Adolf Hitler and his regime had a devastating effect on the twentieth century. Hitlers third Reich (1933-1934) was supposed to last for 1000 years but only lasted twelve. This evil man legalised the destruction of an entire race of people. He plunged the world into one of the bloodiest and most destructive wars in history. (Shirer, 1961)Hitler was a genius but an evil genius. He had the ability to convince millions of Germans of his ideas to extent the power of Germany over Europe, to unite all Germans in a nation and to destroy millions of Jewish people. Even with his disturbing ideas Hitler still fascinates people. How could a man be filled with so much hatred to think that people must be perfect to be of one race? Hitler believed that the finest thing men could do was to go to war and conquer foreign places. Peace he decided was a bad thing for mankind. It corrupted men and made them soft. (Shirer, 1961, p. 18) Hitlers rise to power was influenced by several events in his life, starting as early as when he was a boy, his entry into the military and his leadership of the Nazi Party. In this paper you will learn about all the aspects that made Hitler such a powerful man and the events that made him reach total power or dictatorship. Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau, Austria. It was located across the Inn River from Germany. At the time of his birth, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was one of the important empires in Europe. The Austrians dominated the empire. Hitler thought of himself as a German. He considered himself as good as any German born in Germany. His father was stern and short-tempered. His mother was a gentlewoman devoted to her husband and her children. Hitler quarrelled with his father about what he would grow up to be. Hitler had an unbending will that was to carry him far in the world. As a child, Adolf lost all interest in school; he became bored in all subjects except he h...
