WWII+Hitler+Page+UTJV

__**Adolf Hitler: A Dark Man from the Begining**__
==The cost of war does not seem to out way the benefits of war. As with the Germans, they lost WWI and were expected to pay back all their foreign loans which led to their economic destruction and WW II. Even though the Germans felt they benefitted by being victorious, in the end it wasn't worth it.==

Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in the Austrian town of Braunau am Inn. He was the son of a minor’s custom official, Alios Hitler, who was a mean and unforgiving father. Hitler was an illegitimate child, who took his mother’s maiden name, whom he adored, Schicklgruber until 1876 at which time he then took over his step-father’s name, Hitler. Hitler was not a good student and dropped out of school when he was in high school. After his mother died he moved to Vienna to be an artist, which he was not good at either. In 1913 Hitler began to see the Jews as a big threat and his hate for Jews was growing. He moved to Munich to avoid being drafted into the war. He enlisted in 1914 when WW I began. Serving in the army was what Hitler was really good at and he became a dedicated military servant. He served in the front lines as a runner, was promoted to corporal, and was decorated four times, receiving the Iron Cross 1st Class on August 4, 1918.

In June of 1919, Germany was defeated in WW I and were forced by the Treaty of Versailles to pay back the countries they had caused damage and injury too. The Treaty of Versailles was a peace agreement that represented a victory for the French with demands for security and the British who wanted continental stability. President Woodrow Wilson, of the United States, came up with the League of Nations which was an international court of justice that would mediate conflict to avoid war. There were 4 major powers (The Big Four), Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States. There was a war guilt clause that blamed Germany for the war and wanted them to pay for damages that were caused in the war to the other countries. Germany's new Weimar Republic representatives signed the treaty which caused resentment by the Germans because they felt it was unfair. The debt that Germany had to pay back in WW I to other countries was so high, because of foreign loans, is what caused the Germans to fall apart and their economy to crash. Everyone kind of knew the Germans wouldn’t be able to payback their debt. The other states that were defeated were given the same terms for peace and felt it was also unfair. The bitterness of international relations over this unfairness that built up over the next 20 years is what leads to WWII.

Hitler started to rise up at the end of WWI after Germany had been defeated. Hitler remained in the army and went from organization to organization to see what side they were on. Hitler also worked within the Education Department of the army and his job was to lecture returning soldiers on the dangers of communism, socialism and pacifism. Senior officers were impressed with Hitler's skills as a speaker and during this time, there was no one challenging him. In 1919, Hitler visited a meeting of the German Workers' Party and later joined. In 1920 it changed its name the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) which quickly got corruptedto 'Nazi' by both enemies and supporters. Hitler would tune into people emotions to gain his popularity and blamed the Jews for Germany'sdefeat in World War I and for its economic troubles. He claimed that the German people belonged to a superior "Aryan" race that would rule the world. As the Great Depression caused unemployment to rise in the early 1930s, people became desperate and found hope in the Nazi party. The Nazis preached the need for hard work, sacrifice, and service to the state. The Gestapo, or secret police, arrested anyone suspected of opposing Nazi rule.

When Hitler formed an agreement with Nationalist Party which was headed by Alfred Hugendberg, he had increased the number of parliament (Reichstadt) seats. In doing so they became the second largest party in Germany and couldn’t be ignored. So when Hitler ran for presidency in 1932 against Hindenburg, Hitler almost won. Hindengberg thought if he made Hitler Chancellor and formed a trust with the Nazis he could control him. Hitler now worked to combine his power, building himself up as a dictator. At this point, Hitler became unstoppable. He destroyed the communist party and one by one he took apart all other German parties and rid all government institutions of Jews so they were all under his command. Then in 1934 Hindenberg died and Hitler took over the presidency and took on the title of Fuhrer of the Third Reich which meant Supreme Leader or head of state.

The **//Fuhrer//** is a name Hitler gave himself, which meant leader or head of state, along with his salute; he combined his party and government and made it one. The Fuhrer replaced the SA or //Sturmabeteilung//, which were the brown shirts with the black shirts, now referred to as SS ( //Schutzstaffel//). The Fuhrer is a word that is still used by the Germans but because of its strong association with Nazi Germany, the Leiter is used instead.

Now the SS created a system of concentration camps along with the **//Gestapo,//** who were the secret police of Nazis Germany and Himmler was director of Hitler’s paramilitary the SS. Together the SS and the Gestapo’s would take political enemies, Jews and anyone else they considered “Undesirable’s” and put them in these concentration camps or sentence them to death. The Gestapo’s were taught torture techniques and considered a special task force who could not be tried for any of their crimes no matter how violent.


 * //Blitzkrieg //** is tactic that was developed by the German military. It was a rapid attack on the enemy with tanks and close air support that didn’t give the enemy enough time to regroup their forces. It would win quick victories in Low Countries for the Germans.


 * //Hitler Youth //** was a group of German children ages between 12 and 16 who were trained for battle to guarantee the Germans would have enough soldiers for war. When WWII began the group was ordered to battle in the war. Boys mainly trained for battle while the girls for farm work. At the end of WWII the group, Hitler Youth broke up, and the soldiers who were once children were now around 30 years old and they fought to the end as they were trained.


 * //Anti-Semitism //**is the prejudice of Jews, the violent hatred of Jews and the open public display of hate for Jews. Hitler’s act of condemning the Jews in WWII was an act of anti-Semitism for the Germans. 5 to 6 Million Jews died in concentration camps because Hitler hated Jews.

__**Primary Documents:**__ 1) Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Radio Address on the Battle of the Atlantic." Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. //American History Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=E09660&SingleRecord=True (accessed September 18, 2011). "These grim truths which I have told you of the present and future plans of Hitler ism will of course be hotly denied tonight and tomorrow in the controlled press and radio of the Axis Powers. And some Americans--some Americans--not many--will continue to insist that Hitler 's plans need not worry us--that we should not concern ourselves with anything that goes on beyond rifle shot of our own shores." Spoken by President Roosevelt because one of the U.S. destroyers, Greer on its way to Iceland, was attacked by German boats to try and scare the American people. U.S. navy vessels just started patrolling that area for security which was ordered by Great Britain. 2) "Adolf Hitler Calls for the Elimination of the Jews." The WPA Film Library. WMV video file. //American History Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=WPA0280&SingleRecord=True (accessed September 18, 2011). Adolf Hitler, Chancellor, speaks at a Nazi rally. He prevents all Jews from obtaining citizenship. By the end of WW II, Hitler instituted the Final Solution, the killing of European Jews.

__**Works Cited**__ Columbia University, Press. "Anti-Semitism." //Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition// (2010): 1-2. //History Reference Center//. EBSCO. Web. 18 Sept. 2011.

Axelrod, Alan, and Charles Phillips. "Hitler, Adolf." //Dictators and Tyrants: Absolute Rulers and Would-Be Rulers in World History.// rhttp://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHVIII035&SingleRecord=True (accessed September 18, 2011).

Curry, George Michael. "blitzkrieg." In Jeffries, John W., and Gary B. Nash, eds. //Encyclopedia of American History: The Great Depression and World War II, 1929 to 1945//, Revised Edition (Volume VIII). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. //American History Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHVIII035&SingleRecord=True (accessed September 18, 2011).