ADOLF HITLER: BIOGRAPHY OF THE LEADER OF THE NAZI PARTY - ARTE - 2024

Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) was a German politician and military man of Austrian origin. He is recognized for having been the greatest leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, which was popularly called the Nazi Party. In addition, he held the reins of the nation during World War II.

He was the leader of one of the most famous totalitarian regimes in history, the Third Reich (which means "Third Empire"), for its excesses, ethnic genocide, and claims of expansionism and domination of the European continent.

Adolf Hitler, Phot-colorization, via Wikimedia Commons

Also, Hitler served as an artist and later as a writer. His most widespread work was the text called My Fight, in which he laid the foundations of his ideology, which soon led him to control the Germanic nation, which was impoverished after the Great War (First World War).

Born in Austria, Adolf Hitler moved to Germany at the age of 24. At that time he served as part of the German army in World War I and even received a decoration for his performance.

At age 30 he joined the German Workers Party. In February 1920, after a rally, three fundamental aspects for the organization were finally raised publicly: pan-Germanism, with which they promoted the unification of the German peoples; then anti-liberalism and anti-Semitism.

Since then it has been proposed that the German Workers 'Party adopt the new name, which was: National Socialist German Workers' Party. A year later, Hitler had become the main leader of the movement.

After a failed coup attempt in November 1923, Adolf Hitler was sent to prison for several months. Upon his release, his popularity grew and in 1933 he held the position of Chancellor of Germany.

The following year he achieved absolute control of power after the death of the then German president, Paul von Hindenburg. Then, Hitler promoted German rearmament and, from 1939, began to carry out the expansionist plan with the invasion of Poland.

In his advance through the European continent, Hitler maintained a good streak that ended in 1941. Finally, in 1945, during the Battle of Berlin, Adolf Hitler decided to commit suicide to avoid the humiliation of defeat, since he himself recognized that a victory at that time.

During Hitler's rule around 5 million Jews were killed, not to mention the millions of people who were also executed for being considered inferior or undesirable. In total, more than 19 million civilians died during the Third Reich.

Biography

Early years

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria, which then belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and which was on the border with Germany.

He was the fourth of six children from the third marriage of Alois Hitler, who was a customs worker, along with Klara Pölzl, of whom only Adolf and a sister named Paula lived to adulthood.

DNA-ZB. Adolf Hitler faschistischer Führer, Hauptkriegsverbrecher. geb: 20.4.1889 in Braunau (Inn) gest: (Selbstmord) 30.4.1945 in Berlin.

Kinderbildnis. German Federal Archives, via Wikimedia Commons

During his early years, the family moved to the German city of Passau, then to Leonding in Austria when Hitler was five years old and in 1895 they settled in Hafeld. The young man began to attend the Fishclham volksschule, the name given to public schools.

After a while the family again had a move, this time to Lambach and finally to Leonding once more. In 1900, Alois sent Adolf to study at the realschule in Linz, which was the equivalent of high school. So Hitler's father wanted the young man to have a career in customs too.

However, due to the constant disagreements between father and son, the latter refused to follow in Alois' footsteps and wanted to become an artist. His rebellion led him to maintain a low academic performance in order to upset his father.

Youth

Alois died in 1903 and, after dropping out of school two years later without graduating, Adolf Hitler spent time trying to find work in Linz without success. So, he decided to pursue his dream of becoming an artist and settled in Vienna in 1907.

He was rejected twice at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. It was recommended that he try to enter the School of Architecture, but because he had not obtained the title of the realshule that was impossible.

Klara, Hitler's mother, passed away at the end of 1907. Then, Adolf was for a time in a critical financial situation. He lived on what he managed to earn by selling some paintings that he himself made and became interested in architecture and music.

At that time he became an admirer of the Austrian politician Karl Lueger, whose speech was loaded with anti-Semitism. Similarly, Georg Ritter von Schönerer influenced Hitler by his defense of pan-Germanism.

Hitler and other German soldiers during World War I, left., via Wikimedia Commons

In 1913, Adolf Hitler moved to Munich, after receiving the inheritance from his father. He then joined the Bavarian army as a volunteer, although that seems to have been a mistake as he must have served under the command of the Austrian army.

