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Adolf HItler
*** Shopping-Tip: Adolf HItler
see
Adolf Hitler
'''Adolf Hitler''' (
April 20,
1889–
April 30,
1945) was the ''
Führer'' (leader) of the
National Socialist German Workers' Party and of
Nazi Germany from
1933 to
1945. In that capacity he was
Chancellor of Germany Chancellor of
Germany,
head of government, and
head of state, ruling as a
dictator.
{{catmore}}
Category:Categories by person Hitler, Adolf
Category:Anti-Semitism Hitler, Adolf
Category:Nazi leaders Hitler, Adolf
Category:World War II political leaders Hitler, Adolf
fr:Catégorie:Adolf Hitler
sl:Kategorija:Adolf Hitler
{| class="toccolours" align=center width=75%
|-
| style="background:#ccccff" align="center" | '''Adolf Hitler'''
|-
| style="background:#e6e6fa" align="center" | '''Hitler's life and views'''
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 90%;" | Hitler's death Death | :Category:Hitler family Family | Berghof (Hitler) Home | Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler Last will and testament | Adolf Hitler's medical health Medical health | ''Mein Kampf'' .html">Hitler's political beliefs Political beliefs | List of Adolf Hitler speeches Speeches | Vegetarianism of Adolf Hitler Vegetarianism
|-
| style="background:#e6e6fa" align="center" | '''Depictions of Hitler'''
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 90%;" | List of Adolf Hitler books Books on Hitler | ''Der Untergang'' .html">Hitler in popular culture ''Der Sieg des Glaubens'' | ''Triumph of the Will''
|}
{{sprotected}}
{{redirect|Hitler}}
{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 25em; font-size: 95%;" cellpadding="4"
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Adolf Hitler'''
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" |
Image:Adolf Hitler Bigger.jpg none|240px|Adolf Hitler
|-
| '''Date of birth'''
|
April 20,
1889
|-
| '''Date of death'''
|
April 30,
1945
|-
| '''Political Party'''
|
National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
|- valign="top"
| '''Political positions'''
|
*''
Führer'' (Leader) of the NSDAP (1921-1945)
*''
Chancellor of Germany Reichskanzler'' of Germany (1933-1945)
*''Führer and Reichskanzler'' (head of state) of Germany (1934-1945)
|}
'''{{Audio|de-Adolf Hitler.ogg|Adolf Hitler}}''' (
April 20,
1889 –
April 30,
1945) was
Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and ''
Führer'' (Leader) of
Germany from 1934 until his death. He was leader of the
National Socialist German Workers Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), better known as the
Nazism Nazi Party.
Hitler gained power in a Germany
Weimar Republic facing crisis after
World War I. He used
charismatic authority charismatic oratory and
Propaganda#Nazi Germany propaganda, appealing to economic need,
nationalism and
anti-Semitism to establish an authoritarian regime. With a restructured
economic system economy and rearmed
military, Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy with the intention of expanding German
Lebensraum ('living space') and triggered the
European Theatre of World War II European theater of
World War II by invading
Poland. At the height of their power, Germany and the
Axis Powers occupied much of
Europe, but they eventually were defeated by the
Allies of World War II Allies. By then, Hitler's
Racial policy of Nazi Germany racial policies had culminated, with Hitler's knowledge, in the
genocide of 11 million people, including about six million
Jews, in what is now known as
The Holocaust.
In the final days of the war,
Hitler's death Hitler committed suicide in
Führerbunker his underground bunker in
Berlin, together with his newly wed wife,
Eva Braun. The
Third Reich, which he proclaimed would last a thousand years, collapsed in only twelve.
Early years
Childhood and heritage
Image:Baby-hitler.jpg thumb|180px|right|Adolf Hitler as an infant.
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, at
Braunau am Inn,
Austria, a small town in
Upper Austria, on the border with
Germany. He was the fourth of six children of
Alois Hitler (1837–1903), a
customs (tax) customs official, and
Klara Pölzl, Alois's niece and third wife. Of these six children, only Adolf and his younger sister
Paula Hitler Paula reached adulthood. Alois Hitler also had a son (
Alois Hitler, Jr. Alois Junior) and a daughter (
Angela Hitler Angela) by his second wife. In ''
Mein Kampf'' Hitler describes his father as an "irascible tyrant," although there is little indication that Alois Hitler treated his son more strictly than was usual for that time and place. Adolf's strict
Roman Catholic Catholic upbringing was typical for the region. He served as an altar boy, sang in the choir, was baptized, took the sacraments and received Communion; a devout Christian, in public discourse he continued frequently to proclaim his Christianity.
[ "I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so." Adolf Hitler; from John Toland (author) John Toland, [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385420536 Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography], New York: Anchor Publishing, 1992, p. 507 (URL accessed January 16, 2006). "My feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter." by Adolf Hitler, in a speech delivered at Munich, April 12, 1922; from Norman H. Baynes, [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0598758933 The Speeches of Adolf Hitler: April 1922-August 1939, Vol. 1], New York: Oxford University Press, 1942, pp. 19-20 (URL accessed January 16, 2006).] However, as an adult he discontinued attending mass and therefore was not in this way a practicing Catholic.
