The Rise of Hitler and the NSDAP

1918-28
Hitlers Early Life 1889-1919

Hitler was born to Alois Hitler and Klara Plzi on 20th April 1889.
Although born in Austria, he moved to Germany when he was 3,
gaining a lower Bavarian dialect rather than Austrian German. His
father died when he was 14 and he left school at 16 failing his
exams. His mother died a year later. He moved to the Vienna
Academy of Arts but failed to get in. While in Vienna he gained his
extreme anti-sematic, anti-catholic and anti-slavic views under the
influence of German nationalist Georg Ritter von Schonerer. In 1914
he joined WW1 by voluntarily enlisting in the Bavarian Army serving
as a dispatch runner participating in many battles including the
Somme. He was wounded in October 1916 and was temporarily
blinded in a mustard attack in October 1918.
Following the end of WW1 he joined the Nazis which had a 25
point aim. Summarised these points are:
Lebensraum - the need for 'living space' for the German nation to
expand.
A strong Germany - the Treaty of Versailles should be abolished and
all German-speaking people united in one country.
Fhrer - the idea that there should be a single leader with complete
power rather than a democracy.
Social Darwinism - the idea that the Aryan race was superior and
Jews were 'subhuman'.
Autarky - the idea that Germany should be economically self-
sufficient.
Germany was in danger - from Communists and Jews, who had to be
destroyed.
Hitler was already highly effective at talking and in February 1921
gave a talk to 6000 people. He soon gained notoriety for his
speeches against the ToV and Marxists and Jews.
In 1923 Hitler enlisted the help of World War I General Erich
Ludendorff for an attempted coup. Hitler and Ludendorff sought the
support of Staatskommissar (state commissioner) Gustav Ritter von
Kahr, Bavaria's de facto ruler. On 8 November 1923 Hitler and the
SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people organised by Kahr in
the Brgerbrukeller, 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. Hitler
demanded and got the support of Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow. 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. The next day, Hitler and his followers marched from the beer
hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian
government, but police dispersed them. Sixteen NSDAP members
and four police officers were killed in the failed coup.
He was arrested on 11 November 1923 for high treason. His
trial before the special People's Court in Munich began in February
1924. On 1 April, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment
at Landsberg Prison. There, he received friendly treatment from the
guards, and he 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. Including time on remand, Hitler served just
over one year in prison. While at Landsberg, Hitler dictated most of
the first volume of Mein Kampf. The book was an autobiography and
exposition of his ideology. It laid out Hitler's plans for transforming
German society into one based on race. Some passages implied
genocide. Published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, it sold
228,000 copies between 1925 and 1932. One million copies were
sold in 1933, Hitler's first year in office.