Hitler & Climate
Hitler & Climate
Hitler & Climate
HISTORY
CHAPTER – 3 NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER
1. Explain the term Nazism.
Nazism is the German version of fascism. It was a system, a structure of ideas about the
world and politics. It was the name given to a number of political movements in Europe after
the First World War. It was devised by Hitler in Germany.
2. Write a short note on the genocidal war waged by Germany.
a) Under the shadow of the Second World War, Germany had waged a genocidal war,
which resulted in the mass murder of selected groups of innocent civilians of Europe. The
number of people killed included 6 million Jews, 2,00,000 Gypsies, 1 million Polish
civilians and 70,000 Germans who were considered mentally and physically disabled,
besides in numerable political opponents.
b) Nazis devised an unprecedented means of killing people, that is, by gassing them in
various killing centers like Auschwitz.
3. What was the Weimar Republic? How was it formed?
The defeat of Imperial Germany and the abdication of the emperor gave an opportunity to
parliamentary parties to recast German polity. A national Assembly met at Weimar and
established a democratic constitution with a federal structure. Deputies were now elected to
the German Parliament or Reichstag, on the basis of equal and universal votes cast by all
adults including women.
4. Write any 4 provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
a) Germany lost its overseas colonies, a tenth of its population, 13% of its territories, 75%
of its iron and 26% of its coal to France, Poland, Denmark, and Lithuania.
b) The allied powers demilitarized Germany to weaken its power. Its army strength was
reduced and should not produce any war weapons.
c) The War Guilt Clause held Germany responsible for the war and damages the Allied
countries suffered. Germany was forced to pay compensation amounting to 6 billion
pounds.
d) The Allied armies also occupied the resource-rich Rhineland for many years.
5. What were the effects of World War I on Europe?
a) The war had a devastating impact on the entire continent both psychologically
and financially. From a continent of creditors, Europe turned into one of the debtors.
b) The infant Weimar Republic in Germany was being made to pay for the sins of the old
empire. The republic carried the burden of war guilt and national humiliation and was
financially crippled by being forced to pay compensation.
c) The First World War left a deep imprint on European society and polity. Soldiers came
to be placed above civilians.
d) Politicians and publicists laid great stress on the need for men to be aggressive, strong,
and masculine. The media glorified trench life.
6. What was the impact of the Economic Crisis in Germany?
a) The German economy was worst hit by the economic crisis. By 1932, industrial
production was reduced to 40% of the 1929 level. Workers lost their jobs or were paid
reduced wages.
b) As jobs disappeared, the youth took o criminal activities and total despair became
commonplace. The economic crisis created deep anxieties and fears in people.
c) The middle classes, especially salaried employees and pensioners, saw their savings
diminish when the currency lost its value. Small businessmen, the self-employed and
retailers suffered as their business got ruined. These sections of society were filled with the
fear of proletarianisation.
d) Unemployment weakened their bargaining power. Big business was in crisis. The large
mass of peasantry was affected by a sharp fall in agricultural prices and women, unable to
fill their children’s stomachs, were filled with a sense of deep despair.
7. How did Hitler come to power in Germany?
a) Born in 1889 in Austria, Hitler spent his youth in poverty. When the First World War
broke out, he enrolled for the army, acted as a messenger in the front, became a corporal
and earned medals for bravery.
b) The German defeat horrified him and the Versailles Treaty made him furious. In1919, he
joined a small group called the German Worker’s Party. He subsequently took over the
organization and renamed it the National Socialist German Worker’s Party. This party
came to be known as the Nazi party.
c) In 1923, Hitler planned to seize control of Bavaria, march to Berlin and capture power.
He failed, was arrested, tried for treason, and later released.
d) It was during the Great depression that Nazism became a mass movement. During the
Great Depression, banks collapsed and businesses shut down, workers lost their jobs and
the middle classes were threatened with poverty. In such a situation Nazi propaganda gave
hopes for a better future.
e) Hitler was a powerful speaker. His passion and his words moved people. He promised to
build a strong nation, undo the injustice of the Versailles Treaty and restore the dignity of
the German people. He promised employment for the youth. He promised to weed out all
foreign influences and resist all foreign ‘conspiracies’ against Germany.
f) Hitler devised a new style of politics. He understood the significance of rituals and
spectacle in mass mobilization. Nazis held massive rallies and public meetings to
demonstrate the support for Hitler and instill a sense of unity among the people. The Red
banners with the Swastika, the Nazi salute and the ritualized rounds of applause after the
speeches were all part of this spectacle power.
g) Nazi propaganda skillfully projected Hitler as a messiah, a savior, as someone who had
to deliver people from their distress. Even though he lost in the election conducted he was
invited to join the government by the President Hindenburg on 30 January 1933 and
offered the Chancellorship of Germany, the highest position in the cabinet of ministers.
