Adolf Hitlers political views Essay Example for Free

Adolf Hitlers political views EssayAfter World struggle I, Hitler returned to Munich.75 Having no formal education and career prospects, he tried to remain in the army for as long as possible.76 In July 1919 he was appointed Verbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of an Aufklrungskommando (reconnaissance commando) of the Reichswehr, to crook other soldiers and to infiltrate the German Workers Party (DAP). While monitoring the activities of the DAP, Hitler became attracted to the founder Anton Drexlers antisemitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist, and anti-Marxist ideas.77 Drexler favoured a strong active g overnment, a non-Jewish version of socialism, and solidarity among all members of society. Impressed with Hitlers address skills, Drexler invited him to join the DAP. Hitler accepted on 12 September 1919,78 becoming the political partys 55th member.79A copy of Adolf Hitlers German Workers Party (DAP) membership card At the DAP, Hitler met Dietrich Eckart, iodine of the partys f ounders and a member of the occult Thule Society.80 Eckart became Hitlers mentor, exchanging ideas with him and introducing him to a wide range of people in Munich society.81 To increase its appeal, the DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party NSDAP).82 Hitler intentional the partys banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red basis.83 Hitler was discharged from the army in March 1920 and began functional full-time for the NSDAP. In February 1921already highly effective at speaking to massive audienceshe spoke to a crowd of over 6,000 in Munich.84 To bare the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around town waving swastika flags and throwing leaflets.Hitler soon gained notoriety for his rowdy polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, and especially against Marxists and Jews.85 At the time, the NSDAP was centred in Munich, a major hotbed of anti-government Ger man nationalists determined to crush Marxism and undermine the Weimar Republic.86 In June 1921, while Hitler and Eckart were on a fundraising trip to Berlin, a mutiny bust out within the NSDAP in Munich. Members of the its executive committee, some of whom considered Hitler to be too overbearing, wanted to merge with the rival German Socialist Party (DSP).87 Hitler returned to Munich on 11 July and angrily tendered his resignation. The committee members realised his resignation would mean the end of the party.88 Hitler announced he would rejoin on the condition that he would replace Drexler as party ch communication channelman, and that the party headquarters would remain in Munich.89The committee agreed he rejoined the party as member 3,680. He distillery faced some reverse within the NSDAP Hermann Esser and his allies printed 3,000 copies of a pamphlet attacking Hitler as a traitor to the party.89a In the following days, Hitler spoke to several packed houses and defended himsel f, to thunderous applause. His outline proved successful at a general membership meeting, he was granted absolute powers as party chairman, with only one nay voter turnout cast.90 Hitlers vitriolic beer hall speeches began attracting regular audiences. He became adept at using populist themes targeted at his audience, including the use of scapegoats who could be blamed for the economic hardships of his listeners.919293 Historians have noted the hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups.Kessel writes, Overwhelmingly Germans speak with mystification of Hitlers hypnotic appeal. The word shows up again and again Hitler is said to have mesmerized the nation, captured them in a trance from which they could not break loose.94 Historian Hugh Trevor-Roper described the fascination of those eyes, which had bewitched so galore(postnominal) seemingly sober men.95 He used his personal magnetism and an understanding of crowd psychology to his advanta ge while engaged in public speaking.9697 Alfons Heck, a former member of the Hitler Youth, describes the reaction to a speech by Hitler We erupted into a frenzy of nationalistic pride that bordered on hysteria. For minutes on end, we yelled 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.98Although his oratory skills and personal traits were generally received well by large crowds and at official events, some who had met Hitler privately noted that his visual aspect and demeanour failed to make a lasting impression.99100 Early followers included Rudolf Hess, former air force pilot Hermann Gring, and army captain Ernst Rhm. Rhm became head of the Nazis paramilitary organisation, the Sturmabteilung (SA, Stormtroopers), which protected meetings and frequently attacked political opponents. A tiny influence on his thinking during this period was the Aufbau Vereinigung,101 a conspi ratorial group of White Russian exiles and early National Socialists. The group, financed with funds channelled from wealthy industrialists like atomic number 1 Ford, introduced Hitler to the idea of a Jewish conspiracy, linking international finance with Bolshevism.102 Beer Hall PutschMain article Beer Hall PutschDrawing of Hitler (30 October 1923)Hitler enlisted the help of World War I General Erich Ludendorff for an attempted coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch. The Nazi Party used Italian Fascism as a model for their appearance and policies. Hitler wanted to emulate Benito Mussolinis March on Rome (1922) by staging his own coup in Bavaria, to be followed by challenging the government in Berlin. Hitler and Ludendorff sought the support of Staatskommissar (state commissioner) Gustav von Kahr, Bavarias de facto ruler. However, Kahr, along with Police Chief Hans Ritter von Seisser (Seier) and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow, wanted to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hi tler.103Hitler wanted to seize a precise moment for successful popular agitation and support.104 On 8 November 1923 he and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people that had been organised by Kahr in the Brgerbrukeller, a large beer hall in Munich. Hitler interrupted Kahrs speech and announced that the national revolution had begun, declaring the formation of a new government with