HISTORICAL- PERSONALITIES

                                           HITLER-THE TERROR-  PART- 1

 Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945), ruled Germany as dictator from 1933 to 1945.  He turned Germany into a powerful war machine and provoked World War II in 1939.  Hitler's forces conquered most of Europe before they were defeated in 1945.

Boyhood.  Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau, Austria, a small town across the Inn River from Germany.  He was the fourth child of the third marriage of Alois Hitler, a customs official.  Alois Hitler was 51 years old when Adolf was born.  Adolf's mother, Klara Polzl, was 28 years old.  She was a farmer's daughter. 

Alois Hitler was born to an unmarried woman named Anna Maria Schicklgruber.  A wandering miller named Johann Georg Hiedler married her about five years later.  Hiedler died in 1856, when Alois was 20 years old, having never recognized Alois as his child.  In 1876, Hiedler's brother arranged for Alois to be registered as the legitimate son of Johann Georg and Maria Hiedler.  The priest who made the entry spelled the name "Hitler."  Years later, before he came to power, some of Hitler's political opponents called him Schicklgruber as an insult.  Only four of Alois Hitler's eight children lived to adulthood.  Adolf had a sister, Paula; a half brother, Alois; and a half sister, Angela.About six years after Adolf's birth, his father retired and moved near Linz, Austria.  Adolf received good marks in primary school, but he was a poor student in secondary school.  His low marks angered his harsh, ill-tempered father.  Alois wanted his son to have a career as a civil servant.  But the boy wanted to be an artist. Alois Hitler died in 1903, and Adolf left secondary school 21/2 years later at the age of 16.  His mother drew a widow's pension and owned some property.  Adolf did not have to go to work.  He spent his time daydreaming, drawing pictures, and reading books.

In 1913, Hitler moved to Munich, Germany.  The Austrian Army called him for a physical examination, but he was found unfit for service.

World War I began in August 1914.  Hitler volunteered immediately for service in the German Army and was accepted.  He served valiantly as a messenger on the Western Front for most of the war, taking part in some of the bloodiest battles.  He was wounded and twice decorated for bravery.  But Hitler rose only to the rank of corporal.  When Germany surrendered in November 1918, he was in a military hospital recovering from temporary blindness that resulted from his exposure in battle to mustard gas.  He was deeply shaken by news of the armistice.  He believed that the unity of the German nation was threatened, and that he must attempt to save Germany.

                                Dictator of Germany

There were only two Nazis in the Cabinet besides Hitler--Goering and Wilhelm Frick.  The rest of the 11-member Cabinet was made up of politicians who were more moderate than the Nazis.  The vice chancellor, Franz von Papen, and his political allies thought this arrangement would limit Hitler's power.  But Hitler had never settled for anything less than full control.  He moved steadily toward dictatorship.  There was no place for freedom under his government, which Hitler called the Third Reich .

The New Order.  The Nazis, through Frick's key position as minister of the interior, controlled all national police authority.  Goering controlled the Prussian police.  An emergency decree signed by Hindenburg on Feb. 4, 1933, gave the Nazis legal authority to prohibit assemblies, to outlaw newspapers and other publications, and to arrest people on suspicion of treason.  The Nazis were thus able to put down much of their political opposition.  Goering created an auxiliary police force made up of thousands of storm troopers and ordered them to shoot in encounters with "enemies." 

On Feb. 27, 1933, a fire began that destroyed the Reichstag building.  Many historians believe that it was planned by the Nazis.  A pro-Communist Dutch anarchist was found at the site of the fire and admitted that he had started it.  The Nazis quickly blamed the Communists.  Hindenburg signed another emergency decree that gave the government almost unlimited powers. 

Elections for a new Reichstag were held on March 5, 1933.  Hitler hoped to win more than 50 per cent of the vote for the Nazi Party.  But the party received only 43.9 per cent despite using terror to influence voters. 

government full dictatorial powers and, in effect, suspended basic civil and human rights for four years.  When the president had signed it, Hitler had a firm "legal" basis on which to govern as he pleased.  He had also destroyed the constitution through outwardly legal means. 

By mid-July 1933, the government had outlawed freedom of the press, all trade unions, and all political parties except the Nazis.  The Gestapo hunted down the enemies and opponents of the government.  People were jailed or shot on suspicion alone.  By the time Hindenburg died in August 1934, Hitler ruled Germany completely.  He assumed the title Fuhrer und Reichskanzler .. 

The Nazis used the press, radio, and films to flood Germany with propaganda praising the New Order, Hitler's term for his reordering of German society and for his plans to reorder the rest of Europe.  The regime applauded military training, rearmament, national pride, and industry.  Jews were forced out of the civil service, universities and schools, and the professions and managerial positions.  In 1935, German Jews were declared citizens of lesser rights.  Thousands left the country.  Many who stayed were sent to concentration camps along with hundreds of thousands of political suspects.  A person needed official permission to accept work, change jobs, move, or travel abroad.  The government regulated wages, housing, and production of goods.  All workers and employers were supposed to belong to the German Labour Front, which was intended to replace Germany's trade unions.  Through the Labour Front, the government regulated production, wages, working hours, and leisure activities.

Hitler also set up organizations for young people between the ages of 6 and 18.  These groups included the Hitler Youth for boys 14 years and older and the Society of German Maidens for girls 14 years and older.  The organizations were designed to condition German children to military discipline and to win their loyalty to the Nazi government.  All German children were required to join such groups from the age of 10.  They wore uniforms, marched, exercised, and learned Nazi beliefs.  The Nazis taught children to spy on their own families and report any anti-Nazi criticism they might hear. 

A network of spies kept watch on the German people and maintained an atmosphere of terror.  The Reichstag met only to listen to Hitler's public speeches.  Judges and courts continued to function, but Hitler or his lieutenants reversed any decision they did not agree with. The road to war.  From 1933 onward, Hitler prepared Germany for war.  He rearmed the nation, first secretly, then in open violation of the Treaty of Versailles.  No nation acted to stop him, and so Hitler's steps became bolder.  Hitler planned to establish Germany as the world's leading power and to destroy the Jewish people. 

In 1936, Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, again violating the Treaty of Versailles.  His generals had opposed this dangerous challenge to France.  But Hitler guessed correctly that France would not stop him.  The stationing of German troops in the Rhineland was the first of the Nazi dictator's victories without war. 

In March 1938, Hitler's troops invaded Austria.  Austria then became part of Germany.  In September, France and Great Britain consented to Hitler's occupation of the German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia that had belonged to Austria-Hungary before World War I ended .  After this move, Hitler said he wanted no more territory.  But after each success, he planned a new take-over.  He took control of the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.

Poland came next on Hitler's list.  But Britain and France took action to try to stop any further German expansion.  They guaranteed Poland's independence, saying that they would go to war against Germany if Hitler attacked Poland.  Hitler doubted that they would do so.  In August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed treaties of friendship.  They promised mutual cooperation, trade privileges, and neutrality in case of war with other countries.  A secret part of the treaties divided Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union and promised the Soviet Union other territory in eastern Europe.  On Sept. 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.  Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later.