His father Alois was born
illegitimacy out of wedlock and used his mother's surname, ''Schicklgruber'', until he was 40. In 1896, he began using the name of his
stepfather,
Johann Georg Hiedler, after visiting a priest responsible for
Births, deaths and marriages registry birth registries 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 to "Hitler" by a clerk. Later, Adolf Hitler was accused by his political enemies of not rightfully being a Hitler, but a Schicklgruber. This was also exploited in Allied
propaganda during the Second World War when
pamphlets bearing the phrase "Heil Schicklgruber" were
airdropped over German cities. Adolf was legally born a Hitler, however, and was also closely related to Hiedler through his mother's family.
Hitler was not sure who his paternal grandfather was, but it was probably either Johann Georg Hiedler or his brother
Johann von Nepomuk Hiedler. There have been rumours that Hitler was one-quarter
Jewish and that his paternal grandmother,
Maria Schicklgruber, had become pregnant after working as a servant in a Jewish household in
Graz, Austria Graz. During the 1920s, the implications of these rumours along with his known family history were politically explosive, especially for the proponent of a
racism racist ideology. Opponents tried to prove that Hitler, the leader of the
anti-Semitic Nazi Party, had Jewish or
Czech people Czech ancestors. Although these rumours were never confirmed, for Hitler they were reason enough to conceal his origins.
Soviet Union Soviet propaganda insisted Hitler was a Jew, though more modern research tends to diminish the probability that he had Jewish ancestors. Historians such as Werner Maser and
Ian Kershaw argue this was impossible, since the Jews had been expelled from Graz in the 15th century and were not allowed to return until well after Maria Schicklgruber's alleged
employment.
Because of Alois Hitler's profession, his family moved frequently, from
Braunau to
Passau, Lambach,
Leonding, and
Linz. As a young child, Hitler was reportedly a good student at the various
elementary schools he attended; however, in
sixth grade (1900-1), his first year of
high school (''Realschule'') in Linz, he failed completely and had to repeat the grade. His teachers reported that he had "no desire to work."
Image:AHWatercolor1.jpg Laon.html" title="Meaning of left left|thumb|200px|A watercolour by Adolf Hitler depicting [[Laon,
France..html" title="Meaning of thumb|200px|A watercolour by Adolf Hitler depicting [[Laon">left|thumb|200px|A watercolour by Adolf Hitler depicting [[Laon,
France.">thumb|200px|A watercolour by Adolf Hitler depicting [[Laon">left|thumb|200px|A watercolour by Adolf Hitler depicting [[Laon,
France.
Hitler later explained this educational slump as a kind of
rebellion against his father Alois, who wanted the boy to follow him in a career as a customs official, although Adolf wanted to become a
painter. This explanation is further supported by Hitler's later description of himself as a misunderstood artist. However, after Alois died on
January 3,
1903, when Adolf was 13, Hitler's schoolwork did not improve. At the age of 16, Hitler left school with no
qualifications.
Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich
From 1905 onward, Hitler was able to live the life of a
Bohemianism Bohemian on a fatherless child's
pension and support from his mother. After he was rejected twice by the
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (1907 – 1908) for "lack of talent" — which he resented deeply — he did not try to find another job or learn a profession. He was told he should become an
architect, since he had some flair for making architectural
sketch drawing sketches and
drawings. On
December 21,
1907, his mother Klara died a painful death from
breast cancer at the age of 47. Hitler gave his share of the
orphans' benefits to his younger sister Paula, but when he was 21 he inherited some money from an
aunt. He worked as a struggling painter in Vienna, copying scenes from
postcards and selling his paintings to
merchants and tourists (there is evidence he produced over 2000 paintings and drawings before
World War I). During this period, he became close friends with the musician
August Kubizek.
After the second refusal from the Academy of Arts, Hitler gradually ran out of money. By 1909, he sought refuge in a
homeless shelter, 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. Several biographers have noted that a Jewish resident of the house named Hanisch helped him sell his postcards.
It was in Vienna that Hitler first became an active anti-Semite. This was a common stance among Austrians at the time, mixing traditional religious prejudice with recent racist theories. Vienna had a large Jewish community, including many
Orthodox Jews from
Eastern Europe. ''(See
History of Vienna.)'' Hitler was slowly influenced over time by the writings of the race ideologist and anti-Semite
Lanz von Liebenfels and
polemics from
politicians such as
Karl Lueger, founder of the
Christian Social Party and
List of mayors of Vienna mayor of Vienna, and
Georg Ritter von Schönerer, leader of the pan-Germanic ''Away from Rome!'' movement. He later wrote in his book ''
Mein Kampf'' that his transition from opposing anti-Semitism on religious grounds to supporting it on racial grounds came from having seen an
Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Jew:
"There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become Europeanization Europeanized 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 faith 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.
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 stealthily 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?"
(''Mein Kampf'', vol. 1, chap. 2: "Years of study and suffering in Vienna")
Hitler began to claim the Jews were natural enemies of what he called the
Aryan race. He held them responsible for Austria's crisis. He also identified
Socialism and especially
Communism Bolshevism, which had some Jews among its leaders, as Jewish movements, merging his anti-Semitism with anti-Marxism. Blaming Germany's military defeat on the revolution, he considered Jews the culprit of Germany's military defeat and subsequent economic problems as well.
