Wood 1

Martina Wood Mrs. Babcock English 9 Honors March 25, 2013 Hitler in His Most Spiteful Years One of the most manipulative dictators throughout human history, Adolf Hitler rose to power by captivating the minds of millions, maintained his power over Germany by strictly enforcing the way things would be done, and fell from power due to the sufficient military losses and economic downfall, leaving a significant mark on societies across the world. The people of Nazi Germany were induced by his capability to manipulate millions of people into seeing and believing things the way he did, Adolf Hitler rose to power. Hitler rose to power while Germany was extremely unstable due to devastating losses in World War I. Germany, which was economically devastated after [the] defeat in World War I, was held accountable to pay numerous dues to Great Britain and France, along with also having to abide by the Versailles Treaty [which] forced the already economically unstable Germany to give up 13% of its land (Castillo). Also, while Germany was dealing with the loss they suffered in World War I, they also had to deal with the debt they were left to pay due to what was stated in the Versailles Treaty. Germany engaged in tremendous hyperinflation of its curre ncy, by 1923, [it had] became worthless, this could have been one of the main causes of the

Wood 2

decline of economic growth (Reed). Hitler gained supporters in the precarious country of Germany by painting a vivid image of idealism with him as the sole leade r. [Hitler] wanted to sell the Nazi dream, so in order to do so, he had to make the people see all the little wrong doings of the other political parties, to make sure the Nazi political parties seemed like the ideal party to stand behind with support (Trueman). Hitler also brainwashed his newly found supports. He was able to make the whole nation of Germany share his views, thoughts, reasoning, hatred, and the Germans [even] put their trust in Hitler (Seligmann). After Hitler was able to accumulate and maintain a steady group of supporters, he then went on to solidify his power by taking control and continuing to captivate and manipulate the minds of the people of Nazi Germany. After Hindenburgs mysterious and untimely death Hitler got the presidency [and] control of the army, in 1934 (Ellis/ Silinsky). At the start of his presidency he made sure all the promises he made were fulfilled, so that the citizens of Germany could see that they put their trust in the right person. Along with him gaining power, he had to make sure he had people to back him up, so to do that he had to manipulate the minds of the people of Germany. The citizens of Germany followed Hitler, because he captured the minds and imaginations of everyone, by painting a vivid image of perfe ctionism, with him as the sole leader(Ellis/ Silinsky). Once Hitler managed to shape the minds of the people of Nazi Germany, he maintained his power strictly enforcing the way things would be done, under his control. Once Hitler got the position as sole leader out of the way, he then used his military and economical power to maintain his leadership. Because of the limitations the Versailles Treaty put on Germany, they were unable to have a strong and productive military.

Wood 3

These limitations put a hold on Hitlers goals, so because of this in March 1935 Hitler declared that Germany was no longer bound by the provisions of the Versailles Treaty (Kreis). With no longer having to abide by the guide lines of the Versailles Treaty, they were able to go on to carry their military any which way the pleased. Even though Hitler was able to obtain a large army, he knew Germany would still be under estimated, due to previous experiences France and Great Britain would rather not clash with Germany. Hitler accurately anticipated that the British and French would back down (Kreis). Especially since Hitler planned to hit them with his direct and willful violation of Versailles (Kreis). While Hitler used his resources to maintain power, he also had to control the people. Hitler made it so that information was strictly controlled, and the people of Germany only knew about how good the Nazis were doing(#11). This helped ensure their sense of perfectionism that Hitler had instilled in their brains from the beginning, because they did not know the failures, trials, and tribulations that the Nazis had faced. But just strictly controlling the information that was heard was not enough, So Hitler came up with Hitler Youth, which controlled the kids of Germany. All of the youth groups in were forced into being a part of Hitler Youth membership compromised 90 percent of [Germanys] youth (Hein). Hitler was determined to have the perfect children of Hitler Youth to be prepared for life once they turned eighteen. After Hitler was able to maintain his control of Nazi Germany with force, he ended up falling from power because he lost the support of the people. Even though Hitler once had the support of millions in Nazi Germany, he lost it due to the public downfall that began to remind them of the downfall they were in prior to Hitler coming

Wood 4

into power. Due to the fact that the German army lost so many essential pieces, at this point in time it would be pointless to replace them when everybody viewed this as the beginning of the final military phase for Hitler (#13). Towards the close of the war, every German knew that he or she had to begin life all over again, because Germanys economy was not at all stable. Germany in itself was just devastated due to extremely damaging effects the war had on it. After Hitler began losing support of the public, military losses also began to cause effects in Hitlers rule; the military was losing essential pieces which caused Hitler to break down. The battle [of Ardennes] marked the end of eight years of the Nazis being concerned about the general welfare of Germans but only being concerned with the offensive maneuvers they would plan, in hopes of winning the war (#13). Hitler finally realized the war was over for Germany and did not want to accept defeat, on April 30, 1945, Hitler was found dead, due to a self-infected gunshot wound to his right temple, the German army surrendered one week [later] on May 7, 1945 (Ingram 102). Adolf Hitler was one of the most vindictive dictators of all time; he came to power by manipulating the minds of millions, kept his power by strictly dictating, and he fell from power due to the military and economical decline Germany was hit with. Germany started of extremely unstable economically, but Hitler was able to gain the publics support by making the people of Nazi Germany feel as if they needed him to stabilize Germany, and he also solidified his power by making sure things were idealistic as the images he painted in peoples mind. He maintained and controlled the people through manipulation. Everything seemed to be doing fine, until Hitler started losing the support of the public and the military started not being as powerful as it once was.

Wood 5

If we never saw a dictator as bad as Hitler, we would not know the terrible affects of going along with his manipulation, because we would be unaware of the fact that that is unhealthy for a country.

Wood 6

Works Cited Bauer, Yehuda, and Nili Keren. A History of the Holocaust. New York: F. Watts, 1982. Print. Castillo, Daniel. "German Economy in the 1920s." German Economy in the 1920s. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. "Defeat of Hitler: Battle of the Bulge." The History Place. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Ellis, Rabbi Eliyahu, and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky. "Hitler In Power." Aish.com. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. "Germany- The Economy." Mongabay.com. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. Hein, Avi. "Hitler Youth (HJ)." Hitler Youth (HJ). The American-israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. "Hitler Becomes Fuhrer." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. "How Did Hitler Keep Control of the Nazi State." Gale: Student Resources in Context. Hindsight. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. Ingram, Scott. Adolf HItler. Farmington Hills: Gale Group, 2002. Print. "Lecture 11: Hitler and World War Two." Lecture 11: Hitler and World War Two. 11 Dec. 2011. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. Ramen, Fred. Albert Speer: Hitler's Architect. New York: Rosen, 2001. Print. Reed, Lawrence W. "Germany and the Great Depression." [Mackinac Center]. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

Wood 7

Seligmann, Rafael. "Germans Feared Modernism." The Atlantic Times: A Monthly Newspaper from Germany. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a History of Nazi Germany. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1960. Print. Trueman, Chris. "Adolf Hitler." Adolf Hitler. HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. "THE TRUTH ABOUT HITLER'S RISE TO POWER." THE TRUTH ABOUT HITLER'S RISE TO POWER. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Walker, Jim. "Hitler's Religious Beliefs and Fanaticism." Hitler's Religious Beliefs and Fanaticism. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. Yerdon, Adrienne. "Hitler's Successful Rise to Power and Its Effects on the German Judiciary." Www.ithaca.edu/history/journal/papers/fa03Hitler.htm. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.