I believe that the next major turning point in Hitler’s life came with the outbreak of the First World War. Before the war Hitler had failed his medical test for the Austro-Hungarian army which was a relief for him as he hadn’t wanted to join their army anyway, which he expressed by ignoring all of the army’s call up papers for four years prior to being rejected. When the outbreak of the First World War was announced Hitler claimed that he was ‘overcome with impetuous enthusiasm,’ and that he ‘thanked heaven that I had been granted the happiness to live at this time’. Hitler was so joyous because he, being a German nationalist, could now help show that Germany was the biggest power in the world. Also, at the time of war passing the tests required to enter the army, was not so much hard work as it had previously been, as the army needed more and more soldiers, so Hitler gained entry to the German army. I believe this to be a turning point because of the way Hitler came out of the war and the way the war finished. Hitler was given the job of dispatch runner and he did such a good job of it and risked his life many times, that at the end of the war he received no less than five medals including the prestigious Iron Cross. Many of his fellow soldiers described him as ‘odd and peculiar’, they also gave details of his verbal attacks on Jews and Marxists describing how Hitler believed they were undermining the war effort. The main reason for this being a turning point came at the end of the war. Hitler had been blinded by a British chlorine attack in 1918 and during the time that he spent recovering in hospital Germany surrendered the war. This enraged Hitler and sent him into a state of depression. Once again his best efforts had ended in failure. This turning point was important because Hitler would now want to seek revenge and would desperately want to make Germany better and prove that they were the greatest. I also think that his beliefs that Jews and Marxists were ruining Germany would be backed up by the fact that Germany lost the war (Hitler believed that Jews and Marxists were to blame), and Hitler would soon want revenge on them. Hitler’s involvement in the army and where he was stationed, in Munich, would lead to the next turning point in Hitler’s life.
The third main turning point in Hitler’s life came straight after the war when he was stationed in Munich, the capital of Bavaria. Although this was not the most important turning point in Hitler’s life, I consider it to be quite important as it would lead to the Nazi party itself. While Hitler was in Munich, Kurt Eisner, leader of the Independent Socialist Party declared Bavaria a socialist state. Being a German Nationalist Hitler was appalled by the revolution, because he disagreed with the communist belief in equality. The fact that many of the socialist leaders in Germany, at the time of the revolution, were Jewish, caused Hitler to believe that the Jews were trying to strike back, from the years of persecution that they had faced. The actual turning point came in May, 1919 when the German Army entered Munich to overthrow the Bavarian Socialist Republic. At first Hitler was arrested and accused of being a socialist, but he escaped execution without trial, when he used his extreme German Nationalist views to convince the German Army. To prove his innocence he offered to provided the German Army with names and to identify people who were actually involved with the socialist revolution. This was only the start of the turning point. The Army agreed with his proposal and he was transferred to the commission investigating the revolution. Here, his fellow officers were so impressed with him and his hostility to left-wing ideas that he was recruited as a political officer. This job was to lecture soldiers on politics. This job allowed Hitler to promote a few of his ideas and instead of being ignored like he had been in the past, he was now acknowledged, and admired, partly because of his great ability to speak publicly. Another element of the turning point was the influence of the treaty of Versailles on the mood of the country. The population were starting to turn on the government and blame them for the poor conditions of the treaty, which the ‘November Criminals’ (of the government) had agreed to. This was Hitler’s chance to stand out politically, when the public were looking for radical solutions. He relayed his beliefs that, the war was not lost on the battlefield but by the Jews and Marxists of the German community, and the soldiers started to take this view seriously. The main part of the turning point came when the Army started using Hitler as a spy. He was sent to spy on the German Workers Party, who the army feared were a communist party, trying to spark another revolution. They were led by Anton Drexler. However, they were not, and Hitler found the party’s views similar to his own and he approved of their Nationalist views and the anti-Semitism. Although he was a spy Hitler joined in the meeting and decided to join the party believing he could help the party to be more organized and formal. Hitler was immediately asked to join the executive committee and was later appointed the party’s propaganda manager. Hitler would use the army’s money to help the German Workers Party. The party would later become the prolific Nazi party. I believe this to be one of the most important turning points in Adolf Hitler’s life because it was his initial introduction to the Nazi Party which was to become an extremely important point of Hitler’s and the lives of millions of others throughout the world. Without a party’s support Hitler would not have got anywhere and being the party’s main speaker for such a period of time helped turn him into the amazing, persuasive orator that would bring him to power. Hitler was named leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (the name changed because of the national support that it the received) in February 1920. (The party was yet to be nicknamed the NAZI party).
