Adolf Hitler Essay

Adolf Hitler remains one of the most infamous figures in human history. He will be known as the worst person at the worst time in human history. When an otherwise indignant Germany actually threw Hitler in jail for his views on overthrowing the government in 1923, all of a sudden is embraced as a patriot and the man who would be able to restore Germany to her past glory only a decade later. There have been scores of psychological books and studies which have tried to explain why an entire nation of sixty million people could have allowed, ignored and even assisted in not only allowing such a man to come to power and to fight and die for his warped sense of justice, but to allow to occur, the worst chapter in human history: The Holocaust. Despite there being no clear reason as to who started World War I and with there occurring a virtual stalemate on the battlefield, Germany was nevertheless blamed for the war and the Allies sought to punish Germany accordingly. In the years that followed, Germany was thrown into a deep depression, filled with record inflation, discontent and frustrations as they sought to find a scapegoat to help explain their problems. Hitler gave the German people the answer that they wanted at the time that they were desperately looking for a leader to pull them out of the meager existence that had plagued Germany since the end of World War I. Hitler would use the benefits of industrialization that had made many fearful and intimated by Germany’s power and military strength. Hitler was therefore able to threaten the world with Germany’s industrial strength through the economic and political climate that was present in Germany at that time. Hitler exploited these to his benefit and to the shame of Germany and the rest of the world. Adolf Hitler became aware of the world during his fighting in World War I. Hitler was twice honored for his bravery and was given the Iron Cross in August of 1918. However, it was his constant fighting with his superiors and violent temper which prevented Hitler from being promoted within the ranks of the Army. Also, Hitler not being a German citizen also served as an impediment. Hitler was a citizen of Austria but had long admired Germany and seemed to feel her pain towards the one sided terms of the Versailles Treaty as much as any German national had felt. Hitler was wounded in the war and was later exposed to chemical gas which some historians and psychologists have given credit to the formulation of hysteria within Hitler. It was during this time that Hitler became convinced that Germany would need to be saved from her current plight and that he was the one who could bring such glory. It was also at this time, as seen five years later in his writing of Mein Kampf, Hitler knew that this would have to be accomplished through the extermination of the Jews. In his autobiography, Hitler states: â€Å"At the beginning of the Great War, or even during the War, if twelve of fifteen thousand of these Jews who were corrupting the he nation had been forced to submit to poison gas and all of her crippling effects, then the millions of sacrifices at the front would not have been made in vain. † Hitler took the lead in blaming the Jews for the troubles of Germany and sought to reclaim her greatness in any ways possible, One of the ways in which Hitler sought to reclaim Germany’s prominence in the world was a rapid arms build up, brought on by her highly industrialized factories. This was in high contrast to the condition that the Treaty of Versailles has left Germany after the war. Germany hade only six battleships, no air force, no submarines and an armed forces of less than 100,000. Hitler sought to overhaul the infrastructure of Germany and was soon involved in the largest physical improvement in German history. â€Å"In only a few short years after Hitler was elected, he had thousands of workers employed, building thousands of bridges, dams, miles of railroads and other most important civil works. † The architect Albert Speer was named the architect of the Reich and was responsible for reviving Germany’s past glory through the construction of stadiums and other monuments to the greatness of the Third Reich to levels that were never before seen in Europe. One of these stadiums was in Berlin as it was the host of the 1936 Olympics. Over 100,000 Germans crammed the seats to see if Hitler’s theories were correct concentrating the racial superiority of the Aryan race. Through the efforts of Jesse Owens and Jesse Metcalf, Hitler was proven wrong. Hitler did not let this minor setback stop him from his building and in flexing the industrial muscle of the German nation. When Hitler took over control, Germany had no air force. In the months leading up to his invasion of Poland, Germany could boast of having the largest air force in the world; three time larger than Britain’s Royal Air Force and even larger than much of America’s armed forces and their isolationist views. This influence towards a more industrialized Germany, did not escape the other forms of German military might. The most modern weaponry the world had ever known, in the form of the toughest tanks, the fastest planes and the most high tech artillery as well as a build up of over a million fighting men by 1935, made Germany a very dangerous member of what would later be known as the Axis Powers. Germany’s industrial might was so strong that Charles Lindbergh, the once hero of American youth, proclaimed that it was in the best interest of America to appease Germany as the United States had no hope of every