Hitler's Attempt To Rescue Germany And Austria

The annexation of Austria, known as the Anschluss, was the first act of territorial aggression by Nazi Germany and a significant step in Hitler's plan to create a Greater Germany. Hitler, himself an Austrian-born German politician, had expressed his desire for a union between Austria and Germany in his earliest writings and speeches.

Hitler's rise to power in Germany was marked by his appointment as chancellor in 1933, following a series of electoral victories by the Nazi Party. He ruled absolutely until his death by suicide in 1945. As chancellor, Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy, violating the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which explicitly forbade the unification of Austria and Germany.

Hitler's plans for Austria were part of his broader goal to redraw the map of post-World War I Europe and unite all Germans in a Nazi German empire. He believed that Germans had been denied the right of self-determination and that redrawing Europe's borders would allow him to achieve his expansionist ambitions.

The annexation of Austria took place over three days in March 1938, with Hitler employing a combination of intimidation, threats, and diplomatic manipulation to coerce Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg into agreeing to his demands. Hitler's actions during this period demonstrated his willingness to go to great lengths to achieve his goals, even if it meant disregarding international treaties and using military force.

The Anschluss was widely popular in both Germany and Austria, with many Austrians participating enthusiastically in the Nazification of their country. However, it also marked a terrible turning point for Austria's Jewish population, who faced public humiliation, violence, and discriminatory laws.

The international community's failure to intervene or punish Nazi Germany for violating international treaties set a precedent for appeasement and allowed Hitler to continue his expansionist policies unchecked. The annexation of Austria was a significant step in Hitler's rise to power and a prelude to further aggression in Europe, ultimately leading to the outbreak of World War II.

Hitler's rise to power through the Nazi Party

Post-World War I Turmoil

Post-World War I Germany was a hotbed of political and economic instability, providing fertile ground for extremist ideologies. The Treaty of Versailles, with its harsh terms and war reparations, humiliated and outraged many Germans, including Hitler, who blamed the Weimar Republic's weakness on Jewish and communist minorities. This set the stage for Hitler's brand of nationalism and anti-Semitism.

Formation of the Nazi Party

Hitler, a charismatic and powerful orator, founded the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) in the aftermath of World War I. The party's ideology centred on creating a "New Order" – an authoritarian political system led by a supreme national leader, with all citizens serving the state unconditionally. The party's ultimate goal was to seize power, install Hitler as dictator, and establish a racially pure "Aryan" nation.

Exploiting Economic Crisis

The worldwide economic depression that hit Germany hard in the late 1920s and early 1930s was a pivotal moment for the Nazi Party's rise. The failing economy, with its high unemployment and runaway inflation, left millions desperate for change. Hitler and the Nazis capitalised on this discontent, blaming democratic governments for the crisis and promising to restore German prosperity and pride.

Electoral Victories and Propaganda

The Nazi Party's message resonated with a growing number of Germans, and its electoral victories started piling up. In 1930, they won 107 seats in the Reichstag, and by July 1932, they had become the largest party in parliament with 230 representatives. Hitler and his propagandists tailored their speeches to different audiences, stoking fears of communism, promising economic recovery, and appealing to nationalism.

Appointment as Chancellor

By 1933, the Nazi Party's mass support and Hitler's popularity led German President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on January 30, 1933. This pivotal moment paved the way for Hitler's dictatorship, especially after Hindenburg's death in August 1934. Hitler quickly moved to dismantle democratic institutions and consolidate his power.

Consolidation of Power

Hitler's rule became increasingly absolute as he exploited crises and manipulated public opinion. A fire in the Reichstag building allowed him to suspend civil liberties and crack down on opposition. The "Night of the Long Knives" purge eliminated internal rivals, and his expansionist foreign policy, starting with the annexation of Austria, bolstered his popularity.

International Appeasement

Hitler's aggressive foreign policy moves, such as the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland, were met with international appeasement. Britain and France, still reeling from World War I, chose to avoid confrontation, allowing Hitler to consolidate power and continue his expansionist agenda without significant resistance.

