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Mein Kampf and the Formation of Hitler's Ideas

2001-04-13T14:00:00-04:00

The dominant political figure of German history in the twentieth century, Adolf Hitler, was born in a lower middle class family in the provincial Austrian town of Braunau am Inn on 20 April 1889. In 1907 Hitler applied to enter the Vienna Academy of Art but his application was rejected. After the death of his mother Klara, Hitler decided to move to Vienna. He drifted from job to job, often selling sketches or painting scenes of Old Vienna and it was a period that he himself later called the most miserable period of his life. Many of Hitler’s views of the world were shaped by his experiences on the streets of Vienna and it is probable that his violent anti-Semitism dates from this time. In 1924 Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for his part in the Munich Putsch. During this time in prison Hitler began work on his book entitled Mein Kamph (My Struggle). The book outlines some of Hitler’s political ideas and his views on race and Germany’s future role in world affairs. Hitler had a racist view of world history and the dominant theme running through Mein Kamph was his concept of race. In Hitler’s view, civilization and nations decline when the fail to maintain the purity of the race. “Mixing blood and lowering of racial quality” according to Hitler is the “sole cause for the decline of all culture, for humans do not perish from lost wars but from the loss of that power of resistance that is characteristic only of pure blood”*. The fundamental duty of the government in Hitler’s mind was to preserve the racial purity of state for only this way can the superior race maintains it dominance over inferior races. To Hitler, the Aryan (an earlier Indo-European race from which the Germans were descended) was the master race and the other races were inferior. To Hitler the Jew represented the absolute contrast to the Aryan. The Aryans were the creators of culture and civilization, where else the Jew was the destroyer for they had no nation or culture of their own. They were “a parasite in the body of other nations”* contaminating the purity of the blood, exploiting and corrupting the nation. Hitler saw a Jewish world conspiracy and held absolute conviction that the Jews were responsible for all the evils that had befallen Germany – defeat of in war, revolution, economic

Hitler's Rise to Power

2001-03-03T13:00:00-05:00

Adolf hitler was born in brannau, austria on the 20th of april 1889. His parents belonged to the settled middle class and his father led a thrifty but successful life. At aged 18, hitler moved to vienna where he settled for five years. He described that period of time as the worst years of his life. As a struggling artist, he tried to gain entry into the vienna academy of fine arts but was refused admission. It was in vienna that hitler was influenced by lanz von libenfels and developed very strong nationalist and anti-semitic views. In may 1913, he left for munich. During ww1 in august 1914, he enlisted in the army. he fought on the western front for 4yrs and was awarded the iron cross for bravery. he remained in the army and was given the job of spying on newly developing political parties. One such party was the german workers party founded by anton drexler in 1919. hitler was so impressed at the first meeting by what he saw and heard that he decided to join the organisation. by 1920, he was leader of this party and changed the name to the national socialist workers party, commonly known as the nazi party. The nazis forme their own small army called the SA(sturm abteilung). they were easily recognised by the brown coloured shirts they wore. the SA were used to protect the nazis at any meetings or conferences that were held. hitler made the swastika the emblem of this party. early recruits included ernst rohm, rudolf hess, heinrich himmler and josef goebbels. With the weimar government facing economic and ploitical crisis in 1923, hitler decided to make a bid for power. this came in the form a the munich putsch. On 8th november 1923, nazi's took over a beer hall in munich. many people were killed. hitler was arrested two days later and was sentenced to 5yrs in landsberg castle. he only served 9months of this sentence. while in prison, hitler wrote his famous book 'mein kampf'- my struggle. this book was a long boring insight into the mind of hitler and his anti-semitic views. During his time in prison the nazi party had disintegrated , and its members had become divided. hitler had to spend the next 4yrs rebuilding the party and giving it a solid organisational base. Hitler believed in a true german race devoid of impurity which could be achieved

