The Life of Adolf Hitler

When many hear the name Hitler, they think of the man who was responsible for the
gruesome death of many Jews, but they know very little of the man himself. Adolf Hitler was
born on April 20, 1889 in the Gasthof zum Pommer1. He was born into a Europe where Central
and Eastern Europe were ruled by the four largest empires: the Hapsburg, Hohenzollern,
Romanov, and Ottoman. As a young boy, Hitler was sent to school at the ancient Benedictine
monastery at Lambach and became a chorister2. (Bullock 21) Hitler and his father had always
had a turbulent relationship, and at the age of 11, a long lasting conflict conjured between Adolf
and his father: Adolf wanted to become a painter whereas his father wanted him to become a
government official. He constantly defied his fathers efforts to push Hitler to be passionate in
his studies, showing his early nature to be defiant towards authority. After the death of his father,
Hitler avidly pursued his career in art and applied to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts where he
failed two times. Hitler frequently visited the Linz Theatre to listen to Wagners operas which
inspired an everlasting feeling of German nationalism within him.
In 1914, Hitler along with a large number of other volunteers were placed in the 16th
Company of the 1th Bavarian Reserve Regiment for World War I. Hitler slowly climbed rank in
this war starting from Meldenganger3 to lance-corporal. In October 1918, Hitler was caught in a
British gas attack that inflicted serious eye injuries upon him, which halted further involvement
in the war. After the war, Hitler served as an intelligence officer and in 1919, he was sent to
investigate the German Workers Party in Munich for the head of the Political Department of
1 A small inn in the town of Braunau between Austria and Bavaria
2 A person in a choir
3 Person who carries messages during war

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Munich District Command where he first showed his ability to make persuasive speeches,
attracting the attention of Anton Drexel. In 1920, Hitler left the German army and began to
devote his time to the Committee of German Workers Party, which later was renamed
Nationalsozialistische Deustche Arbeiterpartei (Nazi). He spent his time and effort slowly
pushing the Party forward, making many influential speeches to slowly growing crowds. The
time after the war had left Germany in economic decline and had left the people in resentment at
their loss. This tension and hatred was strongest in Bavaria where there was a traditional
resentment toward a republican government. Many opposed to the republic were gathered in
Munich and joined the Nazi party; the most useful of the lot was Ernst Rohm who played an
essential part in forming the partys private army, the SA (Sturmabteilung) which organized the
later terrorist attacks. Hitler supported the partys ideas but found dislike in their organization
and direction. He plowed through and worked hard to gain more Nazi popularity, creating tense
relationships between himself and the other leaders of the party. In 1921 when Hitler was in
Berlin, the leaders attempted to take away his power, but they were met with an unrelenting
force. Hitler threatened resignation, and the party recognized that they could not function
without him conceded to him. He demanded rights in the party that made him their leader with
unlimited powers. (Britannica 624)
On November 1923, Hitler and his supporter General Erich Ludendorff led a coup at the
Munich Beer Hall where they proclaimed a national revolution. The coup was unsuccessful and
Hitler was sentenced to a 5 year imprisonment, of which he only served nine months, for treason.
During these 9 months of imprisonment and Landsberg castle, Hitler wrote his book Mein
Kampf, which shows his ideas about inequality among races, nations, as individuals as part of

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an unchangeable natural order that exalted the Aryan race4 (Britannica 624) He openly
opposed the parliamentary democratic government because it was centered upon the belief that
all individuals stood equal. Hitler wrote that the greatest enemy of Nazism (Bullock 97) was
in fact not democracy in Europe but rather mainly the Jews, Marxists and communists. The Jews
to Hitler were considered the greatest incarnation of evil (Bullock 88). Hitlers first hatred for
the Jews came when he was wandering in Vienna when he asked himself what a Jew really was;
his father hadnt talked about the Jews at all when he was still alive. Hitler bought a few antiSemitic5 books, which he read fully, that instilled upon him an evil image of the Jew.
Upon release, Hitler found the Nazi party to be declining in popularity because currency
reforms had begun to aid the German economy, giving the republic increasing respect. Also,
because of his past act of treason, Hitler was prohibited from making any speeches in many parts
of Germany, but still, the Nazi party slowly grew. Germany was politically and economically
stabile until 1929 when the Great Depression affected many parts of Europe. Hitler took
advantage of this and in 1930, made a political alliance with Alfred Hugenberg. Using
Hugenbergs influence with the media, Hitler achieved audience with many nations. Many
businesses that wanted a strong right wing and that were opposed to the socialist government
funded Hitlers party, allowing the Nazi party to establish a sturdy financial foothold. In the
presidential election of 1932, the Nazi party was gaining immense influence and Hitler began to
string a ring of allies who opposed the Social Democrats. Though Hitler did not win the
election- he came second to Hindenburg- Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany. An

