Hitler's father,Alois Hitler, was theillegitimate child ofMaria Schicklgruber.[4] The baptismal register did not show the name of his father, and Alois initially bore his mother's surname, "Schicklgruber". In 1842,Johann Georg Hiedler married Alois's mother. Alois was brought up in the family of Hiedler's brother,Johann Nepomuk Hiedler.[5] Alois worked as a civil servant from 1855 until his retirement in 1895.[6] In 1876, Alois was made legitimate and his baptismal record annotated by a priest to register Johann Georg Hiedler as Alois's father (recorded as "Georg Hitler").[7][8] Alois then assumed the surname "Hitler",[8] also spelled"Hiedler", "Hüttler", or"Huettler". The name is probably based on the German wordHütte (lit.'hut'), and has the meaning "one who lives in a hut".[9]
The Nazi officialHans Frank suggested that Alois's mother had been employed as a housekeeper by a Jewish family inGraz, and that the family's 19-year-old son Leopold Frankenberger had fathered Alois, a claim that came to be known as theFrankenberger thesis.[10] No Frankenberger was registered in Graz during that period, and no record has been produced of a Leopold Frankenberger's existence,[11] so historians dismiss the claim that Alois's father was Jewish.[12][13]
Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 inBraunau am Inn, a town inAustria-Hungary (present-day Austria), close to the border with theGerman Empire.[14][15] He was the fourth of six children born to Alois Hitler and his third wife,Klara Pölzl. Three of Hitler's siblings—Gustav, Ida, and Otto—died in infancy.[16] Also living in the household were Alois's children from his second marriage: Alois Jr. (born 1882) andAngela (born 1883).[17] In 1892, the family moved toPassau, Germany, following Alois's promotion to the custom administration in Passau. Hitler was three at the time. Alois was promoted and transferred toLinz, Austria, on 1 April 1893, but the rest of the family remained in Passau.[18] There Hitler acquired the distinctivelower Bavarian dialect, rather thanAustrian German, which marked his speech throughout his life.[19][20][21] The family returned to Austria and settled inLeonding on 9 May 1894,[22] and in June 1895 Alois retired to Hafeld, nearLambach, where he farmed and kept bees. Hitler attendedVolksschule (a state-funded primary school) in nearbyFischlham.[23][24]
The move to Hafeld coincided with the onset of intense father-son conflicts caused by Hitler's refusal to conform to the strict discipline of his school.[25] Alois tried to browbeat his son into obedience, while Adolf did his best to be the opposite of whatever his father wanted.[26] Alois would also beat his son, although his mother tried to protect him from regular beatings.[27]
Alois Hitler's farming efforts at Hafeld were unsuccessful, and in 1897 the family moved to Lambach. The eight-year-old Hitler took singing lessons, sang in the church choir, and even considered becoming a priest.[28] In 1898, the family returned permanently to Leonding. Hitler was deeply affected by the death of his younger brother Edmund in 1900 frommeasles. Hitler changed from a confident, outgoing, conscientious student to a morose, detached boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers.[29]Paula Hitler recalled that Adolf was a teenage bully who would often slap her.[27]
Alois had made a successful career in the customs bureau and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.[30] Hitler later dramatised an episode from this period when his father took him to visit a customs office, depicting it as an event that gave rise to an unforgiving antagonism between father and son, who were both strong-willed.[31][32][33] Ignoring his son's desire to attend a classical high school and become an artist, Alois sent Hitler to theRealschule in Linz in September 1900.[e][34] Hitler rebelled against this decision, and inMein Kampf states that he intentionally performed poorly in school, hoping that once his father saw "what little progress I was making at the technical school he would let me devote myself to my dream".[35]
Like many Austrian Germans, Hitler began to developGerman nationalist ideas from a young age.[36] He expressed loyalty only to Germany, despising the decliningHabsburg monarchy and its rule over an ethnically diverse empire.[37][38] Hitler and his friends used the greeting "Heil", and sang the "Deutschlandlied" instead of theAustrian Imperial anthem.[39] After Alois's sudden death on 3 January 1903, Hitler's performance at school deteriorated and his mother allowed him to leave.[40] He enrolled at theRealschule inSteyr in September 1904, where his behaviour and performance improved.[41] In 1905, after passing a repeat of the final exam, Hitler left the school without any ambitions for further education or clear plans for a career.[42]
The house inLeonding, Austria, where Hitler spent his early adolescenceThe Alter Hof in Munich, a watercolour painting by Hitler in 1914
In 1907, Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art inVienna, financed by orphan's benefits and support from his mother. He applied for admission to theAcademy of Fine Arts Vienna but was rejected twice.[43][44] Thedirector suggested Hitler should apply to the School of Architecture, but he lacked the necessary academic credentials because he had not finished secondary school.[45]
On 21 December 1907, his mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47; Hitler was 18 at the time. In 1909, Hitler ran out of money and was forced to live abohemian life in homeless shelters and theMeldemannstraße dormitory.[46][47] He earned money as a casual labourer and by painting and sellingwatercolours of Vienna's sights.[43] During his time in Vienna, he pursued a growing passion for architecture and music, attending ten performances ofLohengrin, his favourite ofRichard Wagner’s operas.[48]
The origin and development of Hitler's antisemitism remain a matter of debate.[57] His friendAugust Kubizek claimed that Hitler was a "confirmed antisemite" before he left Linz.[58] However, the historian Brigitte Hamann describes Kubizek's claim as "problematical".[59] While Hitler states inMein Kampf that he first became an antisemite in Vienna,[60]Reinhold Hanisch, who helped him to sell his paintings, disagrees. Hitler had dealings with Jews while living in Vienna.[61][62][63] The historianRichard J. Evans states that "historians now generally agree that his notorious, murderous antisemitism emerged well after Germany's defeat [in World War I], as a product of the paranoid"stab-in-the-back" explanation for the catastrophe".[64]
Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved toMunich, Germany.[65] When he was conscripted into theAustro-Hungarian Army,[66] he journeyed toSalzburg on 5 February 1914 for medical assessment. After he was deemed unfit for service, he returned to Munich.[67] Hitler later claimed that he did not wish to serve theHabsburg Empire because of the mixture of races in its army and his belief that the collapse of Austria-Hungary was imminent.[68]
Hitler (far right, seated) withBavarian Army comrades from the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (c. 1914–18)
In August 1914, at the outbreak ofWorld War I, Hitler was living in Munich and voluntarily enlisted in theBavarian Army.[69] According to a 1924 report by the Bavarian authorities, allowing Hitler to serve was most likely an administrative error, because as an Austrian citizen, he should have been returned to Austria.[69] Posted to theBavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (1st Company of the List Regiment),[69][70] he served as a dispatchrunner on theWestern Front in France and Belgium,[71] spending nearly half his time at the regimental headquarters inFournes-en-Weppes, well behind the front lines.[72][73] In 1914, he was present at theFirst Battle of Ypres[74] and in that year was decorated for bravery, receiving theIron Cross, Second Class.[74] During the war, he was saved by his commanding officer,Fritz Wiedemann, who pulled Hitler out of the rubble of a collapsed building while under heavy fire.[75]
During his service at headquarters, Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. During theBattle of the Somme in October 1916, he was wounded in the left thigh when a shell exploded in the dispatch runners' dugout.[74][76] Hitler spent almost two months recovering in hospital atBeelitz, returning to his regiment on 5 March 1917.[77] He was present at theBattle of Arras of 1917 and theBattle of Passchendaele.[74] He received theBlack Wound Badge on 18 May 1918.[78] Three months later, in August 1918, on a recommendation by LieutenantHugo Gutmann, his Jewish superior, Hitler received the Iron Cross, First Class, a decoration rarely awarded at Hitler'sGefreiter rank.[79][80] On 15 October 1918, he was temporarily blinded in amustard gas attack and was hospitalised inPasewalk.[81] While there, Hitler learned of Germany's defeat, and, by his own account, suffered a second bout of blindness after receiving this news.[82]
Hitler described his role in World War I as "the greatest of all experiences", and was praised by his commanding officers for his bravery.[83] His wartime experience reinforced his German patriotism, and he was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918.[84] His displeasure with the collapse of the war effort began to shape his ideology.[85] Like other German nationalists, he believed theDolchstoßlegende (stab-in-the-back myth), which claimed that the German army, "undefeated in the field", had been "stabbed in the back" on thehome front by civilian leaders, Jews,Marxists, and those who signed thearmistice that ended the fighting—later dubbed the "November criminals".[86]
TheTreaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany had to relinquish several of its territories anddemilitarise theRhineland. The treaty imposed economic sanctions and levied heavy reparations on the country. Many Germans saw the treaty as an unjust humiliation. They especially objected toArticle 231, which they interpreted as declaring Germany responsible for the war.[87] The Versailles Treaty and the economic, social, and political conditions in Germany after the war were later exploited by Hitler for political gain.[88]
