Hitler was an unremarkable artist who rose to become the dictator of Germany and the instigator of the Holocaust. Historians of the 20th century have a major question to answer, how Hitler captured the German imagination and came to power.
He wasn't a charismatic character, he was an empty vessel outside his political life, and he didn't have any inborn connections to propel him to the top.
The German Workers Party he joined in 1919, which would become the Nazi Party under his leadership, was one of approximately 70 right-wing groups in Germany after World War I.
Karl Schleunes, author of The Twisted Road to Auschwitz: Nazi Policy Toward German, said that Hitler's group would gain dominance in the chaos of post-World War I Germany.
The German Workers' Party is different from the other 69 groups because they don't have a Hitler.
Hitler was able to cover up his off-putting personality with media images of a cultured gentleman beloved by children and animals.
Hitler's early life does not indicate his future. Hitler was groomed by his father to become a bureaucrat as well as a civil servant. The dictator's early childhood was normal, but he became sad and lonely in adolescence, according to his biography. He sponged off his mother from 1905 to 1907.
In 1907, Hitler failed to win admission to the art school that he wanted to attend, but he made a lot of grand statements about art, architecture and culture, but rarely made any serious effort to get into art school. He lived in a flophouse for the homeless in 1909. He sold cheap paintings of city scenes to support himself.
Austrian authorities noticed that Hitler had dodged military service in Germany, so he fled to Munich in 1913. It was in the German military that Hitler found his way into politics.
Hitler was given a place in the world for the first time because of his service in World War I, even as many of his fellow soldiers viewed him as a bit of a socially awkward odd and prude. Hitler recuperated from a mustard gas attack and Germany admitted defeat in the war. He got a job with the information unit after returning to his infantry unit.
He was put on a collision course with the German Workers Party because of this job. Hitler was sent to attend university lectures on German history from a right-wing perspective.
Hitler ate the words of a right-wing economist and a historian. Hitler got a job in the intelligence unit as a spy because of the recommendations of Müller, who noticed that he had a talent for rhetoric.
He said that Hitler's power as a speaker turned him into a party member. Someone suggested during a German Workers Party lecture that it would be best for the state of Bavaria to break away from the rest of Germany. Hitler was against the idea. He was asked to join the party by the leader who was impressed with his speaking style. Hitler became a member of the party a few days later.
Hitler became a fiery speaker on the beer-hall circuit and was willing to risk the humiliation of low turnout by organizing rallies in large spaces. His organizing talents propelled him to the top of the party's leadership.
Hitler and the other leaders of the party changed the name of the party to the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Hitler took total control of the party in 1921. The once-tiny group began to draw new members and absorb other right-wing groups.
Hitler was a dull person in person. He could make an audience feel like it.
The German people were in shock after World War I, and the chaos and resentment of Germany at the time made Hitler's growth possible. They were told throughout the war that they were winning. They faced shortages of food and coal, and ended the war with millions killed and wounded. The army said that the sacrifice were necessary because of the close victory.
They were told for four years that we lost the war. Conspiracy theories were used to understand how such a thing could happen.
The rise of Hitler was marked by violence. He hoped to overthrow the national government in Berlin by force in 1923.
The Beer Hall Putsch failed, but there was a lot of sympathy for Hitler. His trial became a megaphone broadcasting his ideas, and his light 9-month stint in prison gave him the opportunity to dictate a wildly popular biography.
Hitler was smart enough to know that his party could not come to power with violence against the state's institutions.
There were many factors that led to Hitler's more widespread acceptance in Germany, from economic depression to the country's hatred of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I.
He ran for president in 1932, but was unable to reach middle-class voters, according to a historian of architecture and the author of Hitler at Home. He focused on his domestic portrayal to rehabilitate his personal image. Hitler and his propaganda team started to highlight his personal life instead of downplaying it.
He is being presented as a good man, a moral man, and the evidence for that comes from his private life.
Many influential industrial interests supported Hitler after he lost the election. Germany had both a president elected by the people and a chancellor named Hitler when the parliamentary elections failed to establish a majority government.
Hitler used the Reichstag fire as a pretext to seize emergency powers and detain his political enemies. He was able to push the Enabling Act through parliament because communists were under arrest. Hitler's cabinet was able to institute legislation without parliamentary consent.
The proposal was passed by a wide margin with the support of the conservative German National People's Party (DNVP) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) barred from attending.
In the wake of this law, any organization that could possibly form the basis of opposition was abolished or taken over by the Nazis.
Profiles of Hitler in Obersalzberg portrayed him as a cultured gentleman, beloved by dogs and children, as he strong-armed his way to dictatorship. The Great Hall was created by Hitler and was inspired by the artist salons of pre-World War I Munich. German and English language magazines printed fluffy pieces at home.
The feature on Hitler as a dog lover was in the American Dog Kennel Gazette. The domestic scenes helped change the image of Hitler. The most-sold images of 1934 were pictures of Hitler playing with his dogs or children.
Through his organization, oratory and public relations, Hitler became not only the chancellor of Germany, but a beloved celebrity. The transformation was done.
The National WWII Museum website contains information about the life and rise of Hitler. Alex Gendler and Anthony Hazard are the authors of this video.
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