Generalising from tumultuous scenes in the parliament of multi-national Austria, he developed
a firm belief in the inferiority of the
parliamentary system, and especially
social democracy, which formed the basis of his political views. However, according to
August Kubizek, his close friend and
roommate at the time, he was more interested in the
operas of
Richard Wagner than in
politics.
Image:Hitler's Paintings - Landscape.jpg thumb|212px|left|A landscape painted by Adolf Hitler.
Hitler received a small inheritance from his father in May 1913 and moved to
Munich. 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
Houston Stewart Chamberlain. Moving to Munich also helped him escape
Conscription military service in Austria for a time, but the Austrian army later arrested him. After a physical exam (during which his height was measured at 173 cm, or 5 ft 8 in) and a contrite plea, he was deemed unfit for service and allowed to return to Munich. However, when Germany entered
World War I in August 1914, he immediately enlisted in the
Bavarian army.
World War I
Image:Adolf Hitler im Ersten Weltkrieg.jpg thumb|300px|right|Hitler (seated, far left) during World War I.
Hitler saw active service in
France and
Belgium as a messenger for the 16th Bavarian reserve
infantry regiment, which exposed him to enemy fire. He also drew some
cartoons and
Instruction instructional drawings for the army newspaper. 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 food or hard conditions, preferring to talk about
art or
history. He was twice cited for
bravery in action, receiving the
Iron Cross, Second Class in December 1914 and the Iron Cross, First Class in August 1918, an honour rarely given to a
Gefreiter. However, because of "a lack of leadership skills", he was never promoted to
Unteroffizier. During October 1916 in northern France, Hitler was
Wound wounded in the leg, but returned to the front in March 1917. He received the
Wound Badge 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 comrades because of an
Chain of command uncritical attitude toward officers. "Respect the superior, don't contradict anybody, obey blindly," he said, describing his attitude while on trial in 1924. One fellow soldier later remarked, "we all grumbled on him and found it intolerable that we had a white raven among us." (Heiden, 1936)
On
October 15,
1918, shortly before the end of the war, Hitler was admitted to a
field hospital, temporarily
Blindness blinded by a
poison gas attack. Research by Bernhard Horstmann indicates the blindness may have been the result of a
hysterical 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
physician and specialist in
psychiatry who reportedly diagnosed the corporal as "incompetent to command people" and "dangerously
psychotic." His commander at the time said, "I will never promote this hysteric!" (cited from Haiden, 1937) However, historian
Sebastian Haffner, referring to Hitler's experience at the front, suggests he did have at least some understanding of the military.
Two passages in ''
Mein Kampf'' mention the use of ''
poison gas'':
:''At the beginning of the Great War, or even during the War, if twelve or fifteen thousand of these Jews who were corrupting the nation had been forced to submit to poison-gas . . . then the millions of sacrifices made at the front would not have been in vain.'' (Volume 2, Chapter 15 "The Right to Self-Defence)
:''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 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.'' (Volume 1, Chapter 2 "Years of Study and Suffering in Vienna")
Hitler had long admired Germany and during the war he had become a passionate German
patriotism patriot, although he did not become a German citizen until 1932 (the year before he took over Germany). He was shocked by Germany's
capitulation in November 1918 even while the German army still held enemy territory. Like many other German
Nationalism nationalists, Hitler believed in the ''
Dolchstoßlegende'' ("dagger-stab legend") which claimed that the army, "undefeated in the field," had been "stabbed in the back" by civilian leaders and Marxists back on the
home front. These politicians were later dubbed the ''
November criminals''.
The
Treaty of Versailles imposed crippling reparations (including the
demilitarization of the
Rhineland) and other economically damaging sanctions, declaring Germany guilty for the horrors of the Great War. The treaty was perceived by most Germans as a
humiliation 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
{{main|Hitler's political beliefs}}
Image:Hitlermember.png thumb|right|Adolf Hitler's membership card for the German Workers' Party. Hitler wanted to create his own party, but was ordered by his superiors in the Reichswehr to infiltrate an existing one instead.
Hitler's entry and rise
After the war, Hitler remained in the army, which was mainly engaged in suppressing
socialist uprisings breaking out across Germany, including Munich (
Bavarian Soviet Republic), where Hitler returned in 1919. He took part in "national thinking" courses organized 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
Scapegoat#Political.2FSociological Scapegoating scapegoat 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
Weimar Coalition, who were deemed "
November criminals".
In July 1919, Hitler was appointed a ''V-Mann'' (''Verbindungsmann'' is the German term for a police spy) of "Aufklärungskommando" ("Intelligence Commando") of the
Reichswehr, for the purpose of influencing other soldiers toward similar ideas and was assigned to
Infiltration infiltrate a small nationalist party, the
German Workers' Party (DAP). During his
Adolf Hitler's inspection of the German Workers' Party inspection of the party, Hitler was impressed with
Anton Drexler Drexler's
anti-Semitic,
nationalist and anti-
Marxist ideas. Here Hitler also met
Dietrich Eckart, one of the early founders of the party, member of
Thule Society.
[Joachim C. Fest, [http://ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/festjc/chap2.htm The Drummer] in ''The Face Of The Third Reich'' (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1970; URL accessed June 11,2005).]
