Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler, the leader of
Germany’s Nazi Party, was one of the most powerful and notorious dictators of
the 20th century. Hitler capitalized on economic woes, popular discontent and
political infighting to take absolute power in Germany beginning in 1933.
Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 led to the outbreak of World War II, and
by 1941 Nazi forces had occupied much of Europe. Hitler’s virulent
anti-Semitism and obsessive pursuit of Aryan supremacy fueled the murder of
some 6 million Jews, along with other victims of the Holocaust. After the tide
of war turned against him, Hitler committed suicide in a Berlin bunker in April
1945.
Early Life: Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in
Braunau am Inn, a small Austrian town near the Austro-German frontier. After
his father, Alois, retired as a state customs official, young Adolf spent most
of his childhood in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. Not wanting to follow
in his father’s footsteps as a civil servant, he began struggling in secondary
school and eventually dropped out. Alois died in 1903, and Adolf pursued his
dream of being an artist, though he was rejected from Vienna’s Academy of Fine
Arts. After his mother, Klara, died in 1908, Hitler moved to Vienna, where he
pieced together a living painting scenery and monuments and selling the images.
Lonely, isolated and a voracious reader, Hitler became interested in politics
during his years in Vienna, and developed many of the ideas that would shape
Nazi ideology.
Military Career of Adolf Hitler: In 1913, Hitler moved to Munich, in the
German state of Bavaria. When World War I broke out the following summer, he
successfully petitioned the Bavarian king to be allowed to volunteer in a
reserve infantry regiment. Deployed in October 1914 to Belgium, Hitler served
throughout the Great War and won two decorations for bravery, including the
rare Iron Cross First Class, which he wore to the end of his life. Hitler was
wounded twice during the conflict: He was hit in the leg during the Battle of
the Somme in 1916, and temporarily blinded by a British gas attack near Ypres
in 1918. A month later, he was recuperating in a hospital at Pasewalk,
northeast of Berlin, when news arrived of the armistice and Germany’s defeat in
World War I. Like many Germans, Hitler came to believe the country’s
devastating defeat could be attributed not to the Allies, but to insufficiently
patriotic “traitors” at home—a myth that would undermine the post-war Weimar
Republic and set the stage for Hitler’s rise.
Nazi Party: After Hitler returned to Munich in late
1918, he joined the small German Workers’ Party, which aimed to unite the
interests of the working class with a strong German nationalism. His skilled
oratory and charismatic energy helped propel him in the party’s ranks, and in
1920 he left the army and took charge of its propaganda efforts. In one of
Hitler’s strokes of propaganda genius, the newly renamed National Socialist
German Workers Party, or Nazi Party, adopted a version of the ancient symbol of
the hakenkreuz, or hooked cross, as its emblem. Printed in a white circle on a
red background, Hitler’s swastika would take on terrifying symbolic power in
the years to come. By the end of 1921, Hitler led the growing Nazi Party,
capitalizing on widespread discontent with the Weimar Republic and the
punishing terms of the Versailles Treaty. Many dissatisfied former army
officers in Munich would join the Nazis, notably Ernst Röhm, who recruited the
“strong arm” squads—known as the Sturmabteilung (SA)—which Hitler used to
protect party meetings and attack opponents.
Beer Hall Putsch: On the evening of November 8, 1923, members
of the SA and others forced their way into a large beer hall where another
right-wing leader was addressing the crowd. Wielding a revolver, Hitler
proclaimed the beginning of a national revolution and led marchers to the
center of Munich, where they got into a gun battle with police. Hitler fled
quickly, but he and other rebel leaders were later arrested. Even though it
failed spectacularly, the Beer Hall Putsch established Hitler as a national
figure, and (in the eyes of many) a hero of right-wing nationalism.
'Mein Kampf': Tried for treason, Hitler was sentenced to
five years in prison, but would serve only nine months in the relative comfort
of Landsberg Castle. During this period, he began to dictate the book that
would become "Mein Kampf" (“My Struggle”), the first volume of which
was published in 1925. In it, Hitler expanded on the nationalistic,
anti-Semitic views he had begun to develop in Vienna in his early twenties, and
laid out plans for the Germany—and the world—he sought to create when he came
to power. Hitler would finish the second volume of "Mein Kampf" after
his release, while relaxing in the mountain village of Berchtesgaden. It sold
modestly at first, but with Hitler’s rise it became Germany’s best-selling book
after the Bible. By 1940, it had sold some 6 million copies there. Hitler’s
second book, “The Zweites Buch,” was written in 1928 and contained his thoughts
on foreign policy. It was not published in his lifetime due to the poor initial
sales of “Mein Kampf.” The first English translations of “The Zweites Buch” did
not appear until 1962 and was published under the title “Hitler's Secret Book.”
