Hitler called his five years in Vienna "five years of hardship and misery". In his book called " ", Hitler made it clear that his time in Vienna was entirely the fault of the Jews - "I began to hate them".
In February 1914, in an attempt to escape his misery, Hitler tried to join the Austrian Army. He failed his medical. Years of poor food and sleeping rough had taken their toll on someone who as a PE student at school had been "excellent " at gymnastics. His medical report stated that he was too weak to actually carry weapons.
In August 1914, World War One was declared. Hitler crossed over the border to Germany where he had a very brief and not too searching medical which declared that he was fit to be in the German Army. Film has been found of the young Hitler in Munich’s main square in August 1914, clearly excited at the declaration of war being announced……..along with many others.
In 1924, Hitler wrote "I sank to my knees and thanked heaven…….that it had given me the good fortune to live at such a time." There is no doubt that Hitler was a brave soldier. He was a regimental runner. This was a dangerous job as it exposed Hitler to a lot of enemy fire. His task was to carry messages to officers behind the front line, and then return to the front line with orders.
Hitler in 1916 - on the right - with fellow soldiers
His fellow soldiers did not like Hitler as he frequently spoke out about the glories of trench warfare. He was never heard to condemn war like the rest of his colleagues. He was not a good mixer and rarely went out with his comrades when they had leave from the front. Hitler rose to the rank of corporal - not particularly good over a four year span and many believe that it was his lack of social skills and his inability to get people to follow his ideas, that cost him promotion. Why promote someone who was clearly unpopular ?
Though he may have been unpopular with his comrades, his bravery was recognised by his officers. Hitler was awarded Germany’s highest award for bravery - the Iron Cross. He called the day he was given the medal, "the greatest day of my life." In all Hitler won six medals for bravery.
In the mid-1930's, Hitler met with the future British Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden. It became clear from discussions that they had fought opposite one another at the Battle of Ypres. Eden was impressed with the knowledge of the battle lines which Hitler had - far more than a corporal would have been expected to know, according to Eden.
The war ended disastrously for Hitler. In 1918, he was still convinced that Germany was winning the war - along with many other Germans. In October 1918, just one month before the end of the war, Hitler was blinded by a gas attack at Ypres. While he was recovering in hospital, Germany surrendered. Hitler was devastated. By his own admission, he cried for hours on end and felt nothing but anger and humiliation.
By the time he left hospital with his eyesight restored he had convinced himself that the Jews had been responsible for Germany’s defeat. He believed that Germany would never have surrendered normally and that the nation had been "stabbed in the back" by the Jews. "In these nights (after Germany’s surrender had been announced) hatred grew in me, hatred for those responsible for this deed. What was all the pain in my eyes compared to this misery ?"
remained in the German Army after ended in November 1918. Seething with anger at Germany's defeat, was employed as a V-Man. Hitler's job was to visit as many political organisations as possible to check out whether they were right wing, centre politics or left wing. In particular, in the aftermath of the , both the government and army wanted to know who the socialists or communists were. The terms of the only added to Hitler's anger during this period in his life.
Hitler also worked within the Education Department of the army and his task here was to lecture returning soldiers on the dangers of communism, socialism and pacifism. Senior officers were impressed with Hitler's skills as a speaker. It was at this time that the corporal, who was a loner, discovered his greatest talent - public oratory. The gas attack Hitler had suffered had affected his vocal chords and he spoke in a manner that few had heard before. Many who later heard Hitler speak at public rallies claimed that his voice had hypnotic qualities to it. In November 1922, Truman Smith, an American spy based in Germany, wrote:
Karl Ludecke, who published a book called "I knew Hitler", wrote the following about the first time that he heard Hitler speak:
What Hitler spoke about to the returning soldiers also hit home : the betrayal of the soldiers by politicians; the stab-in-the-back (of the soldiers) by the Jews; the failure of democratic politics and the disaster communism would be for Germany. His thoughts were widely held - but Hitler's audience in 1918 to 1919 was very small and his impact was very little.
In September 1919, Hitler visited, as a V-Man, a meeting of the German Workers' Party. The party name indicated that it had socialist leanings with its "workers'" tag. It was, in fact, an extreme, anti-Semitic, anti-communist, right wing nationalist party lead by Karl Drexler. At Hitler's visit, it only had 40 members. Hitler informed the army that it posed no threat to Germany. After this visit, Hitler joined the party as it seemed to represent all that he believed in. He quickly became the party's propaganda officer.
In early 1920, the party changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) which quickly got corrupted to 'Nazi' by both enemies and supporters alike. Hitler wrote out the party's beliefs in the so-called 25 Point Party Programme. This party programme was a curious mixture - right wing nationalism; anti-capitalism; anti-socialism; anti-wealth etc.