being able to compete with her military strength and specifically her air power. Lindbergh’s comments propelled his fall from grace but there was scarily anyone who could disagree with his assertions concerning Germany’s superiority on any factual grounds. This was the design of Hitler from the start. Hitler would seek to either scare the surrounding countries into submission or confidently invade with superior forces, brought on by his industrializing of Germany’s factories, those that did not buckle under his threats. In this respect, Hitler was able to incite complete submission and cooperation from countries such as Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Poland without firing a single shot and France after only two weeks of fighting. Had Hitler not sought to build up Germany’s military and economic might through her industrial strengths almost immediately after he took become the Fuhrer and within his preparation in the hope of a much greater victory, these decisive victories would have been unlikely to materialize in the ways in which they did. When the American Stock Market crashed on Tuesday October 29, 1929, not only did America’s financial economy crash but so too did many of the world’s economies. Germany was especially vulnerable because her industry had been built upon foreign trade and foreign capital. Germany’s economy came to a halt when those loans came due and foreign trade stopped. Hitler had now know that his chance to rise had come. Once an unorganized and brutish troublemaker, Hitler had become very politically savvy and knew that a different approach was now needed in order for his views, once seen as reactionary, to be taken seriously. Millions of people were unemployed and thousands of small German businesses had gone out of business. Inflation was very high and starvation on the minds of everyone. That is why Hitler’s 1932 Presidential slogan was â€Å"Freedom and Bread! † Hitler lost the election by seven million votes but was ready for the run off election and it was then that he escalated his attack on the Jews as the source of Germany’s downfall and their removal from Germany being the only way in which Germany could reclaim their glorious past. Hitler was able to exploit the current economic conditions in Germany, only by political means. When Hitler had first attempted to overthrow the German government in 1923, he was swiftly thrown in jail. Hitler recognized the absolute necessity of exterminating democracy from Germany and that in order to do that, he would have to become the ruler of Germany and from there, could rewrite Germany’s laws that would increase his power and help his dream of a new world order, one that would last a thousands years, to be established. It is interesting to see that the political power of the Nazis increased exponentially and in tune with the discontent that the average German felt with his government and Germany’s place in the world. In May of 1924, The Nazi party received only 6. 5% of the popular vote. When the Great Depression finally came to Germany in the summer of 1930, the Nazi Party enjoyed an increase in their political power as they received 18. 3% of the popular vote was able to acquire 107 seats in the Reichstag. When Hitler was announced as the Nazi party’s candidate for president, the Nazi Party received 37. 4% of the vote and by March of 1933, Hitler finally became the chancellor of Germany with more than 43% of the popular vote and the ability to send 288 of their own members to the Reichstag. This was an amazingly quick rise to power for a political party that had once been on the brink of German politics and how was on their way to rule not only Germany, but a dozen other surrounding countries while having designs on the rest of the world. Adolf Hitler Essay Adolf Hitler was a notorious dictator over Germany during World War II. Hitler was a unique but complex individual that was heavenly influenced by his upbringing. Hitler became the dictator over Germany during the years of 1933 to 1945. During his dictatorship, Hitler participated in the World War II and was the cause of the Holocaust. The Great Depression provided Hitler with an opportunity to rule. Once Hitler realized the opportunity to overtake Germany, he began to run for fuhrer. Hitler was elected fuherer over Germany in 1933 and began the rise of the Nazi party. When the year of 1935 came around, Hitler had complete power. He started by beginning the Nazi army and separating the Jews from everyone else. The Jews were sent to very brutal concentration camps where they were held hostage and faced with death. At this time the genocide was in full attack. The mass murder of the Holocaust lasted for approximately four brutal years and ended when the American troops invaded Germany and over powered Hitler. â€Å"Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau, Austria, a small town across the Inn river from Germany. † (Hoffmanl). Hitler moved to Germany in 1893 and remained there until his death. As Hitler grew up he began to have many feuds within his household. Hitler mainly argued with his father, Alois Hitler. His father did not agree with his interest in art and German nationalism. His interest fueled his evil ways. During Hitler’s earlier years as a child his younger brother, Edmund Hitler died. When Edmund died, the family had a falling out and resulted in many problems throughout the family. When Hitler grew up, he moved out of the house and had major money problems. When World War II broke out, Hitler Joined the army and was present in multiple battles. Adolf Hitler pointed out the Jews out of everyone in Germany. Hitler was very active in the German army and participated in World War l. World War I Adolf Hitler Essay Adolf Hitler was one of the most authoritative tyrants of 20th century. He was an originator and leader of the Nazi Party. The crisis in the economy, policy and society form the milieu for Hitler to attain power. Hitler was blessed with powerful speaking excellence. His passion and his speech motivated people tremendously. Hitler observed a nation in misery and promised to build a strong nation, disengage the justice of the Versailles treaty and restore the dignity of German people. During his time, nation was undergoing with unemployment and starving citizens. He promised them for economic success and secure future for the youth. Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on 20 April 1889. At academic level, he was not an exceptional student as indicated in school records. He dropped school in September 1905 without appearing in final examinations because of a poor school report that drew particular attention to his insufficient command of the German language. School age was very troubled and to defend Hitler, it can be said that teenage years were disturbing due to the deaths of his younger brother Edmund (1900), his father (1903) and his beloved mother (1908). Some biographers have recommended that these deaths and his own survival influenced Hitler that he was marked out by providence for a particular outlook. From school period, Hitler had become a fervent German nationalist. The death of Hitler’s parents had impacted him greatly but he continued his studies in order to obtain an orphan’s annuity. In 1919, he joined a small group called the German’s worker party. Hitler revealed a powerful ability for public speaking as well as giving the new Party its sign the swastika and its greeting â€Å"Heil! † His speech contents were throaty, jarring voice, for all the bombastic, humorless, and melodramatic, which dominated listeners by impression of his tenor of gift for self-dramatization. During 1920, Adolf Hitler was represented as the chief mover in the expansion of a Nazi foreign policy program. Hitler was familiar as Fuhrer of a progress, which had 3,000 members, and improved his individual command by organizing strong- arm squads to keep order at his conventions and ruined those of his rivals during 1921. Hitler had a strong sense of German patriotism. When the First World War broke out, he enrolled for Army, acted as a herald in front. The German conquer sickened him â€Å"However, since the main sources for Hitler’s ideas before 1923 are frequently short police or newspaper reports on speeches lasting between two and three hours, one cannot be entirely confident about conclusions based on this evidence† (Geoffrey Stoakes, pg:5). His rise to authority was entirely resistible. His early life indicates little intelligence or quality of the demagogic leader, which can have such a deep impact on the world arena. Usually, he was out of favor for work, was messy and did not maintain personal discipline. According to his age groups, he was competent of rousing himself over an issue that attracted his mind’s eye. He was a vegetarian. Reading and talking politics, listening to Wagner and watching films were his fervor. Hitler’s reading habits were good and he usually covers the texts at wide level not deeply. His memory was very sharp and he liked the writings of philosopher Nietzsche, Karl May, a writer of Westerns, and works on medicine, biology, astrology and occultism. Though all of them excite him but he did not concentrate intellectual curiosity in any single field. Yet, he measured himself as he had a mastery over history, art and architecture. † Commenting on reading in Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote: â€Å"Reading is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. One who has cultivated the art of reading will instantly discern, in a book or journal or pamphlet, what ought to be remembered because it meets one’s personal needs or is of value as general knowledge† (Hitler 1939:42-3). It is obvious that Hitler tried to communicate the sense of wider learning than, in fact, he actually had. During his student life, his formal education was interrupted but his reliance on self-learning continued with his disdain for intellectuals and formal education. Hitler was a man with a closed mind for whom reading was a means of reinforcing his own prejudices. He had a very selfish, frustrated, distant, unapproachable, lonely young man unloved and unloving personality in Vienna. Hitler was differentiated in mass by his extraordinary power in political convictions and his stanch belief in his own rightness and fortune. Hitler’ main aim was the Nazi movement and to empower Germany. In 1923, Hitler planned to grab control of Bavaria and capture power but he failed. He devised a new style of politics. He understood the significance of rituals and display in mass mobilization. Nazi party line skillfully projected him as a messiah, a savior, as someone who had arrived to overcome people from their distress. Hitler was not an innovative philosopher. He got bundle of ideas from his diverse reading in boyhood and his time in Vienna and later on as a soldier in the First World War. Recent studies verify that personal thinking of Hitler was neither a mess of national baloney nor merely a disciple aspiration to make safe an electoral success earlier to 1933. The obvious truth is that the young Adolf Hitler represent upon a well- established German belief