The Rise of Hitler: From Humble Beginnings to World Domination

Hitler was born in Austria in 1889 and spent his youth in poverty. When the First World War broke out in 1914, he enrolled in an army, acted as a messenger in the front, became a corporal, and earned medals for bravery. The German defeat horrified him and the Versailles Treaty made him furious. In 1919, Hitler joined a small group called the German Workers’ Party.

About Hitler 

Nazy Party: Hitler subsequently took over the German Workers’ Party and renamed it as National Socialist German Workers’ Party. This party came to be known as the Nazi Party

• 1923: Hitler planned to seize control of Bavaria, march to Berlin and capture powers during the Great Depression when Nazism became a mass movement. Nazi propaganda stirred hopes of a better future.
• 1928: Hitler’s Nazi Party got no more than 2.6% votes in the Reichstag – the German parliament. 
  • By 1932, it had become largest party with 37%  votes. 
• 1933: On 30 January 1933, President Hindenburg offered  Chancellorship, the highest position in the cabinet of ministers, to Hitler. 
• Hitler Leadership:  Hitler was a powerful and charismatic speaker. His passion and his words moved people. He promised to build a strong nation, undo the injustice of Versailles Treaty, and restore the dignity of German people.
  • He promised employment for those looking for work and a secure future for youth. He promised to weed out all foreign influences and resist all foreign ‘conspiracies’ against Germany.
• Emergence of New Style of Politics: This was based on spectacle of mass mobilization. Nazis held massive rallies and public meetings to demonstrate support for Hitler and instill a sense of unity among the people. 
  • Hitler understood significance of rituals. The Red banners with Swastika, Nazi salute, and ritualized rounds of applause after the speeches were all part of this spectacle of power. 
  • Nazi propaganda skilfully projected Hitler as a messiah, a saviour, and someone who had arrived to deliver people from their distress.

Destruction of Democracy

Dismantling of Democracy: Hitler set out to dismantle the structures of democratic rule. It began with a mysterious fire that broke out in the German Parliament building in February. 

• • The Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 indefinitely suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press, and assembly that the Weimar Constitution had guaranteed. The communists were severely repressed and sent to concentration camps.
• Rise of Dictatorship: On 3rd March 1933, the famous Enabling Act was passed. This Act established a dictatorship in Germany. It gave Hitler all powers to sideline Parliament and rule by decree. 
  • All political parties and trade unions were banned except for the Nazi Party and its affiliates. The state established complete control over the economy, media, army, and judiciary. 
• Creation of the Nazi Security Apparatus: Special surveillance and security forces were created. Apart from the existing regular police in green uniform and the SA or the Storm Troopers, security forces now included Gestapo (secret state police), the SS (the protection squads), criminal police, and the Security Service. 
• Emergence of Police State: They were bestowed with extra-constitutional power. People could now be detained in Gestapo torture chambers, rounded up and sent to concentration camps, deported at will, or arrested without any legal procedures. 
  • The police forces acquired powers to rule with impunity. Germany thus became the most dreaded criminal state. 

Reconstruction after World War I

Economic Recovery: Economist Hjalmar Schacht was assigned the responsibility of economic recovery by Hitler. 

• • Economic Revival: He aimed at full production and full employment through a state-funded work-creation program. This project produced the famous German superhighways and the people’s car, the Volkswagen.
  • Warning Against Arnament: Schacht had advised Hitler against investing hugely in rearmament as the state still ran on deficit financing. But Hitler chose war as a way out of the approaching economic crisis. 
    • Resources were to be accumulated through expansion of territory.
  • England Support: Germany had unspoken support of England, which had considered the Versailles verdict too harsh.
• Foreign Policy prowess: In foreign policy, Hitler acquired quick successes. 
  • 1933: Hitler pulled out of the League of Nations.
  • 1936: He reoccupied the Rhineland.
  • 1938: He integrated Austria and Germany under the slogan, ‘One people, One empire, and One leader’. 
    • He wrested German-speaking Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia and conquered the entire country. These quick successes at home and abroad seemed to reverse the destiny of the country.
  • 1939: In September of this year, Germany invaded Poland. This started a war with France and England. 
  • 1940: In September 1940, a Tripartite Pact was signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan, strengthening Hitler’s claim to international power. 
• Puppet Regimes:  Supportive of Nazi Germany, were installed in a large part of Europe. By the end of 1940, Hitler was at the pinnacle of his power.
  •  His long-term aim was to conquer Eastern Europe. He wanted to ensure food supplies and living space for Germans.

World War II and Subsequent Loss 

Germany’s Invasion of the Soviet Union: In June 1941, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union. In this historic blunder, Hitler exposed, German western front to British aerial bombing and the eastern front to the powerful Soviet armies.

• • The Soviet Red Army inflicted a crushing and humiliating defeat on Germany at Stalingrad. Soviet hegemony was established over entire Eastern Europe for half a century thereafter. 
• US Entry into the War: Initially USA had resisted involvement in war due to fear of economic problems that First World War had mounted. 
  • The US had to get involved as Japan was expanding its power in the east. It had occupied French Indo-China and was planning attacks on US naval bases in Pacific. 
  • USA entered the Second World War when Japan extended its support to Hitler and bombed the US base at Pearl Harbor. The war ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat and the US dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan. 

Conclusion

Hitler’s Nazi regime radically transformed Germany from a defeated nation to an aggressive, totalitarian state. By manipulating nationalistic fervor and economic hardship, Nazis dismantled democracy, persecuted minorities, and embarked on a path of conquest. This radical transformation ultimately led to World War II, leaving an enduring legacy of destruction and the imperative to prevent such horrors from recurring.