This rag-bag mixture would have been laughable in normal circumstances but Germany was not in normal circumstances. The NSDAP played on the Germans hatred of the (which it said it would ignore); the belief that Germany had been stabbed in the back. Even in its early days, the NSDAP tuned in to many peoples' emotions. However, in 1920, the party was just one of many right wing parties that seemed to exist in Germany at this time.
In a 1920 leaflet, the NSDAP blamed 300 bankers and financiers throughout the world for dictating policy to the world and holding it to ransom.
This touched a raw nerve in some Germans. Former soldiers who had been in the Free Corps joined the Nazi Party and their 'skills' were used to break up meetings of other political parties. The use of violence became a way of life for the Nazis.
Regardless of this, the party made little headway in politics. It did benefit from one great advantage in Weimar Germany - the electoral system used proportional representation in deciding results. Any party that got more votes than the cut-off would get some seats in the Reichstag. This favoured the Nazis. They could not afford expensive election campaigns as Karl Ludecke related in his book "I knew Hitler".
Up to 1923, the Nazi Party was small and noisy. Its importance was mainly in the Munich area of Bavaria. Money, or lack of it, was always a problem. The 1923 hyperinflation crisis proved to be an opportunity too good to miss for the now party leader – Hitler.
Hyperinflation ruined the middle class. The poor had little and they lost most of the little they had. The rich lost a lot but as rich people they could keep their heads above water. The middle class did not have the cash reserves of the rich but they lead comfortable lives. These lives were now ruined by hyperinflation and they blamed the government.
Hitler planned to seize the most important city in the south - Munich - and to use the city as a base to launch an attack on the rest of Germany, hoping that the angered middle class would rise up in support of him throughout the nation.
The Beer Hall Putsch:
On November 8th, 1923, Hitler and 2000 Nazis marched through the streets of Munich to take over a meeting at the Munich Beer Hall. This meeting was being chaired by the three most important people in Bavarian politics - Hans Seisser, Otto von Lossow and Gustav von Kahr. Depending on whose account you read, Hitler strode to the front of the meeting and declared that when convenient von Kahr would be declared regent of Bavaria, the Berlin government would be tried as traitors, Seisser would be made head of Germany's police.......but as the time was not convenient. He, Hitler, would take charge of the country. He stated that on the following day, the Nazis would march on the War Ministry and set up government there.
On the 9th November, the Nazis started on their march only to be met by armed police. What happened next varies. When the police fired on the leading marchers, the official Nazi biography of Hitler published in 1934 stated that he saved the life of the man next to him who had been shot.
Another unofficial version - by Rudolf Olden - claims that on the first shot Hitler ran away to a waiting car to be driven to the Bavarian mountains and safety. He would not have known that 13 Nazis had been shot dead by the police.
Regardless of what happened and what Hitler did, the march was a disaster for the Nazis and could have easily spelt the end of the Nazi Party. Ironically, the Beer Hall Putsch was to launch Hitler into national fame. He was arrested for treason and put on trial. This trial was to make Hitler very famous and may well have saved the Nazi Party from collapse.
Adolf Hitler, within the space of twelve months from 1923 to 1924, lead an attempted revolt, the Beer Hall Putsch, which failed, and was sent to Landsberg Prison where he wrote "Mein Kampf".
Adolf Hitler was arrested after the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler was charged with treason. Such an offence carried the death penalty in Germany at this time. His trial lasted five weeks and turned Hitler into a national figure. For the first time, he was given a platform on which to make his views widely known to people outside of his party. Hitler's right to defend himself was used as a means of attacking all those he hated - the Jews, communists, socialists and weak politicians who had lost Germany the war; the shameful signing of the Versailles Treaty by weak politicians etc.
None of this was new and many right wing parties existed in Germany. However it was the way Hitler presented his ideas that brought him media attention. "History will tear to tatters the verdict of this court", he announced shortly after sentence was passed.
Hitler was found guilty of treason - a crime against your country. If he had been a socialist or communist, it is almost certain that he would have received the death sentence. However, many in the court supported his views and he received a prison sentence of 5 years.
He was sent to Landsberg Prison near Munich. Here, the man found guilty of treason, had his own furnished cell, his own servant and was allowed into Landsberg itself during the day returning at night to be locked up.
In prison, Hitler decided that any future ventures by the Nazis would have to be legal. Any action outside of the law would not be tolerated. In prison, Hitler became moody and depressed. He put his energy into his book "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle). This book explained to anybody who would read it, his plans for Germany's future. There are also sections on boxing, the growing of roses etc. Many years later, in 1942, Hitler explained to army officers that "Mein Kampf" would never have been written if he had not been sent to prison.
What does "Mein Kampf" tell us about Hitler's beliefs ? The following are extracts from the book: