Who was Adolf Hitler ?

We can find clues about Hitler's personality, beliefs and his appeal by looking at his past. Additionally Hitler's early life enables us to get ideas about what he might try to do if he were to win power.

Background
Who was Hitler?
In 1939, after Germany had taken over Austria, the village of Dollersheim was wiped from the map. Its inhabitants were forcibly removed and the village destroyed by artillery and tanks. Dollersheim was the birthplace of Alois Schicklgruber, father of Adolf Hitler. In this manoeuvre, Hitler was trying to obliterate traces of his ancestry, as he feared that his grandmother may have been made pregnant by a Jew. For Hitler, obsessed with hatred of Jews, the terrible suspicion that he was one-quarter Jewish had to be suppressed.

Character

• Shy, awkward, moody; unable to form loving ties (due to repressive father, pampered by mother?)
  
• Profoundly lonely, isolated
  
• Contemptuous of mankind, suspicious
  
• Admired strength and success
  
• Absorbed in fantasies, became convinced he was destined to play a great role

General skills, abilities

• Commitment
  
• Tremendous energy
  
• Remarkable willpower
  
• Single-minded fanatic

Propaganda skills

• Great orator
  
• Had hypnotic effect on audience
  
• Supreme master of psychology of mass politics
  
• Put into words what crowd was longing to hear

Hitler's basic ideas

• Anti-semitism. The purity of German blood was being defiled by Jews. They should be excluded from Germany.
  
• Social Darwinism/survival of the fittest. Germans should form a Herrenovolk or Master Race to dominate others.
  
• Pan-Germanism. All Germans should join together
  
• LEBENSRAUM. Germany must expand to take over more territory (living space) to feed her population.
  
• Anti-Marxism. Hostile to the ideas of Karl Marx, the German philosopher, economist and revolutionary. Marx was a non-religious Jew.
  
• Anti-democracy/Fuhrerprinzip. Democracy provided weak government; it should be replaced by a one-party state based on the principle of an all-powerful leader.

Other ideas Hitler frequently expressed

• Anti-capitalism. He disliked what he called finance capitalism, i.e. the power that came from being very rich; this again was associated with Jews. He also initially criticised big business, i.e. large firms which often harmed small producers.
  
• Socialism. Although he hated Marxism, he spoke in favour of aspects of socialism, in the sense of stressing the needs of the national community.

In 1924 Hitler was in gaol, sentenced to five years for treason. His future looked bleak and it was possible that he might even be deported to Austria. However, within one year he had been released and was able to turn his failure at Munich to his advantage. He had gained national publicity from his bold defence at his trial. He had also used the time in prison to reflect on politics and to write Mein Kampf.

Furthermore, the chaos into which the Nazi Party fell during his absence showed his indispensability to the movement. He virtually refounded the party in February 1925 and based it round the Furerprinzip. This gave Hitler supreme power over both policy and strategy. He reorganised the party's strategy, structure and symbols. Only the Twenty-five Point Programme remained fixed, although its interpretation would become flexible. The Nazis would now use Weimar democracy to gain mass support rather than attempting another putsch.

The Furerprinzip made the party an obedient tool of Hitler's will. He introduced the brown shirt for his SA storm troopers, adopted the outstretched right arm as a salute and personally designed the Nazi flag with the swastika and striking yet traditional red, black and white colours. At the party congress at Bamberg in 1926 he defeated more socialist-inclined rivals and became the undisputed Fuhrer of the party.

Hitler himself was central to the success of the Nazis. He provided charismatic leadership with his MESSIANIC mission to build a new Germany. He seemed to possess almost demonic willpower, which was both infectious and inspiring to others who accepted that what he said could come true. He was a powerful speaker; his timing, expression and the content of his speeches impressed his listeners. His hypnotic gaze from protuberant (staring) blue eyes helped fix his audience. He was able to identify with their emotions and expectations and gave people faith - an attractive commodity, particularly amidst the despair of economic crisis when other political parties appeared to lack a sense of direction.

Along with Josef Goebbels, Hitler realised the importance of propaganda and used it to target many Germans' specific grievances. He was very flexible in what he actually said to the German people. He was able to tailor his message to his audience, and was able to appeal both to the socially downtrodden and to the agarian and industrial elites. He was the central rallying figure that gave the various groups within the party cohesion and attracted wider support. Hitler also had a good sense of opportunity and timing. However, he was clearly not infallible, as was exemplified by his near-disastrous meeting with Hindenburg in August 1932. Furthermore, in 1930 the Nazis did as well in areas where they had not organised mass rallies as in those where they had. It must also be said that many people who encountered Hitler were not impressed.

1837 Alois, Hitler's father, born to unmarried cook Maria Anna Schickgruber. (The Jewish Frankenberger family whom she has worked for pays her an allowance for fourteen years)

1842 Maria Schicklgruber marries miller Johann Georg Hiedler. His brother, Johann Nepomuk, fosters Alois

1876 Alois' birth certificate is altered to show Johann Georg Hiedler (misspelt Hitler) as his father

1885 Alois, a customs official, marries Klara Polzi, his third wife

1889 Adolf Hitler born in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria

1895 Adolf attends local choir school. Wishes to become a priest

1903 Alois dies; freed from tight control. Adolf becomes wayward; unhappy at school in Lintz, his record is poor, except in gym and art. Uses a school report as toilet paper

1905 Leaves school with no qualifications

1907 Goes to Vienna; fails to gain a place at Academy of Fine Arts; very upset over death of his mother

1907-13 Drifts for six years; slums it in Vienna; lives in Jewish quarter, develops anti-semitic, anti Marxist, anti-democratic feelings; supports PAN-GERMANISM and racism

1913 Moves to Munich, perhaps to avoid being conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army

1914 Feb. Recalled to Austria, but is found medically unfit for army.
Aug. Ecstatic when war breaks out, he joins Bavarian regiment; has found real purpose in life - exemplary soldier; but only rises to corporal; is considered to lack leadership qualities.

1916 Oct. Wounded - awarded Iron Cross, Second and First Class

1918 Oct. Gassed and then hospitalised where he hears of Germany's defeat. Hysterical at news. Feels betrayed

1919 Employed as 'education officer' (that is, a spy) by Bavarian army's political section.
Sept Goes to a German Workers' Party (DAP) meeting and joins; becomes a committee member

1920 Feb. With DAP leader Drexler, draws up Twenty-five Point Programme; party name changed to NSDAP. His powerful speeches help build up membership.

1921 Jul. Becomes chairman and Fuhrer after he threatens to resign
Aug Sets up the SA

1922 Jan. Iis let off leniently after being convicted of breaking up a meeting

Activities:

1. Write a biography of Hitler's early life. Try to highlight 4 factors about his life that helped to shape his beliefs. (such as the effect that World War One had on him). This should be around 500 words in total)
   
   
2. Hitler seemed to be against many things. Produce a spray diagram that illustrates them.
   
   
3. Imagine what an ideal Nazi society would be like. Describe it in 200 words.