The Rise Of Adolf Hitler

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Behind The Crooked Cross The Rise of Adolf
Hitler and Nazi Germany
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ADOLF HITLER
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ESSENTIAL QUESTION

• What led to Adolf Hitlers rise to power and the
  Nazis ruling Germany?

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A DICTATOR IS BORN

• Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, near
  Linz, Austria on April 20, 1889

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KLARA and ALOIS THE PARENTS OF A MONSTER
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HITLER AS A YOUTH
Adolf was an intelligent child, but a poorly
performing student, both of Adolfs parents died
when he was a teenager, leaving him with a modest
inheritance Adolf sought to become an artist
LEFT Hitler at age 13 BELOW Hitler, part of a
church choir group
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THE YEARS IN VIENNA

• In January 1908, the 19 year old Adolf moved to
  the city of Vienna, the capital of Austria
• In Vienna, Adolf is exposed to culture and life
  in a big city
• Adolf tries to enter the Academy of Arts, but is
  rejected his audition painting was deemed not
  good enough

THE ACADEMY OF ARTS IN VIENNA
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SAMPLES OF HITLERS ART
This 1914 painting is titled"The Courtyard of
the Old Residency in Munich."
A 1914 painting "Ruins of a Cloister
in Messines."
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ONE OF HITLERS GREAT LOVES THE MUSIC
OF RICHARD WAGNER

• Adolf enjoyed the opera music of Richard Wagner,
  whose stirring music glorified Germany and often
  had warlike themes (such as Ride of the
  Valkyries)
• Wagners music had a profound effect on the
  young Adolf Hitler

GERMAN COMPOSER RICHARD WAGNER
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FIRST EXPOSURE TO POLITICS
KARL LUEGER
GEORG VON SCHOENERER
Galician Jews are present in Vienna. As with much
of Europe, there are anti-Semitic feelings in
Vienna (it was Adolfs first exposure to
anti-Semitism). The politics of Georg von
Schoenerer (an anti-Semite) and Viennas mayor,
Karl Lueger (who said the public would do without
freedoms for security), would have an influence
on young Hitler.
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POLITICIZATION OF HITLER
It is while living in Vienna that Adolf first
learns of the ideas of mystical German
nationalism and the Aryan ideal these ideas
would shape the Nazi ideology decades later, as
exemplified in this 1930s poster
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THE FRUSTRATED ARTIST

• Adolf is rejected a second time by the Vienna
  Academy of Arts in November 1908.
• Hitler then earns his living as a street artist,
  making drawings and sketches for tourists and
  trying to sell them.
• His inheritance money dwindled away quickly, and
  soon Adolf found himself living in various
  homeless shelters in Vienna.

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A FUGITIVE

• Adolf was supposed to serve in the
  Austro-Hungarian Empires army when he turned 20
  years old, but he avoided military service. He
  was a fugitive from the Austrian police.
• His motivation was not cowardice Hitler hated
  the Austrian monarchy and did not want to serve
  in a heavily multi-ethnic army alongside Jews,
  Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Slovaks, and other
  groups he deemed inferior.

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When World War I breaks out, Adolf Hitler finds a
purpose he volunteers to be a soldier for the
country he adored Germany
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• WARTIME SERVICE

• Hitler served as a dispatch runner (messenger)
  on the Western Front, carrying messages from
  headquarters to the trenches by bicycle.
• It was often a dangerous assignment Hitler was
  wounded twice in one week in 1916 and sent to
  Germany to recover.
• Awarded medals for bravery (including the Iron
  Cross), he returned to fight in 1917.

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When the Great War ends in 1918, the Treaty of
Versailles left Germany with huge war debts to
pay many restrictions were forced upon the
defeated Germany by the victorious Allies
Germany felt humiliated and thought they were
singled out unfairly as the only power to start
World War I
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AN ANGRY YOUNG MAN

• Adolf Hitler never forgot the humiliation that
  Germany was served at the hands of the Allies.
• Hitler was outraged by the actions taken to
  punish Germany after the war.
• This outrage was shared with many Germans,
  especially the soldiers of World War I.

Corporal Hitler (right) with two fellow German
soldiers, one of whom is missing a leg
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HITLERS LIFE TAKES A FATEFUL TURN

• As he recovered at a Stettin hospital from
  eye injuries suffered in an Allied poison gas
  attack in Ypres, Hitler heard about Germanys
  defeat. His reaction
• The burning in my eyes could not match the
  hate burning in my heart. From that moment, I
  knew I should enter politics.