Hitler - A Great Leader

2001-01-28T13:00:00-05:00

In my opinion, being a good leader firstly he should be able to take full advantage of favorable circumstance, able to rule the country under a chaotic situation. Besides he made attractive promises to gain popular support, skilled in using of propaganda, amoral. Moreover he should have the organizational ability and has the ambition to make his country powerful in the world. In addition, he could use his words to twist and manipulate the minds of people into believing that what he was saying. Using this power, he could get people to do anything for him, which prove his amorality. He should be skillful in carry out successful policy to bring the country to economic prospect, since economy is very important to a country. I think Adolf Hitler is the one. Adolf Hitler was one of the 20th century’s most powerful dictators. He was responsible for World War II and the death of millions. Hitler saw a nation in despair and used this as an opportunity to gain political power. He saw a nation of unemployed and hungry citizens and promised them economic prosperity in return for absolute power. Someone once said “The Nazis rose to power on the empty stomachs of the German people”. Although he did not live a very long life, during his time he caused such a great deal of death and destruction that his actions still have an effect on the world nearly 50 years later. I am sure that he is a great leader. Adolf Hitler joined a small political party in 1919 and rose to leadership through his emotional and captivating speeches. He encouraged national pride, militarism, and a commitment to the Volk and a racially "pure" Germany. Hitler condemned the Jews, exploiting anti-Semitic feelings that had prevailed in Europe for centuries. He changed the name of the party to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, called for short, the Nazi Party. By the end of 1920, the Nazi Party had about 3,000 members. A year later Hitler became its official leader Führer. From this, we can see his potential of being a leader and his development in his propaganda. In about 1923 Adolf Hitler's attempt at an armed overthrow of local authorities in Munich, known as the Beer Hall Putsch, failed miserably. Hitler, were subsequently jailed and charged with high treason. However, Hitler used the courtroom at his public trial as a propaganda platform,

Adolf Hitler and the Nazis Rise to Power

2001-01-16T13:00:00-05:00

Adolf Hitler was one of the 20th century’s most powerful dictators. He was responsible for World War II and the death of millions. Hitler saw a nation in despair and used this as an opportunity to gain political power. He saw a nation of unemployed and hungry citizens and promised them economic prosperity in return for absolute power. Someone once said “The Nazis rose to power on the empty stomachs of the German people”. Hitler was born in Austria-Hungary in 1889. His father, Alois Hitler, worked in Austrian customs service. Hitler had a relatively comfortable childhood. Although he was an above average student he was more interested in art than in academics. Like most German speaking citizens of Austria-Hungary, Hitler considered himself German and developed a strong sense of German nationalism. By 1908 both Hitler’s parents had died. Hitler pretended to continue his studies in order to receive an orphan’s pension. In 1913, Hitler went to Munich to escape Austrian authorities who were after him because he failed to register for the draft. Hitler volunteered for the German army.When Germany was defeated in 1918, he blamed the Jews and decided he would go into politics to save the country. After the war, Hitler returned to Munich. He was selected to be a political speaker by the local army headquarters. He was given special training in public speaking. Later in life Hitler used his skill in motivational speaking to gain the support of the German people for the Nazi party. Hitler was selected as an observer of political groups in the Munich area. During this time period he was introduced to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, better known as the Nazi Party. The Nazis shared his dislike of the liberal democracy of the Weimar Republic as well as his violent racial nationalism and anti-Semitism. In 1921 he was named the absolute leader of the Nazi Party. After its defeat in World War I, Germany was forced to give up land, demilitarize and pay war reparations. When Germany refused to pay all that was demanded, France and Belgium occupied the coal mines in the Ruhr industrial area. The German government ordered the workers to strike as a form of passive resistance. To compensate these workers the German government printed huge amounts of new money. This led to inflation. German currency rapidly lost value. Many people were unemployed and on the brink of starvation. Hitler felt

Hitler

2000-05-15T14:00:00-04:00

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in the small town of Branau, Austria. He was the son a Customs official Alois Hitler, and his father’s third wife Klara. As a boy, Adolf attended church regularly. One day he carved a symbol into the bench which resembled the Swastika he later used as the symbol of the Nazi party. He was a good student. He received good marks in most of his classes. However in his last year of school he failed German and Mathematics, and only succeeded in Gym and Drawing. He dropped out of school at the age of 16, spending a total of 10 years in school. From childhood, it was his dream to become an artist or architect. He was not a bad artist. To fulfill his dream, he moved to Vienna, the capital of Austria where the Academy of the Arts was located. He failed the first time he tried to get admission and in the next year, 1907, he tried again and was very sure of success. To his surprise, he failed again. In fact the Dean of the Academy was not very impressed with his performance, and gave him a hard time and said to him, "You will never be painter." The rejection made him reach a dead end. He could not apply to the school of architecture, as he had no high-school diploma. While living in Vienna, Hitler made his living by drawing small pictures of famous landmarks, which he sold as post cards. However, he was always poor. He was also a regular reader of a small newspaper that suggested that the Arian race was the superior race. The paper blamed Communists and Jews for all their economic problems and Hitler agreed with those views. He continued to live a poor life in Vienna and in 1913 decided to move to Munich. Being Austrian by birth, Hitler showed more loyalty to the Germany. His life in Munich was not better then before and he continued to be poor. Then in 1914, World War I broke out and Hitler saw this as a great opportunity to show his loyalty to the "fatherland" by volunteering for the German Imperial army. He did not want to fight in the Austrian Army. In 1918, Germany surrendered and Hitler was very upset about the loss. He believed that it was the Jews and the Communists