He was sent to the Western Front in France and Belgium and in 1914 he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, as a decoration for his bravery. Four years later he was awarded the same honor but in first class.

Political beginnings

For a time Adolf Hitler tried to remain part of the army corps after the end of the Great War. In 1919 he began intelligence work in which they were required to infiltrate the German Workers' Party with a view to eradicating the socialist ideology.

Anton Drexler admired Adolf's talent for public speaking and invited him to join the party after a meeting the latter attended. Soon after, Hitler realized that he was in agreement with the organization's proposal and began to stand out among the members.

In March 1920 he stopped working with the army and devoted himself entirely to political activity. Hitler was in charge of propaganda and was tasked with designing the party flag which consisted of a black swastika over a white circle on a red background.

He also collaborated under the name that the old German Workers 'Party took when it became the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

Adolf Hitler, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1921 Hitler addressed a group made up of more than six thousand people in Munich, among the issues he referred to on that occasion were criticism of the Treaty of Versailles, which was seen as a betrayal of the German people.

He also spoke out against the communists and the Jews and in favor of pan-Germanism, on that occasion, many adherents who felt identified with the claiming speech before the German defeat won.

Munich coup

The Munich Putsch is the name given to the attempted coup carried out by the National Socialist German Workers' Party. It was held on November 8, 1923 in a brewery called Bürgerbräukeller.

There was the governor of Bavaria, Gustav von Kahr, in the middle of a speech that was being witnessed by around 3,000 people.

It was then that approximately 600 members of the Sturmabteilung, known as SA or Brown Shirts, a Nazi shock group arrived. These paramilitaries went to the exits of the compound where the act was taking place and closed them.

Zum 70. Geburtstag des Feldherrn General Ludendorfam 9.April 1935

Eine Erinnerung aus den Anfängen der Bewegung vor 12 Jahren in München. Der jetzige Führer und Reichskanzler mit dem Feldherrn General Ludendorf in München. Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-16742 / CC-BY-SA 3.0

via Wikimedia Commons

Then, Adolf Hitler entered accompanied by other members of the Nazi Party and, after firing a gun towards the ceiling of the hall, shouted that the national revolution had begun. They declared a provisional government and the police stations were occupied. In addition, they held the governor hostage.

After freeing the officials they were holding captive, the latter restored control over the city. Meanwhile, Hitler and his supporters marched towards the centers of power and there was a confrontation between the SA and the police in which Hitler and Göring were wounded.

A few days later Adolf Hitler was arrested and taken to Landsberg.

Prison

After capturing the leaders of the Munich Putsch, the headquarters of the National Socialist German Workers' Party was closed, as was the publication issued by it, whose circulation was prohibited.

However, the rebels were treated with mercy and despite Hitler being sentenced to 5 years in prison, he only served 9 months. Meanwhile, other leaders such as Wilhelm Frick and Ernst Röhm were released and Erich Lundendorf was acquitted.

At that time, Adolf Hitler was able to receive regular visits in prison and he dedicated himself to making the first volume of his work, which he called My Struggle, in which he reflected the ideology that had motivated him along with some information about his life.

Hitler received a pardon from the Bavarian Supreme Court and was released on December 20, 1924. The following year My Fight was released. Plans to establish a society with racial principles were already discussed in the play.

The issue of anti-Semitism was also touched upon and it was stated that the only way to end this evil was the extermination of the members of said community.

On April 7, 1925, Adolf Hitler renounced Austrian citizenship. That happened after they tried to deport him back to his home country to no avail.

Party reforms

After being released from prison, not only the Nazi Party and its propaganda had been banned, but also the public participation of Adolf Hitler.

In the elections for the Parliament of December 1924 the magnitude of the decline in popularity of the Nazis was noted, who lost about half of their votes.

In 1925, Hitler met with the Prime Minister of Bavaria and promised that they would adhere to the constitutional framework if they were allowed to re-establish the party legally. That request was granted since Heinrich Held considered that Hitler was no longer a danger.

