History 101

History 101: Book review: Blitzed - Drugs in Nazi Germany By Norman Ohler Part Three In my last part of my book review on Blitzed I will be giving my opinions on the third element of the book: Hitler's personal physician/doctor. Theodor Morell: "Short and fat" M any people, Historians or not, would probably struggle to name who Hitler's personal doctor was and most importantly what impact he had on Hitler's life. Theodor Morell, Born in July 1886, plays a pivotal role in Hitler's later life and is, in my opinion, the protagonist in Ohler's Blitzed. Through the swaying narrative of Germany and its supposedly abusive relationship with drugs in Blitzed, Morell definitely brings a needed break to the monotonous cry of Germany this and Wehrmacht that. Theodor Morell certainly followed its trends of being drug infused however his story helps to create a different and darker picture of The Third Reich and drugs.   We meet Morell in post-war Nazi Germa...

History 101: Book Review: Blitzed - Drugs in Nazi Germany By Norman Ohler Part 2 Im Back after a Break and today I'm bringing you a more positive, second part, review of Blitzed by Norman Ohler. In this part I will be exploring Pervitin as a branded, popular drug in Nazi Germany. Yes, I know. Maybe I was a little harsh in my last part about the book and its MAJOR flaws but I think it was vital to explain why this book doesn't sit well with me and many other historians. Blitzed also has many intriguing endorsements such as Ian Kershaw; "Very good and extremely interesting- a serious piece of scholarship",who is probably the worlds best Hitler historian. Antony Beevor also commented; "A remarkable scoop, demonstrating that HItler was a far worse junkie than we had even imagined... an eye opener",who is a renown WW2 historian. So therefore I promise in this part of my book review the comments will be somewhat more positive......

History 101: Book Review: Blitzed-Drugs in Nazi Germany By Norman Ohler Part 1 In this blog I will be conveying and explaining my rating and opinions on this controversial but revolutionary book: Before reading this blog I do recommend you read this book if you are interested in this area because I will be spoiling the main events of the book so i can get across my opinion.  Blitzed book Right, where do I start! Firstly this book stunned me as I was reading it on holiday up north. It not only hit you with absurd but reasonably believable stories, at times, but gave another dimension not explored before in the realm of the Third Reich. The main message of the book is about how the Nazis utilised and refined Methamphetamine (a form of crystal meth) for use on an industrial scale for soldiers, civilians and even the Nazi high command IE Hitler. Ohler explicitly tears down any old beliefs of the Nazis being completely opposed to drugs and s...

History 101: What was it like for children in Nazi Germany? Part 2 in this part we will be exploring how the Hitler youth shaped millions of children's lives in Nazi Germany: Hitler Youth boys The Hitler youth was the next system that the Nazis utilised to brainwash millions. It was started in the early 1920's but only gained real ground in the younger generation by 1933. Membership by the mid 30's was virtually compulsory. Parents of non attenders came under suspicion of block leaders*. Most parents knew that their kids were being brainwashed, like at school, however they had no choice but to send them their. The Hitler youth taught many different things but children mainly participated in outdoor activities such as hiking, camping and team based sport. For boys, Later on in the thirties, drills became increasingly focused on military training however many young people began to resent the hard physical training they were put through. For example at Hitler ...

History 101: What was it like for children in Nazi Germany? Part 1 In this Mini series I will be investigating what it was like for children in Nazi Germany and how they were effected by the Nazi regime: Many people, and rightfully so, write off the Nazi regime as a sick, corrupt and brutal to everyone that came into contact with it, however they are wrong in certain aspects. Im not defending the Nazis in any way but they didn't bring hell to every person in Germany, otherwise they simply wouldn't of been voted in. The Nazis targeted the minorities, the people who were different or didn't abide/ agree with them and their beliefs. Although Many people did fit in to their idea and formula of a 'pure aryan race', so what was it like for them ,or more specifically the children, that fitted into this category in which the Nazis preached and loved. Nazi teacher, teaching Nazified History. The first place that was Nazified when talking about ...

History 101: How did Hitler become a dictator? Part 2 In this next part of this mini series we will be investigating how Hitler solidified his role as an absolute dictator: MPs voting on Enabling act in the Reichstag, 1933 To actually becom e dictator, Hitler had to pass a law that would give him complete power to him. So Hitler, on the 23rd of March 1933, did exactly this by passing a law (amendment to the Weimar constitution) called the Enabling Act. This gave him the power to create laws without having to pass it through the Reichstag. During the vote the SA and SS were standing at the doors trying to persuade MPs , with violence, to vote for the Nazis Enabling Act. Hitler passed the vote 444 to 94. From this point onwards Hitlers emergency powers were made redundant and he now assumed permanent control over Germany. However this by no means meant that Hitler was literally unstoppable, he still had plenty of enemies! Hitlers first move came in July 1933 and ,...