Adolf Hitler | Braves by their Broken Hearts!

In childhood, he was just an ordinary boy, who used to sing in a Church. He lost his parents and siblings at an early age, which disturbed his mind. He influenced the entire youth of a nation, through his autobiography "Mein Kamph"(My Struggle). He rose to power as the chancellor of Germany. During his dictatorship from 1933 to 1945, he was the main personality, who initiated World War II. Hitler was responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of the war.. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war. According to the majority of world, "Never in history such ruination(physical and moral) has been associated with the name of one man". The interesting thing about this man is, although he shook the entire world with his violence during his life, he don't have a bad habit in his personal life.

Biographical Sketch | Adolphus(Adolf) Hitler

Childhood :

• Hitler's father Alois Hitler Sr. (1837–1903) was an illegitimate child of Maria Anna Schicklgruber. He initially took Schicklgruber as his surname.
• When Johann Georg Hiedler married Alois's mother Maria Anna, Alois was brought up in the family of Hiedler's brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler. 
• In 1876, Alois was legitimated and Johann Georg Hiedler was registered as Alois's father. Alois then assumed the surname "Hitler". The name is probably based on "one who lives in a hut".
• Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Austria-Hungary (in present-day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire.

Infant Hitler in 1890

• He was the fourth of six children born to Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara Pölzl. 
• Three of Hitler's siblings Gustav, Ida, and Otto died in infancy.
• In June 1895, Alois started farming and kept bees. Hitler attended Volksschule (a state-owned primary school) in Fischlham, Austria.
• Hitler couldn't able to follow the strict discipline of his school. His father beat him, although his mother tried to protect him.
• Alois Hitler's farming efforts ended in failure, and in 1897 the family moved to Lambach. 
• The eight-year-old Hitler took singing lessons, sang in the church choir, and even considered becoming a priest.
• Hitler was deeply affected by the death of his younger brother Edmund, who died in 1900 from measles. Hitler gradually changed from a confident, outgoing, conscientious student to a morose, detached boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers.
• Alois had made a successful career in the customs bureau, and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.
• Ignoring his son's desire to attend a classical high school and become an artist, Alois sent Hitler to the Realschule (a secondary school) in September 1900.
• Hitler rebelled against this decision, and he intentionally studied poorly in school.
• Hitler wrote in his autobiography, "I did poorly in school and thought that my father would let me devote myself to my dream".
• Like many Austrian Germans, Hitler began to develop German nationalist ideas from a young age. He expressed loyalty only to Germany.
• Hitler and his friends used the greeting "Heil" (means "to grow"), and sang the "Deutschlandlied"(a national song of Germany) instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem.
• After his father's sudden death in 1903, Hitler's performance at school deteriorated and his mother allowed him to leave. 
• He enrolled at another secondary school in September 1904, where his behaviour and performance improved.

• In 1905, after passing a repeat of the final exam, Hitler left the school without any ambitions for further education or clear plans for a career.
• In 1907 Hitler thought to live and study fine arts in Vienna, financed by government orphan wellfare schemes and support from his mother. He applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna but was rejected twice.
• Hitler got the option to apply to the School of Architecture, but he lacked the necessary academic credentials because he had not finished secondary school.
• In 1907, Hitler's mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47, when he was just 18. In 1909 Hitler ran out of money and was forced to live in homeless shelters and  in a men's dormitory.

[Video] The life of Adolf Hitler

Early Adulthood :

• He earned money by working as a labourer and by painting and selling watercolours of Vienna's sights.
• During his time in Vienna, he pursued a growing passion for architecture and music.
• It was in Vienna that Hitler first became exposed to racist behaviour.  Georg Ritter von Schönerer, a landowner and politician in Austria, became a major influence on Hitler.
• Hitler was also became an admirer of Martin Luther (a famous German priest, monk and a professor of theology).
• He read newspapers and pamphlets that published the thoughts of philosophers and theoreticians.
• Hitler stated in Mein Kampf that he first became an anti-Semite (against the Jews) in Vienna.
• Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich, Germany.

