Adolf Hitler

1
Adolf Hitler Dictator of Germany
2
Adolf Hitler was born on 20th
April, 1889, in the small Austrian town of
Braunau near the German border. Both Hitler's
parents had come from poor peasant families. His
father Alois Hitler, the illegitimate son of a
housemaid, was an intelligent and ambitious man
and later became a senior customs official.
3
Klara Hitler was Alois' third wife.
Alois was twenty-three years older than Klara and
already had two children from his previous
marriages. Klara and Alois had five children but
only Adolf and a younger sister, Paula, survived
to become adults.
4
Hitler was thirteen when his father
died. His death did not cause the family
financial hardships. The Hitler family owned
their own home and they also received a lump sum
and a generous civil service pension. In 1907
Klara Hitler died from cancer. Her death affected
him far more deeply than the death of his father.
He had fond memories of his mother, carried her
photograph wherever he went and, it is claimed,
had it in his hand when he died in 1945.
5
Hitler liked being in the army. For
the first time he was part of a group that was
fighting for a common goal. Hitler also liked the
excitement of fighting in a war. Although fairly
cautious in his actions, he did not mind risking
his life and impressed his commanding officers
for volunteering for dangerous missions.
6
The German Army also began using
Hitler as a spy. In September 1919, he was
instructed to attend a meeting of the German
Worker's Party (GWP). The army feared that this
new party, led by Anton Drexler, might be
advocating communist revolution. Hitler
discovered that the party's political ideas were
similar to his own. He approved of Drexler's
German nationalism and anti-Semitism but was
unimpressed with the way the party was organized.
Although there as a spy, Hitler could not
restrain himself when a member made a point he
disagreed with, and he stood up and made a
passionate speech on the subject.
7
In the next few weeks Hitler brought
several members of his army into the party,
including one of his commanding officers, Captain
Ernst Roehm. The arrival of Roehm was an
important development as he had access to the
army political fund and was able to transfer some
of the money into the GWP.
8
Hitler knew that the growth in the
party was mainly due to his skills as an orator
and in the autumn of 1921 he challenged Anton
Drexler for the leadership of the party. After
brief resistance Drexler accepted the inevitable,
and Hitler became the new leader of the Nazi
Party.
9
The book was originally entitled Four
Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and
Cowardice. Hitler's publisher reduced it to My
Struggle (Mein Kampf). The book is a mixture of
autobiography, political ideas and an explanation
of the techniques of propaganda. The
autobiographical details in Mein Kampf are often
inaccurate, and the main purpose of this part of
the book appears to be to provide a positive
image of Hitler. For example, when Hitler was
living a life of leisure in Vienna he claims he
was working hard as a labourer.
10
The Nazi Party always attempted to
keep Hitler's love life secret. In his speeches
Hitler claimed that he had never married because
he was "married to the German people." The severe
casualties suffered during the First World War
meant that there was a large number of widows and
spinsters in Germany. Women in Germany found
Hitler's bachelor image attractive and this
helped win him votes during elections. It was for
this reason that Eva Braun was never seen in
public with Hitler.
11
Hitler was now dictator of Germany. His
first move was to take over the trade unions. Its
leaders were sent to concentration camps and the
organization was put under the control of the
Nazi Party. The trade union movement now became
known as the Labour Front.
12
Hitler's Germany became known as a
fascist state. Fascist was originally used to
describe the government of Benito Mussolini in
Italy. Mussolini's fascist one-party state
emphasized patriotism, national unity, hatred of
communism, admiration of military values and
unquestioning obedience. Hitler was deeply
influenced by Mussolini's Italy and his Germany
shared many of the same characteristics.
13
Under fascism, most potential sources
of opposition were removed. This included
political parties and the trade union movement.
However, Hitler never felt strong enough to take
complete control of the German Army, and before
taking important decisions he always had to take
into consideration how the armed forces would
react. By 1934 Hitler appeared to have complete
control over Germany, but like most dictators, he
constantly feared that he might be ousted by
others who wanted his power. To protect himself
from a possible coup, Hitler used the tactic of
divide and rule and encouraged other leaders such
as Hermann Goering, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich
Himmler and Ernst Roehm to compete with each
other for senior positions.
14
Germany was now in a strong
negotiating position and found it impossible to
agree to Hitler's demands. As soon as talks
broke-up, Hitler ordered his military leaders to
prepare for Operation Barbarossa. The plan was
for the invasion of the Soviet Union to start on
the 15th May, 1941. Hitler believed that this
would give the German Army enough time to take
control of the country before the harsh Soviet
winter set in.
15
In January 1945, the Soviet troops
entered Nazi Germany. Hitler was forced to leave
his headquarters in East Prussia and moved south
to Berlin. Soon afterwards he was joined by his
mistress, Eva Braun. Hitler talked of the
possibility that Britain and the United States
would go to war with the Soviet Union and that
Germany would be saved. He told one of his
generals that "throughout history coalitions have
always gone to pieces sooner or later." Hitler
was right that the Soviet Union and the United
States would eventually be in conflict, but
unfortunately for him this did not happen until
after the war had ended.
16
Hitler also developed a tremor in his
left arm and leg. He had originally suffered from
this during the First World War and also after
the failure of the Munich Putsch in 1923. It was
a nervous disorder that reappeared whenever
Hitler felt he was in danger.
17
People who had not seen him for a few
months were shocked by his appearance. One man
remarked "It was a ghastly physical image he
presented. The upper part of his body was bowed
and he dragged his feet as he made his way slowly
and laboriously through the bunker from his
living room... If anyone happened to stop him
during this short walk (some fifty or sixty
yards), he was forced either to sit down on one
of the seats placed along the walls for the
purpose, or to catch hold of the person he was
speaking to... Often saliva would dribble from
the comers of his mouth... presenting a hideous
and pitiful spectacle."
18
Two days before his death Hitler married
Eva Braun. That night he tested out a cyanide
pill on his pet Alsatian dog,Blondi. Braun
agreed to commit suicide with him. She could have
become rich by writing her memoirs but she
preferred not to live without Hitler. Hitler made
a will leaving all his property to the Nazi
Party. After saying their farewells Hitler and
Eva Braun went into a private room and took
cyanide tablets. Hitler also shot himself in the
head. His body was then cremated and his ashes
were hidden in the Chancellery grounds.
19
The place where he was buried is
now under the shadow of the Berlin Wall. The man
who tried to increase the size of Germany had in
fact become responsible for dividing it into two.
20
Hitler left a devastated Europe and
with it a warning for the future. His regime had
illustrated the dangers of nationalism,the
obscenity of racism and the importance of
democracy. It was an expensive lesson, but it did
provide the basis for a better future.
Adolf Hitler Dictator of Germany
21
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