Aryan Race: Obsessed with race and the idea of ethnic
“purity,” Hitler saw a natural order that placed the so-called “Aryan race” at
the top. For him, the unity of the Volk (the German people) would find its
truest incarnation not in democratic or parliamentary government, but in one
supreme leader, or Führer. Mein Kampf" also addressed the need for
Lebensraum (or living space): In order to fulfill its destiny, Germany should
take over lands to the east that were now occupied by “inferior” Slavic
peoples—including Austria, the Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia), Poland and Russia.
The Schutzstaffel (SS): By the time Hitler left prison, economic
recovery had restored some popular support for the Weimar Republic, and support
for right-wing causes like Nazism appeared to be waning. Over the next few
years, Hitler laid low and worked on reorganizing and reshaping the Nazi Party.
He established the Hitler Youth to organize youngsters, and created the Schutzstaffel
(SS) as a more reliable alternative to the SA. Members of the SS wore black
uniforms and swore a personal oath of loyalty to Hitler. (After 1929, under the
leadership of Heinrich Himmler, the SS would develop from a group of some 200
men into a force that would dominate Germany and terrorize the rest of occupied
Europe during World War II.)
Eva Braun: Hitler spent much of his time at
Berchtesgaden during these years, and his half-sister, Angela Raubal, and her
two daughters often joined him. After Hitler became infatuated with his
beautiful blonde niece, Geli Raubal, his possessive jealousy apparently led her
to commit suicide in 1931. Devastated by the loss, Hitler would consider Geli
the only true love affair of his life. He soon began a long relationship with
Eva Braun, a shop assistant from Munich, but refused to marry her. The
worldwide Great Depression that began in 1929 again threatened the stability of
the Weimar Republic. Determined to achieve political power in order to affect
his revolution, Hitler built up Nazi support among German conservatives,
including army, business and industrial leaders.
The Third Reich: In 1932, Hitler ran against the war hero Paul
von Hindenburg for president, and received 36.8 percent of the vote. With the
government in chaos, three successive chancellors failed to maintain control,
and in late January 1933 Hindenburg named the 43-year-old Hitler as chancellor,
capping the stunning rise of an unlikely leader. January 30, 1933 marked the
birth of the Third Reich, or as the Nazis called it, the “Thousand-Year Reich”
(after Hitler’s boast that it would endure for a millennium).
Reichstag Fire: Though the Nazis never attained more than 37
percent of the vote at the height of their popularity in 1932, Hitler was able
to grab absolute power in Germany largely due to divisions and inaction among
the majority who opposed Nazism. After a devastating fire at Germany’s
parliament building, the Reichstag, in February 1933—possibly the work of a
Dutch communist, though later evidence suggested Nazis set the Reichstag fire
themselves—Hitler had an excuse to step up the political oppression and
violence against his opponents. On March 23, the Reichstag passed the Enabling
Act, giving full powers to Hitler and celebrating the union of National
Socialism with the old German establishment (i.e., Hindenburg). That July, the
government passed a law stating that the Nazi Party “constitutes the only
political party in Germany,” and within months all non-Nazi parties, trade
unions and other organizations had ceased to exist. His autocratic power now
secure within Germany, Hitler turned his eyes toward the rest of Europe.
Hitler's Foreign Policy: In 1933, Germany was diplomatically isolated,
with a weak military and hostile neighbors (France and Poland). In a famous
speech in May 1933, Hitler struck a surprisingly conciliatory tone, claiming
Germany supported disarmament and peace. But behind this appeasement strategy,
the domination and expansion of the Volk remained Hitler’s overriding aim. By
early the following year, he had withdrawn Germany from the League of Nations
and begun to militarize the nation in anticipation of his plans for territorial
conquest.
Night of the Long Knives: On June 29, 1934, the infamous Night of the
Long Knives, Hitler had Röhm, former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and
hundreds of other problematic members of his own party murdered, in particular
troublesome members of the SA. When the 86-year-old Hindenburg died on August
2, military leaders agreed to combine the presidency and chancellorship into
one position, meaning Hitler would command all the armed forces of the Reich.