After the war, Hitler returned to Munich.[89] Without formal education or career prospects, he remained in the Army.[90] In July 1919, he was appointedVerbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of anAufklärungskommando (reconnaissance unit) of theReichswehr, assigned to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate theGerman Workers' Party (DAP). At a DAP meeting on 12 September 1919, Party chairmanAnton Drexler was impressed by Hitler's oratorical skills. He gave him a copy of his pamphletMy Political Awakening, which contained antisemitic, nationalist,anti-capitalist, and anti-Marxist ideas.[91] On the orders of his army superiors, Hitler applied to join the party,[92] and within a week was accepted as party member 555 (the party began counting membership at 500 to give the impression they were a much larger party).[93][94]
Hitler made his earliest known written statement about theJewish question in a 16 September 1919 letter to Adolf Gemlich (now known as theGemlich letter). In the letter, Hitler argues that the aim of the government "must unshakably be the removal of the Jews altogether".[95] At the DAP, Hitler metDietrich Eckart, one of the party's founders and a member of the occultThule Society.[96] Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him and introducing him to a wide range of Munich society.[97] To increase its appeal, the DAP changed its name to theNationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), now known as the "Nazi Party").[98] Hitler designed the party's banner of aswastika in a white circle on a red background.[99]
Hitler was discharged from the Army on 31 March 1920 and began working full-time for the party.[100] The party headquarters was in Munich, a centre for anti-government German nationalists determined to eliminate Marxism and undermine theWeimar Republic.[101] In February 1921—already highly effective atcrowd manipulation—he spoke to a crowd of over 6,000.[102] To publicise the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around Munich waving swastika flags and distributing leaflets. Hitler soon gained notoriety for his rowdypolemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, and especially against Marxists and Jews.[103]
Hitler poses for the camera in September 1930
In June 1921, while Hitler and Eckart were on a fundraising trip toBerlin, a mutiny broke out within the Nazi Party in Munich. Members of its executive committee wanted to merge with the Nuremberg-basedGerman Socialist Party (DSP).[104] Hitler returned to Munich on 11 July and angrily tendered his resignation. The committee members realised that the resignation of their leading public figure and speaker would mean the end of the party.[105] Hitler announced he would rejoin on the condition that he would replace Drexler as party chairman, and that the party headquarters would remain in Munich.[106] The committee agreed, and he rejoined the party on 26 July as member 3,680. Hitler continued to face some opposition within the Nazi Party. Opponents of Hitler in the leadership hadHermann Esser expelled from the party, and they printed 3,000 copies of a pamphlet attacking Hitler as a traitor to the party.[106][f] In the following days, Hitler spoke to several large audiences and defended himself and Esser, to thunderous applause. His strategy proved successful, and at a special party congress on 29 July, he was granted absolute power as party chairman, succeeding Drexler, by a vote of 533 to 1.[107]
Hitler's vitriolic beer hall speeches began attracting regular audiences. Ademagogue,[108] he became adept at using populist themes, including the use ofscapegoats, who were blamed for his listeners' economic hardships.[109][110][111] Hitler used personal magnetism and an understanding ofcrowd psychology to his advantage while engaged in public speaking.[112][113] Historians have noted the hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups.[114]Alfons Heck, a former member of theHitler Youth, recalled:
We erupted into a frenzy of nationalistic pride that bordered on hysteria. For minutes on end, we shouted at the top of our lungs, with tears streaming down our faces:Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil! From that moment on, I belonged to Adolf Hitler body and soul.[115]
Early followers includedRudolf Hess, the former air force aceHermann Göring, and the army captainErnst Röhm. Röhm became head of the Nazis' paramilitary organisation, theSturmabteilung (SA, "Stormtroopers"), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. A critical influence on Hitler's thinking during this period was theAufbau Vereinigung,[116] a conspiratorial group ofWhite Russian exiles and early Nazis. The group, financed with funds channelled from wealthy industrialists, introduced Hitler to the idea of a Jewish conspiracy, linking international finance withBolshevism.[117]
The programme of the Nazi Party was laid out in their25-point programme on 24 February 1920. This did not represent a coherent ideology, but was a conglomeration of received ideas which had currency in thevölkischpan-Germanic movement, such asultranationalism, opposition to theTreaty of Versailles, distrust ofcapitalism, as well as somesocialist ideas. For Hitler, the most important aspect of it was its strongantisemitic stance. He also perceived the programme as primarily a basis for propaganda and for attracting people to the party.[118]
In 1923, Hitler enlisted the help of World War I GeneralErich Ludendorff for an attempted coup known as the "Beer Hall Putsch". The Nazi Party usedItalian Fascism as a model for their appearance and policies. Hitler wanted to emulateBenito Mussolini's "March on Rome" of 1922 by staging his own coup in Bavaria, to be followed by a challenge to the government in Berlin. Hitler and Ludendorff sought the support ofStaatskommissar (State Commissioner)Gustav Ritter von Kahr, Bavaria'sde facto ruler. However, Kahr, along with Police ChiefHans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr GeneralOtto von Lossow, wanted to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hitler.[119]
On 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people organised by Kahr in theBürgerbräukeller, a beer hall in Munich. Interrupting Kahr's speech, he announced that the national revolution had begun and declared the formation of a new government with Ludendorff.[120] Retiring to a back room, Hitler, with his pistol drawn, demanded and subsequently received the support of Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow.[120] Hitler's forces initially succeeded in occupying the local Reichswehr and police headquarters, but Kahr and his cohorts quickly withdrew their support. Neither the Army nor the state police joined forces with Hitler.[121] The next day, Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to theBavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government, but police dispersed them.[122] In the failed coup, 16 Nazi Party members and four police officers were killed.[123]
Hitler fled to the home ofErnst Hanfstaengl and by some accounts contemplated suicide.[124] He was depressed but calm when arrested on 11 November 1923 forhigh treason.[125] His trial before the specialPeople's Court in Munich began in February 1924,[126] andAlfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the Nazi Party. On 1 April, Hitler was sentenced to five years'Festungshaft ('fortress confinement') atLandsberg Prison.[127] There, he received friendly treatment from the guards, and was allowed mail from supporters and regular visits by party comrades. Pardoned by the Bavarian Supreme Court, he was released from jail on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutor's objections.[128] Including time on remand, Hitler served just over one year in prison.[129]
While at Landsberg, Hitler dictated most of the first volume ofMein Kampf (lit.'My Struggle'; originally titledFour and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice) at first to his chauffeur,Emil Maurice, and then to his deputy,Rudolf Hess.[129][130] The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart, was an autobiography and exposition of his ideology. The book laid out Hitler's plans for transforming German society into one based on race. Throughout the book, Jews are equated with "germs" and presented as the "international poisoners" of society. According to Hitler's ideology, the only solution was their extermination. While Hitler did not describe exactly how this was to be accomplished, his "inherent genocidal thrust is undeniable", according toIan Kershaw.[131]
Published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926,Mein Kampf sold 228,000 copies between 1925 and 1932. One million copies were sold in 1933, Hitler's first year in office.[132] Shortly before Hitler was eligible for parole, the Bavarian government attempted to have him deported to Austria.[133] The Austrian federal chancellor rejected the request on the specious grounds that his service in the German Army made his Austrian citizenship void.[134] In response, Hitler formally renounced his Austrian citizenship on 7 April 1925.[134]
Rebuilding the Nazi Party
At the time of Hitler's release from prison, politics in Germany had become less combative and the economy had improved, limiting Hitler's opportunities for political agitation. As a result of the failed Beer Hall Putsch, the Nazi Party and its affiliated organisations were banned in Bavaria. In a meeting with the Prime Minister of Bavaria,Heinrich Held, on 4 January 1925, Hitler agreed to respect the state's authority and promised that he would seek political power only through the democratic process. The meeting paved the way for the ban on the Nazi Party to be lifted on 16 February.[135]