for four of his major ideas that are his unshakeable belief in the superiority of the German race and particularly of Aryans; his utter contempt for parliamentary democracy; his belief in the heroic leader figure; and his vehement anti-Semitism. In Hitler’s Weltanschauung (worldview), major themes show the roots and past history his nationalist thought. This was due to Hitler’s capacity to activate a mass movement and ultimately secure supremacy on the basis of these thoughts. Hitler loathed the ramshackle and international Empire and enthusiastically believed that Germans rule must be there without compromise to the Slavs and other peoples. There is a light sarcasm that Hitler’s obsessive German nationalism sprung from his Austrian roots. In Vienna Hitler started his political apprenticeship through careful observation of the demagogic method of Karl Lueger, leader of the Christian Social Party and mayor of the city. Hitler admired Lueger because â€Å"he had a rare gift of insight into human nature and was very careful not to take men as something better than they were in reality† (Hitler 1939:94). Lueger’s scorn was shared by Hitler for the masses and identified with his obsessive, anti-Semitism with its vicious sexual connotation and apprehension with racial purity. Hitler had a great influence in the importance given to the fable of Aryan race preeminence and the keeping out of Jews from the Volk group of people. Even though Hitler and pan-German agitators had difference of opinion on nationalistic thoughts, Hitler straight away impacted on Munich through the self-dramatization talent where he rapidly gained a status as a populist demagogue. In August 1920, he was phrased as the sharpest of all protesters â€Å"carrying out mischief in Munich† by the Social Democratic Munchner Post. Hitler would later assert that his ideas had been definitely time-honored before 1914. Hitler’s hub of infatuated viewpoint and chauvinisms continued steady but in mid 1920s, his worldwide view modified and crystallized. His antipathy towards Marxism was firmly linked by his anti-Semitism approach, which was viewed as its political and ideological expression; his own self-image went through a process of change; and the geopolitical idea of Lebensraum appeared as a central board of Germany’s upcoming foreign policy. Hitler was much affected by experiencing war, the mortification of defeat and the radical turbulence in Munich. These all provided him with chances to publicize his right-wing analysis (David Welch, pg: 4-12). By any elongate of the thoughts Hitler’s rise and fall was unusual. It was surprising that he was not a scholar. He created no great workings of philosophy or art. He was not a mastermind-armed leader. He remained in command for 12 years and by 1941 he ruled a European empire not seen during Napoleon. He was also the troublemaker of a genocidal war of supreme scope and viciousness. Adolf Hitler Essay Winston is not ignorant and loyal to Big Brother, he lacks the ability of ‘doublethink’ and does not completely believe everything he is told especially since his job at the Ministry of Truth is rewriting history. For history being rewritten by the Party shows the repressive control on the past and future because we depend on knowing the mistakes of the past in order to correct them in the future, â€Å"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. † Orwell demonstrates that people can be controlled through cultural conditioning, this is because people will put their faith in a government that they believe tells them the truth. Winston’s profession leads him to rebel against the Party by writing about the present in his diary to inform the people of the future what actually occurred in the past. Winston wrote in his diary entry, â€Å"If there is hope†¦ it lies in the proles. † This rebellious thought written in Winston diary shows that the proles are the only ones that can actually rebel against the Party because the proles aren’t put in rigorous monitoring that members of the Party, like Winston, are. This is because the Party sees the proles as not intelligent since they seem pleased with their life because they are satisfied to have food, shelter and entertainment. This links back to what I stated about the proles being the largest population in Oceania and are being manipulated by the Party, this is the reason why they didn’t overthrow the Party because they have an elevated image for the Party without realising that they are living in poverty. Orwell creates a picture of a society that is influenced by the government through Winston diary. The word ‘hope’ indicates that something virtuous may happen and this would cause the readers to believe that Winston rebellious tactic of writing in his diary would be the spark that saves Oceania. Another form of Winston rebellion against the Party is the forbidden love between him and Julia. From the third person narrative we’re informed of Winston emotions for Julia. At the beginning Winston disliked and desired to rape and kill Julia. When Winston first encounters Julia, he doesn’t want to lie to her, so he introduces himself to her by saying, â€Å"I hated the sight of you. I wanted to rape you and then murder you afterwards. † Julia being a part of the Junior Anti- Sex League and working in the Ministry of Truth causes Winston to be suspicious of Julia as she could be a spy working with the Inner Party. Orwell could be showing us how oppressed Winston truly is since he wants to do horrid things to Julia because he desires her and doesn’t trust her at the same time, Winston assumes