Hitler

1999-11-15T13:00:00-05:00

ADOLF HITLER'S RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND FANATICISM People often claim that Adolf Hitler believed in Atheism, Humanism,

Adolf Hitler

1999-09-13T14:00:00-04:00

Adolf Hitler did not live a very long life, but during his time he caused such a great deal of death and destruction that his actions still have an effect on the world nearly 50 years later. People ask what could've happen to this small sickly boy during his childhood that would've led him do such horrible things? For Adolf it might have been society, rejection from his father, failure as an artist or was he born to hate? Adolf was born in Braunau, Austria in 1889. His father, Alois was a minor customs official, and his mother was a peasant girl. Adolf attended elementary school for four years and entered secondary school at the age of eleven. Adolf's dreams of becoming an artist did not match the government official job his father wanted him to have. These fights over what he wanted to be, lead Adolf to lose interest in getting good grades and dropped out at the age of sixteen. When his father died Adolf roamed the streets of Linz dreaming of his future as an artist. He attended a great deal of operas and loved the musical work by Robert Wagner. At 18, Hitler tried to enter the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna but was rejected twice. His failure put a great deal of frustration on him. He saw himself as an artist who was rejected by "stupid" teachers. Adolf later moved to Vienna to find a way to make a living. Hitler would rather do odd jobs such as shoveling snow, or beating rugs instead of getting a regular job. Since he had no set income he was forced to move into the ghettos and became somewhat of a bum. He finally got a job painting postcards and advertisements. He had little money still, and spent most his time reading and thinking about what he read. While Hitler was in Vienna, he learned things which he later used to destroy the world. He learned that the finest thing for man to do was to conquer foreign countries, and that peace is a bad thing because it makes man weak. He was also convinced that Germans are the master race, even though he himself was Austrian. Hitler also took part in political ideas which were later used in Germany. He believed a political party must know how to use terror. He also discovered the value of appearance in politics. He

Adolf Hitler

1999-09-13T14:00:00-04:00

The seeds of Hitler's rise to power were planted following the outcome of the First World War. With Germany's defeat, many German men returned to Germany feeling betrayed by their country and government. Among them was Adolf Hitler, a young Austrian Corporal who had fought bravely for Germany. When the World War broke out, Hitler was very happy. The War had been a blessing to the young Hitler, who had been unsuccessful in civilian life. When Germany was defeated, Hitler was devastated. He wrote, "I could sit there no longer, once again, everything went black before my eyes, and I tottered and groped my way back to the place where we slept, and buried my burning head in the blankets and pillows." (Stewart p.31). On returning unemployed to Munich, Hitler was outraged exclaiming " in these days the hatred grew in me, hatred for those responsible for this deed." (Stewart p.31). Hitler promised to get back at people for those who had been responsible for Germany's defeat. ! With the signing of the Treaty of Versaille, Hitler blamed the defeat of Germany on the Jews, Communists, and the weak Weimar government. This is the government which held power following Germany's defeat. With his strong hatred for the Communists, the Jews, and the weak government, Hitler vowed to fight back, and to change the terrible things, which he believed, had been done to Germany. After the War, Hitler found a job as a prison guard sixty miles north from Munich. The job was boring, but it provided him with security, food, shelter, and something to do. When the job ended, Hitler went back to Munich, where he was offered a more challenging job due to his great dislike for the Communists who were provoking revolution in cities throughout Germany. In this assignment, Hitler was given the task of keeping a close watch on individual groups, which could have been a threat to the military of the Weimar Government. In this, Hitler learned many things and even was given special training at the University of Munich where he attended political philosophy classes. These classes may be where he began to take keen interest in German expanse. In 1919, Hitler was investigating a fifty-four member group which was called the German's Worker's Party. This group had funds adding up to about seven U.S. dollars. This group was anti-Communist ideas, and believed along with the Jews