However, after an inflammatory speech he gave on 27 February, Hitler was barred from public speaking by the Bavarian authorities, a ban that remained in place until 1927.[136][137] To advance his political ambitions in spite of the ban, Hitler appointedGregor Strasser,Otto Strasser, andJoseph Goebbels to organise and enlarge the Nazi Party in northern Germany. Gregor Strasser steered a more independent political course, emphasising the socialist elements of the party's programme.[138]
The stock market in the United Statescrashed on 24 October 1929. The impact in Germany was dire: millions became unemployed and several major banks collapsed. Hitler and the Nazi Party prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their party. They promised to repudiate the Versailles Treaty, strengthen the economy, and provide jobs.[139]
Only partially free during Hitler's term as chancellor of Germany
Brüning administration
TheGreat Depression provided a political opportunity for Hitler. Germans were ambivalent about theparliamentary republic, which faced challenges fromright- andleft-wing extremists. The moderate political parties were increasingly unable to stem the tide of extremism, and theGerman referendum of 1929 helped to elevate Nazi ideology.[141] The elections of September 1930 resulted in the break-up of agrand coalition and its replacement with a minority cabinet. Its leader, chancellorHeinrich Brüning of theCentre Party, governed throughemergency decrees from PresidentPaul von Hindenburg. Governance by decree became the new norm and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government.[142] The Nazi Party rose from obscurity to win 18.3 per cent of the vote and 107 parliamentary seats in the 1930 election, becoming the second-largest party in parliament.[143]
Hitler and Nazi Party treasurerFranz Xaver Schwarz at the dedication of the renovation of the Palais Barlow onBrienner Straße in Munich into theBrown House headquarters, December 1930
Hitler made a prominent appearance at the trial of two Reichswehr officers, Lieutenants Richard Scheringer andHanns Ludin, in late 1930. Both were charged with membership in the Nazi Party, at that time illegal for Reichswehr personnel.[144] The prosecution argued that the Nazi Party was an extremist party, prompting defence lawyer Hans Frank to call on Hitler to testify.[145] On 25 September 1930, Hitler testified that his party would pursue political power solely through democratic elections,[146] which won him many supporters in the officer corps.[147]
Brüning's austerity measures brought little economic improvement and were extremely unpopular.[148] Hitler exploited this by targeting his political messages specifically at people who had been affected by the inflation of the 1920s and the Depression, such as farmers, war veterans, and the middle class.[149]
Although Hitler had terminated his Austrian citizenship in 1925, he did not acquire German citizenship for almost seven years. This meant that he wasstateless, legally unable to run for public office, and still faced the risk of deportation.[150] On 25 February 1932, the interior minister ofBrunswick,Dietrich Klagges, who was a member of the Nazi Party, appointed Hitler as administrator for the state's delegation to theReichsrat in Berlin, making Hitler a citizen of Brunswick,[151] and thus of Germany.[152]
Hitler ran against Hindenburg inthe 1932 presidential election. A speech to the Industry Club inDüsseldorf on 27 January 1932 won him support from many of Germany's most powerful industrialists.[153] Hindenburg had support from various nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, andrepublican parties, and someSocial Democrats. Hitler used the campaign slogan "Hitler über Deutschland" ("Hitler over Germany"), a reference to his political ambitions and his campaigning by aircraft.[154] He was one of the first politicians to use aircraft travel for campaigning and used it effectively.[155][156] Hitler came in second in both rounds of the election, garnering more than 35 per cent of the vote in the final election. Although he lost to Hindenburg, this election established Hitler as a strong force in German politics.[157]
Appointment as chancellor
Hitler, at a window of theReich Chancellery, receives an ovation on the evening of his inauguration aschancellor, 30 January 1933
The absence of an effective government prompted two influential politicians,Franz von Papen andAlfred Hugenberg, along with several other industrialists and businessmen, to write a letter to Hindenburg. The signers urged Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties", which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people".[158][159]
Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler as chancellor after two further parliamentary elections—in July and November 1932—had not resulted in the formation of a majority government. Hitler headed a short-lived coalition government formed by the Nazi Party (which had the most seats in the Reichstag) and Hugenberg's party, theGerman National People's Party (DNVP). On 30 January 1933, the new cabinet was sworn in during a brief ceremony in Hindenburg's office. The Nazi Party gained three posts: Hitler was named chancellor,Wilhelm Frick Minister of the Interior, and Hermann Göring Minister of the Interior for Prussia.[160] Hitler had insisted on the ministerial positions as a way to gain control over the police in much of Germany.[161]
As chancellor, Hitler worked against attempts by the Nazi Party's opponents to build a majority government. Because of the political stalemate, he asked Hindenburg to again dissolve the Reichstag, and elections were scheduled for early March. On 27 February 1933, theReichstag building was set on fire. Göring blamed a communist plot, as the Dutch communistMarinus van der Lubbe was found in incriminating circumstances inside the burning building.[162] Until the 1960s, some historians, includingWilliam L. Shirer andAlan Bullock, thought the Nazi Party itself was responsible;[163][164] according to Ian Kershaw, writing in 1998, the view of nearly all modern historians is that van der Lubbe set the fire alone.[165][needs update]
At Hitler's urging, Hindenburg responded by signing theReichstag Fire Decree of 28 February, drafted by the Nazis, which suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. The decree was permitted underArticle 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which gave the president the power to take emergency measures to protect public safety and order.[166] Activities of theGerman Communist Party (KPD) were suppressed, and some 4,000 KPD members were arrested.[167]
In addition to political campaigning, the Nazi Party engaged in paramilitary violence and the spread of anti-communist propaganda in the days precedingthe election. On election day, 6 March 1933, the Nazi Party's share of the vote increased to 43.9 per cent, and the party acquired the largest number of seats in parliament. Hitler's party failed to secure an absolute majority, necessitating another coalition with the DNVP.[168]
On 21 March 1933, the newReichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony at theGarrison Church inPotsdam. This "Day of Potsdam" was held to demonstrate unity between the Nazi movement and the oldPrussian elite and military. Hitler appeared in amorning coat and humbly greeted Hindenburg.[169][170]
To achieve full political control despite not having an absolute majority in parliament, Hitler's government brought theErmächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act) to a vote in the newly electedReichstag. The Act—officially titled theGesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich ("Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich")—gave Hitler's cabinet the power to enact laws without the consent of the Reichstag for four years. These laws could (with certain exceptions) deviate from the constitution.[171]
Since it would affect the constitution, the Enabling Act required a two-thirds majority to pass. Leaving nothing to chance, the Nazis used the provisions of the Reichstag Fire Decree to arrest all 81 Communist deputies (in spite of their virulent campaign against the party, the Nazis had allowed the KPD to contest the election)[172] and prevent several Social Democrats from attending.[173]
On 23 March 1933, theReichstag assembled at theKroll Opera House under turbulent circumstances. Ranks of SA men served as guards inside the building, while large groups outside opposing the proposed legislation shouted slogans and threats towards the arriving members of parliament.[174] After Hitler verbally promised Centre party leaderLudwig Kaas that Hindenburg would retain his power of veto, Kaas announced the Centre Party would support the Enabling Act. The Act passed by a vote of 444–94, with all parties except the Social Democrats voting in favour. The Enabling Act, along with the Reichstag Fire Decree, transformed Hitler's government into ade facto legal dictatorship.[175]
Dictatorship
At the risk of appearing to talk nonsense I tell you that the National Socialist movement will go on for 1,000 years! ... Don't forget how people laughed at me 15 years ago when I declared that one day I would govern Germany. They laugh now, just as foolishly, when I declare that I shall remain in power![176]
— Adolf Hitler to a British correspondent in Berlin, June 1934
Having achieved full control over the legislative and executive branches of government, Hitler and his allies began to suppress the remaining opposition. The Social Democratic Party was made illegal, and its assets were seized.[177] While manytrade union delegates were in Berlin for May Day activities, SA stormtroopers occupied union offices around the country. On 2 May 1933, all trade unions were forced to dissolve, and their leaders were arrested. Some were sent toconcentration camps.[178] TheGerman Labour Front was formed as an umbrella organisation to represent all workers, administrators, and company owners, thus reflecting the concept of Nazism in the spirit of Hitler'sVolksgemeinschaft ("people's community").[179]