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 even larger crowds. In February, Hitler spoke before a crowd of nearly six thousand in
Munich. To publicize the meeting, he sent out two truckloads of Party supporters to drive around with
swastikas, cause a commotion and throw out
leaflets, their first use of this tactic. Hitler gained notoriety outside of the Party for his rowdy,
polemic 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
revolt among the DAP leadership in Munich.
The Party was run by an executive
committee whose original members considered Hitler to be overbearing and even
dictatorial. To weaken Hitler's position they formed an
alliance with a group of socialists from
Augsburg. Hitler rushed back to Munich and countered them by tendering his
resignation from the Party on
July 11,
1921. 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
Anton Drexler) held out at first. Meanwhile an
anonymous pamphlet appeared entitled ''Adolf Hitler: Is he a
traitor?'', attacking Hitler's lust for power and criticizing the violence-prone men around him. Hitler responded to its publication in a Munich newspaper by
Lawsuit suing for
libel and later won a small settlement.
The executive committee of the DAP 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
July 29,
1921, Adolf Hitler was introduced as
Führer 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
NSDAP).
Hitler's beer hall
oratory, attacking Jews,
Socialism socialists and
Liberalism liberals,
Capitalism capitalists and
Communism communists, began attracting adherents. Early followers included
Rudolf Hess, the former air force pilot
Hermann Göring, and the flamboyant army
captain Ernst Röhm, who became head of the Nazis'
Paramilitary organizations paramilitary organization, the
Sturmabteilung SA, 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
Erich Ludendorff during this time.
The Hitler Putsch
{{main|Beer Hall Putsch}}
Encouraged by this early support, Hitler decided to use Ludendorff as a front in an
coup attempt to seize power later known as the ''
Hitler Putsch'' (and sometimes as ''Beerhall Putsch or Munich Putsch''). The Nazi Party had copied the Italian
Fascism Fascists in appearance and also had adopted some programmatical points and now, in the turbulent year 1923, Hitler wanted to emulate
Benito Mussolini Mussolini's "
March on Rome" by staging his own "March on Berlin". Hitler and Ludendorff obtained the clandestine support of
Gustav von Kahr,
Bavaria's
de facto ruler along with leading figures in the
Reichswehr and the police. As political
posters show, Ludendorff, Hitler and the heads of the Bavarian police and military planned on forming a new government.
However on
November 8,
1923 Kahr and the military withdrew their support during a meeting in the Bürgerbräu beer hall. A surprised Hitler had them
Arrest arrested 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
Ernst Hanfstaengl friends and contemplated
suicide. He was soon arrested for
high treason and appointed
Alfred Rosenberg as temporary leader of the party but found himself in an environment somewhat receptive to his beliefs. During Hitler's trial, sympathetic magistrates allowed Hitler to turn his debacle into a
propaganda stunt. He was given almost unlimited amounts of time to present his arguments to the
court along with a large body of the German people, and his popularity soared when he voiced basic nationalistic sentiments shared by the public. On
April 1,
1924 Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at
Landsberg prison for the crime of conspiracy to commit treason. Hitler received favoured treatment from the guards and had much
fan mail from
Fan (aficionado) admirers. While at Landsberg he dictated his political book ''
Mein Kampf'' (''My Struggle'') to his deputy
Rudolf Hess. The book, dedicated to
Thule Society member
Dietrich Eckart, was both an autobiography and an exposition of his
political ideology. It was published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926 respectively, but did not sell very well until Hitler came to power (though 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
Julius Streicher, who now became
Gauleiter of
Franconia.
As Hitler was still banned from public speeches, he appointed
Gregor Strasser, who in 1924 had been elected to the
Reichstag (institution) Reichstag, as ''Reichsorganisationsleiter'', auhorizing him to organise the party in northern Germany. Gregor, joined by his younger brother
Otto Strasser Otto and
Joseph Goebbels, 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 ''
Führerprinzip'' 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 obedience from their inferiors. Consistent with Hitler's disdain for
democracy, all power and
authority devolved from the top down.
A key element of Hitler's appeal was his ability to convey a sense of offended national
pride caused by the
Treaty of Versailles imposed on the defeated
Second Reich German Empire by the
Allies of World War I Entente. Germany had lost economically important territory in Europe along with its
Colony colonies and in admitting to sole responsibility for the war had agreed to pay a huge
reparations bill totaling 32 billion
Gold mark marks. 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 "
Weimar 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
Weimar Republic until he had legally gained power and then to transform liberal democracy into an authoritarian dictatorship. Some party members, especially in the paramilitary
SA, opposed this strategy.
Ernst Röhm, Hitler's long-time associate and leader of the SA, ridiculed Hitler as "Adolphe Legalité", resigned from his post and emigrated to
Bolivia.
The Road to Power
{{main|Weimar Republic}}
Image:Inge Terboven and Hitler.jpg right|thumb|200px|Adolf Hitler with a little girl in traditional Bavarian dress.
The Brüning administration
The political turning point for Hitler came when the
Great Depression hit Germany in 1930. The
Weimar Republic had never been firmly rooted and was openly opposed by right-wing conservatives (including monarchists), Communists and the Nazis. As the parties loyal to the republic found themselves unable to agree on counter-measures, their
Grand Coalition broke up and was replaced by a minority cabinet. The new Chancellor
Heinrich Brüning, 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 led 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
Reichstag (institution) Reichstag, becoming the second largest party in Germany.