World War I :

• In August 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, Hitler was living in Munich and voluntarily enlisted in the Bavarian Army.
• He was present at the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras, and the Battle of Passchendaele, and was wounded at the Somme.
• He was decorated for bravery, receiving the Iron Cross, Second Class, in 1914. On a recommendation by Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann, Hitler's Jewish superior, he received the Iron Cross, First Class on 4 August 1918.
• During his service at headquarters, Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. During the Battle of the Somme in October 1916, he was wounded in the left thigh when a shell exploded.
• Hitler described the war as "the greatest of all experiences", and was praised by his commanding officers for his bravery.
• His wartime experience reinforced his German patriotism. Unfortunately, Germany had lost in the war and he was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918.
• His disappointment over the collapse of the war effort began to shape his ideology. Like other German nationalists, he believed the Dolchstoßlegende (stab-in-the-back myth), which claimed that the German army had been "stabbed in the back" by civilian leaders, Jews, Marxists.

• The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany must relinquish several of its territories and should not have any armed powers. The treaty imposed economic sanctions and levied heavy taxes on the country. 
• Many Germans saw the treaty as an unjust humiliation. They especially objected to Article 231, which they interpreted as declaring Germany responsible for the war.
• The Versailles Treaty and the economic, social and political conditions in Germany after the war were later exploited by Hitler for political gain.

Entry into Politics :

• At a German Workers' Party (DAP) meeting on 12 September 1919, Party Chairman Anton Drexler was impressed with Hitler's oratorical skills. He gave Hitler, a copy of his pamphlet My Political Awakening, which contained anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist, and anti-Marxist ideas.
• On the orders of his army superiors, Hitler applied to join the party, and within a week was accepted as party member.
• Hitler became very active and argued that the aim of the government "must unshakably be the removal of the Jews altogether".
• At the DAP, Hitler met Dietrich Eckart, one of the party's founders. Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him and introducing him to a wide range of Munich society.
• DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP). 
• Hitler designed the party's banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red background.

• Hitler was discharged from the army on 31 March 1920 and began working full-time for the NSDAP.
• In February 1921, Hitler spoke to a crowd of over 6,000. To publicise the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around Munich waving swastika flags and distributing leaflets. 
• Hitler soon gained notoriety for his rowdy polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, and especially against Marxists and Jews.
• Hitler used personal magnetism and an understanding of crowd psychology to his advantage while engaged in public speaking. Historians have noted the hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. 
• The crowd made huge noise and behaviour when Hitler appeared in a 1936 parade. Some in the audience writhed and rolled on the ground.
• Hitler's forces initially succeeded in occupying the local administration and police headquarters, but he didn't got any support. Neither the army, nor the state police, joined forces with Hitler.
• Hitler and his followers marched to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government, but police dispersed them. Sixteen NSDAP members and four police officers were killed in the failed coup.
• On 1 April 1924, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison. There, he received friendly treatment from the guards, and was allowed mail from supporters and regular visits by party comrades. 
• Pardoned by the Bavarian Supreme Court, he was released from jail on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutor's objections. Including time on remand, Hitler served just over one year in prison.

Meinkamph :

• While at Landsberg, Hitler dictated most of the first volume of Mein Kampf (My Struggle; originally entitled Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice).
• The book, was an autobiography and exposition of his ideology. The book laid out Hitler's plans for transforming German society into one based on race. 
• Throughout the book, Jews are equated with "germs" and presented as the "international poisoners" of society. According to Hitler's ideology, the only solution was their extermination. 
• Published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, Mein Kampf sold 228,000 copies between 1925 and 1932. One million copies were sold in 1933.

Rise to the Power :

• The stock market in the United States crashed in 1929. The impact in Germany was, millions were thrown out of work and several major banks collapsed. 
• Hitler and the NSDAP prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their party. They promised to abolish the Versailles Treaty, strengthen the economy, and provide jobs.
• The NSDAP rose from obscurity to win 18.3 per cent of the vote and 107 parliamentary seats in the 1930 election, becoming the second-largest party in parliament.
• Hitler wanted to improve Germany economically by targeting his political messages specifically at people who had been affected by the inflation of the 1920s and the Depression, such as farmers, war veterans, and the middle class.

