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Adolf Hitler and The Rise of The Third Reich 1St Edition Linda Jacobs Altman Online Ebook Texxtbook Full Chapter PDF
Adolf Hitler and The Rise of The Third Reich 1St Edition Linda Jacobs Altman Online Ebook Texxtbook Full Chapter PDF
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Published in 2016 by Enslow Publishing, LLC
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2015025535
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Introduction
Chapter Notes
Glossary
Further Reading
Index
Adolf Hitler leads a meeting of the Reichstag in
1939.
Introduction
A Harsh Treaty
In January 1919, Allied leaders gathered at Versailles, France.
Their job was to create a permanent peace treaty. After a long
and bloody war, many of these people wanted to punish the
Germans. The treaty they signed on June 28, 1919, was called
the Treaty of Versailles.
Hidden Talents
Hitler’s road to political life began when the army recruited
him to investigate radical, or extreme, political groups. One of
his first assignments was to investigate a tiny political group
called the German Workers’ Party. On September 12, 1919,
Hitler went to a meeting of about twenty-five people in a
Munich beer hall.
He had only come to observe, but he couldn’t resist speaking
out. He shared his thoughts on German nationalism and pride.
In the process, he demonstrated a talent for public speaking.
His informal presentation stunned the audience, and left party
founder Anton Drexler wide-eyed with admiration. He
personally asked Hitler to return.
A few days later, Hitler received a postcard from the German
Workers’ Party. It said that he had been accepted as a party
member. He was being invited to a meeting of the party
leaders.
He did not know what to think. The party was little more
than a debate group for people who didn’t fit in elsewhere. Still,
he could see advantages to joining “this absurd little
organization with its few members…. Here it was still possible
to work, and the smaller the movement, the more readily it
could be put into the proper form.”5 In other words, he could
become a leader almost immediately. In a larger, better-
organized group he would never get that chance.
Hitler’s speaking ability soon made him invaluable to the
party. As one writer observed, “Even the earliest reports of
Hitler as a speaker note the exchange of energy between him
and his listeners. ‘I had a peculiar sensation,’ one eyewitness
wrote in June 1919, ‘as if their excitement was his doing and at
the same time also gave him voice in return.’”6
Anton Drexler, the founder of the German Workers’ Party,
asked Hitler to join the organization after hearing him speak.
The group would eventually become the Nazi Party.
CHAPTER 2
A Convenient “Philosophy”
Behind the banners, uniforms, and rallies, was a political
philosophy called Fascism. Fascism was the foundation of the
Nazi party. The word comes from the name of an ancient
Roman symbol of official authority. The fasces was a bundle of
rods tied around two raised axe heads. The rods stood for
punishment, the axe heads for execution. It was first used in
1919 to describe a political movement led by Benito Mussolini
in Italy.
It is difficult to define Fascism. When Mussolini was asked
for his definition, he simply replied, “It is action.”2 He did not
like to be pinned down to a detailed ideology, or system of
beliefs.
Hitler shared this attitude. Though he helped to write the
Nazi platform, he did not feel bound by it. The party he wanted
to build would not be based upon political philosophy. It would
be held together by his leadership.
A Fascist leader is an absolute dictator whose word is law.
Under his control, the State is not simply the nation’s
government. It is a total way of life. The State tells people how
to behave, what to believe, and where to live and work. It even
tells people how to raise and educate their children.
Dictator Benito Mussolini (seen here with Hitler) was the first
Fascist leader in modern times Hitler became an ally of
Mussolini, although the two never fully trusted each other.
— Teitä ei ole tapettu, mutta tekään ette ole surmannut ketään! Oi,
herra määri, älkää toki kerskatko tuollaisesta mielilauseesta, joka on
niin julma, niin tykkänään epäinhimillinen! Voisin vannoa, että te
olette parempi kuin itse luulette, ja…
— Sanoin jo, että tehdessäni tuon tekoni olin luullut olevani yksin,
mutta olinkin erehtynyt. Verhon tai huonekalujen varjossa oli istunut
joku — aurinko oli jo laskemaisillaan ja varjot eivät voineet olla niin
selväpiirteisiä — muuan paikananoja, joka odotti isäntääni ja joka oli
ohjattu tähän huoneeseen. Epäilemättä hän oli nähnyt tekoni, mutta
hän ei ollut puhunut mitään, ei ollenkaan tullut, esille, eikä kukaan
muu ollut nähnyt minun menevän tuohon huoneeseen tai tulevan
sieltä. Illan tultua etsittiin turhaan noita tuhatta frangia, jotka minä jo
olin toimittanut piilopaikkaan, ja niiden katoamisesta ei syytetty
minua, vaan tuota tuntematonta miestä, paikanhakijaa, jonka
kalpeus ja mielenjärkytys oli kiinnittänyt johtajan huomiota. Kaikki
kehittyi minun edukseni. Pidetyssä kuulustelussa ei kukaan
ajatellutkaan edes tiedustella minulta mitään, niin vieraaksi koko
asialle minua katsottiin. Mitä tuohon miesparkaan tulee, niin ei
hänellä ollut mitään todistetta syyttömyydestään, ei mitään
mahdollisuutta todistaa minun syyllisyyttäni, ja epäilemättä
puolustautuminen kävi hänelle tuiki vaikeaksi. Ilmeistä on, että hänet
olisi toimitettu vankilaan mitä pahimpana veijarina, jollei
liikkeenomistaja olisi katsonut edullisemmaksi jättää asiaa siksensä,
ettei siitä koituisi häpeää hänen kauppahuoneellensa. Muukalaiselle
syydettiin vasten silmiä kaikki halveksiminen, joka hänen katsottiin
ansaitsevan, ja hänet velvoitettiin lähtemään Pariisista… Minä olin
pelastettu. Siitä on nyt jo kulunut viisikolmatta vuotta, ja voisin
vannoa, etten ole näiden viidenkolmatta vuoden kuluessa tehnyt
ainoatakaan tekoa, jonka takia minun pitäisi punastua… jos nimittäin
punastuminen kuuluisi tapoihini. Olin saavuttanut mahdollisuuden
olla rehellinen ja tulin rehelliseksi. Nyt olen rikas ja olen jo aikoja
sitten lähettänyt tuolle kauppahuoneelle nimeäni ilmoittamatta
maksun muodossa nuo rahat, jotka sieltä… varastin. Nyt olen minä
suuressa arvossa pidetty henkilö, jos en olekaan liioin rakastettu.
Kaiken päälliseksi olen kuntani määri, ja on olemassa suuria
edellytyksiä, että ensi vaalien jälkeen herään jonakin aamuna
piirikuntani edustajana. Ajatelkaapas, missä olisinkaan tänään, jos
tuolla miehellä, jota syytettiin minun asemestani ja jota minä varoin
puhdistamasta noista syytöksistä, olisi ollut pienintäkään
mahdollisuutta kääntää syytökset minuun? Kohtalo ei suonut hänelle
mitään keinoa syöstä minua perikatoon… ja minä syöksin hänet.
Vaimosi
Gabrielle.