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| '''{{Audio|de-Adolf Hitler.ogg|Adolf Hitler}}''' (], ] – ], ]) was ] from 1933 and ''] und ]'' (Leader and Chancellor) of ] from 1934 to his death by suicide. He was leader of the ] (NSDAP), better known as the Nazi Party. | '''{{Audio|de-Adolf Hitler.ogg|Adolf Hitler}}''' (], ] – ], ]) was ] from 1933 and ''] und ]'' (Leader and Chancellor) of ] from 1934 to his death by suicide. He was leader of the ] (NSDAP), better known as the Nazi Party. | ||
| Hitler is a god and should be praised | |||
| Under Hitler's ] ] Germany emerged from the depths of ]] defeat to rebuild its ] and decimated ]. At the height of the nations' power during ], the armies of ] and its ] dominated much of ]. The ] that Hitler directed culminated in a massive number of deaths, commonly cited as at least 11 million people – including about 6 million ]s – in a ] now known as ]. | |||
| Ultimately, Germany was defeated by the ] in 1945 and during the final days of the war Hitler ] in ] in ] together with his newly wed ], ]. The ], which he had said would last a thousand years, collapsed shortly thereafter. | |||
| ==Early years== | |||
| ].]] | |||
| Adolf Hitler was born on ] ], at ], ], a small ] 90 km (55 miles) west of ] in the province of ], on the ] of the ], which formed the ] between ] and what was then ]. He was the fourth of six children of ] (]–1903), a customs official, and ], Alois' ] and third wife. Of these six children, only Adolf and his younger sister ] reached ]. Alois Hitler also had a son (]) and a daughter (]) by his second wife. In '']'', his ] and exposition of his ], Hitler describes his father as an "irascible ]"; however, there is little indication that Alois Hitler treated his son more strictly than was usual for that time and place. Alois Hitler became a heavy drinker and died in a tavern. | |||
| Alois Hitler was born ] and used his mother's surname, '''Schicklgruber''', until he was 40. In 1876, he began using the name of his ], ], after visiting a ] responsible for ] and declaring that Georg was his father (Alois gave the impression that Georg was still alive, but he was long dead). The spelling was probably changed by a clerk. Later, Adolf was accused by his political enemies of not rightfully being a Hitler, but a Schicklgruber. This was also exploited in Allied ] during the Second World War when ]s bearing the phrase "Heil Schicklgruber" were ]ped over German cities. He was legally born a Hitler, however, and was closely related to Hiedler through his mother's family. | |||
| Hitler did not know for sure who his paternal grandfather was, but it was probably either Johann Georg Hiedler or his brother ]. There have been rumours that Hitler was one-quarter ]ish and that his paternal grandmother ] had become ] after working as a servant in a Jewish household in ]. During the 1920s, the implications of these rumours along with his known family history were politically explosive, especially for the proponent of a ] ]. Opponents tried to prove that Hitler, the leader of the ] and ] ], had Jewish or ] ]. Although these rumours were never confirmed, for Hitler they were reason enough to conceal his origins. ] propaganda insisted he was a Jew, though more modern research tends to diminish the probability Hitler had Jewish or Czech ancestors. Historians such as ] and ] argue this was impossible since the Jews had been expelled from Graz in the ] and were not allowed to return until well after Maria Schicklgruber's alleged ].{{ref|about}} Adolf Hitler had possible access to family anecdotes about his parentage which historians cannot access. He took the rumours seriously. | |||
| Because of Alois Hitler's ] his family moved frequently, from ] to ], ], ] and next to ]. As a young child, Hitler was reportedly a good ] at the various ] he attended; however, in ] (1900–1), his first year of ] (''Realschule'') in Linz, he failed completely and had to repeat the grade. His ] reported that he had "no desire to work." | |||
| ]s. The scene of ], ]. ]] | |||
| Hitler later explained this as a kind of ] against his father Alois, who wanted the boy to follow him in a ] as a customs official, although Adolf wanted to become a ]. This is further supported by Hitler's later description of himself as a misunderstood ]t. After Hitler's father died on ], ], at the age of 65, Hitler's schoolwork did not improve. At the age of 16, Hitler left school with no ]. | |||
| ===Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich=== | |||
| From 1905 onward, Hitler was able to live the life of a ] on a fatherless child's ] and support from his mother. After he was rejected twice by the Academy of ] in ] (]–1908) for "lack of talent" – which he resented deeply – he did not try to find a different job or learn a profession. He was told he should become an ], since he had some flair for making architectural ] and ]. On ], ], his mother Klara died a painful death from ]. He gave his share of the ]' benefits to his younger sister Paula, but soon after inherited some money from an ]. He worked as a struggling painter in Vienna, copying scenes from ]s and selling his paintings to ] and ]s (there is evidence he produced over 2000 paintings and drawings before ]). Some of Hitler's other favourite subjects were ] and ]. He showed a particular affinity for the ] Dog. | |||
| ].]] | |||
| After the second refusal from the Academy of Arts, Hitler gradually ran out of money. By 1909, he sought refuge in a ], and by the beginning of 1910 had settled permanently into a house for poor working men. He made spending money by painting tourist postcards of Vienna scenery. His ] during this period was likely non-existent, since a Jewish resident of the house named Hanisch was helping him sell his postcards. | |||
| It was in Vienna that Hitler became an active anti-Semite, a common stance among Austrians at the time. Vienna had a large ]ish community, including many ] from ]. ''(See, ].)'' He was slowly influenced over time by the writings of the race ideologist and anti-Semite ] and ] from ]s such as ], the ] and ], leader of the pan-Germanic ''Away from Rome!'' movement. He later wrote in his book '']'', dedicated to ] member ], that his transition from opposing anti-Semitism on religious grounds, to supporting it on racial grounds, came from having seen an ]: | |||
| <blockquote>"There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become ] in external appearance and were so much like other human beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason why I did not then perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark which I recognized as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion. As I thought that they were persecuted on account of their ] my aversion to hearing remarks against them grew almost into a feeling of abhorrence. I did not in the least suspect that there could be such a thing as a systematic anti-Semitism. </blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>Once, when passing through the inner City, I suddenly encountered a phenomenon in a long caftan and wearing black side-locks. My first thought was: Is this a Jew? They certainly did not have this appearance in Linz. I watched the man ] and cautiously but the longer I gazed at the strange countenance and examined it feature by feature, the more the question shaped itself in my brain: Is this a German?" <br>(''Mein Kampf'', vol. 1, chap. 2: "Years of study and suffering in Vienna") | |||
| </blockquote> | |||
