Hitler\'s Youth and Politics Perhaps

Hitler's Youth And Politics

Perhaps no person in modern history is directly responsible for as many deaths as Adolf Hitler. By 1939, Hitler had converted Germany into a full scale military power.

In the process, Hitler also launched World War II. Through his use of propaganda and his formidable oratorical skills, he was able to build the Nazi Party into a mass movement, based on a strong foundation of anti-Semitism. His idea of ensuring the racial purity among the German people ultimately led to his "final solution," where Hitler instituted the mass murder of millions of Jews, as well as the Sinti and Roma tribes, Slavic peoples, homosexuals and other groups of peoples that were considered racially inferior.

Many themes remained steady in his writings. Hitler was a staunch anti-communist. He articulated an extreme form of German nationalism, one that espoused the purity and superiority of the Aryan race. He also developed a strong anti-Semitism and fought against the perceived dangers of Jewish Marxism.

This paper traces the roots of these beliefs to experiences and influences of Hitler's youth.

For the first 30 years of his life, scholars noted that Hitler was an "obscure failure" (Toland, 3). However, he still managed to become one of the 20th century's most influential people. The first part of this paper looks at Hitler's early life in Austria-Hungary, chronicling the failure of his youthful ambitions in art. The next part then looks at Hitler's reaction to the end of World War I and Germany's surrender. The last part then looks at Hitler's early political career in the 1920s. It looks at how Hitler found success in tapping the German post-War dissatisfactions, laying the foundations for his political career and the success of the Nazi regime.

Early childhood

Hitler was born in 1889 in Austria-Hungary. Though his early grades in schoolwork showed above-average intelligence, the young Hitler's ambitions lay in art and painting. Historians like posited that due to his frustrations regarding the lack of opportunities to study art, Hitler did not do well in the technical school his father had chosen (Housden 143).

Though Hitler was officially a citizen of Austria-Hungary, he spoke the German language exclusively and considered himself German. Like many German-speaking Austro-Hungarians, the young Hitler had a dislike for the ruling family and political structure in his homeland and began to develop a strong sense of German nationalism (Stalcup 4).

These experiences were significant, since Hitler would certainly have held vastly different beliefs, had he identified less with the German people and more with Austria-Hungary. The Austria-Hungarian people would not have suffered as much under the Nazi rule, and it is possible that Hitler would not have identified as strongly with the Aryan race. Furthermore, the seeds of extreme German nationalism that were planted in these early years would later have their culmination in Hitler's Nazi Party and the Final Solution.

By 1907, Hitler had moved to Vienna, hoping to pursue studies in art. However, a rejection from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts dashed his hopes, and his mother's death a year later contributed to his impoverishment. He eventually ended up in a homeless shelter. It was in the homeless shelter where Hitler was first exposed to the extreme political views of Lanz von Liebenfels, a proponent of the racial superiority of the Aryans. Von Liebfels believed, among others, that "the Aryan race was in danger of annihilation" at the hands of enemy races, most notably the European Jews (Rosenbaum 42).

During this period, the poverty-stricken Hitler was also exposed to several anti-Semitic pamphlets, accusing the Jews of conspiring against the rest of the German population and of gaining riches at the expense of the Christian population. Given his poverty, the young Hitler was a prime target for such propaganda.

Hitler would later draw from these ideas in speeches railing about the need to protect Germany and Europe from the influence of the Jews.

Germany's surrender

In 1914, Hitler enlisted in a Bavarian unit in Germany, where he served during World War I. Though he was never promoted beyond private first class, Hitler was cited several times for bravery in battle. During this time, Hitler had begun to formulate his own vague conspiracy theory about an international Jewish plot against Germany (Haffner 23).

During his army service, Hitler was assigned to infiltrate the German Workers' Party (DAP) in 1919. As a member, he met Dietrich Eckart. The latter was an important member of this party, and also a staunch anti-Semite. The association with Eckart therefore further solidified Hitler's prejudice against Jews and other non-Aryan races (Fuchs 12)

Like many Germans, Hitler was deeply shocked by Germany's surrender. At the time, he was lying in a military hospital, recovering from a mustard gas attack. Recalling the anti-Semitic and political pamphlets he read as a teenager, Hitler came to believe that Jewish politicians had signed the armistice, thereby surrendering Germany at the point of victory (Schwaab 46).

The German surrender thus served as a catalyst for Hitler's entry into politics

Hitler believed that these Jewish politicians were preparing the way for a communist takeover of the German nation.

Shortly after meeting Eckart, Hitler produced his first anti-Semitic writing, advocating for a solution to the growing German problem. Hitler's solution involved "rational anti-Semitism." He vowed not to use traditional tactics previously employed against Jews, such as pogroms and forced relocation. Rather, he vowed to "legally fight and remove the privileges enjoyed by the Jews as opposed to other foreigners living among us. Its final goal, however, must be the irrevocable removal of the Jews themselves" (Toland 91).

The German Workers' Party, later renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party or Nazi party. For Hitler, the Nazi platform echoed the teachings of von Liebenfels regarding racial nationalism and anti-Semitism. It was during his early stint as the Nazi Party's spokesman that Hitler discovered his talent for public speaking and generating publicity. Under Hitler's guidance, audiences at Nazi sponsored events grew from 100 members to almost 2,000 in 1920 (Stalcup 58).

Because of his oratorical skills, Hitler proved to be the party's most effective recruiter and fundraiser. His popularity placed him in a position to expel Nazi members who stood in his way. By 1921, Hitler had amassed enough party support to secure the position of Fuhrer or absolute leader (Haffner 112).

As head of the Nazi Party, Hitler rode the wave of German dissatisfaction over the war to national prominence. The 1920s were a difficult period for Germany, as the terms of the Treaty of Versailles cause widespread economic hardship. Hitler took advantage of this dissatisfaction and bad economy, lashing out in speeches against France, the Weimar Republic and Jews as well as other non-German races. He couched this hatred in language promoting the revival of Germany and pride in the Aryan race and Germanic values (Haffner 119).