I have decided that the next turning point in Hitler’s life was the time when he was sent to jail for ‘beating up’ an opponent and the time that followed. He gathered his thoughts and when he was released he formed his own private army – the Sturm Abteilung (Storm Troopers), who were instructed to disrupt opposition parties. The nation was in a state of depression because of the problem posed by the French who were occupying the Ruhr, claiming the Germans were falling too far behind in paying reparations. The German Nation turned on its government and Hitler saw this time, when “hyperinflation” was still occurring (massive devaluation of the German currency), as the right time to take over Germany’s and Gustav Streesemann’s reigns. Hitler responded to the governments ‘Law for the protection of the Republic’ rule, with the Munich Putsch. On the 8th of November Hitler broke into a meeting in a large beer hall, held by three leaders of the Bavarian government. Outside 600 storm troopers backed him up. He forced the three leaders to tell their audience that they would give the Nazis their full support by putting a gun to one of their heads. Then the German war hero, General Ludendorff made an appearance pledging his support of Hitler. While this took place Storm Troopers took control of government buildings and arrested officials. They were led by Ernst Röhm. However, on the 9th of November the three Bavarian leaders went back on their words and ordered the army to attack Röhm and his troops. Röhm needed help and Hitler, Ludendorff and 2000 Nazis went to help him. The armed police shot at the Nazis as they made their way into Munich. 16 Nazis were shot dead, Hitler, however, got away with a dislocated soldier. He was caught later that day however. Both Hitler and Ludendorff were arrested and the revolt collapsed. I believe this to be an important turning point because Hitler gained recognition not only for the Putsch but also for the trial that took place later. His 24 day trial reached the front page on a daily basis. He twisted the trial so even though he still went to prison, he drummed up much support. He made the November Criminals the traitors and made himself look like the "saviour" of the German people. He was such an orator that the way he spoke influenced the judges on their decisions. That is why Hitler was only given 5 years with the chance of parole after just six months. Ludendorff got off free and the rest of the Nazis that had participated were let off with equally gentle sentences. One could argue that if Hitler had not have been sent to jail then he would never have written Mein Kampf, the book that would become the bible of the Nazi movement. Perhaps the light sentence he was given can be seen as a major factor in him taking power. If he had been given a tougher sentence he might not have risen again until Germany had become more stable and therefore less willing to change. Hitler now had the support of a large proportion of the nation.
Finally, I believe that the last major turning point that would set Hitler up for domination of Germany and the unstoppable and inevitable break through came in the years of 1932 and 1933. In 1932 the Nazi party finally became largest party in Germany and Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. The main part of this final turning point came in February 1933. The penultimate steps towards Adolf Hitler gaining complete control over the destiny of Germany were taken on the night of 27th February 1933 when the Reichstag was destroyed by fire. The fire was almost certainly planned by the Nazis, Goebbels and Goering in particular. A Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, was made scapegoat for the fire, but the main outcome was that Hitler was given an excuse to have all the Communist deputies of the Reichstag arrested. This would mean that Hitler was now the dictator of Germany. Then in March, 1933 the Enabling Act was passed allowing the Nazi party to be the only political party in Germany, and at this stage ‘Nazification’ was underway. Finally, came the “Night of the Long Knives”, where the SA’s (Sturm Abteilung – storm troopers) leaders were killed because they wanted changes to the country that Hitler didn’t agree with, and then the death of Hindenburg, Germany’s President, meant that Hitler had the chance to be the complete leader of Germany. Hitler had already agreed with the cabinet that the death of Hindenburg would cause the offices of President and Chancellor to be combined, and then a plebiscite was then held - 90% of voters gave their approval of Hitler becoming their leader. Thus Hitler had become "Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor" and the title of President was then abolished.
After this point the Nazification of Germany was well on its way and the flow of ‘Nazification’ and Hitler’s leadership carried on into the inevitable strike-back of Germany on the rest of the world, the Second World War. This began in September 1939 and carried on until the death of Hitler in 1945. However, I believe that the status of Adolf Hitler before the Second World War could have shown him in many peoples eyes to be one of the greatest leaders of Germany in all time, so I am also going to include the Second World War as a major turning point in Hitler’s life because this lead to the fall of Germany and Adolf Hitler taking his own life.
Adolf Hitler became a world figure and will always be remembered in history. His life was complicated and had many turning points, minor and major. Overall, I believe that the most major turning points in Adolf Hitler’s life were (a) when Adolf’s mother Klara died and left Adolf with a free life to do what he wanted (he inherited the money, from his parents, to survive without a steady income, when he was young), and (b) with the First World War (which encouraged his hatred of Jews and Marxists, and brought upon him a desire to make Germany the greatest power in the world), (c) joining the Nazi party (making himself heard throughout the nation), (d) the Munich Putsch (Hitler got so close to overthrowing the government that more and more people, who wanted the government out, started supporting him), (e) the events of 1932 and 1933 which saw Hitler become the main leader of Germany) and finally (f) the Second World War (Hitler’s life turned from great to bad when Germany was once again overthrown, and Hitler could not take it any more and he took his own life). Each point added to Hitler’s power and each point led to the next point. Without any one of the points Adolf Hitler’s life could and probably would have been significantly different.