A.B. Miller High School, Fontana, California, USA

"Table of Contents"

Title Page: PG. 1
Table of Contents: PG. 2
Introduction: PG. 3
Early Years: PG. 5
Interesting Facts: PG. 6
Major Achievements: PG. 7
Later Years/Death: PG. 9
Why I Chose Hitler: PG. 11
Summary / Conclusion: PG. 13
Bibliography: PG. 15

Introduction:

Adolf Hitler is considered by many the "devil incarnate." As a young man he did well in the eyes of the Austrian community in which he lived, but when he reached his older years, he had become hard and uncaring. The people who knew him claim this happened because his father was a harsh stern authoritative figure in young Hitler's eyes. When his father died and could no longer restrict his activities Hitler wanted to indulge himself. He later found out how hard life was when his mother died in 1907 the same year in which he moved out.

During his time in Vienna, Hitler made a living by selling his artwork. Desiring to be an artist, he was in fact dismissed from the Arts Academy twice. Soon after World War I started, Hitler volunteered for the army where he worked as a messenger in some of the bloodiest battles. He was wounded and received two medals of valor. The medals he got were the "Iron Cross Second Class," and the, "Iron Cross First Class." After the German war was over he took up political work and joined the tiny German Workers' Party.

By 1920, he was in charge of the party's propaganda schemes, and left the army in order to build up the party. Hitler renamed the party, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NAZI was the abbreviation). This was an excellent time to form a group such as this because many of the people felt angry since Germany lost the war. Also growing resentment of the minority's in their county such as the Jews or Slavs. In 1921, the Nazis were a private party army called the SA (Sturmabteilung). When Hitler joined the party he found it had conflicts with who was leader so he decided to take that burden then he found the party could exploit the government he did this also in hope to gain more power.

To reach new people as the party's leader he used much propaganda in the party's newspaper the Volkischer Beobachter. ("Popular Observer") One of the largest contributions to the publicity of the Nazi's was in Bavaria in the Putsch (Beer Hall). Here they tried to seize power and failed. There he wanted to proclaim a National Revolution. Things were going very fast now and Hitler grew more famous in the eyes of the people, although he had to limit the extent of his speeches concerning the "Inferior" races. During a presidential election, he got 36.8 percent of the votes.

After seeing he could accomplish more, Hitler had a renewed sense of duty. Thereafter he was invited to be Chancellor (Judge) which was a very high position in the government. Through his position in the government, he literally took over the German government. He soon made plans for the presidency. He knew that the German people wanted a leader who could bring their country back together, and out of poverty. He was sure he would certainly win the favor of the people. His advertisements now stated these remarks of how he could re-unite Germany and bring it out of poverty. When he went to nominate himself for the presidency, he received 90% of the votes although much of this was due to terrorism.

Now he had no need to hold back his real opinions because he was now a dictator. These were the things, which made Hitler famous, although further on in his life he makes so many mistakes by attempting to take over the European Nations. He was already the leader of a country when he had been nothing but an ordinary person. He could have been in power all of his life, but he compromised this by attacking stronger countries and declaring war on many Germany's bordering neighbors. This in an attempt to take over all of Europe and perhaps even later the world.

Early Years:

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, at Brauna, in Upper Austria a small town across the Inn River from Germany. Hitler was the fourth child of the third marriage of Alois Hitler. Alois Hitler had been an illegitimate child so there was speculation of Adolf Hitler being partially Jewish. Young Hitler received excellent grades in school saying, "... the work was very easy therefore I had much free time..." As time progressed young Hitler became infatuated with the notion of being an artist. When Hitler approached his father with this idea he was severely told it was frivolous; he refused to let Hitler do this.

In return, Hitler planned to fail all of his classes so that his father would see how much it meant to him. Hitler did in fact not fail his classes but simply got inadequate marks to succeed. Alois Hitler died in 1903, in about two and a half years Hitler left school at age sixteen. Adolf had a very easy life for the moment since his mother received widow's pension, and bought some land with it. Several years later in 1907 Hitler went to the city of Vienna to be an art student but failed the examination twice. His mother also died this year. Hitler received some money from the pension his mother had received, and had another income, which he inherited from his aunt. From these two incomes, he also applied for an orphan's pension.

Often times he sold his drawings and paintings considering himself an artist. During this time, he also became interested in political observations admiring the leadership and organization of the Social Democratic Party. As time grew harder in Vienna, he started developing an almost religious hatred for the Jewish community and Slovaks. He quickly became a nationalist believing that no form of government, which treated all people of different nationalities equally, could survive. About 1913, Hitler moved to Munich, there the German army called him for a physical examination but the army found him unfit.

When World War I began in August 1914, Hitler almost immediately applied for the German army. He did not serve as a soldier, but as a messenger around the Western Front for most of the war. He took part in the bloodiest battles and was therefore wounded. He was also decorated twice for bravery. Unfortunately for Hitler, he rose only to the rank of Corporal during this time. At the end of the war, he was in a military hospital recovering from temporary blindness because of his exposure to mustard gas.