4 Racial grouping referring to Western Europeans with the Germans at the top
5 Hatred against the Jews as a racial, ethnic, and religious group

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opportunity arose for Hitler on February 27, 1933, the night of the Reichstag fire6. Hitler utilized
this conflagration as a reason for the ordain denying absolute rights to freedom and for
increasing violence. On March 21, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Bill, which gave absolute
authority to Hitler. On August 2, when Hindenburg died, the German army leaders agreed to
merging the chancellor and presidential position, giving supreme command of the army to Hitler.
As the effects of the Depression began to decline, economic recovery and a reduction in
unemployment in Germany was felt- which Hitler took credit for.
Later into his reign, Hitler began to pay attention to eastward expansion. His prime
opponent was France. Hitlers first step was to undermine the limitations of the Treaty of
Versailles (Taylor 87). He utilized his skill in propaganda to establish a friendly image of a man
trying to remove inequalities of the treaty. The Nazi party played safe until on 1934 Austrian
Nazis murdered Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss of Austria and began a revolt that failed, an event
Hitler denied involvement with. In July 1935, Hitler persuaded the leaders of Britain to
negotiate a naval treaty, allowing Germany to possess a stronger navy. Just as his Mein Kampf
had said, Hitler allied with the leaders of Italy and Japan.
Hitlers first step of conquest began with Austria. In January 1938, Hitler forced the
Austrian chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg to sign an agreement to include Austrian Nazis in the
Vienna government, and when the chancellor resisted, Hitler invaded Austria. Hitler continued
expansion into Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939 telling the leaders of France and Britain that it
would be his last piece of European conquest. However, on September 1, 1939, Hitler turned to
invade Poland and was met by a declaration of war on Germany by Britain and France. On

6 Arson attack on the Reichstag fire by Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe

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August 23, Hitler signed a nonaggression pact7 with Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union. Late in
World War II, Hitlers plans began to fall apart as he and his generals began to constantly
disagree about war tactics and could not establish a single primary objective in their attacks.
From 1933 to 1939, Hitlers objective to expel the Jews whom he considered to be evil changed:
he wanted to exterminate the Jewish community. He established many concentration camps
where many Jews, homosexuals, Catholics, Poles, Gypsies, and disabled were the prime targets.
The war Hitler began with the other European super powers began to greatly weaken Germany
and many were ready to negotiate a peace treaty; some even attempted to assassinate Hitler. At
last, Hitler realized his defeat and on April 28-29 in 1945 he married his mistress Eva Braun.
The following day after appointing the next head of state and chancellor, he committed suicide
with his wife.
Hitler stood as a monument of fear for the world. In the beginning, he seemed to be a
convincing man with potential of bringing Germany to its height. However, within the man was
a different nature that no one could understand. Equipped with great intelligence, Hitler
strategized all his movements and achieved many milestones in success. Hitler stood as a
dictator unparalleled. (Britannica 628) Many today see Hitler as the exact image of evil, but it
is undeniable that he has had many admirable achievements throughout the course of his life
from April 20, 1889 to April 30, 1945.

7 Agreement that between countries that they would not attack each other for a specific period of

time

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Work Cited
Britannica. The New Encyclopedia Britannica: Volume 21. Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia
Britannica, 2005.
Bullock, Alan. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. New York: Harper & Row, 1962.
Taylor, T. Hitler's Secret Book. London: Evergreen, 1962.
Toland, John. Adolf Hitler. Vol. 2. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
Williamson, Felicia J. "Brownell, William & Denise Drace-Brownell. The First Nazi: Erich
Ludendorff, the Man Who Made Hitler Possible." Library Journal 1 Jan. 2016:
115. General OneFile. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
"Adolf Hitler." HISTORY. N.p., 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.