Adolf Hitler Biography
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| Adolf Hitler |
No
single individual influenced the course of history in the 20th
century so profoundly as Hitler, though it was an adverse influence. Adolf
Hitler or Der Fuhrer (German : ‘The leader’) assumed the twin titles of Fuhrer
and Chancellor on August 2, 1934. Germany which emerged from the World War-I as
a weak, defeated and humiliated country, however, within years of Hitler’s
coming to power, became the strongest nation of Europe. By his blind policies
of conquest, Hitler pushed the world into World War-II, in which five million people
lost their lives.
Adolf
Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 at Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary. He spent
most of his childhood in the neighbourhood of Linz, the capital of Upper
Austria. He received a secondary education. Although he had a poor record at
school and failed to secure the usual certificate, did not leave studies until
he was 16 (1905). His ambition was to become an artist, but he failed twice to
secure entry to the Academy of Fine Arts. He earned his living by painting
postcards and advertisements and drifting from one municipal lodging house to
another.
In
1914, Hitler joined the army and fought bravely during the war. He was wounded
in 1916 during World War-I. For his bravery, he was rewarded with iron cross in
1918. Hitler greeted the war with enthusiasm, and as a great relief from the
frustration of civilian life.
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| Adolf Hitler |
Hitler
began his political career as an army political agent in the German Worker’s
Party in 1919. He changed the party into Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s
Party, in short Nazi Party. He became head of its propaganda arm in 1920.
Hitler was soon made president of the party. Then he began his creation of a
mass movement and his climb to power. His private army was called the Storm
Troopers.
According
to Hitler, the greatest enemy of Nazism was not liberal democracy but Marxism.
Behind Marxism he saw the greatest enemy of all, the Jews, who were for Hitler
the very incarnation of evil. In 1923, Hitler was arrested and jailed. In the
jail, he wrote his famous autobiography named Main Kamph (My Struggle).
After his release, he re-organised the Nazi party. Throughout the 1920s, Hitler
continued to gain strength. He unsuccessfully opposed Paul Von Hindenburg in
the presidential election of 1932. Through a conspiracy, Hitler got himself
appointed as Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. The offices of
Chancellor and President were merged in 1934. Hitler soon became a dictator.
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| Adolf Hitler |
In
1936, Hitler recaptured Rhineland from France. In March 1938, German forces
occupied Vienna in a dramatic manner and Austria was forcibly united with
Germany. In March 1939, German forces captured Czechoslovakia and on September
1, 1939, German forces attacked Poland and World War-II started.
Hitler
turned his attention to foreign policy and World War-II (1939-45). His ‘new
order’ for Europe called for indiscriminate extermination (destroy utterly) of
many people. He wanted to remove what he called all ‘non-Aryan’ people from his
new German state, to ensure racial purity. He aimed to exterminate all gypsies
and Jews. The Jews of Europe were the most numerous among victims of this
barbarism. In this Holocaust, 5.7 million Jewish men, women and children died.
In the beginning, Hitler tasted success. But when he attacked Soviet Russia in
1941, he met with very strong resistance. Russian forces drove back German
armies to Berlin.
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| Adolf Hitler |
Thereafter,
Hitler was increasingly ill and fatigued. But he did not lose control over the
Nazi Party. In 1944, he moved his headquarters to the West, to direct an
offensive in the Ardennes, for which the last reserves of manpower were
mobilized. When it failed, his hopes for victory became even more visionary.
Then Hitler ordered mass material destruction and condemned his armies to death
by refusing to allow them to surrender. In 1945, Hitler retreated to the
Chancellory in Berlin and in the face of impending defeat, committed suicide.
Hitler,
the dictator was responsible for unprecedented bloodshed in the history of
warfare, but otherwise he was a man of simple habits. He was a pure vegetarian,
did not smoke, loved children and was fond of animals.
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