| Hitler began to claim the Jews were natural enemies of so called "]" and were responsible for Germany's economic problems. He had a firm belief in the inferiority of the ], and especially ], which formed the basis of his political views. However, according to ], his close friend and ] at the time, he was more interested in the ] of ] than in ]. | |||
| He was given a small inheritance from his father in May 1913 and moved to ]. He later wrote in ''Mein Kampf'' that he had always longed to live in a German city. In Munich, he became more interested in architecture and the writings of ]. Moving to Munich also helped him escape ] in Austria for a time, but the Austrian army later ] him. After a physical exam (during which his height was measured at 1.73 m, or 5 ft 8 in) and a ], he was found unfit for service and allowed to return to Munich. However, when Germany entered ] in August 1914, he immediately enlisted in the ]n army. | |||
| ===World War I=== | |||
| ] | |||
| In ], Hitler saw active service in ] and ] as a ] for the 16th Bavarian reserve ] ], which exposed him to enemy fire. He also drew some ] and ] drawings for the army ]. His behaviour as a soldier was considered somewhat sloppy but he readily volunteered for dangerous missions such as taking dispatches to and from fighting areas. Unlike his fellow soldiers Hitler reportedly never complained about the ] or hard conditions, preferring to talk about ] or ]. He was twice cited for ] in action, receiving the ], Second Class in December 1915 and the Iron Cross, First Class in August 1918, an honour rarely given to a ] (he was not a German citizen at the time and so could not be promoted beyond ]). During October 1916 in northern France, Hitler was ] in the leg, but returned to the front in March 1917. He received the ] later that year, as his injury was the direct result of hostile fire. | |||
| Hitler was considered a "correct" soldier but was reportedly unpopular with his ] because of an ] towards officers. "Respect the superior, don't contradict anybody, obey blindly," he said, describing his attitude while on trial for his ] in 1924. One comrade later remarked, "we all grumbled on him and found it intolerable that we had a white raven among us." (Haiden, 1936) | |||
| On ], 1918, shortly before the end of war, Hitler was admitted to a ], temporarily ] by a ] attack. Research by Bernhard Horstmann indicates the blindness may have been the result of a ] reaction to Germany's defeat. Hitler later said it was during this experience that he became convinced the purpose of his life was to save Germany. Meanwhile he was treated by a military ] and specialist in ] who reportedly diagnosed the corporal as "incompetent to command people" and "dangerously ]." His commander at the time said, "I will never promote this hysteric!" (cited from Haiden, 1937) However, historian ], referring to Hitler's experience at the front, suggests he did have at least some understanding of the military. | |||
| There are two particularly uncanny passages in ''Mein Kampf'' which mention the use of '']'': | |||
| <blockquote>"At the beginning of the War, or even during the War, if twelve or fifteen thousand of these Jews who were corrupting the nation <u>had been forced to submit to poison-gas</u> . . . then the millions of sacrifices made at the front would not have been in vain."<br> (''Mein Kampf'', vol. 2, chap. 15: "The Right to Self-Defence"; underline added) </blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>"These tactics are based on an accurate estimation of human weakness and must lead to success, with almost mathematical certainty, unless the other side also <u>learns how to fight poison gas with poison gas. The weaker natures must be told that here it is a case of to be or not to be.</u>" <br>(''Mein Kampf'', vol 1, chap. 2: "Years of Study and Suffering in Vienna"; underline added) </blockquote> | |||
| Hitler had long admired Germany and during the war he had become a passionate German ], although he did not become a German citizen until 1932. He was shocked by the ] of Germany in November 1918 while the German army remained (in popular German belief) undefeated. Like many other German ], Hitler blamed ] politicians (the "]") for the surrender. The widespread conservative explanation for the capitulation was the '']'' ("dagger-stab legend") which purported that behind the backs of the army, ] politicians had betrayed and "stabbed" Germany's people and its soldiers "in the back." The ] imposed crippling reparations and other economically damaging sanctions, declaring Germany guilty for the horrors of the Great War. The treaty was perceived by most Germans as a ] and was an important factor in both the social and political conditions encountered by Hitler and his National Socialist Party as they sought power. | |||
| ==The early years of the Nazi Party== | |||
| {{seemain|Hitler's political beliefs}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ===Hitler's entry and rise=== | |||
| After the war, Hitler remained in the army, which was mainly engaged in suppressing ] uprisings breaking out across Germany, including Munich (]), where Hitler returned in 1919. He took part in "national thinking" courses organised by the ''Education and Propaganda Department'' (Dept Ib/P) of the Bavarian ''Reichswehr'' Group, Headquarters 4 under Captain Mayr. A key purpose of this group was to create a ] for the outbreak of the war and Germany's defeat. The scapegoats were found in "international Jewry," communists and politicians across the party spectrum, especially the parties of the ], who were deemed "]". | |||
| In July 1919, Hitler was appointed a ''V-Mann'' (''Verbindungsmann'' is the German term for a police spy) of "Aufklärungskommando" ("Intelligence Commando") of the ], for the purpose of influencing other soldiers towards similar ideas and was assigned to ] a small nationalist party, the ] (DAP). During his ], Hitler was impressed with ]'s ], ] and anti-] ideas. Here Hitler also met ], one of the early founders of the party, member of ].{{ref|Drummer}} | |||
| Hitler was discharged from the army in March, 1920 and (with his former superiors' continued encouragement) began participating full time in the party's activities. By early 1921, Adolf Hitler was becoming highly effective at speaking in front of ever larger crowds. In February, Hitler spoke before a crowd of nearly six thousand in ]. To publicize the meeting, he sent out two truckloads of Party supporters to drive around with ], cause a commotion and throw out ], their first use of this tactic. Hitler gained notoriety outside of the Party for his rowdy, ] speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians and groups (especially Marxists) and always the Jews. | |||
| The German Workers' Party was centred in Munich which had become a hotbed of reactionary German nationalists who included Army officers determined to crush Marxism and undermine or even overthrow the young German democracy centred in Berlin. Gradually they noticed Adolf Hitler and his growing movement as a vehicle to hitch themselves to. Hitler traveled to Berlin to visit nationalist groups during the summer of 1921 and in his absence there was an unexpected ] among his own Nazi Party leadership in Munich. | |||
| The Party was still run by an executive ] whose original members considered Hitler to be overbearing and even ]. To weaken Hitler's position they formed an ] with a group of socialists from ]. Hitler rushed back to Munich and countered them by tendering his ] from the Party on ], ]. When they realized the loss of Hitler would effectively mean the end of the Party, he seized the moment and announced he would return on the condition that he was made chairman and given dictatorial powers. Infuriated committee members (including founder ]) held out at first. Meanwhile an ] ] appeared entitled ''Adolf Hitler: Is he a ]?'', attacking Hitler's lust for power and criticizing the violence-prone men around him. Hitler responded to its publication in a Munich newspaper by ] for ] and later won a small settlement. | |||
| The executive committee of the Nazi Party eventually backed down and Hitler's demands were put to a vote of party members. Hitler received 543 votes for and only one against. At the next gathering on ], ], Adolf Hitler was introduced as ] of the Nazi Party, marking the first time this title was publicly used. Hitler changed the name of the party to the National Socialist German Workers Party (''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' or ]). | |||
| Hitler's beer hall ], attacking Jews, ] and ], ] and ], began attracting adherents. Early followers included ], the former air force pilot ], and the flamboyant army ] ], who became head of the Nazis' ], the ], which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. He also attracted the attention of local business interests, was accepted into influential circles of Munich society and became associated with wartime General ] during this time. | |||
| ===The Hitler Putsch=== | |||
| Encouraged by this early support, Hitler decided to use Ludendorff as a front in an attempt to seize power in the turbulent year 1923. His aim was to emulate ] "]" by a "March on Berlin" but this abortive ] was later known as the '']'' (and sometimes as ''Beerhall Putsch''). Hitler and Ludendorff obtained the clandestine support of ], ]'s ] ruler along with leading figures in the ] and the police. As political ] show, Ludendorff, Hitler and the heads of the Bavarian police and military planned on forming a new government. | |||
| However on ], ] Kahr and the military withdrew their support during a meeting in the Bürgerbräu beer hall. A surprised Hitler had them ] and proceeded with the coup. Unknown to him, Kahr and the other detainees had been released on Ludendorff's orders after he obtained their word not to interfere. That night they prepared resistance measures against the coup and in the morning, when the Nazis marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow what they saw as Bavaria's traitorous government as a start to their "March on Berlin," the army quickly dispersed them (Ludendorff was wounded and a few other Nazis were killed). | |||
| Hitler fled to the home of ] and contemplated ]. He was soon arrested for ] and appointed ] and later ] as temporary leader of the party but found himself in an environment somewhat receptive to his beliefs. During Hitler's trial in April 1924 sympathetic ] magistrates allowed Hitler to turn his debacle into a ] ]. He was given almost unlimited amounts of time to present his arguments to the ] along with a large body of the German people, and his popularity soared when he voiced basic nationalistic sentiments shared by the public. For the crime of conspiracy to commit treason Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at ] where he received favoured treatment from the guards and had much ] from ]. While at Landsberg he dictated his political book '']'' (''My Struggle'') to his deputy ]. The first volume, called "Abrechnung" (''A settling of accounts''), was later published and became the platform of the Nazi party (by the late 1930s nearly every household in Germany had a copy of it). Meanwhile, as he was considered relatively harmless, Hitler was released in December 1924. | |||
| ===The rebuilding of the party=== | |||
| At the time of Hitler's release, the political situation in Germany had calmed down, which hampered Hitler's opportunities for agitation. Instead, he began a long effort to rebuild the dwindling party. | |||
| Though the ''Hitler Putsch'' had given Hitler some national prominence, his party's mainstay was still Munich. To spread the party to the north, Hitler also assimilated independent groups, such as the Nuremberg-based ''Wistrich'', led by ], who now became ] of ]. | |||
| ], who in 1924 had been elected to the ], was authorized by Hitler to organise the party in northern Germany. Gregor, joined by his younger brother ] and ], 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 (1926), during which Goebbels joined Hitler. | |||
| After this encounter, Hitler centralized the party even more and asserted the '']'' as the basic principle of party organization. Leaders were not elected by their group but were rather appointed by their superior and were answerable to them while demanding unquestioning obendience from their inferiors. Consistent with Hitler's disdain for ], all power and ] devolved from the top down. | |||
| A key element of Hitler's appeal was his ability to convey a sense of offended national ] caused by the ] imposed on the defeated ] by the ]. Germany had lost economically important territory in Europe along with its ] and in admitting to sole responsibility for the war had agreed to pay a huge ] bill totaling 32 billion ]. Most Germans bitterly resented these terms but early Nazi attempts to gain support by blaming these humiliations on "international Jewry" were not particularly successful with the electorate. The party learned quickly and soon a more subtle propaganda emerged, combining anti-Semitism with an attack on the failures of the "] system" and the parties supporting it. | |||
| Having failed in overthrowing the Republic by a coup, Hitler now pursued the "strategy of legality": this meant formally adhering to the rules of the ] until he had legally gained power and then to transform democracy into a ] state. Some party members, especially in the paramilitary ], opposed this strategey. ], Hitler's long-time associated and leader of the SA, ridiculed Hitler as "Adolphe Legalité" and resigned from his post. | |||
| ==The road to power== | |||
| {{seemain|Weimar Republic}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ===The Brüning administration=== | |||
| The political turning point for Hitler came when the ] hit Germany in 1930. The ] had never been firmly rooted and was openly opposed by right-wing conservatives, Communists and the Nazis. As the parties loyal to the republic found themselves unable to agree on counter-measures, their ] broke up and was replaced by a minority cabinet. The new Chancellor ], lacking a majority in parliament, had to implement his measures through the President's emergency decrees. Tolerated by the majority of parties, the exception soon became the rule and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government. | |||
| The Reichstag's initial opposition to Brüning's measures lead to premature elections in September 1930. The republican parties lost their majority and their ability to resume the Grand Coalition, while the Nazis suddenly rose from relative obscurity to win 18.3% of the vote along with 107 seats in the ], becoming the second largest party in Germany. | |||
| ] | |||
| Brüning's measure of budget consolidation and financial ] brought little economic improvement and was extremely unpopular. Under these circumstances, Hitler appealed to the bulk of German ]s, ] and the ] who had been hard-hit by both the ] of the 1920s and the ] of the Depression. Hitler received little response from the ] working classes and traditionally Catholic regions. | |||