What Prime Minister Held did not have, was that Hitler's purpose and his proposal remained the same, the only thing that had changed was the way he came to power. Members of the SA did not support the new legal path and even mocked Hitler.

After his inflammatory speeches continued, he was banned from speaking in public for a couple more years. From that moment, the Nazi propaganda apparatus began to develop, one of the most effective of the 20th century.

New organizations

Within the plans to grow the party, citizen groups such as the Hitler Youth, the League of German Girls and the SS (Schutzstaffel) were created. The latter organization was part of the SA, but its loyalty was directed specifically to Hitler.

Hitler's idea was to create an organized apparatus within the party that was large and efficient enough to take over the functions of the state when they came to power.

Reichsparteitag 1938. Der grosse Appell der SS, NSKK, NSFK und SS im Luitpoldhain. Uebersicht während des Fahnenaufmarsches. Aufnahme: 10.9.38 Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-H12148 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hitler knew that most of the strength of the Nazi Party was in Munich, so he proposed to Gregor Strasser that he work on the establishment of the same in northern Germany, a task that he undertook together with his brother Otto and Joseph Goebbels.

Chancellery

The popularity of the Nazis increased after the Great Depression, which was an economic event that began in the United States of America in 1929, but whose consequences affected almost everyone in different ways.

At that time, Hitler took the opportunity to repudiate the Versailles Treaty in his speech and make the German people understand that they had been cheated and that those responsible had to pay the consequences, a speech that was accepted by a large part of the population.

By 1930 the Nazi Party was already the second largest in Germany. Two years later, Adolf Hitler ran in the presidential election against Hindenburg and came second with approximately 35% popular support.

On January 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor. In addition, Wilhelm Frick obtained the Ministry of the Interior and Hermann Göring was assigned the post of Minister of the Interior for Prussia.

Zentralbild Reichspräsident von Hindenburg und Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler am Tage von Potsdam (21. März 1933) Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-S38324 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This is how the German National Socialist Workers Party became one of the great forces within the officially constituted government. Coupled with that, Hitler saw the positions as opportunities to have control over the police in the territory.

Reichstag fire

On February 27, 1933, an event occurred that changed the course of political history in Germany. The Reichstag building, in which the German Parliament operated, was the victim of an attack in which it was set on fire from the session room.

At the site, a communist named Marinus van der Lubbe was found, who was accused of being responsible for the terrorist actions. Later, other alleged accomplices were arrested. After a trial the boy was sentenced to death.

However, the authorship of this crime has been debated, since those who obtained the most benefit from the action were the members of the Nazi Party, who then had arguments to go against the Communist Party of Germany.

Reichstag fire, via Wikimedia Commons

The day after the fire, the basic rights and guarantees established in the Weimar Constitution were suspended. Communists were hunted down and arrested, including members of Parliament.

On March 6, new elections were held and the German National Socialist Workers' Party increased its power by obtaining 43.9% of the votes. With that they obtained a majority within Parliament, although an absolute majority was not reached.

Third Reich

On March 23, 1933, an enabling law was approved by which Adolf Hitler could pass laws without the consent of President Paul von Hindenburg, or the Reichstag, that is, Parliament.

This law obtained 444 votes in favor and 94 against, but the majority of the support was obtained when surrounding the parliamentarians with the SA and the SS, forces of the Nazi Party. Hitler assured the Social Christians that President Hindenburg would maintain the right of veto and thus won their support.

Thanks to the enabling law, Hitler legally obtained, for a period of four years, the functions of Parliament through which he could pass laws that even “deviate from the Constitution”. Despite this, the presidential functions remained intact.

Archives State Agency, via Wikimedia Commons

However, one of the first steps the Nazis subsequently took was to ban the Social Democratic Party. In addition, unions that were not sympathetic to the Nazi Party were demolished throughout Germany.

By July of the same year, the National Socialist German Workers' Party became the only legal party in the entire Empire.

As the freedom of expression, of assembly, as well as the privacy of communications or the home, which could be raided at any time, had already been legally violated, it was easy to take control for the official party.

