Biography of Adolf Hitler: A History Students Perspective - Term Paper Example

? Biography of Adolf Hitler: A History Perspective Introduction There have been several political leaders or rulers that have strode acrossthe pages of human history, but none of them have caused as much change during the course of their reign, as Adolf Hitler did in his rule as head of Germany. He started a war, the tremors of which were felt all round the world bringing about ruin to the countries that were invaded, and finally in Germany too with the defeat of Hitler. Mostly single-handed Hitler and his German military might took on most of the Western nations with dramatic success. He was aided in this by the admiration that he drew initially from the German people, and by ruthlessly holding on to this aura till the end of his life. It took a combination of all the military might of most of the world a duration of six years to defeat Hitler and bring about his demise. His claims to greatness cannot be turned down, though there may be many who believe that his greatness is tainted with the notoriety of all the agony, pain, death, and destruction caused by him. The Early Days In the Austrian town of Braunau am Inn, on April 20, 1889, Hitler was born. He was the fourth son of a minor customs official. A major part of his early life was spent in Linz in Upper Austria. Though he possessed intelligence, he did poorly at school, which led to his leaving the formal school environment at the high school level, and idling for over two years. He had an interest for art, which made him apply to the Vienna Academy of Arts in 1907. His application was rejected. He tried once more in 1908 with the same result. Subsequently, he sought no learning of any skills in trade or work, and instead resorted to painting picture postcards, from which he made some money. In his later years, Hitler described himself as having come from a poverty stricken early background. This is not entirely true as he received an inheritance after his mother died in 1907, and also received an orphan’s allowance from the state.1 In his early years Hitler demonstrated no interest in friends and company. He preferred solitude, and was given to brooding and self-pity. He did demonstrate an interest for the Wagnerian operas, and fantasizing on the great architectural projects he would undertake some day. Another favourite pastime of his was reading, during which he indulged himself in books on art, history, military matters, and racial, nationalist, anti-Semitic, and Pan-German written works. The latter readings took Hitler into the ideas a heroic Aryan race, the potential risks involved in mixing of racial bloods, destruction of inferior races, and the concept of the Jews being at the heart of all that is unfortunate and evil in the world. These ideas and concepts were to become the core of the Nazi principles that Hitler would develop.2 The advent of the First World War in 1914 stirred Hitler into action. Here was an opportunity that offered purpose and excitement. He embraced the war whole-heartedly, volunteered into the German Army, and fought with bravado to receive two Iron Cross medals. However, the greater prize Hitler received during his tenure in the German Army was the lessons in authority, discipline, ruthlessness, and leadership. The defeat of Germany saw the return of a bitter Hitler, blaming the then political leadership of Germany and the Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy for the defeat of Germany in the war.3 Hitler and the Nazi Party A disgruntled Hitler joined the German Workers Party (DAP) in 1919. Within a year the German Workers Party changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) or the Nazi Party. In the meantime, Hitler had swiftly ascended the ranks to become a leading member of the Nazi Party. The objectives of the Nazi Party were to overturn the belittling Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War, and to bring all Germans under the banner of one state or Reich, but to exclude the Jews from that. As propaganda chief of the Nazi Party he created an image for the Nazi party through the Nazi salute, the Swastika symbol, and uniform styled after the military that was easily recognized by the people of Germany. Hitler rose to occupy a dominant position in the Nazi Party by July 1921. 