| Meanwhile in September 1931 Hitler's ] ] was found dead in her bedroom in his Munich apartment (his half-sister Angela and her daughter Geli had been with him in Munich since 1929), an apparent suicide. Geli was much younger than he was and had used his gun, drawing rumours of a relationship between the two. The event is viewed as having caused lasting turmoil for him. | |||
| In 1932 Hitler intended to run against the aging ] ] in the scheduled ]. Though Hitler had left Austria in 1913, he still had not acquired the German citizenship and hence could not run for public office. In February however, the state government of ], in which the Nazi Party participated, appointed Hitler to some minor administrative post and also gave him citizenship. The new German citizen ran against Hindenburg, who was supported by the Republican parties, and the Communist candidate, and came in second on both rounds, attaining more than 35% of the vote during the second one in April. | |||
| ===The cabinets Papen and Schleicher=== | |||
| President Hindenburg, influenced by the ], became increasingly estranged from Brüning and pushed his Chancellor to move the government in a decidedly authoritarian and right-wing direction. This culminated in May 1932 with the resignation of the Brüning cabinet. | |||
| Hindenburg appointed the nobleman ] as chancellor, heading a "cabinet of barons". Papen was bent on a authoritarian rule and since in the Reichstag only the conservative ] support his administration, he immediately called for new elections in July. In these elections, the Nazis achieved their biggest success yet and won 230 seats. | |||
| The Nazis had become the largest party in the Reichstag without which no stable government could be formed. Papen tried to convince Hitler to become Vice-Chancellor and enter a new government with a parliamentary basis. Hitler however rejected this offer and put further pressure on Papen by entertaining parallel negotiations with the ], Papen's former party, which was bent on bringing down the renegade Papen. In both negotiations Hitler demanded that he, as leader of the strongest party, must be Chancellor, but President Hindenburg consistently refused to appoint the "Bohemian private" to the Chancellorship. | |||
| After a ] in the Papen government, supported by 84% of the deputies, the new Reichstag was dissolved and new elections were called in November. This times, the Nazis lost some votes but still remained the largest party in the Reichstag. | |||
| After Papen failed to secure a majority he proposed to dissolve the parliament again along with an indefinite postponement of elections. Hindenburg at first accepted this, but after General ] and the military withdrew their support, Hindenburg instead dismissed Papen and appointed Schleicher, who promised he could secure a majority government by negotiations with both the Social Democrats, the trade unions, and dissidents from the Nazi party under ]. In January 1933 however, Schleicher had to admit failure in these efforts and asked Hindenburg for emergency powers along with the same postponement of elections that he had opposed earlier, to which the President reacted by dismissing Schleicher. | |||
| ===Hitler's appointment as Chancellor=== | |||
| Meanwhile Papen, resentful because of his dismissal, tried to get his revenge on Schleicher by working towards the General's downfall, through forming an intrigue with the ] and ], media mogul and chairman of the ]. Also involved were ], ] and other leading ]. They financially supported the Nazi Party, which had been brought to the brink of bankcruptcy by the cost of heavy campaigning. The business men also wrote letters to Hindenburg, urging him to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties" which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people." | |||
| Finally, the President reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler Chancellor of a coalition government formed by ] and ]. Hitler and two other Nazi ministers (], ]) were to be contained by a framework of conservative cabinet ministers, most notably by Papen as ] and by Hugenberg as Minister of Economics. Papen wanted to use Hitler as a figure-head, but the Nazis had gained key positions, most notably the Ministry of the Interior. On the morning of ], ], in Hindenburg's office, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as ] during what some observers later described as a brief and simple ceremony. | |||
| ===Reichstag Fire and the March election=== | |||
| After the ] (for which the communists were blamed), the ] (]) suspended basic rights including '']'' and in the resulting legal confusion the entire KPD and some quarter of the SPD were un-constitutionally arrested, put to flight or murdered under this general cover. | |||
| Despite evident questions concerning the perpetration of the Reichstag Fire, and resulting calls for cancellation of the Elections, Adolf Hitler successfully utilised the full novel force of State broad-casting and aviation in a massive modern campaign General Election campaign. This period is characterised by stongest anti-Jewish and anti-Communist propaganda . On ], ], after elections marred by paramilitary violence the Communists lost 4 per cent, and Social Democrats 2 per cent, thus their Deputy numbers little changed. The Nazis received an increase to 43.9% of the vote. This brought the ] between them and the ] into a slim but absolute majority. | |||
| Hitler's parliamentary majority basis that existed was however to be much exacerbated through the un-constitutional preventative-detention of the ] deputies, carried over from before the Elections. The manner in which Hitler excluded them and their mandates from parliament revolves on an Interior Minister settlement with the Reichstag Elders. This amounted to a change of Procedure categorising them as voluntarily absent and achieved thereby the necessary long-term Hitler aim of legal appearance for NSDAP policy of subverting democracy from within. | |||
| ] | |||
| At an impressive ceremonial opening ceremony of the Reichstag, held in the replacement parliament building on ], both Hindenburg and the world press were impressed by Hitler's apparent acceptance of ]. | |||
| ===The Enabling Act=== | |||
| The government in the newly elected ] brought to its table the ] which was to give Hitler's Cabinet ] powers. The bill required a two-thirds majority in order to pass and the Nazis still needed support from other parties. Efforts towards this drastic 4-year abandonment of democracy had been continuous off and on for some period, perhaps since the the Centre Chairman Kaas had independently and alone contacted now Vice-Chancellor ] on 6 March. | |||
| The Centre Party was split on this issue, but had negotiated with Hitler supporting the parliamentary bill in return for his government giving sundry guarantees.These concerned catholic Trade Unions of civil servants belonging to the Centre Party along with educational freedom and autonomy of the ]. However beyond these guarantees, developed in Committee from 20 March, was a decisive Hitler promise to Kaas of further written general constitutional guarantee. On this basis the Centre Party agreed on the morning of 23 March to assent to the Enabling Act. | |||
| ] vehicle.]] | |||
