Adolf Hitler

1
Adolf Hitler

• He was born in 1889
• Dreamed of being an artist
• Left school at 16
• At 18, went to Vienna to make his living
• Failed to gain admission to Vienna Academy of
  Fine Arts
• Next 5 years lived on charity

2
Years of Misery

• Shaped his thoughts
• Hitler became influenced by writings of Karl
  Laager, the Mayor of Vienna
• Karl was anti-Semitic
• Hitler developed a deep hatred for the Communists
  and the Jews

3
Honours in WW I

• Hitler served a corporal in the German army
• Hitler was honoured for his bravery
• German surrender brought him pain
• He cried!

4
His anguish

• So it had all been in vain. In vain all the
  sacrifices. In vain the hours in which, with
  mortal fear clutching at our hearts we did our
  duty. In vain the death of two millions. Had
  they died for this, so that a gang of wretched
  criminals could lay hands on the fatherland?
• Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler

5
Political Career

• In 1920 he joined the National Socialist German
  Workers' Party (NSDAP), better known as the Nazi
  Party
• Hitler's political propaganda and promotions
  gave him mass support
• He was especially with the urban bourgeoisie
• In 1921, Hitler became the Party Chairman

6
Failure of Munich Putsch

• When the Munich Putsch failed, Hitler was placed
  in jail
• He used his trial to gain nationwide attention
  for his cause.
• Hitler served nine months of his 5-year sentence
  in prison, where he wrote the famous Mein Kampf

7
Mein Kampf (My Struggle)

• Should the Jew, with the aid of his Marxist
  creed, triumph over the people of this world, his
  crown will be the funeral wreath of mankind, and
  this planet will orbit through space without any
  human life on its surface as it did millions of
  years ago.

8
Rise in reputation

• Failure of Putsch made Hitler realised that he
  had to obtain power through the polls
• Re-organised the NSDAP
• Nazi used moderate means to gain political
  support
• Held meetings, rallies, marches
• Used books, the newspapers, radio to spread their
  ideas (p. 106)

9
Depression hit Germany

• Germany found herself in deep trouble
• Weimar Republic was not up to the task
• Even Weimar politicians began to show their lack
  of faith in democracy
• Hindenburg, the President did not believe that
  the Reichstag could solve the problem of Germany

10
Failure of Weimar Govt

• Hindenburg began to rule by presidential decree
  a form of dictatorship
• Between 1930 1932, there were 3 elections and
  several changes of government
• 1n the 1930 elections, there was a shift in
  popularity to the extremist parties
• The Communists secured 77 seats, up from 54
• Nazis, down to 12 seats before the election,
  secured 107 seats

11
Increasing popularity

• In 1932, Hitler stood for presidential elections
• He came in second only to Hindenburg
• In the Reichstag elections of same year, Nazis
  increased their vote to 37 of votes cast
• They obtained 230 seats
• Became the biggest single party in the Reichstag

12
Hitler could have been stopped

• If the other parties had united against him
• But the Socialists and the Communists could not
  work together
• 1933, Chancellor Franz von Paten, leader of a
  group of right-wing politicians made an alliance
  with Hitler
• Persuaded Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as
  Chancellor
• Von Papen would be Vice-Chancellor

13
Von Papens naievity

• He thought he could control Hitler
• He failed
• Feb 1933, Hitler called for new elections, to
  take place in March
• Goering by now was in charge of two-thirds of the
  police forces in GERMANYHe recruited 50,000
  extras from SA
• Opponents were beaten up, and their meetings
  disrupted
• Feb 27th the Reichstag building burned down

14
1933 Elections

• The Nazis now had 233 seats
• But that was still not an overall majority
• To make changes to Constitution, Hitler needed a
  two-thirds majority
• So the Nazis joined up with the Nationalists who
  secured 53 seats
• With 286 out of 500 seats, Hitler had gained
  control of Germany at last