In 1934, Hitler became Germany's head of state with the title ofFührer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor of the Reich)
By the end of June, the other parties had been intimidated into disbanding. This included the Nazis' nominal coalition partner, the DNVP; with the SA's help, Hitler forced its leader, Hugenberg, to resign on 29 June. On 14 July 1933, the Nazi Party was declared the only legal political party in Germany.[179][177] The demands of the SA for more political and military power caused anxiety among military, industrial, and political leaders. In response, Hitler purged the entire SA leadership in theNight of the Long Knives, which took place from 30 June to 2 July 1934.[180] Hitler targeted Ernst Röhm and other SA leaders who, along with a number of Hitler's political adversaries (such as Gregor Strasser and former chancellorKurt von Schleicher), were rounded up, arrested, and shot.[181] While the international community and some Germans were shocked by the killings, many in Germany believed Hitler was restoring order.[182]
Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934. On the previous day, the cabinet had enacted theLaw Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich.[2] This law stated that upon Hindenburg's death, the office of president would be abolished, and its powers merged with those of the chancellor. Hitler thus became head of state as well as head of government and was formally named asFührer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor of the Reich),[1] althoughReichskanzler was eventually dropped.[183] With this action, Hitler eliminated the last legal remedy by which he could be removed from office.[184]
As head of state, Hitler became commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Immediately after Hindenburg's death, at the instigation of the leadership of theReichswehr, the traditional loyalty oath of soldiers was altered toaffirm loyalty to Hitler personally, by name, rather than to the office of commander-in-chief (which was later renamed to supreme commander) or to Germany.[185] On 19 August, the merger of the presidency with the chancellorship was approved by 88 per cent of the electorate voting in aplebiscite.[186]
Hitler's personal standard
In early 1938, Hitler used blackmail to consolidate his hold over the military by instigating theBlomberg–Fritsch affair. Hitler forced his War Minister, Field MarshalWerner von Blomberg, to resign by using a police dossier that showed that Blomberg's new wife had a record for prostitution.[187][188] Army commander Colonel-GeneralWerner von Fritsch was removed after theSchutzstaffel (SS) produced allegations that he had engaged in a homosexual relationship.[189] Both men had fallen into disfavour because they objected to Hitler's demand to make theWehrmacht ready for war as early as 1938.[190] Hitler assumed Blomberg's title of Commander-in-Chief, thus taking personal command of the armed forces.[191] He replaced the Ministry of War with theOberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), headed by GeneralWilhelm Keitel. On the same day, 16 generals were stripped of their commands and 44 more were transferred; all were suspected of not being sufficiently pro-Nazi.[192] By early February 1938, 12 more generals had been removed.[193]
Hitler took care to give his dictatorship the appearance of legality. Many of his decrees were explicitly based on the Reichstag Fire Decree and hence on Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. TheReichstag renewed the Enabling Act twice, each time for a four-year period.[194] While elections to theReichstag were still held (in 1933, 1936, and 1938), voters were presented with a single list of Nazis and pro-Nazi "guests" which received well over 90 per cent of the vote.[195] These sham elections were held in far-from-secret conditions; the Nazis threatened severe reprisals against anyone who did not vote or who voted against.[196]
In August 1934, Hitler appointedReichsbank PresidentHjalmar Schacht as Minister of Economics, and in the following year, as Plenipotentiary for War Economy in charge of preparing the economy for war.[197] Reconstruction and rearmament were financed throughMefo bills, printing money, and seizing the assets of people arrested asenemies of the state, including Jews.[198] The number of unemployed fell from sixmillion in 1932 to fewer than one million in 1936.[199] Hitler oversaw one of the largest infrastructure improvement campaigns in German history, leading to the construction of dams,autobahns, railroads, and other civil works. Wages were slightly lower in the mid to late 1930s compared with wages during the Weimar Republic, while the cost of living increased by 25 per cent.[200] The average work week increased during the shift to a war economy; by 1939, the average German was working between 47 and 50 hours a week.[201]
In a meeting with German military leaders on 3 February 1933, Hitler spoke of "conquest forLebensraum in the East and its ruthless Germanisation" as his ultimate foreign policy objectives.[204] In March, Prince Bernhard Wilhelm von Bülow, secretary at theForeign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), issued a statement of major foreign policy aims:Anschluss with Austria, the restoration of Germany's national borders of 1914, rejection of military restrictions under the Treaty of Versailles, the return of the former German colonies in Africa, and a German zone of influence in Eastern Europe. Hitler found Bülow's goals to be too modest.[205] In speeches during this period, he stressed what he termed the peaceful goals of his policies and a willingness to work within international agreements.[206] At the first meeting of his cabinet in 1933, Hitler prioritised military spending over unemployment relief.[207]
Germany withdrew from theLeague of Nations and theWorld Disarmament Conference in October 1933.[208] In January 1935, over 90 per cent of the people of theSaarland, then under League of Nations administration,voted to unite with Germany.[209] That March, Hitler announced an expansion of the Wehrmacht to 600,000 members—six times the number permitted by the Versailles Treaty—including development of an air force (Luftwaffe) and an increase in the size of the navy (Kriegsmarine). Britain, France, Italy, and the League of Nations condemned these violations of the Treaty but did nothing to stop it.[210][211] TheAnglo-German Naval Agreement (AGNA) of 18 June allowed German tonnage to increase to 35 per cent of that of theRoyal Navy. Hitler called the signing of the AGNA "the happiest day of his life", believing that the agreement marked the beginning of the Anglo-German alliance he had predicted inMein Kampf.[212] France and Italy were not consulted before the signing, directly undermining the League of Nations and setting the Treaty of Versailles on the path towards irrelevance.[213]
Germanyreoccupied the demilitarised zone in the Rhineland in March 1936, in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Hitler also sent troops to Spain to supportFrancisco Franco and hisNationalist faction during theSpanish Civil War after receiving an appeal for help in July 1936. At the same time, Hitler continued his efforts to create an Anglo-German alliance.[214] In August 1936, in response to a growing economic crisis caused by his rearmament efforts, Hitler ordered Göring to implement aFour Year Plan to prepare Germany for war within the next four years.[215] The plan envisaged an all-out struggle between "Judaeo-Bolshevism" and German Nazism, which in Hitler's view required a committed effort of rearmament regardless of the economic costs.[216]
In October 1936, CountGaleazzo Ciano, foreign minister of Mussolini's government, visited Germany, where he signed aNine-Point Protocol as an expression ofrapprochement and had a personal meeting with Hitler. On 1 November, Mussolini declared an "axis" between Germany and Italy.[217] On 25 November, Germany signed theAnti-Comintern Pact withJapan. Britain, China, Italy, and Poland were also invited to join the Anti-Comintern Pact, but only Italy signed in 1937. Hitler abandoned his plan of an Anglo-German alliance, blaming "inadequate" British leadership.[218] At a meeting in theReich Chancellery with his foreign ministers and military chiefs that November, Hitler restated his intention of acquiringLebensraum for the German people. He ordered preparations for war in the East, to begin as early as 1938 and no later than 1943. In the event of his death, the conference minutes, recorded as theHossbach Memorandum, were to be regarded as his "political testament".[219] He felt that a severe decline in living standards in Germany as a result of the economic crisis could only be stopped by military aggression aimed at seizing Austria andCzechoslovakia.[220][221] Hitler urged quick action before Britain and France gained a permanent lead in thearms race.[220] In early 1938, in the wake of theBlomberg–Fritsch affair, Hitler asserted control of the military-foreign policy apparatus, dismissing Neurath as foreign minister and appointing himself as War Minister.[215] From early 1938 onwards, Hitler was carrying out a foreign policy ultimately aimed at war.[222]
In February 1938, on the advice of his newly appointed foreign minister, the strongly pro-JapaneseJoachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler ended theSino-German alliance with theRepublic of China to instead enter into an alliance with the more modern and powerfulEmpire of Japan. Hitler announced German recognition ofManchukuo, the Japanese puppet state inManchuria, and renounced German claims to their former colonies in the Pacific held by Japan.[223] Hitler ordered an end to arms shipments to China and recalled all German officers working with the Chinese Army.[223] In retaliation, Chinese GeneralChiang Kai-shek cancelled all Sino-German economic agreements, depriving the Germans of many Chinese raw materials.[224]
Austria and Czechoslovakia
October 1938: Hitler is driven through the crowd inCheb (German:Eger), in theSudetenland.
