion  How is this photograph evidence that contradicts Adolf Hitler's claim of the superiority of the "Aryan race"? A German athlete, Luz Long, finished second to a non-German, Jesse Owens.

Background  Berlin was chosen as the site for the Olympic Games two years before Adolf Hitler came to power. Fearing that many nations would boycott the games because of Hitler's blatant racism, the International Olympic Committee pressured the Germans not to use the games to promote Nazi ideals. Yet the sports complex was covered with Nazi banners and symbols, and Aryan supremacy was repeatedly proclaimed in speeches and pamphlets. Jesse Owens' four gold medals spoiled Hitler's plans to have the games showcase Aryan supremacy. The next two Summer Olympics—the 1940 and 1944 games—were canceled because of World War II.

Rise of Hitler and the Nazis Racism and nationalism: At the core of Adolf Hitler's ideas was racism and bigotry, especially anti-Semitism. He also was an extreme nationalist. The Nazi Party: After World War I, Hitler joined the extremist German Workers' Party. Within a few years he took control of the party, now called the Nazi Party. Failed uprising: In 1923, Hitler staged an armed uprising against the government. Known as the Beer Hall Putsch, the uprising was quickly crushed, and Hitler was arrested. Mein Kampf: While in jail, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, in which he linked German nationalism, anti-Semitism, and anticommunism to a Social Darwinian theory of struggle. He claimed that superior nations had the right to expand and superior individuals had the right to lead the masses. Growth of Nazism: Realizing that the Nazi Party would have to gain power by legal means, Hitler expanded it into a mass national party, attracting Germans who were disaffected by Germany's economic problems and were attracted by the Nazis' nationalism and militarism. Hitler the Führer: After President Hindenburg allowed Hitler to become chancellor, the Nazi-dominated Reichstag gave Hitler the power to ignore the German constitution. This made Hitler a dictator, and the Nazis quickly took control of all German institutions. When Hindenburg died, Hitler became the sole ruler of Germany—the Führer.

Discussion  How might the economic situation in Germany in the early 1930s have influenced the willingness of many German people to accept a leader whose philosophy was based on racism and bigotry? When times are hard, many people look for someone to blame for their problems. Hitler provided a scapegoat for Germany's economic problems in the form of the Jewish people.

Background  On November 8, 1923, Hitler and members of the Nazi Party forced their way into a right-wing political meeting in a beer hall in Munich. Hitler convinced the group to join him in a revolutionary march to Berlin, similar to Mussolini's March on Rome. The next day some 3,000 Nazi marchers were met with police gunfire. Hitler was arrested, put on trial, and sentenced to five years in prison, though he served only eight months.

Discussion What was ironic about the Reichstag's actions? The Reichstag, a democratic institution, passed legislation that led to the end of Germany's democratic government.

Plans for the Nazi State An "Aryan state": Hitler's goal was the development of an "Aryan" racial state that would dominate the world for generations to come. Involvement of the German people: In part, the Nazis made the German people complicit in their policies by means of mass demonstrations and spectacles.

Discussion  Why do you think Hitler had come to the conclusion that it was necessary to attain power by legal means? Hitler had already led an armed uprising, and it had failed. He also might have realized that attaining power legally would give his government credibility.

Ideology and Terror The SS: The Nazis used Schutzstaffeln, or SS, forces to maintain order and carry out Nazi policies. Under the direction of Heinrich Himmler, the SS came to control the secret police forces as well as the regular police. Terror tactics: The SS used repression and murder to carry out Nazi policies. The brutal tactics of the police—as well as the use of concentration camps, execution squads, and death camps—terrorized the people, especially Jews, and silenced opposition.

Discussion What was the chief goal of the SS, according to Himmler? to further the "Aryan master race

Discussion After Hitler gained power, how did he keep it? through brutality and terror