Adolf Hitler was born in a small Austrian town, Branau Am Inn, on the 20th of April 1889. His father, Alois Hitler, was a senior customs officer in Austria while his mother – Klara – descended from a poor peasant family. In his early school life, Adolf had great intellectual potential and most of his colleagues admired him for his superb leadership qualities. However, his earlier stardom faded in the latter years of his schooling – in secondary school – when competition got tougher making him leave formal education in 1905. At the age of 18, Hitler moved alone to Vienna – the capital of Austria, to try his luck in the arts since it had been his best subject in school. He applied to both the Vienna School of Architecture and the Academy of Art, but both applications were rejected.
Spurred by his latest embarrassments, Hitler started developing an interest in politics and specifically in how the masses could be made to respond to certain topics that concerned them. This made him greatly interested in the anti-Semitic nationalist Christian-Socialist party. In 1914, Adolf volunteered for the German Army in the First World War, quickly rising to the rank of corporal and earning major accolades in the position. During this time, he also won several bravery awards, among them the Iron Cross First Class. With his great mastery of language, Hitler found himself at the heart of mighty support by majority of people who were now joining the anti-Semitic nationalist party. They were willing to do whatever he would suggest. By 1921, Hitler had become the party leader of the then rebranded National Socialist German Workers’ Party (also called Nazi). His support was mainly due to his oratory skills as well as the terrible economic conditions that existed at the time. With power within his reach, Adolf staged the famous Nazi Beer Hall Putsch that he hoped would oblige the Bavarian government to surrender and work with the Nazis. However, his attempt failed terribly and as a result, he was given jail sentence; though light in nature. On 30th January 1933, German President, Hindenburg, was obliged to appoint Hitler as his Chancellor considering the support he had amassed. He is widely known for his dictatorship from the time of his Chancellorship till his death. As a Chancellor, Hitler abolished every form of opposition in the guise of emergency control. When, in 1934, Hindenburg died, Hitler secured his power as the German leader.
Under his leadership, Hitler engaged in a massive rearmament plan, which he steered using propaganda and creating enemies in turn such as the Jews in preparation for Germany’s war with its rivals. He is actually thought as the main instigator during the Second World War. He died on the 30th of April 1945 after committing suicide, having failed in his attempt to attack Russia. His death preceded Germany’s ultimate surrender in the war. Despite his controversies, Hitler had a special liking for hands and was greatly fascinated by them. In fact, his library contained an assortment of drawings and pictures of hands belonging to different famous people in history.
Bibliography
Payne, R. The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. Dorset Press, 1973. Print.
