Adolf Hitler....The Greatest Dictator

Adolf Hitler!!!
Full Name : Adolf Hitler
Date of Birth : April 20th 1889
Place of Birth : Braunau Am Inn,Austria
Died : April 30, 1945
Place of Death : Berlin,Germany.
Profession:Agitator,Activist,
Writer,Painter,Politician.

The very name forces us to think of impudence. Such is the reputation of the great historian who ruled the world.He was the greatest dictator of all times. A man who lived by hos terms and died for it. A fearless person & a real revolutionary.

• The Child hood Days.....(1889-1905)

This great ruler was born in the small town of Braunau Am Inn, Austria at about half past six in the evening on April 20^th 1889. He was the son of a Customs official Alois Hitler, and his mother was Klara who was the third wife of Mr., Alois Hitler. Alois & Klara had six children of which only Adolf Hitler and one sister of his, Paula Hitler reached adulthood. Alois also had a son “Alosis Jr” and a daughter “Angela” by his second wife. His father retired in the year 1895.

His name Adolf was derived from the german word Adel meaning nobility and the word wolf. (Adel +Wolf= Adolf).Hence in his later years he himself had nicknamed himself Wolf or Herr-Wolf. he began using this nickname in the early 1920s and was addressed by it only by intimates . The names of his various headquarters scattered throughout Europe (Wolfschanze in East Prussia , Wolfsschlucht in France , Werwolf in Ukraine, etc.) reflect this. He was known by the name of Adi in his youth days. His father expired in the year 1903

The young Hitler was a good student in elementary school. But in the sixth grade, his first year of high school (Realschule) in Linz he failed. Hitler claimed his educational slump was a rebellion against his father, who wanted the boy to follow him in a career as a customs official. Hitler wanted to become a painter instead. Hitler's schoolwork did not improve. At age 16, Hitler dropped out of high school without a degree.

• Early Adulthood Of Hitler(1905-1914)

From 1905 on, Hitler lived a bohemian life in Vienna on an orphan's pension and support from his mother .He took entrance exams for Viena Academy of fine arts in October 1907 but was rejected. In 1908 he again applied for the exams for Viena Academy of fine arts for the second year but was not admitted for the test citing unfitness for the subject. He was suggested to go for architecture instead. His memoirs reflect a fascination with the subject:

"The purpose of my trip was to study the picture gallery in the Court Museum, but I had eyes for scarcely anything but the Museum itself. From morning until late at night, I ran from one object of interest to another, but it was always the buildings which held my primary interest.

In the same year on Dec. 21^st his mother expired of breast cancer. Ordered by a court in Linz, Hitler gave his share of the orphans' benefits to his sister Paula. When he was 21, he inherited money from an aunt. He struggled as a painter in Vienna, copying scenes from postcards and selling his paintings to merchants and tourists. In 1909, he sought refuge in a homeless shelter. By 1910, he had settled into a house for poor working men.

Hitler says that he first became Anti-Semite in Vienna but his school mate August Kubizek, told that he was confirmed Anti-Semite before he left Linz, Austria. One of the books written by Kimberley Cornish suggests that there had been a conflict between Hitler and some Jew students which had laid the foundation of anti-Semitism. But some other evidence suggests that Hitler was exposed more than ever to anti-Semitism during his time in Vienna, as the city had a large Jewish community, which fostered his evolving ideology. Hitler claimed that Jews were the enemies of the Aryan race. He held them responsible for Austria's crisis.

Hitler finally moved to Munich, Germany in May 1913 after he got the left part of his father estate. There he was keener on Architecture. Going to Munich did serve the purpose for Hitler for a while as he was able to escape Austrian Military Services. But the Austrian military services were after him. They arrested him but after a physical test was allowed to let go as he was found unfit for the services and he moved to Munich.

• The World War I Period(1914-1918)

Germany entered World War I in August 1914, Hitler petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to serve in a Bavarian regiment on August 3^rd 1914. This request was granted, and Adolf Hitler enlisted in the Bavarian army. In December he was awarded with the Iron Cross, Second Class. On 7^th October 1916 he was wounded by a grenade and his leg was hurt. On august 4^th 1918 he was awarded the Iron Cross 1^st class. Short before the end of the World War I Hitler was injured by an English gas attack; thereby he lost his eyes sight temporally and spent several months in hospital. While in the hospital his eyes were in a healing state; he heard the news of the end of the World War-I.

• The After World War Period -I(1919-1924)

After the War he remained in the Munich Army and participated in funeral march for the murdered Bavarian Prime Minister Kurt Eisner. In July 1919, Hitler was appointed a Verbindungsmann (police spy) of an Aufklärungskommando (Intelligence Commando) of the Reichswehr, both to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate a small party, theGerman Workers Party (DAP). During his inspection of the party, Hitler was impressed with founder Anton Drexler's anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist and anti-Marxist ideas, which favored a strong active government, a "non-Jewish" version of socialism and mutual solidarity of all members of society. Here Hitler met Dietrich Eckart. Eckart became the mentor of Hitler and taught the way to talk to people and the way to dress. He also introduced Hitler to large number of people.

In 1920 Hitler was discharged from the army and started participating in party activities. By 1921 Hitler had learned the tricks of speaking and had become an affluent speaker. In February 1921 he addressed a huge crowd of about six thousand people and announced the twenty five points program. Hitler gained notoriety outside of the party for his rowdy,polemic speeches against the treaty of Versailles, rival politicians (including monarchists, nationalists and other non-internationalist socialists) and especially against Marxists and Jews.