Traits of Adolf Hitler

1999-03-12T13:00:00-05:00

"He Failed as a student in classical secondary schools, a situation that contributed to his desire to become an artist. He went to Vienna in 1903. His years there were characterized by melancholy, aimlessness, and racial hatred,"stated by Alan Bullock (Allen Bullock 1962, 97). This does not sound like the life of a the future leader of Germany. But what Adolf Hitler lost in scholastics he made up for it and then some in leadership skills. Hitler, having great leadership skills, showed that leadership skills can be more important than brain power. A good education was something that Adolf Hitler did not have. He dropped out of school at the age of sixteen, spending only 10 years in school. Sadly, he didn't even get into a art academy, even though it was his goal in life to become an artist. Arthur Schlesinger says that "However in his last year of school he failed German and Mathematics, and only succeeded in Gym and Drawing. He drooped out of school at the age of 16, spending a total of 10 years in school,"(Arthur M. Schlesinger 1985, 14) Even though he didn't have a normal amount of education, he still became the leader of Germany. Adolf Hitler, nevertheless, was a great orator and when he spoke, everybody listened. He sometimes spoke several times a day, moving from town to town seemingly tireless. Ken McVay had this to say about this subject, "He was a tireless speaker and before he came to power would sometimes give as many as three or four speeches on the same day, often in different cites. Even his opponents concede that he is the greatest orator that Germany has ever known,"[sic](Ken McVay 1995, (Internet)). Though he didn't have a good education his orator skill, which is a leadership skill, helped him achieve his goal. Along with being a tireless orator, Hitler also possessed the quality to make everybody listen to him, a quality that most, not including Mr. Marcero, saline high school teachers could use. He would get the audience by telling them what they wanted to hear, then he would manipulate the people to arose their emotions. "His power and Fascination in speaking lay almost wholly in his ability to sense what the given audience wanted to hear and then to manipulate his theme in such a way that he would arouse the emotions of the crowd,"(Strasser 1993, (Internet)). The

Adolf Hitler

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

1.The Beginning At half past six on the evening of April 20th, 1889 a child was born in the small town of Branau, Austria. The name of the child was Adolf Hitler. He was the son a Customs official Alois Hitler, and his third wife Klara. As a young boy Adolf attendated church regulary and sang in the local choir. One day he carved a symbol into the bench which resembled the Swastika he later used as the symbol of the Nazi party. He was a pretty good student. He received good marks in most of his classes. However in his last year of school he failed German and Mathematics, and only succeeded in Gym and Drawing. He drooped out of school at the age of 16, spending a total of 10 years in school. From childhood one it was his dream to become an artist or architect. He was not a bad artist, as his surviving paintings and drawings show but he never showed any originality or creative imagination. To fullfil his dream he had moved to Vienna the capital of Austria where the Academy of arts was located. He failed the first time he tried to get admission and in the next year, 1907 he tried again and was very sure of success. To his surprise he failed again. In fact the Dean of the academy was not very impressed with his performance, and gave him a really hard time and said to him "You will never be painter." The rejection really crushed him as he now reached a dead end. He could not apply to the school of architecture as he had no high-school diploma. During the next 35 years of his live the young man never forgot the rejection he received in the dean's office that day. Many Historians like to speculate what would have happened IF.... perhaps the small town boy would have had a bit more talent....or IF the Dean had been a little less critical, the world might have been spared the nightmare into which this boy was eventually to plunge it. 2.World War 1 While living in Vienna Hitler he made his living by drawing small pictures of famous landmarks which he sold as post cards. But he was always poor. He was also a regular reader of a small paper which claimed that the Araban race was superior to all and was destined to

Hitler's Weltanschauung (World View)

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

In the early quarter of the twentieth century, a young man was beginning to fill his mind with ideas of a unification of all Germanic countries. That young man was Adolf Hitler, and what he learned in his youth would surface again as he struggled to become the leader of this movement. Hitler formed views of countries and even certain cities early in his life, those views often affecting his dictation of foreign policy as he grew older. What was Hitler's view of the world before the Nazi Party came to power? Based in large part on incidents occurring in his boyhood, Hitler's view included the belief that Jews should be eliminated, and that European countries were merely pawns for him to use in his game of world dominion. Adolf Hitler grew up the son of a respectable imperial customhouse official, who refused to let his son do what he was most interested in-art. Hitler never excelled in school, and took interest only in art, gymnastics and a casual interest in geography and history due to a liking he had taken to his teacher. It was his history teacher who would fill Adolf's mind with a simple thought: "The day will come, that all of us, of German descent, will once more belong to one mighty Teutonic nation that will stretch from the Mediterranean to the Baltic, just like the Empire of the Middle Ages, and that will stand supreme among the peoples of this earth." Already the young Adolf could envision himself in such a position. Much of the ideology that Adolf Hitler used was not original by any means. There were many thinkers and writers who laid the groundwork for what would become not just Hitler's, but the Nazi Party's Weltanschauung (world view). Three primary writers were Dietrich Eckart, editor of a harshly anti-Semitic periodical, Auf gut deutsch (Agd), Alfred Rosenberg, a Baltic German and contributor to Agd, and Gottfried Feder, an opponent of finance capitalism. These three men molded the political outlook of the German Worker's Party before Hitler encountered it in 1919, and would become quite influential in Adolf's ideology. Rosenberg contributed largely to Hitler's view of the Jews on an international perspective, suggesting the existence of a Jewish conspiracy to overthrow established nation-states on a worldwide scale. In 1924, Hitler proclaimed that he had departed from Vienna as an absolute anti-Semitic, a deadly enemy of the whole