4 The growth of the Nazi Party under Hitler was derived through a dual strategy. The wooing of individual groups was undertaken by giving them promises that would be at the cost of the other groups. Yet, any conflicts of interests were denounced and obliterated by the stance of the party that stood above any class distinction. This contradiction present at the two levels of agitation undertaken by the Nazi Party through a stand out point did not cause any harm to the party. Such a stance of the party stemmed from the belief that individual social groups were keener on what they received from the Nazi Party than what the Nazi party gave to the other social groupings. This allowed the Nazi Party to grow bringing into it heterogeneous groups, and convince all the people that it was the only political party that could get them out of the current rut that the country was in. 5 In 1923, Hitler believed that the Nazi Party had grown large enough to commit itself to a national revolution. He launched his premature Putsch in Munich. It turned out to be a disaster. Hitler was arrested, tried for treason, and sentenced to five years imprisonment. It was during the period of imprisonment that Hitler wrote the book Mein Kampf or my struggle. Within the book Hitler gives glimpses of his political vision of what he believed a Nazi state should be. Key aspects in this was the concept of the superiority of the Aryan race, the need to rid the world of the Jews, and widening the frontiers of Germany by occupying countries like Poland, so that the growing German population would have enough space to live in. To achieve this, the German people would need a strong and astute leader, and Hitler believed that he was the leader Germany would need. In December 1924, he was released from prison and headed out to achieve these dreams for Germany. However, the Nazi party had fallen in disarray from the lack of his leadership, and so he had to hold these ambitions in check.6 The Rise to Power of Hitler Hitler had to re-launch the Nazi Party in 1925. Hitler had realized that his only way of achieving his ambitions would be through legal means. He thus set about making the Nazi Party a political entity with different arms all responsible to Hitler. He tested the election waters in 1928, but the Nazi Party received only a dismal 2.6% of the votes. The Great Depression in 1929 and the poor state of the economy gave Hitler an opportunity to launch a spate of protests. The Weimar government was on its last legs and general elections were called for in 1932. The Nazi Party with its Youth wings, SA, and SS well primed for violence did well in an election that was marred by violence between the Nazi Party and the communist and socialist groups. The Nazi Party did not win a majority, but emerged as the single largest party. The re-election in November saw the Nazi Party lose a few seats. Factors of the loss of confidence in the Weimar government, the growing impatience of the army, and political intrigue resulted in Hitler becoming the Chancellor of Germany in 1933, in a sharing of power model. Unhappy with this situation, Hitler called for elections. Despite his use of his political position to subdue the opposing political parties, the Nazi Party was unable to gain an outright majority. However using political manoeuvring and support from the German Army, Hitler not only subdued any political opposition to his absolute power, but also removed any opposition to him from within the Nazi Party ranks. Thus in 1933 Hitler had reached a position of absolute political power in Germany. 7 Hitler and His Absolute Political Power Hitler as Fuehrer of Germany had little interest in the nitty-gritty of daily governance of the country. Instead his focus was on strengthening the military might of Germany to achieve the the dreams he had for Germany. He had risen to power riding piggy back on the Enabling Act, for which he had received strong support from the Catholic and other Christian groups. Anti-Semitism was a Christian phenomenon in Europe, and in his initial years as Fuehrer, the full fury of the Nazi Party on Jews was felt. As the Nazi Party gained in confidence the persecution of the Jews increased. In 1935 The Nuremberg Race Laws were enacted. The Reich Citizenship Law was an instrument to deprive the Jews of their German citizenship. The Law for the Protection of German Blood prevented marriages between Germans and Jews. More than these laws the Jews felt even more threatened through the daily disarray caused in their lives by the Nazi Party propaganda against them Many Jews began to migrate to greener pastures. Those that stayed back soon found it impossible to leave the country, and were hauled off to concentration camps, to be tortured, experimented, and ultimately killed. 8 The Versailles Treaty remained a blot on the pride of Germany and Hitler. Destroying the Europe as spelled out by the treaty was his objective, but initially he tread with caution, making the best use of opportunities as they arose. Using the pretext of the failure of the disarmament talks, wherein Germany wanted to restore its ability to arm itself, he withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933. The same pretext was used for creating the German Air Force, which was banned by the treaty, and also expanding the size of the German Army to five times the size allowed under the treaty. Failure of the European powers to challenge these transgressions emboldened Hitler to remilitarize the Rhineland in 1936. It is often claimed that these were the points at which the territorial ambitions of Hitler could have been stopped by more aggressive action by the European powers. However, there remain doubts on its success given that Hitler had the full support of the German people in these actions against the Versailles Treaty. 