Ludendorff.105 Retiring to a backroom, Hitler, with handgun drawn, demanded and got the support of Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow.105 Hitlers forces initially succeeded in occupying the local Reichswehr and police headquarters however, Kahr and his consorts quickly withdrew their support and neither the army nor the state police joined forces with him.106 The adjacent day, Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government, but police dispersed them.107Sixteen NSDAP members and four police officers were killed in the failed coup.108 Hitl er fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl, and by some accounts contemplated suicide.109 He was depressed but calm when arrested on 11 November 1923 for high treason.110 His trial began in February 1924 before the special Peoples Court in Munich,111 and Alfred Rosenberg became momentary leader of the NSDAP. On 1 April Hitler was sentenced to five years imprisonment at Landsberg Prison.112 He received friendly treatment from the guards he was allowed mail from supporters and regular visits by party comrades. The Bavarian Supreme Court issued a pardon and he was released from jail on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutors objections.113 Including time on remand, Hitler had served solely over one year in prison.114Dust jacket of Mein Kampf (19261927)While at Landsberg, Hitler dictated most of the first volume of Mein Kampf (My Struggle originally empower Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice) to his deputy, Rudolf Hess.114 The book, dedicat ed to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart, was an autobiography and an exposition of his ideology. Mein Kampf was influenced by The Passing of the Great guide by Madison Grant, which Hitler called my Bible.115 The book laid out Hitlers plans for transforming German society into one World War IIEarly diplomatic successesAlliance with japanMain article GermanyJapan relationsHitler and the Japanese Foreign Minister, Ysuke Matsuoka, at a meeting in Berlin in March 1941. In the background is Joachim von Ribbentrop. In February 1938, on the advice of his newly appointed Foreign Minister, the strongly pro-Japanese Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler ended the Sino-German alliance with the Republic of china to instead enter into an alliance with the more new-made and powerful Japan. Hitler announced German recognition of Manchukuo, the Japanese-occupied state in Manchuria, and renounced German claims to their former colonies in the Pacific held by Japan.195 Hitler ordered an end to arms ship ments to China and recalled all German officers working with the Chinese Army.195 In retaliation, Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek cancelled all Sino-German economic agreements, depriving the Germans of many Chinese raw materials.196Austria and CzechoslovakiaOn 12 March 1938 Hitler declared unification of Austria with Nazi Germany in the Anschluss.197198 Hitler then turned his attention to the ethnic German population of the Sudetenland district of Czechoslovakia.199 On 2829 March 1938 Hitler held a series of secret meetings in Berlin with Konrad Henlein of the Sudeten Heimfront (Home Front), the largest of the ethnic German parties of the Sudetenland. The men agreed that Henlein would demand increased autonomy for Sudeten Germans from the Czechoslovakian government, thus providing a pretext for German military action against Czechoslovakia. In April 1938 Henlein told the foreign minister of Hungary that whatever the Czech government might offer, he would always raise still higher de mands he wanted to sabotage an understanding by all means because this was the only method to blow up Czechoslovakia quickly.200 In private, Hitler considered the Sudeten issue unprofitable his real intention was a war of conquest against Czechoslovakia.201October 1938 Hitler (standing in the Mercedes) drives through the crowd in Cheb (German Eger), part of the German-populated Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, which was annexed to Nazi Germany due to the Munich Agreement In April Hitler ordered the OKW to prepare for Fall Grn (Case Green), the code name for an invasion of Czechoslovakia.202 As a dissolving agent of intense French and British diplomatic pressure, on 5 September Czechoslovakian President Edvard Bene unveiled the Fourth Plan for constitutional reorganisation of his country, which agreed to most of Henleins demands for Sudeten autonomy.203Henleins Heimfront responded to Bene offer with a series of godforsaken clashes with the Czechoslovakian police that led to the declaration of martial law in certain Sudeten districts.204205 Germany was dependent on imported oil a confrontation with Britain over the Czechoslovakian dispute could curtail Germanys oil supplies. Hitler called off Fall Grn, originally planned for 1 October 1938.206 On 29 September Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, douard Daladier, and Benito Mussolini attended a one-day convention in Munich that led to the Munich Agreement, which handed over the Sudetenland districts to Germany.207208Jewish shops destroyed in Magdeburg, following Kristallnacht (November 1938)Chamberlain was satisfied with the Munich conference, calling the outcome peace for our time, while Hitler was angered astir(predicate) the missed opportunity for war in 1938209210 he expressed his disappointment in a speech on 9 October in Saarbrcken.211 In Hitlers view, the British-brokered peace, although palmy to the ostensible German demands, was a diplomatic defeat which spurred his intent of limiting British power t o pave the way for the eastern expansion of Germany.212213 As a result of the summit, Hitler was selected Time magazines Man of the Year for 1938.214 In late 1938 and early 1939, the continuing economic crisis caused by rearmament forced Hitler to make major defence cuts.215In 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(prenominal) as high-grade iron needed for military weapons.215 On 15 March 1939, in violation of the Munich accord and possibly as a result of the deepening economic crisis requiring additional assets,216 Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to invade Prague, and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.217