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GERMANY AFTER THE GREAT WAR (1919-1923)

• Many Germans were disillusioned after the defeat
  in the Great War and hated the democratic
  government that took power after WWI (the Weimar
  Republic)
• Ex-soldiers like Hitler felt that they had been
  stabbed in the back by Jews and Communists back
  home in Germany they felt that they had not been
  defeated on the battlefield

An anti-Communist poster
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Extremist groups like the Nazis gained popularity
by saying that they would not obey the Treatys
terms and would restore Germanys glory
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A SOLDIER WITHOUT A WAR

• After the war, Hitler remained in the German
  Army he acted as a mole and spied on various
  organizations suspected of being communist
• From the military leaders, Hitler learned of the
  Germans destiny as the master race and of the
  economic conspiracy of the worlds Jews against
  the Fatherland
• Hitler, now 30 years old, also discovered while
  at Munich that he had a flair for public
  speaking, delivering several passionate speeches
  at the local university and transfixing audiences

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PARTY MEMBER 55

• Continuing his work as amole, a group Hitler
  spied on was the German Workers Party this
  group was anti-Bolshevik as well as anti-Semitic
• Hitler agreed with the partys views and became a
  member in 1920
• Later on, he became a party leader, recruiting
  many German soldiers from his barracks Hitlers
  goal was to seize the German Workers Party and
  reshape it to his own ends

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THE NAZI PARTY
With Hitler becoming its new leader, the German
Workers Party later became the National
Socialist German Workers Party (in German
Nazional Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter
Partei). The partys name was abbreviated as
NSDAP and shortened to Nazi
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THE SWASTIKA
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NAZI USE OF THE SWASTIKA

• The swastika is an ancient symbol that has been
  used for over 3,000 years by many cultures,
  representing life, strength, and good luck.
• German nationalists in the mid-nineteenth century
  began to use the swastika this made it seem the
  Germans had a long history with ancient Aryans (a
  culture that used the swastika)

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NAZI USE OF THE SWASTIKA

• What better image to use as a new political
  party's symbol? The swastika suggested that the
  Nazis were connected with ancient tradition
• For Hitler, the new flag had to be "a symbol of
  our own struggle" as well as "highly effective on
  a poster." The simple yet strong swastika fit the
  Nazis needs perfectly.

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THE MUNICH BEER HALL PUTSCH

• Viewing the Weimar Republic as weak and ready
  to be taken down, Hitler plotted a putsch
  (takeover) of Germany
• After they marched into a Munich beer hall
  (where a political meeting was taking place),
  Hitlers stormtroopers were met with a hail of
  bullets from the Bavarian police
• 18 Nazis were killed. Most of the others were
  arrested.
• Apprehended shortly after the failed putsch,
  Adolf Hitler was put on trial.

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HITLER ON TRIAL FOR SEDITION

• In February 1924, Hitler was brought to trial.
• The trial was a political circus the judge was
  sympathetic to Hitler and allowed him to express
  his political views.
• Hitler made statements during the trial that made
  him well-known nationally and increased his
  popularity with Germans.

Hitler and several of his fellow Nazis during a
break in the trial

• Charged of treason against the unpopular Weimar
  Republic, Hitler proclaimed There is no such
  thing as treason against the traitors of 1918.

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MEIN KAMPF MY STRUGGLE

• Hitler received a light sentence and only served
  9 months in a minimum security prison. He spent
  most of his time writing his autobiography.
• Mein Kampf expressed Hitlers beliefs
• Two of the major issues he addressed in Mein
  Kampf were
• Lebensraum (living space) Germany must take
  over other countries, especially Russia, for the
  use of the German master race.
• 2. Anti-Semitism inferior races, especially the
  Jews, must be destroyed.

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Ballots, not bullets.

• The failure of the Beer Hall Putsch demonstrates
  to Hitler that power needs to be achieved through
  legal means, not violent overthrow.
• When Hitler leaves prison, the Nazis have a new
  approach to gaining political power getting
  votes
• When the Great Depression hits Germany,
  desperate, starving people were willing to give
  the Nazis their votes

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When times are badpeople turn to extremes for
answers
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The Nazis Power Increases
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CHANCELLOR HITLER

• The aging German President Paul von Hindenburg
  appoints Hitler as chancellor in January 1933.

• Hitlers power was increasing (over one million
  members of the Nazi Party and 400,000 men in his
  private army), so Hindenburg thought to contain
  the Nazis by offering Hitler a position in the
  government.

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CHANCELLOR HITLER

• When Hindenburg dies of old age, Chancellor
  Hitler takes the Presidents role and power as
  well.
• Combining the titles of president and chancellor,
  Adolf Hitler becomes Der Fuhrer (The Leader)

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GAINING POWER

• Using violent tactics against political opponents
  and telling the German people what they wanted to
  hear, Hitler increased his power.
• Once he cemented his position as Der Fuhrer,
  Hitler used his power to turn Germany into a
  totalitarian state.

