Adolf Hitler

He was born in 1889

Dreamed of being an artist
Left school at 16
At 18, went to Vienna to make his living
Failed to gain admission to Vienna
Academy of Fine Arts
Next 5 years lived on charity
Years of Misery

Shaped his thoughts
Hitler became influenced by writings of
Karl Laager, the Mayor of Vienna
Karl was anti-Semitic
Hitler developed a deep hatred for the
Communists and the Jews
Honours in WW I
Hitler served a corporal in the German army
Hitler was honoured for his bravery
German surrender brought him pain
He cried!


His anguish
So it had all been in vain. In vain all the
sacrifices. In vain the hours in which, with
mortal fear clutching at our hearts we did
our duty. In vain the death of two millions.
Had they died for this, so that a gang of
wretched criminals could lay hands on the
fatherland?
Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler

Political Career
In 1920 he joined the National Socialist
German Workers' Party (NSDAP), better
known as the Nazi Party
Hitler's political propaganda and
promotions gave him mass support
He was especially with the urban
bourgeoisie
In 1921, Hitler became the Party Chairman
Failure of Munich Putsch
When the Munich Putsch failed, Hitler was
placed in jail
He used his trial to gain nationwide
attention for his cause.
Hitler served nine months of his 5-year
sentence in prison, where he wrote the
famous Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
Should the Jew, with the aid of his Marxist
creed, triumph over the people of this
world, his crown will be the funeral wreath
of mankind, and this planet will orbit
through space without any human life on its
surface as it did millions of years ago.
Rise in reputation
Failure of Putsch made Hitler realised that
he had to obtain power through the polls
Re-organised the NSDAP
Nazi used moderate means to gain political
support
Held meetings, rallies, marches
Used books, the newspapers, radio to spread
their ideas (p. 106)
Depression hit Germany
Germany found herself in deep trouble
Weimar Republic was not up to the task
Even Weimar politicians began to show
their lack of faith in democracy
Hindenburg, the President did not believe
that the Reichstag could solve the problem
of Germany
Failure of Weimar Govt
Hindenburg began to rule by presidential decree
a form of dictatorship
Between 1930 1932, there were 3 elections and
several changes of government
1n the 1930 elections, there was a shift in
popularity to the extremist parties
The Communists secured 77 seats, up from 54
Nazis, down to 12 seats before the election,
secured 107 seats
Increasing popularity
In 1932, Hitler stood for presidential elections
He came in second only to Hindenburg
In the Reichstag elections of same year, Nazis
increased their vote to 37% of votes cast
They obtained 230 seats
Became the biggest single party in the Reichstag

Hitler could have been
stopped
If the other parties had united against him
But the Socialists and the Communists could not
work together
1933, Chancellor Franz von Paten, leader of a
group of right-wing politicians made an alliance
with Hitler
Persuaded Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as
Chancellor
Von Papen would be Vice-Chancellor
Von Papens naievity

He thought he could control Hitler
He failed
Feb 1933, Hitler called for new elections, to take
place in March
Goering by now was in charge of two-thirds of the
police forces in GERMANY
He recruited 50,000 extras from SA
Opponents were beaten up, and their meetings
disrupted
Feb 27
th
the Reichstag building burned down
1933 Elections
The Nazis now had 233 seats
But that was still not an overall majority
To make changes to Constitution, Hitler
needed a two-thirds majority
So the Nazis joined up with the Nationalists
who secured 53 seats
With 286 out of 500 seats, Hitler had gained
control of Germany at last