| On ] the ] assembled and effort was made by Hitler to continue with the apparent constitutional dignity of the Ceremonial Opening, and he gave a careful and welcoming speech emphasizing, in co-ordination with Monsignor or Papal Prelate and Centre Party Chairman Kaas, the importance of both ] denominations to German culture. Kaas gave his speech, voicing the Centre's support for the bill amid "concerns put aside." | |||
| At the later session for the voting, the still Communist-depleted assembly met under extreme turbulent circumstances. Some ] served as guards within as others crowded en-masse and chanting murder outside the building to intimidate opposing views. Now the one brave voice of Social Democrat Otto Wels denounced the treachery against the Reichstag of a monstrous Act, and thereafter Hitler broke his careful cover of constituional appearance to berate this temerity and to threaten all Leftist parties with physical eradication. During this Speech, Ludwig Kaas is recorded as having been told on his enquiry, that the letter of general Constitutional guarantee "was being typed-up", and despite earlier warning from the ex-Centre Chancellor Brüing, who had experience in such promises, Kaas silently cast the Centre and ]large bloc-vote. | |||
| Thus all parties present, of which minor others there were several, but excepting the ] voted assent. The ] was dutifully renewed every four years, even through ]. | |||
| ===Removal of remaining limits=== | |||
| With this combination of legislative and ] power, Hitler's government further suppressed the remaining political ]. The ] was banned but not before itself assenting to Communist party proscription with the fortnight. All other political parties dissolved themselves. | |||
| ] were merged with employers' federations into an organisation under Nazi control and the autonomy of state governments was severely diminished. Hitler also used the ] paramilitary to push Hugenberg into resigning and proceeded to politically isolate Vice Chancellor von Papen. Meanwhile the ] was growing into an independent power of its own and Hitler used allegations of a plot by the SA leader ] to purge the paramilitary force's leadership during the ]. Opponents unconnected with the ] were also ], notably ] and former Chancellor ]. | |||
| Soon after, president ] died on ] ]. Rather than holding new presidential elections, Hitler's cabinet passed a law prolaiming the presidency dormant and transferred the role and powers of the head of state to Hitler as ''Führer und Reichskanzler'' (leader and chancellor). Thereby Hitler also became supreme commander of the military, which swore their military ] not to the state or the constitution but to Hitler personally. In a mid-August ] these acts found the approval of 90% of the electorate. Combining the highest offices in state, military and party in his hand, Hitler had attained supreme rule that could no longer be legally challenged. | |||
| ==The Third Reich== | |||
| {{seemain|Nazi Germany}} | |||
| ] Hitler's populist-nationalist (Völkisch) image.]] | |||
| Having secured supreme political power without an electoral ] from the majority of Germans, Hitler went on to gain their support by ] most Germans he was their saviour from the Depression, the Communists, the Versailles Treaty, and the Jews along with other "undesirable" ]. | |||
| ===Economics and culture=== | |||
| Hitler oversaw one of the greatest expansions of ] production and civil improvement Germany had ever seen, mostly based on debt flotation and expansion of the military. Nazi policies towards women strongly encouraged them to stay at home to bear children and keep house. The ] rate was cut substantially, mostly through arms production and sending women home so that men could take their jobs. Given this, claims that the ] achieved near ] are at least partly artefacts of propaganda from the ]. Much of the financing for Hitler's reconstruction and rearmament came from currency manipulation by ], including the clouded credits through the ]. The negative effects of this ] were offset in later years by the acquisition of foreign gold from the treasuries of conquered nations. | |||
| Hitler also oversaw one of the largest ] improvement campaigns in German history, with the construction of dozens of ], ]s, ] and other civil works. Hitler's ] emphasised the importance of family life: Men were the "breadwinners", while women's priorities were to lie in bringing up children and in household work. This revitalising of industry and infrastructure came at the expense of the overall standard of living, at least for those not affected by the chronic unemployment of the later Weimar Republic, since wages were slightly reduced in pre-war years despite a 25% increase in the cost of living ]. | |||
| ] who captivated many with his beating of the ] and growling speech]] | |||
| Hitler's government ] ] on an immense scale, with ] becoming famous as the first architect of the Reich. In 1936 Berlin hosted the ], which were opened by Hitler and ] to demonstrate ] superiority over all other races. '']'', the movie about the games and documentary propaganda films for the German Nazi Party were directed by Hitler's personal filmmaker ]. | |||
| Although Hitler made plans for a '']'' (] railroad network), they were pre-empted by World War II. Had the railroad been built, its gauge would have been three meters, even wider than the old ] of Britain. | |||
| In 1932 Hitler was instrumental in initiating the design work on the ] that later became the ].{{ref|Volkswagen}} | |||
| ===Repression=== | |||
| ] (left)]] | |||
| The ''Gestapo-SS complex'' (the ] and ] organizations) were primarily responsible for ] in the Nazi state. This was implemented not only against political enemies such as communists but also against perceived "asocials" such as habitual ] and the work-shy along with "racial enemies," mainly Jews. | |||
| The racial policies of Nazi Germany during the early to mid-1930s included the harassment and persecution of Jews through legislation, restrictions on civil rights and limiting their economic opportunities. Under the 1935 ] Jews lost their German citizenship and were expelled from government employment, their professions and most forms of economic activity. To indicate their Jewishness, Jews were forced to adopt a second name and had their papers stamped with a big red "J". The policy was successful in causing the ] of many thousands but nevertheless turned increasingly violent in the mid to late 1930s. In 1938 a ] orchestrated by ] and endorsed by Hitler called ] destroyed many Jewish businesses and ] and resulted in about 100 deaths. Between November 1938 and September 1939 more than 180,000 Jews fled Germany and the Nazis seized whatever property they left behind. From 1941 Jews were required to wear a yellow ] in public. Throughout the 1930s the Propaganda Ministry disseminated anti-Semitic propaganda. | |||
| ===Rearmament and new alliances=== | |||
| ] and Hitler.]] | |||
| In March 1935 Hitler repudiated the ] by reintroducing ] in Germany. He set about building a massive military machine, including a new Navy (the '']'') and an Air Force (the '']''). The enlistment of vast numbers of men and women in the new military seemed to solve ] problems but seriously distorted the economy. For the first time in a generation, Germany's armed forces were as strong as those of her ] neighbour, ]. | |||