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THE REICHSTAG FIRE
Within a disaster lay an opportunity for Hitler
an opportunity to eliminate his worst political
enemies the Communists
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ELIMINATING POLITICAL ENEMIES

• On February 27, 1933, a feeble minded Dutch
  Communist named Martinus van der Lubbe set the
  Reichstag (Germanys government) building on fire
• Hitler used this fire as a reason outlaw the
  Communist Party and arrest their leaders
• With the Enabling Act, the Reichstag gave Hitler
  dictatorial powers because of this crisis
• CONSPIRACY The Nazis may have helped start the
  fire in the Reichstag building
• Hitler used his new powers to outlaw all other
  political parties and abolish trade unions
• Hitler was now Der Fuhrer both in name and in
  fact

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ELIMINATING RIVAL NAZIS
June 30, 1934 The Night of the Long Knives
Hitlers black-shirted SS murderers killed over
1000 Nazis who were seen as threats to Hitlers
power in the Nazi Party
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THE THIRD REICH

• The Nazis identified their rule as the
  successor to the Holy Roman Empire (the First
  Reich) and the Bismarck-created German Empire of
  1871 (the Second Reich)
• The Nazis called their new empire the Third
  Reich

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PURIFYING GERMAN CULTURE Ideas thought to be
un-German were outlawed. As a result, book
burnings took place all over Germany. (May 1933)
They that start by burning books will end by
burning men. German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine,
1821
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THE WILL OF THE FUHRER
As Fuhrer, Hitlers personal views on every
aspect of German life (art, culture, the role of
women, family, genetics, politics, Social
Darwinism, economics, foreign policy, military
strategy) was rigorously imposed on the German
nation.
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RAISING NAZI CHILDREN
The Third Reich carefully subverted the German
educational system to mold children into loyal
Nazis
School curriculum taught Nazi beliefs history
courses blamed Communists and Jews for Germanys
problems
Biology courses taught the science of Aryan
racial superiority
Teachers had to join the Nazi Teachers
Association those who didnt were fired
Geography courses focused on lebensraum (living
space)
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VICIOUS ANTI-SEMITISM

• Hitlers racial views were put in everything
  Germans read or saw
• In this German childrens book, a pious mother
  teaches her little son,
• The Jew is the most poisonous mushroom in
  existence.

The childrens book Der Giftpilz (The Poisonous
Mushroom)
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HITLERS FIERY SPEECHES

• One of the greatest weapons in Hitlers arsenal
  as he battled for power was his ability to
  deliver apocalyptic and convincing speeches
• He made a science out of rousing crowds into a
  frenzy
• The crowds would react as if Hitler were a
  quasi-Messiah, come to bring glory to Germany

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HITLERS FIERY SPEECHES

• Hitlers speeches would begin calmly. He
  would speak slowly and quietly, his voice muted
  and emotionless.

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HITLERS FIERY SPEECHES
Hitler would closely watch the audience, looking
for the right time to turn on the emotion and
rouse the crowd.
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HITLERS FIERY SPEECHES
Hitlers voice would rise as he spat out
accusations against Germanys enemies.
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HITLERS FIERY SPEECHES
Usually, his speech would become enraged. As his
speeches went on, Hitler would be gesturing
furiously, shaking with anger, and covered with
sweat.
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HITLERS FIERY SPEECHES
Hitler would whip his audiences into a frenzy,
pausing his speeches as the crowds would salute
him and thunder with applause and cries of Sieg
Heil!, which means Hail Victory!
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If the international Jewish financiers in and
outside Europe should succeed in plunging the
nations once more into a world war, then the
result will not be the Bolshevizing of the Earth,
and thus the victory of Jewry, but the
annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!"  
Adolf Hitler on January 30, 1939
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HITLERS FIERY SPEECHES
Many of Hitlers techniques in delivering
speeches were learned in his church-going days
the power of the reiteration of key phrases,
massed voices chanting and singing, the splendor
of ritual and ceremony, and the use of powerful
symbols.
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THE POWER OF REITERATION
A commonly repeated phrase Hitler would use to
hold sway over his audiences was One People! One
Empire! One Leader! It
also made for effective propaganda on various
posters.
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THE ADULATION OF HITLER
The devotion many Germans felt to Adolf Hitler
was profound. That devotion is apparent in this
poster. Hitler appears larger than life, being
cast as a robust Aryan knight.
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Hitler loved to show off the might of his
rebuilt Germany, staging huge rallies and
military parades
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This Nazi propaganda poster reads, Behind the
enemy powers the Jew
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Concentration camps were set up to enslave and
exterminate the thousands upon thousands of
undesirables, especially Jews
The slogan that crowned the gates at the camps
displays a false promise Arbeit Macht
Frei Work Sets You Free
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The reality was that you would not be set free,
but exterminated. Hitler and the Nazi party
labeled the mentally ill, communists, Gypsies,
homosexuals and Jews as subspecies of the human
race.
These dead bodies are being burned to get rid of
evidence.
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Cruel (and often deadly) medical experiments were
performed on young boys and girls of the
concentration camps.
Angel of Death Dr. Josef Mengele
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Gold and silver teeth were extracted and
collected from gassed prisoners, then melted down
for profit
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Adolf Hitler quickly became the most powerful and
feared man in Europe. But about as swiftly, his
empire crashed and burned around him.
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