The night of the long knives

In order to secure his position as leader of the nation, Adolf Hitler decided to organize a purge within his own ranks and eradicate all members of the SA who could oppose his authority.

One of the leaders of the SA was Ernst Röhm, who was critical of the policies Hitler had used to come to power. He did not support what he considered weakness and was disappointed in realizing that the revolution was not taking place in the way he had originally wanted.

Total deaths are estimated to range from hundreds to thousands of people over 3 days, not to mention the thousands of arrests that were perpetrated.

The purge

On June 30, the operation began with which Adolf Hitler got rid of those who had questioned him, while creating an alliance with the official army by pleasing the high-ranking members of the Reichwehr.

The main actors in this series of extrajudicial executions were the SS, a popular name for Shutzstaffel, and the Gestapo, which was the German secret police.

The most important members of the SA were in a hotel in Bad Wiessee. There the arrest of Röhm and the execution of Edmund Heines occurred. In those same events, the head of the SA in Berlin, Karl Ernst, was killed.

Röhm was assassinated on July 1. They tried to get him to commit suicide, but the head of the SA said that if his destiny was death, it must be Hitler personally who killed him. Ultimately, Lippert was the one who shot him.

Several trusted men of Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen were assassinated and he himself was imprisoned for several days. Another of those who was eliminated was Kurt von Schleicher, who had previously served as German chancellor.

Another of the victims was the former Nazi Gregor Strasser. Gustav Ritter von Kahr, who had stopped the coup that Hitler tried to carry out in 1923, was also assassinated and imprisoned.

Nazi Germany

On August 2, 1934, German President Hindenburg passed away. The day before, it had been established that in the event that this happened, said position would be eliminated, since its functions would be assigned to the chancellor, that is, to Adolf Hitler.

Since then they began to refer to Hitler as Führer, which translates into Spanish as leader. Thus he became head of the government, the state and the armed forces, who had to swear allegiance directly to Hitler.

Istituto Nazionale Luce (State-run production house active between 1932-1946 and 1950-1961. In 1963 it was restructured and renamed as Istituto Luce.), Via Wikimedia Commons

Despite the totalitarian nature of the regime imposed by the Nazis, elections were held constantly and the only candidates allowed were those of the Nazi Party or the "pro Nazi" and the population was forced to vote favorably through threats.

Hjalmar Schacht was appointed as Minister of Economy in 1934 and, later, for War Economy. The government upheld its policies such as those of German rearmament with the expropriation of the assets of enemies of Nazism and Jews. Also, they printed money without backing.

Regarding the social model, the role that women should play as housewives and men as providers was stressed.

During Hitler's rule, unemployment fell, while wages fell and the cost of living rose. Large infrastructure works were developed throughout Germany.

Death

Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. The Nazi leader learned that the Soviets were a few meters from his underground refuge and to avoid the humiliation of capture, he decided to end his life with a gunshot to the head.

Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F051673-0059 / CC-BY-SA, via Wikimedia Commons

The previous morning he had married his partner so far, Eva Braun, she also committed suicide. Hitler ordered that both bodies be cremated to avoid future display by the Soviets as a prize.

Second World War

Start

In 1938 Hitler entered Austria and thus began his plan for pan-Germanism. At the end of the same year there was the Sudeten crisis.

Without consulting the nation, an agreement was reached between the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy. It stated that Germany would annex the territory of approximately 30,000 km ² of the Sudetenland, which until then was part of Czechoslovakia.

A year later, Hitler decided to finish annexing the rest of the country and ordered the occupation of Prague and the protectorate of Moravia and Bohemia.

Then, Germany began to exert pressure on Poland, demanding among other things that Danzig become part of German territory and an extraterritorial highway that connects Prussia with the rest of the country.

In August, Hitler and Stalin signed a secret non-aggression treaty in which the division of Poland between the two nations was proposed. On September 1, the German invasion of Poland began.

France and Great Britain had promised to act in the event that the Polish territory was attacked, so two days later they declared war on Germany, on September 3, 1939, starting the conflict that became the Second War. World.