8. Why did USA enter the Second World War?
Japan was expanding its power in the east during the Second World War. It had occupied
French Indo-China, Philippines under the US and the Dutch East Indies. When Japan
extended its support to Hitler and bombed the US naval bases at Pearl Harbor in the
Pacific, the US entered the Second World War. The war ended with Hitler’s defeat and the
US dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima in Japan.
9. What are the peculiar features of Nazi thinking?
a) According to Nazism there was no equality between people, but only a racial hierarchy
existed. In this view, blond, blue-eyed, Nordic German Aryans were at the top, while
Jews were located at the lowest rung. They came to be regarded as an anti- race, the
arch-enemies of the Aryans.
b) Hitler’s racism borrowed from thinkers like Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer.
According to this idea, only those species survived on the earth that could adapt
themselves to changing climatic conditions. However, his ideas were used by racist
thinkers and politicians to justify imperial rule over conquered people.
c) The Nazi argument was simple: the strongest race would survive and the weak
ones would perish. The Aryan race was the finest. It had to retain its purity, become
stronger and dominate the world.
d) He believed that new territories had to be acquired for settlement and believed in
establishment of a racial state.
e) At 14, all boys had to join the Nazi youth organisation– Hitler Youth – where they learnt
to worship war, glorify aggression and violence, condemn democracy, and hate Jews,
communists, Gypsies and all those categorized as ‘undesirable’.
10. Why did Hitler develop hatred towards Jews?
a) Jews remained the worst sufferers in Nazi Germany. Nazi hatred of Jews had a precursor
in the traditional Christian hostility towards Jews. They had been stereotyped as killers
Christ and usurers.
b) Until the medieval times Jews were barred from owning land. They survived mainly
through trade and money lending. They lived in separately marked areas called Ghettos.
c) They were often persecuted through periodic organized violence, and expulsion from
the land. However, Hitler’s hatred of Jews was based on pseudoscientific theories of
race, which held that conversion was no solution to ‘the Jewish problem’. It could be
solved only through their total elimination.
11. How was Nazi schooling different from other schools?
a) All schools were cleansed and purified. This meant that teachers who were Jews or seen
as politically unreliable’ were dismissed.
b) Children were first segregated: Germans and Jews could not sit together or play
together. Subsequently, ‘undesirable children’ – Jews, the physically handicapped,
Gypsies – were thrown out of schools. And finally in the 1940s, they were taken to the
gas chambers.
c) ‘Good German’ children were subjected to a process of Nazi schooling, a prolonged
period of ideological training. School textbooks were rewritten. Racial science was
introduced to justify Nazi ideas of race; stereotypes about Jews were popularized even
through maths classes.
d) Children were taught to be loyal and submissive, hate Jews, and worship Hitler. Even
the function of sports was to nurture a spirit of violence and aggression among children.
e) Hitler believed that boxing could make children iron-hearted, strong and masculine.
Geography
Chapter-4 Climate
1.India lies in which climatic region? Explain.
a) There are many climatic regions in the world. India’s climate has characterized of Tropical
as well as subtropical climates due to the tropic of cancer.
b) This passes through the middle of the country from the Rann of Kutch in the west to
Mizoram in the east.
c) Almost half of the country, lying south of the Tropic of Cancer belongs to the tropical area.
All the remaining area lying north of the tropic of cancer belongs to the sub tropical area.
2.Which is the most remarkable feature of the cold weather season over northern plains?
a) The most remarkable feature of the cold weather season over the northern plains is the
inflow of cyclonic disturbances from the west and northwest.
b) The low pressure systems originate over the Mediterranean Sea and western Asia moving
in India along with the westerly flow.
c) They causes the much needed winter rains over the plains and snowfall in the mountains.
Though the total amount of winter rainfall in known as ‘mahawat, it is very helpful for the
cultivation of Rabi crops.
3.“Transition period from hot rainy season to dry winter conditions linked with the
occurrence of cyclonic depression over Andaman Sea.” Explain.
a) The October – November months form a transition period from hot rainy season to dry
winter conditions. The temperature rises and sky become clear as the monsoon retreat.
b) By early November the conditions of the low pressure over north western India get
transformed to the Bay of Bengal.
c) This shift is linked with the occurrence of cyclonic depressions which originate over
Andaman Sea.
d) These cyclones cause heavy and wide spread rain crossing the eastern coasts of India.
Sometimes these tropical cyclones caused destruction.
4. What does the word ‘Monsoon’ imply?
The word ‘monsoon’ is derived from the Arabic word ‘mausim’ which literally means season.
Monsoon refers to the seasonal reversal in the wind direction during a year. The climate of
India is the monsoon type. Such type of climate is found mainly in the south and Southeast
Asia.
5. Why the houses in Rajasthan have thick wall and flat roofs?
a) The houses in Rajasthan have flat roofs and thick walls because of the harsh and extreme
climatic conditions.
b) It is very hot in summer and very cold in winter.
c) The thick walls keep the houses cold in summer and hot during severe winters. Such type
of flat roofs and thick walls protect the people from extreme climate.