Image:Hitler walking out of Brown House after 1930 elections.jpg thumb|left|Hitler emerges from the Brown House in Munich (headquarters of the Nazi party during the last days of the Weimar Republic) after a post-election meeting in 1930.
Brüning's measure of budget consolidation and financial
austerity brought little economic improvement and was extremely unpopular. Under these circumstances, Hitler appealed to the bulk of German
farmers,
war veterans and the
middle-class who had been hard-hit by both the
inflation of the 1920s and the
unemployment of the Depression. Hitler received little response from the
Urban area urban working classes and traditionally Catholic regions.
Meanwhile in September 1931 Hitler's
niece Geli Raubal 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
President of Germany President Paul von Hindenburg in the scheduled
German presidential election, 1932 presidential elections. Though Hitler had left Austria in 1913, he still had not acquired German citizenship and hence could not run for public office. In February however, the state government of
Brunswick, 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. His campaign was called "Hitler über Deutschland" (Hitler over Germany). The name had a double meaning. Besides an obvious refrence to Hitler's dictitorial intentions, it also referred to the fact that Hitler was campaigning by airplane. This was a brand new political tactic that allowed Hitler to speak sometimes in two cities in one day, which was then unheard of at the time. Hitler ran against Hindenburg, who was supported by the Republican parties, the Communist candidate came in second on both rounds, attaining more than 35% of the vote during the second one in April. Although he lost, the election established Hitler as a realistic and fresh alternative in German politics.
The cabinets of Papen and Schleicher
President Hindenburg, influenced by the
Camarilla (history) Camarilla, 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
Franz von Papen as chancellor, heading a "cabinet of barons". Papen was bent on authoritarian rule and since in the Reichstag only the conservative
German National People's Party DNVP supported 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
Centre Party (Germany) Centre Party, 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
vote of no-confidence in the Papen government, supported by 84% of the deputies, the new Reichstag was dissolved and new elections were called in November. This time, 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
Kurt von Schleicher 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
Gregor Strasser. 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 toward the General's downfall, through forming an intrigue with the
camarilla (history) camarilla and
Alfred Hugenberg, media mogul and chairman of the
German National People's Party DNVP. Also involved were
Hjalmar Schacht,
Fritz Thyssen and other leading German businessmen. They financially supported the Nazi Party, which had been brought to the brink of bankruptcy by the cost of heavy campaigning. The businessmen 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."
["Die Übertragung der verantwortlichen Leitung eines mit den besten sachlichen und persönlichen Kräften ausgestatteten Präsidialkabinetts an den Führer der grössten nationalen Gruppe wird die Schlacken und Fehler, die jeder Massenbewegung notgedrungen anhaften, ausmerzen und Millionen Menschen, die heute abseits stehen, zu bejahender Kraft mitreissen." [http://www.glasnost.de/hist/ns/eingabe.html Glasnost archives]]
Finally, the President reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler Chancellor of a coalition government formed by the
NSDAP and
DNVP. Hitler and two other Nazi ministers (
Wilhelm Frick Frick,
Hermann Göring Göring) were to be contained by a framework of conservative cabinet ministers, most notably by Papen as
Vice-Chancellor of Germany Vice-Chancellor 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
January 30,
1933, in Hindenburg's office, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as
Chancellor during what some observers later described as a brief and simple ceremony.
Reichstag Fire and the March elections
Having become Chancellor, Hitler foiled all attempts to gain a majority in parliament and on that basis convinced President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag again. Elections were scheduled for early, but before that day, the
Reichstag fire Reichstag building was set on fire on February 27 under still unclear circumstances. Since a Dutch independent communist was found in the building, the fire was blamed on a Communist plot to which the government reacted with the
Reichstag Fire Decree of
February 28, which suspended basic rights including ''
habeas corpus''. Under the provisions of this decree, the
Communist Party of Germany Communist Party and other groups were suppressed; Communist functionaries and deputies were arrested, put to flight or murdered.
Image:Hindenburg_ernennt_Hitler.JPG thumb|right|220px|Day of Potsdam
Campaigning still continued, with the Nazis making use of paramilitary violence, anti-Communist hysteria and the government's resources for propaganda. On election day, 6 March, the NSDAP increased its result to 43.9% of the vote, remaining the largest party, but this success was marred by its failure to secure an absolute majority. Hence, Hitler had to maintain his
coalition with the
German National People's Party DNVP, which jointly had gained a slim majority.
The Day of Potsdam and the Enabling Act
On
21 March, the new Reichstag was constituted itself with an impressive opening ceremony held at Potsdam's garrison church. This "Day of Potsdam" was staged to demonstrate reconciliation and union between the revolutionary Nazi movement and "Old Prussia" with its elites and virtues. Hitler himself appeared not in Nazi uniform but in a tail coat, and humbly greeted the aged President Hindenburg.