• A speech to the Industry Club in Düsseldorf on 27 January 1932 won him support from many of Germany's most powerful industrialists.
• Hitler used the campaign slogan "Hitler über Deutschland" ("Hitler over Germany"), a reference to his political ambitions and his campaigning by aircraft. 
• He was one of the first politicians to use aircraft travel for political purposes, and used it effectively.
• Hitler came in second in both rounds of the election, garnering more than 35 per cent of the vote in the final election. Although he lost, this election established Hitler as a strong force in German politics.
• On 30 January, 1933, Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany.
• "At the risk of appearing to talk nonsense I tell you that the National Socialist movement will go on for 1,000 years! ... Don't forget how people laughed at me 15 years ago when I declared that one day I would govern Germany. They laugh now, just as foolishly, when I declare that I shall remain in power!" - Adolf Hitler (1934).

[Video] How Einstein escaped from Hitler!

Germany under Hitler's rule :

• After Hitler became the Chancellor, Unemployment fell from six million in 1932 to one million in 1936. 
• Hitler oversaw one of the largest infrastructure improvement campaigns in German history, leading to the construction of dams, railroads, and other civil works. 
• The cost of living increased by 25 per cent. The average work week increased during the shift to a war economy. 
• By 1939, the average German was working between 47 and 50 hours a week.
• Germany withdrew from the League of Nations and the World Disarmament Conference in October 1933.
• Germany reoccupied the demilitarised zone in the Rhineland in March 1936, in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Hitler also sent troops to Spain to support General Franco during the Spanish Civil War after receiving an appeal for help in July 1936. 
• At the same time, Hitler continued his efforts to create an Anglo-German alliance.
• From early 1938 onwards, Hitler was carrying out a foreign policy ultimately aimed at war.
• In February 1938, on the advice of his newly appointed foreign minister, Hitler made an alliance with the more modern and powerful empire of Japan.
• On 12 March 1938, Hitler announced the unification of Austria with Nazi Germany. 
• In 1939, Hitler declared Britain the main enemy to be defeated.
• Beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Hitler initiated the World War II.

Second World War was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all the great powers, eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. 
The war directly involved more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries. 

Defeat in World War 2 and Hitler's Death :

• By late 1944, both the Red Army(Air Force of Russian Soviet Republic) and the Western Allies(Britain, France, Russia & United States) were advancing into Germany. 
• Recognising the strength and determination of the Red Army, Hitler decided to use his remaining mobile reserves against the American and British troops, which he perceived as far weaker.
• With much of Germany in ruins in January 1945, Hitler spoke on the radio: "However grave as the crisis may be at this moment, it will, despite everything, be mastered by our unalterable will."
• Hitler ordered the destruction of all German industrial infrastructure before it could fall into Allied hands.
• Hitler's hope to negotiate peace with the United States and Britain was encouraged by the death of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 12 April 1945, but contrary to his expectations, this caused no rift among the Allies.
• After midnight on the night of 28–29 April, Hitler married Eva Braun in a small civil ceremony in the Führerbunker.
• On 30 April 1945, Soviet troops were within a block of the Reich Chancellery when Hitler shot himself and Braun in the head.

Hitler's Leadership Style :

• Hitler's leadership style was to give contradictory orders to his subordinates or freshers and to place them along with the stronger ones, who can do the same job easily. In this way, Hitler reduced distrust, competition, and infighting among his subordinates to consolidate and maximise his own power.
• Hitler typically did not give written orders. Instead he communicated verbally, or had them conveyed through his close associates.
• Hitler dominated his country's war effort during World War II to a greater extent than any other national leader. He strengthened his control of the armed forces in 1938, and subsequently made all major decisions regarding Germany's military strategy.

Hitler's Personal Life :

• Hitler created a public image as a single man without a domestic life, dedicated entirely to his political mission and the nation. He met his lover, Eva Braun, in 1929, and married her on 29 April 1945, one day before they both committed suicide..
• He was known to be as one of the great leaders, who have no addictions or bad habits!