6. How does the latitude affect the climate of an area?
a) India’s climate has characteristics of tropical as well as subtropical climate due to the tropic
of cancer which passes through the middle of the country from the Rann of Kuchchh in the
west to Mizoram in the east.
b) Almost half of the country, lying south of the Tropic of Cancer belongs to the Tropical area.
All the remaining area, north of tropic lies in the sub-tropics.
7. How does the altitude affect the climate of an area?
a) There is about 6000 meters average height of the mountain of India, which lies to the north.
b) The coastal area of India has a maximum elevation about 30 meters.
c) Himalayas prevent the cold winds from central Asia from entering the subcontinent.
d) Due to these mountains the sub-continent experiences milder winters as compared to central
Asia.
8. What are jet streams?
a) These are narrow belt of high altitude (Above 12000 meter) westerly winds in the
troposphere.
b) Their speed varies from about 110 km per hour in summer to about 184 km per hour in
winter.
c) A number of separate Jet streams have been identified.
d) The most constant are mid latitude and the subtropical Jet streams
9. What is ITCZ?
The inter Tropical Convergence Zone is a broad trough of low pressure in equatorial latitudes.
This is where the north east and the southeast trade winds converge. This convergence zone
lies more or less parallel to the equator but moves north or south with the apparent movement
of the sun.
10. What is El Nino?
a) This is the name given to the periodic development of a warm ocean current along the coast
of Peru as a temporary replacement of the cold Peruvian current.
b) ‘El Nino’ is a Spanish word meaning ‘the child’, and refers to the baby Christ, as this
current starts flowing during Christmas.
c) The presence of the El Nino leads to an increase in sea surface temperature and weakening
of the trade winds in the region
11. What is Burst of the monsoon?
The monsoon starts by early June in India. At the arrival of the monsoon, the normal rainfall
becomes heavy rainfall and continues for many days. This sudden increase in rain fall is
termed as the ‘burst’ of the monsoon.
12. Name the four seasons of India.
a) The hot weather season (March to may)
b) Advancing Monsoon season-Rainy season( June to September)
c) The Retreating monsoon season ( October to November)
d) The cold weather season ( December to February)
13. What are the features of ‘Loo’?
Loo is the striking feature of hot weather season. These are strong gusty, hot dry winds
blowing during the day over the north and north western India. These are very hot winds so the
direct exposure to these winds is very harmful.
14. Write some features of ‘Mango Shower’.
Towards the close of summer season, pre monsoon showers are common, especially in Kerala
and Karnataka.
This spell of rainfall pours down at the end of the summer in hot weather season. They help in
early ripening of mangoes. These are called as ‘mango showers’.
15. Why does Mawsynram gets the heaviest rainfall in the world?
Mawsynram is located at 25018’ N and 91035’ E in the state of Meghalaya. It is 16 km
west of Chiraapunji. It gets the heaviest rainfall in the world. The warm moist air coming
from the Bay of Bengal during the monsoon is forced to rain here due to the Khasi hills. The
Khasi hills forced the rain bearing winds to rainfall here.
16. Explain October heat?
The months of October and November are dry months. Sky become clear and due the
dryness temperature begins to rise. The days become very hot in October. This period of high
day-temperature is called the October Heat.
17. Write a short not on areas of very high rainfall of India.
The areas receiving an annual rainfall of more than 200 cm come under the areas of very
heavy rainfall. The Western Ghats, North-eastern parts of India are the areas getting rainfall
more than 200 cm per annum. Some areas such as Mawsynram and Cheraapunji get rainfall
more than 1000 cm per annum.
18. Write a short note on areas of high, low and very low rainfall of India?
a) The areas of heavy rainfall get 100-200 cm rainfall annually. Eastern slopes of Western
Ghats, northern parts of India, Orissa, and Madhya Pradesh etc get 100-200 cm rainfall.
b) The area of low rainfall gets 60-100 cm rainfall. Maharashtra, western Madhya Pradesh,
parts of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, eastern Rajasthan etc are the areas getting 50-
100 cm rainfall annually.
c) The areas of very low rainfall getting less than 60 cm rainfall are termed as the very low
rainfall areas. Desert areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir
and Leeward side of the Western Ghats get less than 60 cm rainfall.
19. How Himalayas play a vital role in formulating the climate of India?
The Himalayas intercept the south west monsoon and cause rainfall in the northern India.
They prevent the cold wind of central Asia from entering into India. The Himalayas check the
monsoon wind and do not allow them to cross otherwise the North India would be a desert.
20. Write three features of Advancing Monsoon.
Monsoon advances in the month of June and covers the country in about a month. The
low pressure condition intensifies over the northern plains by the beginning of June. It attracts
the trade winds of the southern hemisphere. These south east trade winds originate over the
warm subtropical areas of the southern oceans flowing towards south westerly direction,
crossing the equator and entering in the Indian peninsula like the south west monsoon.