Persecution of Jews: On September 15, 1935, passage of the
Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of German citizenship, and barred them from
marrying or having relations with persons of “German or related blood.” Though
the Nazis attempted to downplay its persecution of Jews in order to placate the
international community during the 1936 Berlin Olympics (in which German-Jewish
athletes were not allowed to compete), additional decrees over the next few
years disenfranchised Jews and took away their political and civil rights. In
addition to its pervasive anti-Semitism, Hitler’s government also sought to
establish the cultural dominance of Nazism by burning books, forcing newspapers
out of business, using radio and movies for propaganda purposes and forcing
teachers throughout Germany’s educational system to join the party. Much of the
Nazi persecution of Jews and other targets occurred at the hands of the Geheime
Staatspolizei (GESTAPO), or Secret State Police, an arm of the SS that expanded
during this period.
Outbreak of World War II: In March 1936, against the advice of his
generals, Hitler ordered German troops to reoccupy the demilitarized left bank
of the Rhine. Over the next two years,
Germany concluded alliances with Italy and Japan, annexed Austria and moved
against Czechoslovakia—all essentially without resistance from Great Britain,
France or the rest of the international community. Once he confirmed the
alliance with Italy in the so-called “Pact of Steel” in May 1939, Hitler then
signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. On September 1, 1939, Nazi
troops invaded Poland, finally prompting Britain and France to declare war on
Germany.
Blitzkrieg: After ordering the occupation of Norway and
Denmark in April 1940, Hitler adopted a plan proposed by one of his generals to
attack France through the Ardennes Forest. The blitzkrieg (“lightning war”)
attack began on May 10; Holland quickly surrendered, followed by Belgium. German
troops made it all the way to the English Channel, forcing British and French
forces to evacuate en masse from Dunkirk in late May. On June 22, France was
forced to sign an armistice with Germany. Hitler had hoped to force Britain to
seek peace as well, but when that failed he went ahead with his attacks on that
country, followed by an invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. After the
attack on Pearl Harbor that December, the United States declared war on Japan,
and Germany’s alliance with Japan demanded that Hitler declare war on the
United States as well. At that point in the conflict, Hitler shifted his
central strategy to focus on breaking the alliance of his main opponents
(Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union) by forcing one of them to
make peace with him.
Concentration Camps: Beginning in
1933, the SS had operated a network of concentration camps, including a
notorious camp at Dachau, near Munich, to hold Jews and other targets of the
Nazi regime. After war broke out, the Nazis shifted from expelling Jews from
German-controlled territories to exterminating them. Einsatzgruppen, or mobile
death squads, executed entire Jewish communities during the Soviet invasion,
while the existing concentration-camp network expanded to include death camps
like Auschwitz-Birkenau in occupied Poland. In addition to forced labor and
mass execution, certain Jews at Auschwitz were targeted as the subjects of
horrific medical experiments carried out by eugenicist Josef Mengele, known as
the “Angel of Death.” Mengele’s experiments focused on twins and exposed 3,000
child prisoners to disease, disfigurement and torture under the guise of
medical research. Though the Nazis also imprisoned and killed Catholics,
homosexuals, political dissidents, Roma (gypsies) and the disabled, above all
they targeted Jews—some 6 million of whom were killed in German-occupied Europe
by war’s end.
End of World War II: With defeats at El-Alamein and Stalingrad,
as well as the landing of U.S. troops in North Africa by the end of 1942, the
tide of the war turned against Germany. As the conflict continued, Hitler
became increasingly unwell, isolated and dependent on medications administered
by his personal physician. Several attempts were made on his life, including
one that came close to succeeding in July 1944, when Col. Claus von
Stauffenberg planted a bomb that exploded during a conference at Hitler’s
headquarters in East Prussia. Within a few months of the successful Allied invasion
of Normandy in June 1944, the Allies had begun liberating cities across Europe.
That December, Hitler attempted to direct another offensive through the
Ardennes, trying to split British and American forces. But after January 1945,
he holed up in a bunker beneath the Chancellery in Berlin. With Soviet forces
closing in, Hitler made plans for a last-ditch resistance before finally
abandoning that plan.
How Did Adolf Hitler Die?: At midnight on the night of April 28-29,
Hitler married Eva Braun in the Berlin bunker. After dictating his political
testament, Hitler shot himself in his suite on April 30; Braun took poison.
Their bodies were burned according to Hitler’s instructions. With Soviet troops
occupying Berlin, Germany surrendered unconditionally on all fronts on May 7,
1945, bringing the war in Europe to a close. In the end, Hitler’s planned
“Thousand-Year Reich” lasted just over 12 years, but wreaked unfathomable
destruction and devastation during that time, forever transforming the history
of Germany, Europe and the world.
