Some may think of Adolf Hitler as being an evil leader of Germany, which I'm not saying isn't true, but there was much more to him than just that. The way in which Hitler rose to power was an interesting one. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria on April 20th, 1889, and his 130th birthday just passed but isn't exactly celebrated the way a normal birthday would...if you know, you know. What a lot of people don't know is that Hitler served in World War I as "dispatch runner, taking messages back and forth from the command staff in the read to the fighting units near the battlefield" ("Adolf Hitler"). He was unlike any soldier and would often use watercolors and paint what he saw in war, and he never complained about the conditions or food. It wasn't until 1916 that he was wounded during the Battle of the Somme and was hospitalized. While in recovery, this is when his hatred first arose.
Hitler travelled around Berlin and saw a variety of "anti-war sentiment among German civilians" and blamed the Jews for all of this ("Adolf Hitler"). A few years following this, Hitler joined the German Workers' Party in Munich in 1919. Although Hitler was not impressed with the condition of this Party, he was intrigued by the fact that it would be more than just a political party and would become a movement. Hitler started to gain power in this Party and changed the name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, Nazi for short. With Hitler in charge, the Nazi Party had about 3,000 members by 1920, and he was officially named leader in 1921. The Nazi Party mastered mass propaganda and Hitler would deliver speeches that caused uprisings from his audience. In 1923, Hitler organized an armed uprising in Munich, the Beer Hall Putsch, but failed because of the poor planning and led to Hitler's arrest.
While serving his short prison term, Hitler wrote the book Mein Kampf, which was published in 1925. This book highlighted the fact that the Germans were the "master race" and needed to be protected against Jews and Slavs. In 1929 to 1930, Hitler and the Nazis came to power while the Great Depression was occurring. Hitler took this opportunity to gain support of the Nazi Party and by 1932, Hitler ran for president of Germany and was elected chancellor in 1933. Once Adolf Hitler was in office, the Nazi concentration camps were opened and the Jews were at risk. In 1934, Hitler became fuhrer of Germany, leading to the Germans and Russians occupying Poland in 1939. This is when the Holocaust came into full swing and the Jews' lives were at stake. Three million Jews were under Nazi control by 1939 and were forced into concentration camps.
The Holocaust is known as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, genocide throughout history. About six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, all while under the rule of Adolf Hitler. In 1945, Hitler commits suicide, leaving no real justice to be served. Many see Adolf Hitler as the most despicable leader in all of history, and this may be true, but he grew up like any other normal kid. Hitler caused millions of unjustifiable deaths and the power went straight to his head. It is hard to imagine what it would've been like to live in Germany while Hitler was ruling, either bowing down to a horrible leader or fearing for your life every single day.
"Adolf Hitler." World History Project, worldhistoryproject.org/topics/adolf-hitler/page/1. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.
Bullock, Allan, et al. "Adolf Hitler ." Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Apr. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler.
Engelhart, Katie. "The Return of Hitler." Maclean's, 21 Apr. 2010, www.macleans.ca/news/world/the-return-of-hitler/.
I think it is so interesting. Hitler is comparable to any of America's biggest serial killers. I sort of like to think of him as the first Ted Bundy or Charles Manson. All of them grew up with mostly normal childhoods. There was no trauma, no family opposition, nothing. They grew up to be young, handsome, charismatic men. Yet, they were still able to follow through with such horrible things.
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating that he took part in WW1, and after learning of the treachery of the trenches it amazes me that his anger manifested afterward. It seems like he was fascinated with war, even before he came to power. I do think the conditions he might of lived in where enough to make any man go mad, but the extent in which he took his madness is why we can't deny his evil nature.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to think of Hitler as just a mad man, but for the most part he was a good leader to his people. He seemed to really care about his country, he just blamed the wrong people for all the problems his country had.
ReplyDeleteI think we might really need to consider what we classify as a "good leader." If we can't fortell problematic elements we might all be doomed!
ReplyDeleteThere is a debate about whether Hitler was mad. Why do we think that you have to be mad to commit evil?
ReplyDeleteI also think we have to be careful about saying conditions sowed the seeds for Hitler bc millions lived under same conditions and/or do today. There is no excuse for shaming, ridiculing, or persecution under any circumstances--and that's just the initial early 1920s.
I feel like people have to find a reason for someone to commit a horrible crime. Automatically, people will blame criminals for their doings because of insanity, when that isn't always the case. I believe that Hitler got power hungry when he started to get higher up in ranking and wanted to be known for his actions, and he probably thought causing a mass genocide would bring a great amount of attention to himself. There are so many reasons for someone to commit evil but it seems like the easiest way to justify it would be through blaming it on being mad or insane. Criminals can commit heinous crimes because they want the attention or just because they have the power to do so, which is in Hitler's case with wanting so much power. Hitler had the power over a numerous amount of people that would do anything to please him. It's crazy what people would do for power and to stay on top.
DeleteKeep in mind that total #s are 11-12 million. In what ways does Hitler move beyond a Ted Bundy or a Charles Manson. And who says any of them were handsome? Might that be society's minds have a fascination with the perverse? I am glad we are having this discussion!
ReplyDeleteI really believe that even though Hitler was a terrible man and committed some terrible atrocities, he was a wonderful leader. He had to ability to convince an entire population to hate the Jews. He also convinced all of his men to kill 11-12 million people. Along with that, when Hitler would stand in front of crowds he was able to rally all of the people and it was something that only a great leader could do.
ReplyDelete