When he heard news of the armistice, he was probably frothing at the mouth. In his eyes, he saw the German nation was threatened and believed it was his task to restore, the "Fatherland" back to it's greater glory. Hitler started becoming famous when he went to Vienna; I say this because he had an interest in politics and war. Once he felt he had integrated into the community he started taking charge and rose above and beyond his fellow man. Most people would say it was his eyes with a glare of superiority or his invigorating speeches and it was probably so that these qualities in him allowed him to hypnotize many of the crowds of people he spoke to.

Major Achievements:

As a youth, Hitler made achievements, which would make a parent proud. Unfortunately, when he became leader of the NAZI party many people in modern times would view these achievements as satanic (unless it is a racist organization.) Hitler in fact before starting World War II had succeeded to some degree of improving the economy and social lives of the German people. He was you might say a natural political leader, and his rise to power was not inevitable.

As he helped the people out of poverty and started Hitler Youth programs, it seemed that Germany was once again going to be a great nation. Even during the war, it appeared nothing could stop Hitler's army. Hitler's first major achievements were the re-acquiring of lost German land such as the bordering area known as Sudateland, Czechoslovakia, and other pieces of land which had once belonged to the German people. Hitler's mistake was his takeover of Poland and the need to take the Polish Corridor in order to link all of Germany.

Another ability that he had, was the instinct to always know when to exploit others. He would be able to be someone's friend one moment then he would soon have their power. He was a mastermind at shaping future events to the desired effect he wanted them to but he sure did not change the outcome of the war. In his life Hitler certainly made great leaps in positions considering that he was a village boy then a propagandist then leader of a local reform group. He then turned the group to do his bidding, became chancellor, and then became the leader of Germany with 90 percent of the votes.

By the time he was defeated, he had broken down the whole structure of the world, in which he lived and inaugurated a new era with even greater potentialities of power and destruction. Another great accomplishment, were the programs designed for future German soldiers, the children. He would teach them the NAZI values and have them spy on their parents and neighbors and report any criticism or other remarks which made the German government look bad to their NAZI teachers in order to control revolts. This way anyone who spoke out would be taken before they had time to start a rebellion.

Probably more of a fault than accomplishment was that even if he lost some battles to the British or another country he would not give up so easily. He would probably have willingly given all the lives of his German soldiers if it would accomplish his goals. (The British held off a German air strike without any other country's assistance.) The greatest accomplishment Hitler made many think is staying alive considering how the whole world hates him and even some of his own country men. I also believe Hitler came to power because he knew even as a young boy what he wanted. He knew he had to become the leader of the German people and take back all of the glory that was taken from them.

Many young people today do not know what they are going to do and even in Hitler's time, it was expected that the son of a man take up a similar job as that of his fathers. The probably most unwholesome accomplishment Hitler made was the making and selling of his book Mein Kampf. At first when it barely came out only the people in his party bought the book. Then on his rise to power, the book sales went record high being only second to the bible many refereed to it as the satanic bible. Hitler's book Mein Kampf was given at weddings and other events where one would expect to receive presents from the heart not a political point of view. In furtherance with his plan Hitler united the church and government, by doing this he would be able to teach his beliefs as being "Holy Prophecies," that god himself laid out.

Later Years / Death:

Hitler's last days. There was a particular group of civilians and officers that had been conspiring to kill Hitler since 1938. The plot was brought forth sometime in July of 1944. This attempt on Hitler's life failed, showing the world that Hitler's invincibility was also everyone's belief. During June of 1944, the allies invaded France and the Russians broke through the German east borders. At this time, Hitler moved his headquarters to Berlin.

As Germany began to lose the war, there were signs of physical and mental disintegration. This was intensified by an illness that had not properly been treated by his physician, a quack doctor Hitler had been dependent on for injections. As the allies got closer to Germany, Hitler became more desperate, at last when he saw he was being defeated he married his mistress Eva. The following day they committed suicide, in accordance with the servants their bodies were to be burned.

Before his death, he gave a speech of sorts saying Germany was not worthy of his genius, and that they had failed to prove themselves worthy to prevail for the struggle of life. When he committed suicide on April 30, 1945, he shot himself with a pistol and Eva his mistress used poison.

As Hitler's personality dissolved, so did the loyalty of his lieutenants. Albert Speer, his armaments and munitions officer refused to institute a scorched - city policy in Germany. This would have destroyed all of Germany. Some of his lieutenants either tried negotiating with the allies or even usurping Hitler's leadership. Hitler had condemned an entire nation, now his lieutenants were trying to turn that around.

Before Hitler killed himself, many of his high-ranking officers had tried killing him. Apparently, only he could take his own life. When Hitler was finally dead, many people believed that he had actually escaped. This is because his remains had not been found; therefore, there was no proof of his death. The discovery of his remains had not been made public until 1968 when reports from a soviet officer were published. These reports showed Hitler's autopsy, the report was entitled "The Death of Adolf Hitler." The bodies were discovered on May 5, 1945, the reports showed that Hitler and his mistress Eva had actually died from cyanide poisoning.