On 12 March 1938, Hitler announced the unification of Austria withNazi Germany in theAnschluss.[225][226] Hitler then turned his attention to theethnic German population of theSudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.[227] On 28–29 March 1938, Hitler held a series of secret meetings in Berlin withKonrad Henlein of theSudeten German Party, the largest of the ethnic German parties of the Sudetenland. The men agreed that Henlein would demand increased autonomy forSudeten Germans from the Czechoslovakian government, thus providing a pretext for German military action against Czechoslovakia. In April 1938 Henlein told theforeign minister ofHungary that "whatever the Czech government might offer, he would always raise still higher demands ... he wanted to sabotage an understanding by any means because this was the only method to blow up Czechoslovakia quickly".[228] In private, Hitler considered the Sudeten issue unimportant; his real intention was a war of conquest against Czechoslovakia.[229]
In April, Hitler ordered the OKW to prepare forFall Grün (Case Green), the code name for an invasion of Czechoslovakia.[230] As a result of intense French and British diplomatic pressure, on 5 September Czechoslovakian PresidentEdvard Beneš unveiled the "Fourth Plan" for constitutional reorganisation of his country, which agreed to most of Henlein's demands for Sudeten autonomy.[231] Henlein's party responded to Beneš' offer by instigating a series of violent clashes with the Czechoslovakian police that led to the declaration of martial law in certain Sudeten districts.[232][233]
Germany was dependent on imported oil; a confrontation with Britain over the Czechoslovakian dispute could curtail Germany's oil supplies. This forced Hitler to call offFall Grün, originally planned for 1 October 1938.[234] On 29 September, Hitler,Neville Chamberlain,Édouard Daladier, and Mussolini attended a one-day conference in Munich that led to theMunich Agreement, which handed over the Sudetenland districts to Germany.[235][236]
Chamberlain was satisfied with the Munich conference, calling the outcome "peace for our time", while Hitler was angered about the missed opportunity for war in 1938;[237][238] he expressed his disappointment in a speech on 9 October inSaarbrücken.[239] In Hitler's view, the British-brokered peace, although favourable to the ostensible German demands, was a diplomatic defeat which spurred his intent of limiting British power to pave the way for the eastern expansion of Germany.[240][241] As a result of the summit, Hitler was selectedTime magazine'sMan of the Year for 1938.[242] In late 1938 and early 1939, the continuing economic crisis caused by rearmament forced Hitler to make major defence cuts.[243] In his "Export or die"speech of 30 January 1939, he called for an economic offensive to increase German foreign exchange holdings to pay for raw materials such as high-grade iron needed for military weapons.[243]
Boundaries of the Nazi plannedGreater Germanic ReichHitler and Benito Mussolini stand together on a reviewing stand during Mussolini's official visit in Munich
In private discussions in 1939, Hitler declared Britain the main enemy to be defeated and that Poland's obliteration was a necessary prelude for that goal.[247] The eastern flank would be secured and land would be added to Germany'sLebensraum.[248] Offended by the British "guarantee" on 31 March 1939 of Polish independence, he said, "I shall brew them a devil's drink".[249] In a speech inWilhelmshaven for the launch of the battleshipTirpitz on 1 April, he threatened to denounce theAnglo-German Naval Agreement if the British continued to guarantee Polish independence, which he perceived as an "encirclement" policy.[249] Poland was to either become a German satellite state or it would be neutralised to secure the Reich's eastern flank and prevent a possible British blockade.[250]
Hitler initially favoured the idea of a satellite state, but upon its rejection by the Polish government, he decided to invade and made this the main foreign policy goal of 1939.[251] On 3 April, Hitler ordered the military to prepare forFall Weiss ("Case White"), the plan for invading Poland on 25 August.[251] In a Reichstag speech on 28 April, he renounced both the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and theGerman–Polish Non-Aggression Pact.[252] Historians such asWilliam Carr,Gerhard Weinberg, andIan Kershaw have argued that one reason for Hitler's rush to war was his fear of an early death. He had repeatedly claimed that he must lead Germany into war before he got too old, as his successors might lack his strength of will.[253][254][255] Hitler was concerned that a military attack against Poland could result in a premature war with Britain.[250][256] Hitler's foreign minister and former Ambassador to London, Joachim von Ribbentrop, assured him that neither Britain nor France would honour its commitments to Poland.[257][258] Accordingly, on 22 August 1939 Hitler ordered a military mobilisation against Poland.[259]
This plan required tacit Soviet support,[260] and thenon-aggression pact (theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact) between Germany and theSoviet Union, led byJoseph Stalin, included a secret agreement to partition Poland between the two countries.[261] Contrary to Ribbentrop's prediction that Britain would sever Anglo-Polish ties, Britain and Poland signed the Anglo-Polish alliance on 25 August 1939. This, along with news from Italy that Mussolini would not honour thePact of Steel, prompted Hitler to postpone the attack on Poland from 25 August to 1 September.[262] Hitler unsuccessfully tried to manoeuvre the British into neutrality by offering them a non-aggression guarantee on 25 August; he then instructed Ribbentrop to present a last-minute peace plan with an impossibly short time limit in an effort to blame the imminent war on British and Polish inaction.[263][264]
On 1 September 1939, Germanyinvaded western Poland under the pretext of having been denied claims to theFree City of Danzig and the right to extraterritorial roads across thePolish Corridor, which Germany had ceded under the Versailles Treaty.[265] In response,Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September, surprising Hitler and prompting him to angrily ask Ribbentrop, "Now what?"[266] France and Britain did not act on their declarations immediately, and on 17 September, Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland.[267]
The fall of Poland was followed by what contemporary journalists dubbed the "Phoney War" orSitzkrieg ("sitting war"). Hitler instructed the two newly appointedGauleiters of north-western Poland,Albert Forster ofReichsgau Danzig-West Prussia andArthur Greiser ofReichsgau Wartheland, toGermanise their areas, with "no questions asked" about how this was accomplished.[268] In Forster's area, ethnic Poles merely had to sign forms stating that they had German blood.[269] In contrast, Greiser agreed with Himmler and carried out anethnic cleansing campaign towards Poles. Greiser soon complained that Forster was allowing thousands of Poles to be accepted as "racial" Germans and thus endangered German "racial purity".[268] Hitler refrained from getting involved. This inaction has been advanced as an example of the theory of "working towards the Führer", in which Hitler issued vague instructions and expected his subordinates to work out policies on their own.[268][270]
Another dispute pitched one side represented byHeinrich Himmler and Greiser, who championed ethnic cleansing in Poland, against another represented by Göring and Hans Frank (governor-general of occupied Poland), who called for turning Poland into the "granary" of the Reich. On 12 February 1940, the dispute was initially settled in favour of the Göring–Frank view, which ended the economically disruptive mass expulsions. On 15 May 1940, Himmler issued a memo entitled "Some Thoughts on the Treatment of Alien Population in the East", calling for the expulsion of the entire Jewish population of Europe into Africa and the reduction of the Polish population to a "leaderless class of labourers". Hitler called Himmler's memo "good and correct", and, ignoring Göring and Frank, implemented the Himmler–Greiser policy in Poland.[271]
Hitler visits Paris with the architectAlbert Speer (left) and the sculptorArno Breker (right), 23 June 1940
On 9 April, German forcesinvaded Denmark and Norway. On the same day Hitler proclaimed the birth of theGreater Germanic Reich, his vision of a united empire of Germanic nations of Europe in which the Dutch, Flemish, and Scandinavians were joined into a "racially pure" polity under German leadership.[272] In May 1940, Germanyattacked France, and conqueredLuxembourg, theNetherlands, andBelgium. These victories prompted Mussolini to have Italy join forces with Hitler on 10 June. France and Germany signed anarmistice on 22 June.[273] Kershaw notes that Hitler's popularity within Germany—and German support for the war—reached its peak when he returned to Berlin on 6 July from his tour of Paris.[274] Following the unexpected swift victory, Hitler promoted 12 generals to the rank offield marshal during the1940 Field Marshal Ceremony.[275][276]
