Adolf Hitler Dbq

Michael Paul Gomez

Luke Bonura

05/18/14

1B

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau, Austria, a small town across the Inn River from Germany. Shortly after he was born, his father, Alois Hitler, moved the family to Linz, Austria. Hitler went to school in Linz and did outstanding at first but once he got to high school his grades plummeted. Adolf’s father had hopes that his son would become a government worker as he did, but Adolf Hitler had wishes of becoming an artist.

In 1907, Hitler traveled to Vienna Austria to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. His pursuit failed when he failed the entrance exam to the Academy of Fine Arts. After his mother’s death in 1907, he decided to remain in Vienna. He reattempted

the entrance exam a year later with the same results. Instead of having one good job, he had a variety of odd jobs. During that time period he slept on park benches or in cheap roaming houses and often had to get meals from charity kitchens. While in Vienna, Hitler learned to hate all non-Germans. Hitler told Major Josef Hell (a journalist at the time):
“Once I really am in power, my first and foremost task will be the annihilation of the Jews.” Rather than being German himself, Hitler was an Austrian speaking German. He ridiculed the Austrian government for recognizing eight languages as official and believed that no government could last if it treated ethnic groups equally.
In 1914, Hitler went to Munich, Germany and enlisted in the German Army. While he was twice decorated for bravery, he only achieved the rank of corporal. After World War I, Hitler was in the hospital recovering from temporary blindness, while the country was in major bankruptcy and debt. Like other German nationalists, he believed that the German army had been betrayed by civilian leaders and Marxists. He found the Treaty of Versailles degrading, particularly the demilitarization of the Rhineland and the demand that Germany accept responsibility for starting the war. Hitler continued to work for the military as an intelligence officer after WWI. Hitler gained the trust of Anton Drexler, who invited Hitler to join the DAP, which he did in 1919. To increase its appeal, the DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP). Hitler personally designed the party banner for the NSDAP featuring a swastika in a white circle with a red background. In 1921, Hitler replaced Drexler as NSDAP party chairman.
Hitler's breathtaking speeches began attracting regular audiences. Early followers included army captain Ernst Rohm, the head of the Nazi paramilitary organization, the Sturmabteilung, which protected meetings and frequently attacked political opponents.
On November 8, 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people at a large beer hall in Munich.

Hitler announced that the national revolution had begun and declared the formation of a new government. After a short struggle including 20 deaths, the coup, known as the "Beer Hall Putsch," failed.

In 1932 ran for the presidency and came in second place. Paul von Hindenburg, the winner, appointed Hitler as chancellor in order to promote political balance. Hitler used his position as chancellor to from a legal dictatorship. The Reichstag Fire Decree, announced after a suspicious fire at the Reichstag, suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. Hitler also engineered the passage of the Enabling Act, which gave his cabinet full legislative powers for a period of four years and allowed deviations from the constitution.

In 1938, Hitler, along with several other European leaders, signed the Munich Agreement. The treaty ceded the Sudetenland districts to Germany, reversing part of the Versailles Treaty. As a result of the summit, Hitler was named Time magazine's Man of the Year for 1938. This diplomatic win only catalyzed his appetite for a renewed German dominance. On September 1, Germany invaded Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on

Germany.
On June 22, 1941, Hitler violated a non-aggression pact with Joseph Stalin, sending 3 million German troops into the Soviet Union. The invading force seized a huge area before the German advance was stopped outside Moscow in December 1941.
On December 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Hitler was now at war against the Allied Powers, which included the world's largest empire (Britain), the world's greatest financial power (the U.S.) and the world's largest army (the Soviet Union).
By early 1945, Hitler realized that Germany was going to lose the war.

The Soviets had driven the German army back into Western Europe, and the Allies were advancing into Germany. On April 29, 1945, Hitler married his girlfriend, Eva Braun, in a small civil ceremony in his Berlin bunker. Around this time, Hitler was informed of the assassination of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini(Roberts 73). Afraid of falling into the hands of enemy troops, Hitler and Braun committed suicide the day after their wedding, on April 30, 1945. Their bodies were carried to the bombed-out garden behind the Reich Chancellery, where they were burned. Berlin fell on May 2,

1945.

Work Cited
Elie Wiesel. “Adolf Hitler.” Time. 13 April 1998:1. Web.
Leena28. Studymode. October 2010. Web. May 2014.
Roberts, Jeremy. Adolf Hitler A Study in Hate. Rosen Publishing Group. 1956. Print.