9 France and Russia had commitments to protect Czechoslovakia, but sensing hesitancy on their part Hitler moved against Czechoslovakia, and took it through what can be termed the Munich appeasement in 1938 by the European powers. Poland was the next country in his sights. To prevent having to fight on two fronts, he signed a treaty of non-aggression with in 1939 with Russia, and went ahead with hi plans to invade Poland. With the Poles refusing to surrender meekly to the Germans, like the Czechs did, France and Britain had to enter the war against Germany in support of Poland. World War II had begun. 10 Hitler’s Fall The dramatic success gained by Germany during the initial years of the Second World War may be attributed to the brilliant strategies of the German Generals. However, failure to hold on to these advantages and convert it into victory has to be placed squarely on the shoulders of Hitler’s strategic blunders. His first such blunder was the failure to knock the Royal Air Force (RAF) out of the skies of Britain in spite of vast numerical superiority of the Luftwaffe. Hitler’s decision to shift concentration from RAF support facilities to civilian targets was a crucial factor in this failure. 11 The second mistake was the opening out of the second front on the east, without negating the threat on the west from Britain. Hitler attack on Russia in 1941 meant that the German Army had to reckon with threat from two potentials fronts. Even so, the Germans may have succeeded had Hitler not diverted a part of the German forces that were driving towards Moscow instead to Ukraine. This diversion led to Moscow not being taken, and the Russians living to fight on in the Eastern front. 12 The third critical mistake was the declaration of war against the United States of America. Hitler had not really appreciated the changes of fortunes that would occur in the course of the war when the military and economic might of America was thrown against Germany13. His final critical mistake was that he managed to unite the four major powers of America, Britain, France, and Russia. This unity was destined to bring about his fall. 14Surrounded by Russian troops Hitler took his own life on April 30, 1945 by using the pistol he carried with him since his days in the army in 1920. 15 Conclusion In his early days Hitler hardly demonstrated in him the potential to develop into one of the worlds most powerful and feared leader’s of a country, but in his younger days he did pick up his racial prejudices. It was during his stint in the army in the First World War that saw flashes of his capabilities, and it was during this period that he picked up an appreciation for discipline and ruthlessness. The immediate consequences of Germany’s defeat laid the base for him to start his political career. His political acumen resulted in his quick rise to the top of the leadership of his political party. His charismatic leadership resulted in him achieving the crowning glory of becoming the Fuehrer of Germany. He can be credited with uniting a Germany under him, and raising her from the misfortunes suffered after the First World War to renewed greatness. However, his flagrant territorial ambitions and ruthless racial prejudices would contribute to his downfall, and also that of Germany. He started the Second World War. His poor understanding of military strategies caused him to lose the war, and with that his life. Charismatic leaders like Hitler may pass away, but their aura lives after them. Many remember him for the destruction, pain, and agony that he caused. Yet, there are those that remember for lifting Germany from the ashes of the First World War, and restoring German pride. Works Cited Findlay, V. Carter & Rothney, A. M. John. Twentieth Century World. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2006. Giblin James. The Life and Death of Hitler. New York, Clarion Books. 2002. Harvey Richard. Hitler and the Third Reich. Cheltenham, UK: Stanley Thornes (Publishers) Ltd. 1998. Perry Marvin, Chase Myrna, Jacob James, Jacob Margaret & Von Laue, H. Theodore. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Volume 2: From the 1600s. Ninth Edition. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning. 2009. Stewart, V. Four Men Who Decided the Fate of the World, Leadership: The Decisive Difference in World War II. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Sunstone Press.2002. Winkler, A. Heinrich. German Society, Hitler and the Illusion of Restoration 1930-33. Journal of Contemporary History, 11(1976), 1-16. 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