Britain, whose troops were forced to evacuate France by sea fromDunkirk,[277] continued to fight alongside other Britishdominions in theBattle of the Atlantic. Hitler made peace overtures to the newBritish prime minister,Winston Churchill, and upon their rejection he ordered a series of aerial attacks onRoyal Air Force airbases and radar stations insoutheast England. On 7 September the systematic nightly bombing of London began. The German Luftwaffe failed to defeat the Royal Air Force in what became known as theBattle of Britain.[278] By the end of September, Hitler realised that air superiority for the invasion of Britain (inOperation Sea Lion) could not be achieved, and ordered the operation postponed. Thenightly air raids on British cities intensified and continued for months, including London,Plymouth, andCoventry.[279]
On 27 September 1940, theTripartite Pact was signed in Berlin bySaburō Kurusu ofImperial Japan, Hitler, and Italian foreign minister Ciano,[280] and later expanded to include Hungary, Romania, andBulgaria, thus yielding theAxis powers. Hitler's attempt to integrate the Soviet Union into the anti-British bloc failed after inconclusive talks between Hitler andMolotov in Berlin in November, and he ordered preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union.[281]
On 22 June 1941, contravening theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, over three million Axis troops attackedthe Soviet Union.[284] This offensive (codenamedOperation Barbarossa) was intended to destroy the Soviet Union and seize its natural resources for subsequent aggression against the Western powers.[285][286] The action was also part of the overall plan to obtain more living space for German people; and Hitler thought a successful invasion would force Britain to negotiate a surrender.[287] The invasion conquered a huge area, including theBaltic republics,Belarus, and WestUkraine. By early August, Axis troops had advanced 500 km (310 miles) and won theBattle of Smolensk. Hitler orderedArmy Group Centre to temporarily halt its advance to Moscow and divert its Panzer groups to aid in theencirclement of Leningrad andKiev.[288] His generals disagreed with this change, having advanced within 400 km (250 miles) of Moscow, and his decision caused a crisis among the military leadership.[289][290] The pause provided the Red Army with an opportunity to mobilise fresh reserves; the historian Russel Stolfi considers it to be one of the major factors that caused the failure of the Moscow offensive, which was resumed in October 1941 andended disastrously in December.[288] During this crisis, Hitler appointed himself as head of theOberkommando des Heeres.[291]
On 7 December 1941, Japanattacked the American fleet based atPearl Harbor, Hawaii. Four days later, Hitlerdeclared war against the United States.[292] On 18 December 1941, Himmler asked Hitler, "What to do with the Jews of Russia?", to which Hitler replied,"als Partisanen auszurotten" ("exterminate them as partisans").[293] The Israeli historianYehuda Bauer has commented that the remark is probably as close as historians will ever get to a definitive order from Hitler for the genocide carried out duringthe Holocaust.[293]
In late 1942, German forces were defeated in theSecond Battle of El Alamein,[294] thwarting Hitler's plans to seize theSuez Canal and the Middle East. Overconfident in his own military expertise following the earlier victories in 1940, Hitler became distrustful of his Army High Command and began to interfere in military and tactical planning, with damaging consequences.[295] In December 1942 and January 1943, Hitler's repeated refusal to allow their withdrawal at theBattle of Stalingrad led to the almost total destruction of the6th Army. Over 200,000 Axis soldiers were killed and 235,000 were taken prisoner.[296] Thereafter came a decisive strategic defeat at theBattle of Kursk.[297] Hitler's military judgement became increasingly erratic, and Germany's military and economic position deteriorated, as did Hitler's health.[298]
The destroyed map room at theWolf's Lair, Hitler's eastern command post, after the20 July plot
Between 1939 and 1945, there were numerous plans toassassinate Hitler, some of which proceeded to significant degrees.[302] The most well-known and significant, the20 July plot of 1944, came from within Germany and was at least partly driven by the increasing prospect of a German defeat in the war.[303] Part ofOperation Valkyrie, the plot involvedClaus von Stauffenberg planting a bomb in one ofHitler's headquarters, theWolf's Lair atRastenburg. Hitler narrowly survived because the staff officerHeinz Brandt moved the briefcase containing the bomb behind a leg of the heavy conference table, which deflected much of the blast. Later, Hitler ordered reprisals, resulting in the execution of more than 4,900 people.[304] Hitler was put on theUnited Nations War Crimes Commission's first list ofwar criminals in December 1944, after determining that Hitler could be held criminally responsible for the acts of the Nazis in occupied countries. By March 1945, at least seven indictments had been filed against him.[305]
Hitler in his last filmed appearance, honouring Hitler Youth members of theVolkssturm in the Reich Chancellery garden, 20 April 1945Front page of the US Armed Forces newspaper,Stars and Stripes, 2 May 1945, announcing Hitler's death. It erroneously states that Hitler died on 1 May; he died on 30 April
By late 1944, both theRed Army and theWestern Allies were advancing into Germany. Recognising the strength and determination of the Red Army, Hitler decided to use his remaining mobile reserves against the American and British armies, which he perceived as far weaker.[306] On 16 December, he launched theArdennes Offensive to incite disunity among the Western Allies and perhaps convince them to join his fight against the Soviets.[307] After some temporary successes, the offensive failed.[308] With much of Germany in ruins in January 1945, Hitler spoke on the radio: "However grave as the crisis may be at this moment, it will, despite everything, be mastered by our unalterable will."[309] Acting on his view that Germany's military failures meant it had forfeited its right to survive as a nation, Hitler ordered the destruction of all German industrial infrastructure before it could fall into Allied hands.[310] Minister for ArmamentsAlbert Speer was entrusted with executing thisscorched earth policy, but he secretly disobeyed the order.[310][311] Hitler's hope to negotiate peace with the United States and Britain was encouraged by the death of US PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt on 12 April 1945, but contrary to his expectations, this caused no rift among the Allies.[307][312]
On 20 April, his 56th and final birthday, Hitler made his last trip from theFührerbunker to the surface. In the ruined garden of the Reich Chancellery, he awarded Iron Crosses to boy soldiers of theHitler Youth, who were now fighting the Red Army at the front near Berlin.[313] By 21 April,Georgy Zhukov's1st Belorussian Front had broken through the defences of GeneralGotthard Heinrici'sArmy Group Vistula during theBattle of the Seelow Heights and advanced to the outskirts of Berlin.[314] In denial about the dire situation, Hitler placed his hopes on the undermanned and under-equippedArmeeabteilung Steiner (Army Detachment Steiner), commanded byFelix Steiner. Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of thesalient, while the GermanNinth Army was ordered to attack northward in apincer attack.[315]
During a military conference on 22 April, Hitler enquired about Steiner's offensive. He was informed that the attack had not been launched and that the Soviets had entered Berlin. Hitler ordered everyone but Wilhelm Keitel,Alfred Jodl,Hans Krebs, andWilhelm Burgdorf to leave the room,[316] then launched into a tirade against the perceived treachery and incompetence of his generals, culminating in his declaration—for the first time—that "everything is lost".[317] He announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself.[318]
By 23 April, the Red Army had surrounded Berlin,[319] and Goebbels made a proclamation urging its citizens to defend the city.[316] That same day, Göring sent a telegram fromBerchtesgaden, arguing that as Hitler was isolated in Berlin, Göring should assume leadership of Germany. Göring set a deadline, after which he would consider Hitler incapacitated.[320] Hitler responded by having Göring arrested, and in hislast will and testament of 29 April, he removed Göring from all government positions.[321][322] On 28 April, Hitler discovered that Himmler, who had left Berlin on 20 April, was attempting to negotiate a surrender to the Western Allies.[323][324] He considered this treason and ordered Himmler's arrest. He also ordered the execution ofHermann Fegelein, Himmler's SS representative at Hitler's headquarters in Berlin, for desertion.[325]
After midnight on the night of 28–29 April, Hitler marriedEva Braun in a small civil ceremony in theFührerbunker.[326][g] Later that afternoon, Hitler was informed thatMussolini had been executed by theItalian resistance movement on the previous day; this is believed to have increased his determination to avoid capture.[327] On 30 April, Soviet troops were within five hundred metres of the Reich Chancellery when Hitler shot himself in the head and Braun bit into acyanide capsule.[328][329] In accordance with Hitler's wishes, their corpses were carried outside to the garden behind the Reich Chancellery, where they were placed in a bomb crater, doused with petrol, and set on fire as the Red Army shelling continued.[330][331][332] Grand AdmiralKarl Dönitz and Goebbels assumed Hitler's roles as head of state and chancellor respectively.[333] On the evening of 1 May, Goebbels and his wife,Magda, committed suicide in the Reich Chancellery garden, after having poisoned their six children with cyanide.[334]
