How Is Adolf Hitler Justified

Adolf Hitler is a name which will live forever in infamy. After just one year as a member he was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ party. In the 1930s and 40s, he rose to power and became a dictator of Germany. During his time in that position, he committed many atrocities. By the end of the war, he had killed over 6 million people and committed genocide against Jews (Witherbee 1). Although it wasn’t justified, there are reasons he is this way. There were social, cultural, and economic influences on Hitler which affected his lifetime achievements.
There are many people who influenced Hitler’s life and actions. His father, for instance, died when Hitler was 14. This left him with no money to continue his education
in art. He and his mother moved to Vienna, where he hoped to study architecture. Because of their lack of funds he instead had to work as a house painter (Adolf Hitler 1). Gottfried Feder was one of the founders of the Nazi movement.
He first came into contact with Hitler while both were attending and conducting classes that taught ex-soldiers away from Bolshevism ( Adolf Hitler 1 ). This greatly affected him because before, although he had many of the same ideas, he hadn’t been connected to the party before. As Hitler climbed through the ranks of the Nazi Party, he became friends with Franz von Papen, who at the time was Chancellor of Germany. As the German government began to be restructured in 1932, Hitler became head of the biggest single party in the German Reichstag. After reaching an agreement with von Papen, Hitler became Chancellor to the then current president, which would not have been possible without the help of von Papen (Adolf Hitler
2). One of Hitler’s influences later in life was Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was the leader of Italy and also of the Italian National Fascist Party. Both countries became involved in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and this war led to rising tensions in Europe. Because both nations were fascist, they became allies and each would protect the other country (Adolf Hitler 2). Mussolini affected him in many ways. By having support Hitler could take more chances. He also influenced Hitler’s troops. After an argument with a colleague, Hitler split some of the political soldiers he had, and organized them in the fashion of Mussolini’s “fasces”(Adolf Hitler 1). This group later became known as the SS. The final way Mussolini affected Hitler was not his fault. Mussolini was ousted from his spot as leader of Italy in July of 1943. This ousting let Allied troops invade Italy, which was known as the soft underbelly, and corner Germany from both sides, and eventually the downfall of Hitler and the Nazi Party.
The culture around Hitler as he grew and formed ideas greatly affected him.
One part of culture with a prominent effect on him was books. His obsession with them grew until he had over 16,000 of them. One reason for his fascination may have been that he had no formal education. Hitler was said to read a book or two every night and from that he got all of his knowledge. He was once quoted as saying “I get what I need from books”, meaning he educated himself through reading (Kerner 1). An example of how he educated himself would be how he was influenced by Mein politisches Erwachen (My Political Awakening), a booklet explaining the author’s thesis that Jews controlled the economy by controlling 80% of German money. Before this, he hadn’t particularly considered himself an Anti-Semite, but this book was one of the instances that led to him becoming one. In 1921, a playwright named Dietrich Eckhart gave Hitler a copy of a play that had the protagonist yearn for domination of the globe, but who causes mass destruction. Ultimately, the character was forgiven. This resonated with Hitler as he saw in that that no matter his actions, he would be forgiven for them. Many of his attitudes were shaped by German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (Kerner 1). He described the German language and people as superior. Being described as superior may have given Hitler the idea that other races and cultures were inferior, which ultimately led to disregarding them as human and putting
them into concentration camps.
The main reason that Hitler read was for confirmation bias (Kerner 1). This means that instead of reading, finding new ideas, and researching the benefits and drawbacks of each one, or even just simple fact checking, he purposefully suck out texts that would support already held beliefs. Many of his books had anti Semitic thoughts voiced, which eventually led to him also believing it and seeking out similar texts.
Obviously religion had a huge influence on Hitler. One of his eventual final goals was to establish a ‘superior race’ which he called an Aryan race. They were blonde, blue eyed, physically fit, and Christian. His pursuit of this ‘ideal’ man led to the genocide and imprisonment of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and the disabled.
Hitler had many economic policies influence him and his rise to power. In Hitler’s youth the country of Germany was in a depression due to having to pay reparations after World War 1. The unprecedented levels of inflation, unemployment, and a destroyed economy worsened the Germans’ anger, which was already a problem that came with their shame of losing (Harris 1). This situation provided perfect breeding grounds for Hitler to rise to power in the years to come. Hitler was personally affected by the death of his mother, though. After she died, he was left his the remains of his father’s pension, which didn’t last him long. As he got older he worked as an assistant to a house painter and by selling sketches (Adolf Hitler 1). As he began to rise in power he blamed Jews for the collapsed economy and this was accepted by the majority of the public who were looking for a scapegoat. In summary, Hitler was greatly influenced by the world around him, through the people he knew, books, and the economy. Without these factors aligning in just the right way, the world may not have had the history it’s currently stuck with. Undoubtedly, Hitler is one of history’s greatest villains. He is responsible for the deaths of six million people and instigated a war which caused millions more. However, just like everything else, the lives of everyone on this planet would be radically different without his actions.