| In March 1936 Hitler again violated the ] by reoccupying the ] in the ]. When ] and France did nothing, he grew bolder. In July 1936 the ] began when the military, led by General ], rebelled against the elected ] government of ]. Hitler sent troops to support Franco and Spain served as a testing ground for Germany's new armed forces and their methods, including the bombing of undefended towns such as ], which was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in April 1937, prompting ]'s famous ] painting (see ]). | |||
| An ] was declared between Germany and Italy by ], ] of ] ] ] on ], ]. This ] was later expanded to include ], ], ] and ]. They were collectively known as the ]. Then on ], ], at the ], Adolf Hitler held a secret meeting and stated his plans for acquiring "living space" (]) for the German people. | |||
| ===The Holocaust=== | |||
| {{seemain|Holocaust}} | |||
| ], chief of the ] (charged with rounding up Jews, ] and so-called "enemies of the state").]] | |||
| Between 1939 and 1945 the SS, assisted by ] governments and recruits from ] countries, systematically killed about 11 million people (other estimates are as high as 26 million; about 6 to 10 million of whom were Jews{{ref|Victims}}) in ], ] and mass ], or through less systematic methods elsewhere.{{ref|Victims_1}} Besides being gassed to death, many also died of ] and ] while working as ]. Along with Jews, non-Jewish ] (over 3 million of whom died), alleged ]s or political opposition, ], ] ] and ], ], the physically ] and mentally ], ] ], ], anti-Nazi ], ], and ] ] were killed. This industrial-scale ] in Europe is referred to as the ] (the term is also used by some ] in a narrower sense, to refer specifically to the unprecedented destruction of European Jewry in particular). | |||
| The massacres that led to the coining of the word "]" (the '']'' or "Final Solution") were planned and ordered by leading Nazis, with ] playing a key role. While no specific order from Hitler authorizing the mass killing of the Jews has surfaced, there is documentation showing that he approved the '']'' and the evidence also suggests that sometime in the fall of 1941 Himmler and Hitler agreed in principle on mass extermination by gassing. During ] by Soviet ] declassified over fifty years later, Hitler's ] ] and his military ] Otto Gunsche said Hitler had "pored over the first ] of ]." | |||
| To make for smoother intra-governmental ] in the implementation of this "Final Solution" to the "Jewish question", the ] was held near Berlin on ], ], with fifteen senior officials participating, led by ] and ]. The records of this meeting provide the clearest evidence of central planning for the Holocaust. Days later, on ], Hitler was recorded saying to his closest associates, "we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews". | |||
| ==World War II== | |||
| ===Opening moves=== | |||
| <!-- missing images ] | |||
| ] from the ] on the announcement of the ] of his native Austria to Germany.]] --> | |||
| On ], ], Hitler pressured his native ] into ] with Germany (the ]) and made a triumphal entry into ]. Next he intensified a crisis over the German-speaking ] district of ]. This led to the ] of September 1938, which ] ] ] hailed as "Peace in our time". At Munich, Britain and France had weakly given way to his demands, averting war but failing to save Czechoslovakia. As a result of the summit Hitler was '']'' magazine's ] in 1938. | |||
| Hitler ordered Germany's army to enter ] on ], ], claiming territories ceded to ] under the ]. Britain had not been able to reach an agreement with the ] for an alliance against Germany, and, on ], ], Hitler concluded a secret ] (the ]) with ] on which it was likely agreed that Soviet Union and Nazi Germany would split Poland. On ] Germany invaded the Western portion of Poland. Britain and France, who had guaranteed assistance to Poland, declared war on Germany. Not long after this on September 17 the Soviet Union invaded Eastern Poland. | |||
| ] ].]] | |||
| ] ally ] (far left).]] | |||
| After conquering Western Poland by the end of September, Hitler built up his forces much further during the so-called '']''). In April 1940 when he ordered German forces to march into ] and ]. In May 1940, Hitler ordered his forces to attack ], conquering the ], ] and ] in the process. France ] on ], ]. This series of victories convinced his main ally, ] of Italy, to join the war on Hitler's side in May 1940. | |||
| ], whose forces had been driven from France at the coastal town of ], continued to fight on alone in the ]. After having his overtures for peace systematically rejected by the British Government, now led by ], Hitler ordered ] on the British Isles, leading to the ], which was meant to be the ] of a German invasion. The attacks began by pounding the ] airbases and the ] stations protecting South-East England. However, the ] failed to defeat the ] by the end of October 1940. Air superiority for the invasion, ], could not be assured and Hitler therefore ordered bombing raids to be carried out on British cities, including ] and ], mostly at night. This was the so-called '']'' and it lasted until May 1941. | |||
| ===Path to defeat=== | |||
| On ], ], Hitler gave the signal for three million German troops to attack the ], breaking the ] he had concluded with Stalin less than two years earlier. This invasion, called ], seized huge amounts of territory, especially the ] states and ], resulting in the ] and destruction of many Soviet forces. German forces were stopped short of ] in December 1941 by a harsh ] and fierce Soviet resistance, however (see ]), and the invasion failed to achieve the quick triumph over the Soviet Union which Hitler had anticipated. | |||
| Hitler's declaration of war against the ] on ], ], (which arguably was called for by Germany's treaty with ]) set him against a coalition that included the world's largest empire (the ]), the world's greatest industrial and financial power (the ]), and the world's largest army (the ]). | |||
| In late 1942, German forces under ] ] were defeated in the ], thwarting Hitler's plans to seize the ] and the ]. In February of 1943, the lengthy ] ended with the complete encirclement and destruction of the German ] by the armies of the Soviet Union. Both defeats were turning points in the war. After these, the quality of Hitler's military judgement became increasingly ] and Germany's military and economic position deteriorated. Hitler's health was deteriorating too. His left hand started shaking uncontrollably. The biographer ] believes he suffered from ]. Other conditions that are suspected by some to have caused some (at least) of his symptoms are ] ] and ]. | |||
| Hitler's ally ] was overthrown in 1943 after ]. Throughout 1943 and 1944, the ] steadily forced Hitler's armies into retreat along the ]. On ], ] the Western allied armies landed in northern France in what was the largest ] operation ever conducted, ]. Realists in the German army knew defeat was inevitable and some officers plotted to remove Hitler from power. In July 1944 one of them, ], planted a ] at Hitler's military headquarters in ] (the so-called ]), but Hitler narrowly escaped death. He ordered savage reprisals, resulting in the executions of more than 4,000 people (often by starvation in solitary confinement followed by slow ]). The resistance movement was crushed. | |||
| ===Defeat and death=== | |||
| {{seemain|Hitler's death}} | |||
| ] ] in the bunker, one of the last known photos of Hitler.]] | |||