Because of the Nazis' failure to obtain a majority on their own, Hitler's government confronted the newly elected
Reichstag (institution) Reichstag with the Enabling Act that would have vested the cabinet with
legislative powers for a period of four years. Though such a bill was not unprecedented, this act was different since it allowed for deviations from the constitution. As the bill required a two-thirds majority in order to pass, the government needed the support of other parties. The position of the
Centre Party (Germany) Centre Party as the largest non-Marxist party, turned out to be decisive. Under the leadership of
Ludwig Kaas, the party decided to assent to the Enabling Act in return for the government's oral guarantees regarding the
Roman Catholic Church Church's liberty, the concordats signed by German states and the existence of the Centre Party itself.
On
23 March, the Reichstag assembled in a replacement building under extreme turbulent circumstances. Some
Sturmabteilung SA men served as guards within while large groups outside the building shouted slogans and threats toward the arriving deputies. Kaas announced that the Centre would support the bill amid "concerns put aside.", while Social Democrat
Otto Wels denounced the Act in his speech. At the end of the day, all parties except the
Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democrats voted in favour of the bill. The
Enabling Act was dutifully renewed every four years, even through
World War II.
Removal of remaining limits
With this combination of legislative and
executive (government) executive power, Hitler's government further suppressed the remaining political
Opposition (politics) opposition. The
Communist Party of Germany KPD and the
Social Democratic Party of Germany SPD were banned, while all other political parties dissolved themselves.
Trade Union Labour unions were merged with employers' federations into an organisation under Nazi control and the autonomy of state governments was abolished.
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Hitler also used the
Sturmabteilung SA paramilitary to push Hugenberg into resigning and proceeded to politically isolate Vice Chancellor Papen. As the SA's demands for political and military caused much anxiety among the populace in general and especially among the military, Hitler used allegations of a plot by the SA leader
Ernst Röhm to purge the paramilitary force's leadership during the
Night of the Long Knives. Opponents unconnected with the
Sturmabteilung SA were also
Murder murdered, notably
Gregor Strasser and former Chancellor
Kurt von Schleicher.
Soon after, president
Paul von Hindenburg died on
2 August 1934. Rather than holding new presidential elections, Hitler's cabinet passed a law proclaiming 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
oath not to the state or the constitution but to Hitler personally. In a mid-August
plebiscite 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
{{main|Nazi Germany}}
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Having secured supreme political power, Hitler went on to gain their support by
Persuasion persuading most Germans he was their saviour from the Depression, the Communists, the Versailles Treaty, and the Jews along with other "undesirable"
minorities.
Economics and culture
Hitler oversaw one of the greatest expansions of
industrial production and civil improvement Germany had ever seen, mostly based on debt flotation and expansion of the military. Nazi policies toward women strongly encouraged them to stay at home to bear children and keep house. The
unemployment rate was cut substantially, mostly through arms production and sending women home so that men could take their jobs. Given this, claims that the
Economy of Germany German economy achieved near
full employment are at least partly artifacts of propaganda from the
era. Much of the financing for Hitler's reconstruction and rearmament came from currency manipulation by
Hjalmar Schacht, including the clouded credits through the
Mefo bills. The negative effects of this
inflation were offset in later years by the acquisition of foreign
gold from the treasuries of conquered nations.
Hitler also oversaw one of the largest
infrastructure improvement campaigns in German history, with the construction of dozens of
dams,
autobahns,
railroads and other civil works. Hitler's
Policy policies 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
The rise and fall of the third reich (Shirer 1959).
Hitler's government
Sponsorship sponsored architecture on an immense scale, with
Albert Speer becoming famous as the first architect of the Reich. While important as an Architect in implementing Hitler's classicist reinterpretation of German culture, Speer would prove much more effective as armaments minister during the last years of WWII. In 1936 Berlin hosted the
1936 Summer Olympics summer Olympic games, which were opened by Hitler and
Choreography choreographed to demonstrate
Aryan superiority over all other races. ''
Olympia (film) Olympia'', the movie about the games and documentary propaganda films for the German Nazi Party were directed by Hitler's personal filmmaker
Leni Riefenstahl.
Although Hitler made plans for a ''
Breitspurbahn'' (
broad gauge railroad network), they were pre-empted by World War II. Had the railroad been built, its gauge would have been three metres, even wider than the old
Great Western Railway of Britain.
Hitler contributed to the design of the
car that later became the
Volkswagen Beetle, and charged
Ferdinand Porsche with its construction.
[Robert Wistrich,Who's Who in Nazi Germany (New York: Routledge, 2002), p. 193.]
Repression
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The ''Gestapo-SS complex'' (the
Schutzstaffel SS and
Gestapo organizations) were primarily responsible for
political repression repression in the Nazi state. This was implemented not only against political enemies such as communists but also against perceived "asocials" such as habitual
criminals 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
Nuremberg Laws 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
emigration of many thousands but nevertheless turned increasingly violent in the mid to late 1930s. In 1938 a
pogrom orchestrated by
Joseph Goebbels and endorsed by Hitler called
Kristallnacht destroyed many Jewish businesses and
synagogues 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
Star of David#Abuse of the Star of David by the Nazis Star of David in public. Throughout the 1930s the Propaganda Ministry disseminated anti-Semitic propaganda.
Rearmament and new alliances
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In March 1935 Hitler repudiated the
Treaty of Versailles by reintroducing
Conscription conscription in Germany. He set about building a massive military machine, including a new Navy (the ''
Kriegsmarine'') and an Air Force (the ''
Luftwaffe''). The enlistment of vast numbers of men and women in the new military seemed to solve
unemployment problems but seriously distorted the economy. For the first time in a generation, Germany's armed forces were as strong as those of her
Antagonist antagonistic neighbour,
France.