The Rise and Fall of Hitler's Reich

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Feeling that all was lost, Hitler shot himself on April 30, 1945. By orders formally given by him before his death, SS officers immersed Hitler's body in gasoline and burned it in the garden of the Chancellery. Soon after the suicide of Hitler, the German forces surrendered. The war was officially over; however, the world was only beginning to realize the extent of its horror. The rise and sudden fall of Hitler had a sensational effect on people and nations around the world. On Easter Sunday April 20, 1889, at an inn called the Gasth of Zum Pommer, the wife of an Austrian Customs official gave birth to a son, Adolf Hitler. He was the fourth child to the parents of Alois and Klara Hitler of Austria. Hitler was a good student. He took singing lessons and sang in the church choir. When he hit an adolescent age, he began to rebel. When Hitler's dad acquired a top ranking job in the military, he wanted his son to work hard so that he might become a civil servant. Hitler wanted nothing of it. He wanted to become an artist like he always dreamed. One of the teachers in his high school classified young Hitler as "notorious, cantankerous, willful, arrogant, and irascible. He has an obvious difficulty in fitting in at school." He did well enough to get by in some of his courses but had no time for subjects that did not interest him. Years later, his former school mates would remember how Adolf would taunt his teachers and draw sketches of them in his school notebooks. Forty years later, in the sessions at his headquarters which produced the record of his table talk, Hitler recalled several times the teachers of his school days with contempt. "They had no sympathy with youth. Their one object was to stuff our brains and turn us into erudite apes themselves. If any pupil showed the slightest trace of originality, they persecuted him relentlessly". Adolf saw no real reason to stay in high school. He left school at age sixteen without a leaving certificate. In September 1907, Hitler left home taking with him all the money left to him by his father, who had died a few years earlier. The money would be enough for tuition and board at the art school in Vienna. The Vienna School of Fine Arts had strict entrance requirements. After

Comparing Hitler and Stalin in their rise to power

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

During the period leading up to World War II, there were two men who were on opposing sides, the men were Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. These men were each triumphant in their rise to power in their countries and they were very comparable in the ways that they succeeded. Their success was mostly attributed to their new ideas and their politics. Although Hitler and Stalin hated each other, the two leaders were similar in many ways. Hitler and Stalin each rose to the highest position attainable in their respective countries, and there were three main reasons that they were able to do this. Both men were skilled users of propaganda, each was amoral, and they both had the ambition to make their countries powerful in the world. Since each was a skilled user of propaganda, they could use their words to twist and manipulate the minds of people into believing that what they were saying was the absolute truth. Using this power, they would get people to do anything for them, which proves their amorality. Since their countries were still trying to recover from World War I, they desired to restore the power back in to their countries. These three reasons will prove that Hitler and Stalin were similar in many ways. The names Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are synonymous with the word propaganda. In order to understand how Hitler and Stalin used propaganda, an understanding of what the word means, is required. According to Merriam-Webster, "propaganda is the spreading of ideas to further or damage a cause; also the ideas or allegations spread for a purpose". Hitler and Stalin each used propaganda as their tool to further their ideas and help them gain the backing of the people in their countries. The form of propaganda that Hitler used, and was successful in using, was his words. Hitler made many speeches, but the one speech that was a famous one, was his final speech at his trial for treason. In this speech he gave his views and opinions on the events preceding the trial. This is an excerpt from his speech: "...I aimed from the first to....become the destroyer of Marxism....The army that we are building grows more from day to day, from hour to hour. Gentlemen, not you who will be the ones that deliver the verdict over us, but that verdict will be given by the eternal judgement