| By the end of 1944 the ] had driven the last German troops from their territory and began charging into Central Europe. The ] were also rapidly advancing into Germany. The Germans had lost the war from a military perspective, but Hitler allowed no ] with the Allied forces, and as a consequence the German military forces continued to fight. By April 1945 Soviet forces were at the ]. Hitler's closest lieutenants urged him to flee to ] or Austria to make a last stand in the mountains, but he seemed determined to either live or die in the capital. ] leader ] tried on his own to inform the Allies (through the ] ] Count ]) that Germany was prepared to discuss surrender terms. Hitler received news of this through Swedish radio and dismissed him. | |||
| As Soviet troops battled their way in ] towards the ] in the centre of the city, Hitler committed suicide in the ] on ] ], in ] by means of a self-delivered shot to the head (it is likely he simultaneously bit into a ] ampoule). Hitler's body and that of ], (his long-term mistress whom he had married the day before), were partially burned with ] by Fuhrerbunker aides, and hastily buried shortly thereafter in the Chancellory garden with Russian shells pouring down from all directions, and with Russian infantry less than a few hundred meters away. | |||
| When Russian forces reached the Chancellory, they later exhumed his body and an autopsy was performed, using dental records (and German dental assistants who were familiar with them) to confirm the identification. To avoid any possibility of creating a potential shrine, the remains of Hitler and Braun were repeatedly moved, then secretly buried by ] at their new headquarters in ]. In April 1970, when the facility was about to be turned over to the East German government, the remains were reportedly exhumed, thoroughly ], and the ashes finally dumped unceremoniously into the ]. | |||
| ==Legacy== | |||
| "''I would have preferred it if he'd followed his original ambition and become an architect.''" | |||
| — ], Hitler's younger sister, during an interview with a U.S. intelligence operative in late 1945. | |||
| At the time of Hitler's death most of Germany's ] and major cities were in ruins and he had left explicit orders to complete the destruction. Millions of Germans were dead with millions more wounded or homeless. In his ] he dismissed other Nazi leaders and appointed Grand ] ] as '']'' (President of Germany) and ] as '']'' (Chancellor of Germany). However, Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide on ] ]. On ] ], in ], ], the German armed forces ] ] and with the creation of the ] on ] ], the Four Powers assumed "supreme authority with respect to Germany." Adolf Hitler's proclaimed ''Thousand Year Reich'' had lasted 12 years. | |||
| Since the defeat of Germany in World War II, Hitler, the Nazi Party and the ] have been regarded in most of the world as synonymous with ]. Historical and ] in the west are almost uniformly negative, often neglecting to mention the adulation the German people bestowed on Hitler during his lifetime, though the vast majority of present-day Germans share a negative view of Hitler. | |||
| The copyright of Hitler's book '']'' (My Struggle) is held by the Free State of ] and will expire in 2015. Reproductions in Germany are generally authorized only for scholarly purposes and in heavily commented form. The display of ] or other ] is prohibited in Germany and political extremists are generally under surveillance by the ], one of the federal or state-based offices for the protection of the constitution. | |||
| Despite this there have been instances of public figures referring to his legacy in neutral or even favourable terms, particularly in ], the ] and parts of ]. Future ] President ] wrote favourably of Hitler in 1953. ], leader of the right-wing ] party in the ]n state of the ], declared in 1995 that he was an admirer of Hitler. | |||
| While some ] note Hitler's attempts to improve the economic and political standing and conditions of his people and claim his tactics were in essence no different from those of many other leaders in history, his methods and legacy, as interpreted by most historians, have caused him to be one of the most despised leaders in history, and indeed to many people, the very incarnation of ]. | |||
| {{see also|Consequences of German Nazism|Neo-Nazism}} | |||
| ==Medical health== | |||
| {{seemain|Adolf Hitler's medical health}} | |||
| Hitler's medical health has long been the subject of debate, and he has variously been suggested to have suffered from ], ]s, ], tremors on the left side of his body, ], ] and a strongly suggested addiction to ]. | |||
| ==Hitler's family== | |||
| {{seemain|Hitler (disambiguation)}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] by Hitler]] | |||
| *], mistress and then wife | |||
| *], father | |||
| *], mother | |||
| *], sister | |||
| *], half-brother | |||
| *], sister-in-law | |||
| *], nephew | |||
| *], half-sister | |||
| *], niece and rumoured mistress | |||
| *], grandmother | |||
| *], presumed grandfather | |||
| *], maternal great-grandfather, presumed great uncle and possibly Hitler's true paternal grandfather | |||
| ===The origin of the name "Hitler"=== | |||
| There are two theories about the origin of the name "Hitler": | |||
| *(1) From ] ''Hüttler'' and similar, "one who lives in a hut", "shepherd". | |||
| *(2) From ] ''Hidlar'' and ''Hidlarcek'' and similar. | |||
| ==Trivia== | |||
| *In 2004, it was discovered that Hitler had spent years evading ] on ] from sales of ''Mein Kampf''. He owed the German government 405,000 Reichmarks (equivalent to $8 million at 2004 exchange rates) by the time he took power and the tax ] was forgiven. | |||
| *The archives of the Finnish ] broadcasting company contain an audio tape segment of a Hitler conversation with Finnish Marshal ] and other officers which may be the only known recording of Hitler speaking in a conversational tone of voice rather than with the intense delivery he used for official speeches. It was secretly recorded by Finnish intelligence agents when Hitler unexpectedly flew to Finland to congratulate Marshall Mannerheim on his 75th birthday on ] ]. According to the IMDb "His speech is 'working class language' and his turns of phrase reflect the speaker's educational shortcomings." Swiss actor ] is said to have studied the eleven-minute recording extensively while preparing for his portrayal of Hitler in the 2004 German film '']''. | |||
| *Most of Hitler's biographers have characterized him as a ] who abstained from eating meat beginning in the early 1930s until his death (although his actual dietary habits are sometimes hotly disputed). A fear of cancer (which his mother ] died from) is the most widely cited reason. He did consume ] products and ]. ] constructed a large ] close to the ] (near ]) in order to ensure a steady supply of fresh fruits and vegetables for Hitler throughout the war. Personal photographs of Bormann's children tending the greenhouse survive and by 2005 its foundations were among the only ruins visible in the area which were directly associated with Nazi leaders. For more information on this topic, see ]. | |||
| *Hitler did not like women to wear ], since they contained animal by-products. | |||
| *He was susceptible to ] (which doctors attributed to his diet) and took various medications to lessen gas pains. | |||
| *Contrary to popular legend, there is some evidence Hitler did not abstain entirely from ]. During post war interrogation in the ] his valet ] indicated Hitler drank ] now and then with ]. | |||
| *He almost never wore a uniform to social engagements, which he attended frequently whenever in Berlin during the 1930s. | |||
