Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Leader of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party (from 1920/21) and chancellor and Führer of Germany (1933–45). He was chancellor from January 30, 1933, and, after President Paul von Hindenburg's death, assumed the title of Führer from August 2, 1934 to 1945.

Adolf Hitler was born on 20th April, 1889, in the small Austrian town of Braunau near the German border. Both Hitler's parents had come from poor peasant families. His father Alois Hitler, the illegitimate son of a housemaid, was an intelligent and ambitious man and later became a senior customs official. Alois was a strict father and savagely beat his son if he did not do as he was told. Klara Hitler, a kind and gentle woman, tended to spoil her son.

At the age of fifteen he did so badly in his school examinations that he was told he would have to repeat the whole year's work again. Hitler hated the idea and managed to persuade his mother to allow him to leave school without a secondary education qualification. He celebrated by getting drunk. However, he found it an humiliating experience and vowed never to get drunk again. He kept his promise and by the time he reached his thirties he had given up alcohol completely.

Hitler moved to Vienna where he planned to become an art student. Hitler had a high opinion of his artistic abilities and was shattered when the Vienna Academy of Art rejected his application, he continued to live in Vienna pretending he was an art student. Hitler spent most of the morning in bed reading and in the afternoon he walked around Vienna studying buildings, visiting museums, and making sketches.

The outbreak of the First World War provided him with an opportunity for a fresh start. Hitler liked being in the army. For the first time he was part of a group that was fighting for a common goal. Hitler also liked the excitement of fighting in a war. Although fairly cautious in his actions, he did not mind risking his life and impressed his commanding officers for volunteering for dangerous missions.

Hitler was given the job of despatch-runner. It was a dangerous job as it involved carrying messages from regimental headquarters to the front-line. On one day alone, three out of eight of the regiment's despatch-runners were killed. Hitler won five medals including the prestigious Iron Cross during the First World War.

Related pages: History Mrs March Year Ten Year Eleven

Category: History

Author: Mrs March