Berlin surrendered on 2 May. The remains of the Goebbels family, GeneralHans Krebs (who had committed suicide that day), and Hitler's dogBlondi were repeatedly buried and exhumed by the Soviets.[335] Hitler's and Braun's remains were alleged to have been moved as well, but this is most likely Sovietdisinformation. There is no evidence that any identifiable remains of Hitler or Braun—with the exception of dental bridges—were ever found by them.[336][337][338] While news of Hitler's death spread quickly, adeath certificate was not issued until 1956, after a lengthy investigation to collect testimony from 42 witnesses. Hitler's death was entered as anassumption of death based on this testimony.[339]
A mass grave atBergen-Belsen after the camp's liberation, April 1945
The Holocaust and Germany's war in the East were based on Hitler's long-standing view that the Jews were the enemy of the German people, and thatLebensraum was needed for Germany's expansion. He focused on Eastern Europe for this expansion, aiming to defeat Poland and the Soviet Union and then removing or killing the Jews andSlavs.[341] TheGeneralplan Ost (General Plan East) called for deporting the population of occupied Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to West Siberia, for use as slave labour or to be murdered;[342] the conquered territories were to be colonised by German or "Germanised" settlers.[343] The goal was to implement this plan after the conquest of the Soviet Union, but when this failed, Hitler moved the plans forward.[342][344] By January 1942, he had decided that the Jews, Slavs, and other deportees considered undesirable should be killed.[345][h]
Hitler's order forAktion T4, dated 1 September 1939
The genocide was organised and executed byHeinrich Himmler andReinhard Heydrich. The records of theWannsee Conference, held on 20 January 1942 and led by Heydrich, with 15 senior Nazi officials participating, provide the clearest evidence of systematic planning for the Holocaust. On 22 February, Hitler was recorded saying, "we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews".[346] Similarly, at a meeting in July 1941 with leading functionaries of the Eastern territories, Hitler said that the easiest way to quickly pacify the areas would be best achieved by "shooting everyone who even looks odd".[347] Although no direct order from Hitler authorising the mass killings has surfaced,[348] his public speeches, orders to his generals, and the diaries of Nazi officials demonstrate that he conceived and authorised the extermination of European Jewry.[349][350] During the war, Hitler repeatedly stated hisprophecy of 1939 was being fulfilled, namely, that a world war would bring about the annihilation of the Jewish race.[351] Hitler approved theEinsatzgruppen—killing squads that followed the German army through Poland, the Baltic, and the Soviet Union[352]—and was well informed about their activities.[349][353] By summer 1942,Auschwitz concentration camp was expanded to accommodate large numbers of deportees for murder orenslavement.[354] Scores of other concentration camps and satellite camps were set up throughout Europe, withseveral camps devoted exclusively to extermination.[355]
Between 1939 and 1945, theSchutzstaffel (SS), assisted bycollaborationist governments and recruits from occupied countries, were responsible for the deaths of at least 11 million non-combatants,[356][342] including the murders of about six million Jews (representing two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe),[357][i] and between 200,000 and 1,500,000Romani people.[359][357] The victims were killed in concentration and extermination camps and inghettos, and through mass shootings.[360][361] Many victims of the Holocaust were murdered ingas chambers or shot, while others died of starvation or disease orwhile working as slave labourers.[360][361] In addition to eliminating Jews, the Nazis planned to reduce the population of the conquered territories by 30 million people through starvation in an action called theHunger Plan. Food supplies would be diverted to the German army and German civilians. Cities would be razed, and the land allowed to return to forest or resettled by German colonists.[362] Together, the Hunger Plan andGeneralplan Ost would have led to the starvation of 80 million people in the Soviet Union.[363] These partially fulfilled plans resulted in additional deaths, bringing the total number of civilians and prisoners of war who died in thedemocide to an estimated 19.3 million people.[364]
Hitler's policies resulted in the killing of nearly two million non-JewishPolish civilians,[365] over three millionSoviet prisoners of war,[366] communists and other political opponents,homosexuals, the physically and mentally disabled,[367][368]Jehovah's Witnesses,Adventists, and trade unionists. Hitler never spoke publicly about the killings and seems to have never visited the concentration camps.[369] The Nazis embraced the concept ofracial hygiene. On 15 September 1935, Hitler presented two laws—known as theNuremberg Laws—to the Reichstag. The laws banned sexual relations and marriages between Aryans and Jews and were later extended to include "Gypsies, Negroes or their bastard offspring".[370] The laws stripped all non-Aryans of their German citizenship and forbade the employment of non-Jewish women under the age of 45 in Jewish households.[371] Hitler's earlyeugenic policies targeted children with physical and developmental disabilities in a programme dubbedAction Brandt, and he later authorised aeuthanasia programme for adults with serious mental and physical disabilities, now referred to asAktion T4.[372]
Leadership style
Hitler during a meeting at the headquarters ofArmy Group South in June 1942
Hitler ruled the Nazi Partyautocratically by asserting theFührerprinzip (leader principle). The principle relied on absolute obedience of all subordinates to their superiors; thus, he viewed the government structure as a pyramid, with himself—theinfallible leader—at the apex. Rank in the party was not determined by elections—positions were filled through appointment by those of higher rank, who demanded unquestioning obedience to the will of the leader.[373] Hitler's leadership style was to give contradictory orders to his subordinates and to place them into positions where their duties and responsibilities overlapped with those of others, to have "the stronger one [do] the job".[374] In this way, Hitler fostered distrust, competition, and infighting among his subordinates to consolidate and maximise his own power.His cabinet never met after 1938, and he discouraged his ministers from meeting independently.[375][376] Hitler typically did not give written orders; instead, he communicated verbally, or had them conveyed through his close associateMartin Bormann.[377] He entrusted Bormann with his paperwork, appointments, and personal finances; Bormann used his position to control the flow of information and access to Hitler.[378]
Hitler dominated his country's war effort during World War II to a greater extent than any other national leader. He strengthened his control of the armed forces in 1938, and subsequently made all major decisions regarding Germany's military strategy. His decision to mount a risky series of offensives against Norway, France, and the Low Countries in 1940 against the advice of the military proved successful, though the diplomatic and military strategies he employed in attempts to force the United Kingdom out of the war ended in failure.[379] Hitler deepened his involvement in the war effort by appointing himself commander-in-chief of the Army in December 1941; from this point forward, he personally directed the war against the Soviet Union, while his military commanders facing the Western Allies retained a degree of autonomy.[380] Hitler's leadership became increasingly disconnected from reality as the war turned against Germany, with the military's defensive strategies often hindered by his slow decision-making and frequent directives to hold untenable positions. Nevertheless, he continued to believe that only his leadership could deliver victory.[379] In the final months of the war, Hitler refused to consider peace negotiations, regarding the destruction of Germany as preferable to surrender.[381] The military did not challenge Hitler's dominance of the war effort, and senior officers generally supported and enacted his decisions.[382]
Hitler created a public image as a celibate man without a domestic life, dedicated entirely to his political mission and the nation.[150][383] He met his lover,Eva Braun, in 1929,[384] and married her on 29 April 1945, one day before they both committed suicide.[385] In September 1931, his half-niece,Geli Raubal, committed suicide with Hitler's gun in his Munich apartment. It was rumoured among contemporaries that Geli was in a romantic relationship with him, and her death was a source of deep, lasting pain.[386]Paula Hitler, the younger sister of Hitler and the last living member of his immediate family, died in June 1960.[16]