The DAP was made in Munich which included Army officers who were determined to demolish Marxism. Slowly they came to notice Hitler& his growing popularity. As Hitler traveled to Berlin to visit Nationalist group during summer of 1921 there broke a revolt among the members of DAP leadership in Munich. The party till date was run by a executive party who were of the belief that Hitler was gradually overbearing. They formed alliance with a group of socialist. Hitler rushed to Munich only to find the committee executives demanding his resignation.He gave the resignation on July 11^th, 1921.When the Committee realized that Hitler resigning from the party would lead to the death of the party Hitler seized the movement and announced that he would return only if he was given dictatorial powers. There was a huge debate but ultimately the committee decided that Hitler’s demands be put to a vote of party members. Hitler received all but one votes.At the next meeting of the party Hitler was introduced as the FUHRER of the National Socialist Party. Hitler changed the name of the party to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialist German Workers Party(NSDAP).

Hitler’s growing name forced many followers including Rudolf Hess, The former Air force Pilot Hermann Goring and the army captain Ernest Rohmwho later became the head of the Nazis paramilitary organization.Hitler also assimilated independent groups such as theNuremberg-based Deutsche Werkgemeinschaft, led by Julius Steicher. Hitler also attracted the attention of local business interests and became associated with wartime General Erich Ludendorff during this time.

Encouraged by this support,Hitler decided to use Ludendorff as a frount in an attempted coup later known as the Beer Hall Putsch. On November 8,1923, Hitler entered a public meeting headed by Kahr in the Bürgerbräukeller. He declared that he had set up a new government with Ludendorff and demanded, at gunpoint, the support of Kahr and the local military establishment for the destruction of the Berlin government. Kahr withdrew his support and fled to join the opposition to Hitler at the first opportunity. The next day, when Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government as a start to their "March on Berlin", the police dispersed them.Sixteen NSDAP members were killed. Hitler was soon arrested for high treason. Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the party. On April 1,1924, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison. He was pardoned and released from jail on 20^th December 1924, as part of a general amnesty for political prisoners. Including time on remand, he had served little more than one year of his sentence.

• Hitler's Rise to Power Period(1924-1933)

At the time of Hitler’s release the economy had improved. Though Hitler had gained some prominence by the acts done, yet his party was basically occupying Munich. As Hitler could not make public speeches he hired Gregor Stasser, who in 1924 had been elected to the Reichstag, as Reichsorganisationsleiter, authorizing him to organize the party in northern Germany. Strasser, joined by his younger brother Otto and Joseph Goebbels, steered an increasingly independent course, emphasizing the socialist element in the party's programme. The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Gauleiter Nord-West became an internal opposition, threatening Hitler's authority, but this faction was defeated at the Bamberg Conference in 1926, during which Goebbels joined Hitler. After this encounter, Hitler centralized the party even more as the basic principle of party organization. Consistent with Hitler's disdain for democracy , all power and authority devolved from the top down.

In 1930 the Nazi party was represented with 107 seats in the German parliament (Reichstag).On feb 1932 Adolf Hitler was given the german citizenship.In the same year he ran for the president of Germany but lost to Hiddenburg. On 30th January 1933 he became German chancellor.Once in power he quickly established himself as a dictator. On August 2, 1934 Von Hindenburg died and the next day Hitler become the supreme leader of Germany by assuming both the powers of President and Chancellor (with the title of Führer) He began rearming Germany which met little protest from other European countries.

In 1936 he sent troops into the demilitarized Rhineland, but France and the rest of the world did not react. During the Spanish Civil War in 1936 he supported the Nationalist leader Francisco Franco by supplying airplanes and weapons and sending German troops (Legion Condor). In 1938 Hitler occupied Austria and the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Britain and France feared the outbreak of a war so they agreed in the Munich Pact to these annexations on the basis that Hitler would not take over any additional Czech territory. However in March 1939 Hitler occupied the reminder of Czechoslovakia.

• The Beginning of the End of Adolf Hitler: Year 1939 onwards

In August 1939 Germany signed a non-aggression pact with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and in the pact, the two countries secretly divided up Poland. This pact laid the foundations for World War II and in September 1939 Germany defeated Poland. One year later Germany overran most of Europe and in 1941 Hitler gave the order to attack the Soviet union.

On 22 June 1941, three million German troops attacked the Soviet Union, breaking the non-aggression pact . This invasion seized huge amounts of territory, including the Baltic states, Belarus and Ukraine. It also encircled and destroyed many Soviet forces. But the Germans were stopped short of Moscow in December 1941 by the Russian Winter and fierce Soviet resistance. The invasion failed to achieve the quick triumph Hitler wanted.Hitler's declaration of war against the United States on 11 December 1941, four days after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor,Hawaii, set him against a coalition that included the world's largest empire (the British Empire), the world's greatest industrial and financial power (the United States), and the world's largest army (the Soviet Union).

Throughout World War II he continued the campaign to destroy the Jews. In 1942 Hitler met with high ranking Reich officials to create the final solution to the Jewish problem. The Germans began building large extermination camps to accompany the concentration camps where about six million Jews were killed. Endless trains took millions of Jews to the camps. This had a serious effect on the war and subsequent events.

After the German defeat at Stalingrad during the Winter of 1942/43, the war turned against Germany. When the final defeat became more and more likely, Hitler refused to surrender. On 20^th July 1944, a group of German officers under the leadership of Colonel Graf Von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler, but their attempt failed.

On 29th April 1945 Hitler writes his last will and political testament. Finally, when Soviet troops surrounded his bunker in Berlin on 30th April 1945, Hitler committed suicide together with his long-time companion, Eva Braun, whom he had married the day before.