| *At dinner he was known to complain about the quality of popular music in Germany, then hum a hit song with his own improvements. | |||
| *In response to a shortage of servants during the war, Hitler is reported to have said, "I create whole divisions out of nothing! And I can't get a few more serving wenches for the Berghof? Organise it now!" | |||
| *Hitler was an avid non-smoker and promoted aggressive anti-smoking campaigns throughout Germany. He reportedly promised a gold watch to any of his close associates who quit (and gave a few away). Several witness accounts relate that immediately after his suicide was confirmed, many officers, aides and secretaries in the Führerbunker lit cigarettes. | |||
| *During the early 20th century, ''Adolf'' was a popular name for German Jews. After World War II many survivors who had been born with this name changed it and the popularity of the name decreased dramatically. | |||
| *One of Hitler's self-given nicknames was ''Wolf'' – he began using this nickname in the early 1920s and was addressed by that name only by those in his intimate circle (as "Uncle Wolf" by the Wagners) up until the fall of the Third Reich. (Kershaw 1999, 2000) The names of his various ] scattered throughout ] (] in ], Wolfsschlucht in ], Werewolf in ], etc.) seem to reflect this. {{fact}} | |||
| *A nickname for Hitler used by German soldiers was ''Gröfaz'', a derogatory acronym for ''Größter Feldherr aller Zeiten'' ("Greatest War Lord of all Time"), a title initially publicized by Nazi ] after the surprisingly quick occupation of ]. | |||
| *The 2004 film '']'' (''Downfall'') is partly based on the autobiography of ], a favorite secretary of Hitler's. In 2002 Junge said she felt great guilt for "...liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived." | |||
| ==Hitler's associates== | |||
| {{main|List of Nazi Party leaders and officials|List of former Nazis influential after 1945}} | |||
| *], Adolf Hitler's Private Secretary. | |||
| *], Hitler's lawyer and later senior Nazi official in occupied Poland. | |||
| *], Minister of Propaganda, 25th Chancellor of Germany. | |||
| *], Commander of the Luftwaffe, founder of the Gestapo. | |||
| *], one-time Deputy Leader of the Nazi Party, best known for his flight to Scotland to negotiate peace in 1941. | |||
| *], considered as a possible successor by Hitler, assassinated by a team of Czech agents on May 27, 1942. | |||
| *], leader of the SS, later the SA, as well as the Gestapo, key figure in the Holocaust and the "Final Solution". | |||
| *], official photographer from 1920 to 1945. | |||
| *], military officer, knew Hitler since 1923. | |||
| *], military Field Marshal during World War II. | |||
| *], friend and filmmaker who documented the Nazi party. | |||
| *], military Field Marshal during World War II. | |||
| *], leader of the SA, shot on Hitler's orders in the ]. | |||
| *], Hitler's personal architect, Minister of armaments. | |||
| *], famous architect who served before Speer. | |||
| ==Documentaries== | |||
| * '']'' (1974) is a famous ] series which contains much information about Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, including an interview with his secretary, ]. | |||
| * ''Adolf Hitler's Last Days'', from the BBC series "Secrets of World War II" tells (obviously) the story about Hitler's last days. | |||
| *'']'' (2002) is an exclusive 90 minute interview with Traudl Junge, Hitler's final trusted secretary. Made by Austrian Jewish director André Heller shortly before Junge's death from lung cancer, Junge recalls the last days in the Berlin bunker. Clips used in ''Downfall''. | |||
| ==Dramatizations== | |||
| * '']'' (2003) is a two-part TV series about the early years of Adolf Hitler and his rise to power (up to 1933) | |||
| * '']'' (2004) is a German movie about the last days of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich | |||
| * '']'' (1973) is a movie depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitler's death | |||
| ==Media== | |||
| {{commons|Adolf Hitler}} | |||
| {{multi-video start}} | |||
| {{multi-video item|filename=Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden.ogg|title=Hitler at Berchtesgaden |description= Video clips of Hitler at his mountain retreat in ], ].|format=]}} | |||
| {{multi-video end}} | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| <!-- Instructions for adding a footnote: | |||
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| 1) Assign your footnote a unique name, for example TheSun_Dec9. | |||
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| #{{note|about}} "," about.com (accessed June 11, 2005); Cecil Adams, "," The Straight Dope (accessed June 11, 2005). | |||
| #{{note|Drummer}} Joachim C. Fest, "," in ''The Face Of The Third Reich'' (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1970; accessed June 11, 2005). | |||
| #{{note|Volkswagen}} , Hitler Historical Museum, 1999 (accessed June 11, 2005). | |||
| #{{note|Victims}} "," from FAQs About The Holocaust, Yad Vashem (accessed June 11, 2005); "," ''Holocaust Encyclopedia'', United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (accessed June 11, 2005). | |||
| #{{note|Victims_1}} "," ''St. Petersburg Times'', 1999 (accessed June 11, 2005); Karen Silverstrim, "," University of Central Arkansas (accessed June 11, 2005). | |||
| <!--READ ME!! PLEASE DO NOT JUST ADD NEW NOTES AT THE BOTTOM. See the instructions above on ordering. --> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| {{wikiquote}} | |||
| {{commons|Adolf Hitler}} | |||
| {{Wikisource author}} | |||
| {{seemain|List of Adolf Hitler books}} | |||
| Many books have been written about Adolf Hitler with his life and legacy thoroughly researched. See ] for an extensive ]. | |||
| ==Hitler's speeches== | |||
| {{seemain|List of Adolf Hitler speeches}} | |||
| Hitler was a gifted ] who captivated many with his beating of the podium and growling speech. ]. | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
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| * {{imdb name|id=0386944|name=Adolf Hitler}} | |||
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| * written by Dr. Henry A. Murray for the wartime ] | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * - Large collection of original scanned Nazi documents | |||
| * - Watch color footage of Hitler during WWII | |||
| {{start box}} | |||
| {{succession box | before = ] | title = ] | years = 1921–1945 | after = None}} | |||
| {{succession box | before = ] | title = ] | years = 1930–1945 | after = None}} | |||
| {{succession box | before = ] | title = ]<sup>(a)</sup> | years = 1933–1945 | after = ]}} | |||
| {{succession box | before = ] (as President) | title = ]<sup>(a)</sup> | years = 1934–1945 | after = ] (as President)}} | |||
| {{succession footnote| marker=<sup>(a)</sup>| footnote=The Presidency and the Chancellorship were combined 1934-1945 in the office of Führer und Reichskanzler}} | |||
| {{end box}} | {{end box}} | ||
Revision as of 17:33, 19 December 2005
"Hitler" redirects here. For other persons of the same name, see Hitler (disambiguation).| Adolf Hitler | |
| Date of birth | April 20 1889 |
| Date of death | April 30 1945 |
| Party | National Socialist German Workers Party |
| Important positions |
|
Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor) of Germany from 1934 to his death by suicide. He was leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP), better known as the Nazi Party.
Hitler is a god and should be praised
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