Hitler was born to a practisingCatholic mother and ananti-clerical father; after leaving home, Hitler never again attendedMass or received thesacraments.[387][388][389] Albert Speer states that Hitler railed against the church to his political associates, and though he never officially left the church, he had no attachment to it.[390] He adds that Hitler felt that in the absence of organised religion, people would turn to mysticism, which he considered regressive.[390] According to Speer, Hitler believed thatJapanese religious beliefs orIslam would have been a more suitable religion for Germans than Christianity, with its "meekness and flabbiness".[391] The historianJohn S. Conway states that Hitler was fundamentally opposed to the Christian churches.[392] According to Bullock, Hitler did not believe in God, was anticlerical, and held Christian ethics in contempt because they contravened his preferred view of "survival of the fittest".[393] He favoured aspects ofProtestantism that suited his own views, and adopted some elements of the Catholic Church's hierarchical organisation,liturgy, and phraseology.[394] In a 1932 speech, Hitler stated that he was not a Catholic, and declared himself aGerman Christian.[395] In a conversation with Albert Speer, Hitler said, "Through me the Evangelical Church could become the established church, as in England."[396]
Hitler shakes hands with BishopLudwig Müller in Germany in the 1930s
Hitler viewed the church as an important politically conservative influence on society,[397] and he adopted a strategic relationship with it that "suited his immediate political purposes".[392] In public, Hitler often praised Christian heritage and German Christian culture, though professing a belief in an "Aryan Jesus" who fought against the Jews.[398] Any pro-Christian public rhetoric contradicted his private statements, which described Christianity as "absurdity"[399] and nonsense founded on lies.[400]
According to a USOffice of Strategic Services (OSS) report, "The Nazi Master Plan", Hitler planned to destroy the influence of Christian churches within the Reich.[401][402] His eventual goal was the total elimination of Christianity.[403] This goal informed Hitler's movement early on, but he saw it as inexpedient to publicly express this extreme position.[404] According to Bullock, Hitler wanted to wait until after the war before executing this plan.[405] Speer wrote that Hitler had a negative view of Himmler's andAlfred Rosenberg's mystical notions and Himmler's attempt to mythologise the SS. Hitler was more pragmatic, and his ambitions centred on more practical concerns.[406][407]
Sometime in the 1930s,Hitler adopted a mainly vegetarian diet,[416][417] avoiding all meat and fish from 1942 onwards. At social events, he sometimes gave graphic accounts of the slaughter of animals in an effort to make his guests shun meat.[418] Bormann had a greenhouse constructed near theBerghof (nearBerchtesgaden) to ensure a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables for Hitler.[419] Hitler stopped drinking alcohol around the time he became vegetarian and thereafter only very occasionally drank beer or wine on social occasions.[420][421] He was a non-smoker for most of his adult life, but smoked heavily in his youth (25 to 40 cigarettes a day); he eventually quit, calling the habit "a waste of money".[422] He encouraged his close associates to quit by offering a gold watch to anyone able to break the habit.[423] Hitler began usingamphetamine occasionally after 1937 and became addicted to it in late 1942.[424] Speer linked this use of amphetamine to Hitler's increasingly erratic behaviour and inflexible decision-making (for example, rarely allowing military retreats).[425]
Prescribed 90 medications during the war years by his personal physician,Theodor Morell, Hitler took many pills each day for chronic stomach problems and other ailments.[426] He regularly consumedamphetamine,barbiturates,opiates, andcocaine,[427][428] as well aspotassium bromide andatropa belladonna (the latter in the form ofDoktor Koster's Antigaspills).[429] He sufferedruptured eardrums as a result of the20 July plot bomb blast in 1944, and 200 wood splinters had to be removed from his legs.[430] Newsreel footage of Hitler shows tremors in his left hand and a shuffling walk, which began before the war and worsened towards the end of his life.[426]Ernst-Günther Schenck and several other doctors who met Hitler in the last weeks of his life also formed a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.[431]
Outside of a building inBraunau am Inn, Austria, where Hitler was born, is amemorial stone placed as a reminder of World War II. The inscription translates as:[432]
For peace, freedom and democracy never again fascism millions of dead warn [us]
According to the historianJoachim Fest, Hitler's suicide was likened by numerous contemporaries to a "spell" being broken.[433] Similarly, Speer commented inInside the Third Reich on his emotions the day after Hitler's suicide: "Only now was the spell broken, the magic extinguished."[434] Public support for Hitler had collapsed by the time of his death, which few Germans mourned; Kershaw argues that most civilians and military personnel were too busy adjusting to the collapse of the country or fleeing from the fighting to take any interest.[435] According to the historianJohn Toland, Nazism "burst like a bubble" without its leader.[436]
Kershaw describes Hitler as "the embodiment of modern political evil".[3] "Never in history has such ruination—physical and moral—been associated with the name of one man", he adds.[437] Hitler's political programme brought about a world war, leaving behind a devastated and impoverished Eastern and Central Europe. Germany suffered wholesale destruction, characterised asStunde Null (Zero Hour).[438] Hitler's policies inflicted human suffering on an unprecedented scale;[439] according toR. J. Rummel, the Nazi regime was responsible for thedemocidal killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war.[356] In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in theEuropean theatre of World War II.[356] The number of civilians killed during the Second World War was unprecedented in the history of warfare.[440] Historians, philosophers, and politicians often use the word "evil" to describe the Nazi regime.[441] Many European countries havecriminalised both the promotion of Nazism andHolocaust denial.[442]
The historianFriedrich Meinecke described Hitler as "one of the great examples of the singular and incalculable power of personality in historical life".[443] The English historianHugh Trevor-Roper saw him as "among the 'terrible simplifiers' of history, the most systematic, the most historical, the most philosophical, and yet the coarsest, cruelest, least magnanimous conqueror the world has ever known".[444] For the historianJohn M. Roberts, Hitler's defeat marked the end of a phase of European history dominated by Germany.[445] In its place emerged theCold War, a global confrontation between theWestern Bloc, dominated by the United States and otherNATO nations, and theEastern Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union.[446] The historianSebastian Haffner asserted that without Hitler and the displacement of the Jews, the modern nation-state of Israel would not exist. He contends that without Hitler, thede-colonisation of former European spheres of influence would have been postponed.[447] Further, Haffner claimed that other thanAlexander the Great, Hitler had a more significant impact than any other comparable historical figure, in that he too caused a wide range of worldwide changes in a relatively short time span.[448]
Hitler exploited documentary films and newsreels to inspire acult of personality. He was involved and appeared in a series of propaganda films throughout his political career, many made byLeni Riefenstahl, regarded as a pioneer of modern filmmaking.[449] Hitler's propaganda film appearances include:
^Officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (German:Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei[b] or NSDAP)
^The position ofFührer und Reichskanzler ("Leader and Chancellor") replaced the position of President, which was thehead of state for theWeimar Republic. Hitler took this title after the death ofPaul von Hindenburg, who had been serving as President. He was afterwards both head of state andhead of government, with the full official title ofFührer und Reichskanzler des Deutschen Reiches und Volkes ("Führer and Reich Chancellor of the German Reich and People").[1][2]
^ Hitler also won settlement from alibel suit against the socialist paper theMünchener Post, which had questioned his lifestyle and income.Kershaw 2008, p. 99.
^MI5,Hitler's Last Days: "Hitler's will and marriage" on the website ofMI5, using the sources available to Trevor-Roper (a World War II MI5 agent and historian/author ofThe Last Days of Hitler), records the marriage as taking place after Hitler had dictated his last will and testament.
^ For a summary of recent scholarship on Hitler's central role in the Holocaust, seeMcMillan 2012.
^Sir Richard Evans states, "it has become clear that the probable total is around 6 million."[358]
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