The Life of Adolf Hitler

THE LIFE OF ADOLF HITLER
Affiliation: Paradise Valley Community College

Table of Contents

Early Life
Biographical background
Ideas
Political beliefs
Personal conclusion

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in the Austrian town of Braunau near the Bavarian-German border. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) In his early youth he was under the influence of an authoritarian and a domineering father. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) Adolf did well in school at an early age but eventually became rebellious and began failing in the college prep school he was attending, eventually leaving formal education altogether in 1905 and refused to accept a regular job and would paint, read, and dream of becoming a famous artist. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) During this time Adolf was intrigued by the great potential of large political manipulation. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) The successes of the Socialist party of Vienna Mayor Karl Lueger and the propaganda he used to organize in masses influenced Adolf to develop the fanatical anti-Semitism and racial mythology that was used in his own ideology and within the Nazi party. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) In May 1913 Adolf attempted to dodge the Austrian draft by sneaking past the German border to Munich but was arrested and turned over to the Austrian Police. (Terrence Ball/Richard Dagger 2011) He returned to Munich after the start of World War I and volunteered for the German army. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) During the war he won many awards and was proud of his war experience. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) After World War I, Hitler returned to Munich and continued to work for the military as an intelligence officer. While monitoring the activities of the German Workers’ Party (DAP), Hitler adopted many of the anti-Semitic, nationalist and anti-Marxist ideas of DAP founder Anton Drexler. Drexler invited Hitler to join the DAP, which he did in 1919. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) In 1921, Hitler replaced Drexler as NSDAP party chairman. Adolf Hitler. (2013).
Hitler 's vitriolic beer-hall speeches began attracting regular audiences. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) Early followers included army captain Ernst Rohm, the head of the Nazi paramilitary organization, the Sturmabteilung (SA), which protected meetings and frequently attacked political opponents. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) On November 8, 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people at a large beer hall in Munich. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) Hitler announced that the national revolution had begun and declared the formation of a new government. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) After a short struggle including 20 deaths, the coup, known as the "Beer Hall Putsch," failed. (The Biography Channel website, 2013)
Hitler was arrested three days later and tried for high treason. He served a year in prison, during which time he dictated most of the first volume of Mein Kampf ("My Struggle") to his deputy, Rudolf Hess. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) The book laid out Hitler 's plans for transforming German society into one based on race. (The Biography Channel website, 2013)
The Great Depression in Germany provided a political opportunity for Hitler. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) Germans were ambivalent to the parliamentary republic and increasingly open to extremist options. In 1932, Hitler ran against Paul von Hindenburg for the presidency. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) Hitler came in second in both rounds of the election, garnering more than 35 percent of the vote in the final election. The election established Hitler as a strong force in German politics. (Terrence Ball/Richard Dagger 2011) Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler as chancellor in order to promote political balance. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) Hitler used his position as chancellor to form a de facto legal dictatorship. The Reichtag Fire Decree, announced after a suspicious fire at the Reichtag, suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) Hitler also engineered the passage of the Enabling Act, which gave his cabinet full legislative powers for a period of four years and allowed deviations from the constitution. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) Having achieved full control over the legislative and executive branches of government, Hitler and his political allies embarked on a systematic suppression of the remaining political opposition. (The Biography Channel website, 2013) By the end of June, the other parties had been intimidated into disbanding. On July 14, 1933, Hitler 's Nazi Party was declared the only legal political party in Germany. (The Biography Channel website, 2013)
The Holocaust was conducted under the premise of racial cleansing. (Terrence Ball/Richard Dagger 2011) Between 1939 and 1945, Nazis and their collaborators were responsible for the deaths of 11 million to 14 million people. (Terrence Ball/Richard Dagger 2011) Deaths took place in concentration and extermination camps and through mass executions. Other persecuted groups included Poles, communists, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses and trade unionists, among others. (Terrence Ball/Richard Dagger 2011) On September 1, Germany invaded Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany. (Terrence Ball/Richard Dagger 2011) Hitler in 1940, invaded Scandinavia as well as France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium. . (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) Hitler ordered bombing raids on the United Kingdom, with the goal of invasion. . (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) On June 22, 1941, Hitler violated a non-aggression pact with Joseph Stalin, sending 3 million German troops into the Soviet Union. . (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) On December 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Hitler was now at war against a coalition that included the world 's largest empire (Britain), the world 's greatest financial power (the U.S.) and the world 's largest army (the Soviet Union). . (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004)
By 1945, Hitler assumed that Germany was going to lose the war. The Soviets had pushed the German army back into Europe, and the Allies were marching into Germany. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) On April 29, 1945, Hitler married his girlfriend, Eva Braun, in a small civil ceremony in his Berlin bunker. Around this time, Hitler was informed of the assassination of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) Afraid of falling into the hands of enemy troops, Hitler and Braun committed suicide the day after their wedding, on April 30, 1945. . (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004) Their bodies were carried to the bombed-out garden behind the Reich Chancellery, where they were burned. Berlin fell on May 2, 1945. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004)

Personal Conclusion
While I do not agree with just about anything that Adolf Hitler did, it still is interesting to see what he accomplished it a relatively short amount of time. He was not the most educated, he was not from an affluent family nor was he anything until he started giving fascist speeches of his influenced but yet almost made up ideology. I feel as if he was just in the right place at the right time. Once again learning about history and ideals of leaders of the past, it is scary to see how the similarities of past and present leaders go hand in hand. For someone to have the ideology of a “perfect race” and become the dictator of a nation who is not even a natural born German or even look like the ideal race that Hitler himself was striving for is un-nerving. As of right now in the United States we have a socialist president who is dictating and taking civil liberties away while negating constitutional rights in a time of economic uncertainty among United States citizens. While not identical, it does indeed seem how Hitler came to power and promoted his fascist ways. I think many Americans now are naïve and very ill-informed by media to think that something like this could happen to our country, but it seems that it slowly is.

WORKS CITED

Adolf Hitler. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:09, Oct 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/adolf-hitler-9340144.
"Adolf Hitler." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Retrieved October 18, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404703007.html
Ball, Terence. (2011) Political ideologies and the democratic ideal /Boston : Longman

Cited: Adolf Hitler. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:09, Oct 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/adolf-hitler-9340144. "Adolf Hitler." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Retrieved October 18, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404703007.html Ball, Terence. (2011) Political ideologies and the democratic ideal /Boston : Longman