Why I chose Hitler:

I chose to do this report on Adolf Hitler because when he started World War II, this forced virtually every country in the world to develop better weapons. (To supposedly protect their country's citizen's) With all of the secret military information going around there had to be a way that the enemy could not understand it. This led to finding new ways to communicate with allies. One of these new ways of communication was to send out encoded radio signals that the Germans could not decipher. However, an enemy can decipher any message sent by using any form of technological device that has the same properties as the original device (If the allies could hear each other then the Germans could also find ways of hearing these military orders).

With all the concern for secrecy, many governments wanted ways of improving the existing radio signal transmitters so that only those people meant to hear them would. As this race for superior technology continued during the war, it seemed the German weaponry could not be defeated. In addition, missiles that launched from a distant location did not always hit the desired targets. Because of the low accuracy for precision smart bombs were constructed. They were operational several years later in the Space Race with the Soviet Union.

These new computerized missiles could hit a precise target from several hundred miles away. As the American government was not the first to send man into space, the American people invested billions of dollars into the newly constructed Space Program NASA. With the limited computers they built on-board the shuttles, large paper like cards were necessary in order to control the course and actions of the shuttle. If even one of these cards was in the wrong precedence, the entire shuttle crew could pay the ultimate price. Thanks to the technology of the computer guided missiles that needed to be fully functional during the fight against the invading German army on the European continent.

With this new way of being able to plot a course in space without having to continuously, insert the large computer cards. Many modern tools that we use today came from the experiments made in space. With a way to pilot a shuttle more safely, this also increased the odds of nothing going with a voyage into space. Nevertheless, from all of this information, the reason I chose Hitler is simply because he was a different type of person. He caused the entire world to bend to his will for a time, and during this time, every country's scientists were hard at work on improving any resource that would have the potential to act as a weapon. This paved the way for humanity to step into the vague mysteries of the technological era that would forever change the world.

I also chose Hitler for the fact that so many people say that they chose Bill Gates. For this reason I did not want to write a report on him because it would most likely seem that the reports would all look alike considering everyone had a chance to view the same resource material. Furthermore I did not choose Adolf Hitler because I believe in what he stood for, I chose him because he is someone that every person recognizes as an evil person. However, they do not realize how he forced the evolution of technology to proceed at an increased rate of expansion.

Summary Conclusion: Adolf Hitler was a child, a loner and a schoolboy. As he entered high school, he started receiving failing marks because of his desire to go to art school. His father forbade it, but he died and Hitler was now free to follow his desires. Adolf now quit school at the age of sixteen. He and his mother lived on a widow's pension, the year Hitler moved out his mother died and he received her widow's pension. He also claimed an orphans pension. Even to this, he had also received an inheritance. He made his living by selling his artwork, at the coming of W.W.I he volunteered as a messenger. He received two medals of honor.

At the end of the war he was hospitalized for gas poisoning, when he recovered he was distraught to learn that Germany had lost. After W.W.I he went back to Vienna where he joined a small workers party which he later renamed the NAZI party when he became president. Soon he started to involve himself in government very often once when he tried to overthrow the government he was arrested and sent to jail. During his time in prison, he wrote the book second best - seller to the Bible Mein Kampf. ("My Struggle" also described as the satanic Bible) After his release from jail, Hitler became chancellor almost in position to rule the government of Germany. During an election there was a bomb probably set by Nazi's?

Hitler urged the president to take actions and give him power to deal with it, and he did Hitler was now truly the most powerful person in the German government. After the presidents death at 86 Hitler now had total control, he started re - building the German army, made programs for youths and improved the German standard of living. When Hitler started taking small pieces of land, no one did anything because they believed the cost of W.W.I to the Germans was too harsh. When he invaded Poland, it was too late to stop him. The polishes were not a strong enough army to defend its borders so they retreated toward the allies in order to join them.

When Hitler started to lose the war he started to get on every ones nerves and some of his high ranking officers tried to kill him many times but he believed he was invincible and therefore could not be slain by any ones hand. Finally, when he realized he would not win the war he wanted all of Germany to be ashes when it was reached, but his munitions officer refused to do this. One day before he killed himself he married his mistress and ordered their dead bodies burned. When no one could find his body they believed he had escaped, it was not until later that a soviet autopsy report of his death was found, he had died by cyanide poisoning.

Hitler is remembered in history simply for the fact that he was a tyrant that wanted absolute power. Any other person who would have done what Hitler did would be remembered the same way. If Hitler had not started the war someone else would have or perhaps not because in his book Hitler states that since a child he knew he was destined for greater things. Nevertheless, do we all not have goals we need to accomplish? Was Hitler a fanatic who did this of some secret hatred for his mother? These questions we will never know because all he stated was, "Ever since I was a young boy I knew what I had to do and why I had to do it."

Bibliography

Resource One: World Book Multi-Media Encyclopedia

Resource Two: Encyclopedia Americana

Resource Three: World Book Encyclopedia

Resource Four: Encyclopedia Britannica

Resource Five: New Standard Encyclopedia

Resource Six: Mein Kampf (My Struggle)

Resouce Seven: www.washingtonpost.com/wps- rv/stlye/longterm/books/chap1/deathofhitler.htm

Return to Bios