In March 1936 Hitler again violated the
Treaty of Versailles by reoccupying the
Demilitarized zone demilitarized zone in the
Rhineland. When
United Kingdom Britain and France did nothing, he grew bolder. In July 1936 the
Spanish Civil War began when the military, led by General
Francisco Franco, rebelled against the elected
Popular Front (Spain) Popular Front government of
Spain. 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
Guernica, which was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in April 1937, prompting
Pablo Picasso's famous
eponym eponymous painting (see
Guernica (painting) Guernica).
An
Axis was declared between Germany and Italy by
Galeazzo Ciano,
foreign minister of
Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini on
October 25,
1936. This
alliance was later expanded to include
Japan,
Hungary,
Romania and
Bulgaria. They were collectively known as the
Axis Powers. Then on
November 5,
1937, at the
Reich Chancellory, Adolf Hitler held a secret meeting and stated his plans for acquiring "living space" (
Lebensraum) for the German people.
The Holocaust
{{main|Holocaust}}
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Schutzstaffel SS (charged with rounding up Jews,
Roma people Gypsies and so-called "enemies of the state")..html" title="Meaning of Adolf Hitler with [[Heinrich Himmler">frame|Adolf Hitler with [[Heinrich Himmler, chief of the
Schutzstaffel SS (charged with rounding up Jews,
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Schutzstaffel SS (charged with rounding up Jews,
Roma people Gypsies and so-called "enemies of the state").
Between 1939 and 1945 the SS, assisted by
collaborationist governments and recruits from
Military occupation occupied countries, systematically killed about 11 million people, including about 6 million Jews
["There is no precise figure for the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. The figure commonly used is the six million quoted by Adolf Eichmann, a senior SS official. Most research confirms that the number of victims was between five to six million." [http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_holocaust/faqs/answers/faq_3.html How many Jews were murdered in the Holocaust? How do we know? Do we have their names?]; FAQs About The Holocaust, Yad Vashem (URL accessed on January 3, 2006)]
"Between 1942 and 1944, Nazi Germany deported millions more Jews from the occupied territories to extermination camps, where they murdered them in specially developed killing facilities" [http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005143 The Holocaust]; ''Holocaust Encyclopedia'', United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (URL accessed on January 3, 2006)., in
concentration camps,
ghettos and mass
executions, or through less systematic methods elsewhere. Besides being gassed to death, many also died of
starvation and
disease while working as
Slave labour slave labourers. Along with Jews, non-Jewish
Poland Poles (over 3 million of whom died), alleged
communists or political opposition, members of resistance groups,
homosexuality homosexuals,
dissenting Roman Catholics and
Protestants,
Roma (people) Roma, the physically
Disability handicapped and mentally
retarded,
Soviet Union Soviet Prisoner of war prisoners of war,
Jehovah's Witnesses and the Holocaust Jehovah's Witnesses, anti-Nazi
clergy,
trade union trade unionists, and
psychiatric patients were killed. This industrial-scale
genocide in Europe is referred to as the
Holocaust (the term is also used by some
authors 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 "
genocide" (the ''
Final Solution Endlösung der jüdischen Frage'' or "
Final Solution Final Solution of the Jewish Question") were planned and ordered by leading Nazis, with
Heinrich Himmler Himmler 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 ''
Einsatzgruppen'' and the evidence also suggests that sometime in the fall of 1941 Himmler and Hitler agreed in principle on mass extermination by gassing. During
interrogations by Soviet
intelligence officers declassified over fifty years later, Hitler's
valet Heinz Linge and his military
aide Otto Gunsche said Hitler had "pored over the first
blueprints of
gas chambers."
To make for smoother intra-governmental
cooperation in the implementation of this "Final Solution" to the "Jewish question", the
Wannsee conference was held near Berlin on
January 20,
1942, with fifteen senior officials participating, led by
Reinhard Heydrich and
Adolf Eichmann. The records of this meeting provide the clearest evidence of central planning for the Holocaust. Days later, on
February 22, Hitler was recorded saying to his closest associates, "we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jew".
World War II
Opening moves
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1940.">right|Adolf Hitler in Paris, [[23 June">thumb|right|Adolf Hitler in Paris, [[23 June
1940.
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Ion Antonescu (far left).
On
March 12,
1938, Hitler pressured his native
Austria into
unification with Germany (the
Anschluss) and made a triumphal entry into
Vienna. Next, he intensified a crisis over the German-speaking
Sudetenland districts of
Czechoslovakia. This led to the
Munich Agreement of September 1938, which authorized the annexation and immediate military occupation of these districts by Germany. As a result of the summit, Hitler was ''
Time Magazine TIME'' magazine's
Man of the Year in 1938.
United Kingdom British prime minister Neville Chamberlain hailed this agreement as "Peace in our time", but by giving way to Hitler's military demands Britain and France also left Czechoslovakia to Hitler's mercy.