In the middle of the month the Soviet Union also entered the territory of Poland, complying with what was agreed with Adolf Hitler.

Development

Germany leading

At first the other countries did not really take the war seriously and did not actively participate in the defense of the territories that had been attacked by Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler.

In April 1940 the Germans entered Norway and Denmark, since according to the racial vision of Nazism, the countries whose individuals were pure had to unite to lead the continent. In May, the Nazi troops that attacked France and occupied Luxembourg, Holland and Belgium seemed unstoppable.

Zentralbild II. Weltkrieg 1939 - 45. Nach der Besetzung Frankreichs durch die faschistische deutsche Wehrmacht im Juni 1940 besucht Adolf Hitler Paris. UBz: Adolf Hitler mit seiner Begleitung nach der Besichtigung des Eifelturms. vlnr: SS-Gruppenführer Wolff,, dahinter Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, SA-Gruppenführer Wilhelm Brückner, Reichsminister Albert Speer, Adolf Hitler, dahinter Reichsminister Martin Bormann,, Reichspressechef Staatssekretär Otto Dietrich.

5527-40. Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-H28708 / Heinrich Hoffmann / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Then, Italy, under the command of Benito Mussolini, decided to ally itself with Hitler from June 1940. In June, Germany and France signed an agreement to cease hostilities. It was at this time that the British troops were evacuated from French territory.

Winston Churchill rejected a possible peace agreement with Hitler and on September 7 the Germans began to bombard the city of London, capital of the kingdom.

However, it was not possible for the Germans to match the strength of the English aviation and they decided to stop their attack, except for night operations against several cities.

That same year, Italy and Germany were joined by Japan and then Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria forming the group of nations known as the Axis. Hitler could not reach any agreement with the Soviet Union and decided that he would have to invade Russia accordingly.

The descent of Nazism

On June 22, 1941, Axis forces launched against the Soviet Union. They got off to a good start as they captured Belarus and Ukraine; however, they were unable to complete the journey to Moscow within the estimated time.

In addition, the Russian winter was early and turned out to be the coldest in fifty years, which affected the performance of the German troops on the ground. Meanwhile, the Russians had Siberian reinforcements led by General Zhukov, specialized in extreme cold.

The Axis troops decided to take a break before attacking Moscow and in this way the Soviets managed to renew their strength and get new reserves, which led to the direct German operation to failure.

In December 1941, Japan attacked the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii. On December 11, Hitler declared war against the United States of America, that was one of the worst mistakes that the leader of Germany made during the war.

Hitler was unsuccessful in his campaign to take control of the Suez Canal. Little by little the Red Army was expelling the Germans from their territories starting in 1943. At that time, the outlook was not so bright for the Nazis.

Defeat

Pietro Badoglio, who was appointed President of Italy by Victor Emmanuel III to replace Mussolini, decided to reach an agreement in 1943 with the Allies after the landing that had been carried out by his forces in Sicily.

On June 6, 1944, one of the largest military operations in history took place with the Normandy landings. From then on the victory of the allies was assured although battles continued to be fought for a time.

At the end of 1944, Germany was being invaded on both fronts. On one side the Soviet Union and on the other the Allies. Hitler considered that the western troops would be easier to win by what he directed against them what was left of military force.

Allies in Berlin after the fall of Nazism. National Museum of the US Navy, via Wikimedia Commons

Knowing himself defeated, Adolf Hitler ordered that all buildings and infrastructure be destroyed before falling into the domain of the allied forces.

During his last days, Hitler stayed in an underground shelter and went out for the last time to decorate some young men who were fighting in Berlin against the Russian Army. On April 22 the Russians had entered the German capital. However, citizens were still under pressure to defend it by arms.

References

1. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Adolf Hitler - Biography, Rise to Power, & Facts. Available at: britannica.com.
2. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Adolf Hitler. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
3. History.com Editors (2009). Adolf Hitler. HISTORY A&E Television Networks. Available at: history.com.
4. Hitler, A. (1937). My struggle. Avila.
5. Toland, J. (2014). Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography. New York: Anchor Books.