Julia is a part of the thought police. In Oceania the society is influenced by the government through destroying trust between people, the creation of the thought police and the fear that lies in Room 101. This is the reason why Winston struggles to trust Julia until she confesses to him by slipping a note that says, â€Å"I love you. † This causes him to be confused about his emotions because his heart tells him that he loves her, but his brain screams she’s a traitor working as a spy for the Inner Party. Nevertheless, this doesn’t stop Winston from pursuing a sexual relationship with Julia as a form of rebellion. When Mr Charrington let Winston rent a room without telescreen for him and Julia to have an illegal love affair, this was the spark that lead him and Julia to the Ministry of Love to be tortured until the only love they could have was for Big Brother. This is because the government is determined to stop them as they are trying to abolish orgasm, removing all human bonds. â€Å"The sex instinct will be eradicated. † Orwell shows how the Party is dehumanising citizens by the uses of dialogue which is said by O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party, in Room 101 to Winston. The word ‘eradicated’ would make the readers realise that the Party motive is to have total control over Oceania by taking away pleasure from the citizens. This could be a way for Orwell to remind the readers the importance of feelings because emotions are a part of human nature. Emotions are significance to humans because feelings serve important functions and are very necessary, even though they can be really painful at times. This is because they provide information just like senses. The Party wanting to get rid of an emotion like pleasure would dehumanise the citizens of Oceania because pleasure brings an experience that is positive, enjoyable and worth seeking. To take that away would make brainwashing people a lot easier for the Party. Similar to Winston and Julia’s forbidden love, Katniss and Peeta on-screen romance in the arena defies the Capitol when they threaten to eat poisonous berries. The Gamemakers’ wanted to make the final more entertaining so declared that only one victor can win. Katniss figures out that the Gamemakers never intended to let her and Peeta survive, this suggesting they wanted to create a dramatic fight to the death between Panem’s star-crossed lovers. For Katniss to suggest that she and Peeta to give the Capitol no victor is the greatest act of rebellion against the Capitol in the novel. A victor is needed is an element for the Capitol to enforce fear in the citizens of Panem. Without a victor Panem would acknowledge the oppressive ruling because if Katniss and Peeta carried out their dual suicide, the Hunger Games would have been deeply distressing to the viewer’s living in the Districts and Capitol. The pain that was supposed to provide entertainment would have become too disturbing for the public to watch. It may even start another rebellion in Panem because people would be more aware of the Capitol actions and treatment to innocent people living in the Districts. The Hunger Games would go from being amusing to a real-life tragedy. Collins shows the readers the dangers of ‘nightlock’ by a minor flashback Katniss had about her father, â€Å"Not these, Katniss. Never these. They’re nightlock. You’ll be dead before they reach your stomach. † The dialogue spoken by Katniss father, who was a coal miner that taught Katniss hunting skills, shows that Katniss is purposely rebelling against the Capitol to the readers by suggesting to eat the berries. Collins could be warning us that the creation of a perfect society is a goal that is incompatible with human nature. In conclusion, 1984 and Hunger Games are the most-powerful written novels warning us against a totalitarian regime. Although, Orwell uses Winston to convey a message to the readers that humans cannot rebel successfully against a totalitarian regime whilst Collins uses Katniss to convey a message of hope and human strength, both authors still use the protagonist to give a warning to resist or rebel against a corrupted regime, highlighting the dangers of a totalitarian state. Winston was unsuccessful in rebelling against Big Brother which had caused him to become ignorant and loyal because he is able to doublethink, something he was not able to do before. He is able to believe that â€Å"2+2=5† and the Party’s slogan, â€Å"WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH† which are all obvious lies. Orwell uses an oxymoron to show us that Winston no longer exists as a thinking individual, he exists only as a puppet of Big Brother. Winston’s unsuccessful rebellion could be an indication that Orwell is informing us that humans will lose their individuality if under enough fear and will not retain traditional values if they believe themselves to be in danger. Katniss, unlike Winston, stays strong and doesn’t lose herself to an oppressive regime. Katniss rebellion doesn’t end in her outsmarting the Capitol and Gamemakers when her and Peeta win the 74th Hunger Games, â€Å"and right now, the most dangerous part of the Hunger Games is about to begin. † The dialogue spoken by Katniss shows us that her rebellion isn’t over and would be continued by Collins. Orwell and Collins warn us of giving too much power to a government. If there is no rebellion, the totalitarian dictatorship only gets stronger with the passage of time. We learnt in history that giving dictators too much power has caused human to lose value. Reference:  http://blogs.britannica.com