Hitler ordered Germany's army to enter
Prague on
March 10 1939 and from
Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia protectorate. After that, Hitler was claiming territories ceded to
Poland under the
Treaty of Versailles Versailles Treaty. Britain had not been able to reach an agreement with the
Soviet Union for an alliance against Germany, and, on
August 23,
1939, Hitler concluded a secret
non-aggression pact (the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) with
Joseph Stalin Stalin on which it was likely agreed that Soviet Union and Nazi Germany would partition Poland. On
September 1, 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, Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland.
After conquering Western Poland by the end of September, Hitler built up his forces much further during the so-called ''
Phony War''. In April 1940, he ordered German forces to march into
Denmark and
Norway. In May 1940, Hitler ordered his forces to attack
France, conquering the
Netherlands,
Luxembourg and
Belgium in the process. France
Surrender surrendered on
June 22,
1940. This series of victories convinced his main ally,
Benito Mussolini of Italy, to join the war on Hitler's side in May 1940.
United Kingdom Britain, whose defeated forces had evacuated France from the coastal town of
Dunkirk, France Dunkirk, continued to fight with Canadian forces in the
Battle of the Atlantic. After having his overtures for peace systematically rejected by the British Government, now led by
Winston Churchill, Hitler ordered
bombing raids on the British Isles, leading to the
Battle of Britain, a
prelude of the planned German invasion. The attacks began by pounding the
Royal Air Force RAF airbases and the
radar stations protecting South-East England. However, the
Luftwaffe failed to defeat the
Royal Air Force RAF by the end of October 1940. Air superiority for the invasion, code-named
Operation Sealion, could not be assured and Hitler ordered bombing raids to be carried out on British cities, including
London and
Coventry, mostly at night.
Path to defeat
On
June 22,
1941, Hitler gave the signal for three million German troops to attack the
Soviet Union, breaking the
non-aggression pact he had concluded with Stalin less than two years earlier. This invasion, code-named
Operation Barbarossa, seized huge amounts of territory, including the
Baltic region Baltic states,
Belarus, and
Ukraine, along with the
encirclement and destruction of many Soviet forces. German forces, however, were stopped short of
Moscow in December 1941 by the Russian
General Winter winter and fierce Soviet resistance (see
Battle of Moscow), and the invasion failed to achieve the quick triumph over the Soviet Union which Hitler had anticipated.
Hitler's declaration of war against the
United States on
December 11,
1941, (which arguably was called for by Germany's treaty with
Japan) set him against a coalition that included the world's largest empire (the
British Empire), the world's greatest industrial and financial power (the
United States USA), and the world's largest army (the
Soviet Union).
In May 1942
Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking
SS officer and one of Hitler's favourite subordinates and possible political heir, was assassinated by British-trained Czech operatives in Prague. Hitler reacted by ordering brutal reprisals, including the massacre of
Lidice.
In late 1942, German forces under
Field Marshal Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel were defeated in the
Second Battle of El Alamein second battle of El Alamein, thwarting Hitler's plans to seize the
Suez Canal and the
Middle East. In February of 1943, the lengthy
Battle of Stalingrad ended with the complete encirclement and destruction of the German
German Sixth Army 6th Army. Both defeats were turning points in the war, although the latter is more commonly considered primary. From this point on, the quality of Hitler's military judgement became increasingly
erratic and Germany's military and economic position deteriorated. Hitler's health was deteriorating too. His left hand started shaking uncontrollably. The biographer
Ian Kershaw believes he suffered from
Parkinson's disease. Other conditions that are suspected by some to have caused some (at least) of his symptoms are
methamphetamine addiction and
syphilis.
Hitler's ally
Benito Mussolini was overthrown in 1943 after
Operation Husky, an American and British invasion of Sicily. Throughout 1943 and 1944, the
Soviet Union steadily forced Hitler's armies into retreat along the
Eastern Front (World War II) eastern front. On
June 6,
1944 the Western allied armies landed in northern France in what was the largest
Amphibious warfare amphibious operation ever conducted,
Operation Overlord. Realists in the German army knew defeat was inevitable and some officers plotted to remove Hitler from power. In July 1944 one of them,
Claus von Stauffenberg, planted a
bomb at Hitler's military headquarters in
Rastenburg (the so-called
July 20 Plot), 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
strangulation). The main resistance movement was destroyed although smaller isolated groups such as
Die Rote Kapelle continued to operate.
Defeat and death
{{main|Hitler's death}}
By the end of 1944, the
Red Army had driven the last German troops from Soviet territory and began charging into Central Europe. The
Western Allies western allies were also rapidly advancing into Germany. The Germans had lost the war from a military perspective, but Hitler allowed no
negotiation with the Allied forces, and as a consequence the German military forces continued to fight. Hitler's stubbornness and defiance of military realities also allowed the continued mass killing of Jews and others to continue. He even issued the
Nero Decree on March 19 1945, ordering the destruction of what remained of German industry, communications and transport. However,
Albert Speer who was in charge of that plan didn't carry it out. (The
Morgenthau Plan for postwar Germany, promulgated by the Allies, aimed at a similar deindustrialization, but also failed to carry it out.)
In April 1945 Soviet forces were at the
Battle of Berlin gates of Berlin. Hitler's closest lieutenants urged him to flee to
Bavaria or Austria to make a last stand in the mountains, but he seemed determined to either live or die in the capital.
Schutzstaffel SS leader
Heinrich Himmler tried on his own to inform the Allies (through the