In summary, Hitler's rise to power through the Nazi Party was a complex interplay of social, economic, and political factors, exploiting the vulnerabilities of a nation in turmoil and leveraging the appeal of nationalism and racist ideologies. His ability to manipulate public sentiment, exploit crises, and capitalise on international inaction ultimately led to his dictatorial rule and set the stage for World War II.

Hitler's aggressive foreign policy and territorial expansion

Hitler's foreign policy was driven by his goal of establishing a new racial order in Europe, dominated by the German "master race". This policy was aggressive and expansionist, with the ultimate aim of seizing power and installing Hitler as dictator.

Hitler's foreign policy had several key aims:

• To throw off the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.
• To incorporate territories with ethnic German populations into the Reich.
• To acquire a vast new empire in Eastern Europe.
• To form alliances.
• To persuade other states to participate in the "final solution".

Hitler recognised that acquiring Lebensraum (living space) would require war, and he began preparing for it as soon as he came to power. He focused on undoing the Treaty of Versailles, building alliances, and incorporating territories with German populations into the Reich.

Hitler's foreign policy was characterised by what has been described as "gangster diplomacy", involving bullying, threatening, and lying to various European leaders to expand the borders of his Reich. He also engaged in a propaganda campaign to justify his actions and create the impression of popular support.

In February 1938, Hitler replaced Konstantin von Neurath, a conservative career diplomat who had served as German foreign minister from 1933-1938, with Joachim von Ribbentrop, a Nazi Party member and former ambassador to Great Britain who advocated a more aggressive foreign policy. This shift signalled Hitler's intention to acquire new territories using the threat of war.

Hitler's first act of territorial aggression was the annexation of Austria, known as the Anschluss, which took place on March 11-13, 1938. This was a significant breach of the post-World War I international order and a violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which expressly forbade the unification of Austria and Germany. The annexation of Austria was widely popular in both Germany and Austria, with Austrian Nazis carrying out a terror campaign to undermine the Austrian government and create the appearance of popular support for unification.

Hitler's foreign policy was also marked by the remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936, the signing of the Rome-Berlin Axis with Italy, and the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan. He also demanded that Czechoslovakia surrender the Sudetenland, a region bordering Germany with an ethnic German majority, which was ceded to Germany in the Munich Agreement of September 1938. In March 1939, Germany occupied and dismembered the rest of Czechoslovakia.

Hitler's foreign policy was driven by his racist ideology and expansionist ambitions, which ultimately led to World War II.

Hitler's invasion of Poland and start of World War II

Hitler's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, marked the beginning of World War II. The invasion was the culmination of Hitler's desire to annex territories and create a "Greater Germany", as well as his belief in the need for living space for Germans. In the years leading up to the invasion, Hitler had already succeeded in annexing Austria and the Sudetenland without firing a shot. Poland was to be next.

Hitler's invasion of Poland was characterised by his blitzkrieg strategy, which involved extensive bombing early on to destroy the enemy's air capacity, railroads, communication lines, and munitions dumps, followed by a massive land invasion with overwhelming numbers of troops, tanks, and artillery. The German forces invaded Poland from three directions: a main attack from the west, a second route from northern Prussia, and a tertiary attack by Slovak units from Slovakia. The invasion was also supported by German minority groups within Poland, who engaged in diversion and sabotage operations.

The Polish army, though one million strong, was severely under-equipped and attempted to take on the Germans head-on rather than falling back to more defensible positions. They were no match for the modern and mechanised German forces. The Polish defensive plan, "Plan West", which involved deploying forces directly at the German-Polish border, proved to be a dismal failure. The Polish forces were stretched thinly and lacked compact defence lines and good defensive positions.

The German invasion of Poland was also marked by atrocities committed against Polish men, women, and children. Tens of thousands of Polish civilians were murdered, and Polish women and girls were raped en masse and then executed. Large numbers of Polish women were also forced into prostitution in German military brothels.

The invasion of Poland led to Britain and France declaring war on Germany on September 3, 1939, but they provided little meaningful support. The invasion of Poland demonstrated Hitler's aggressive territorial ambitions and the failure of Britain and France to take action against him for violating the Versailles Treaty.

Hitler's role in the Holocaust

Hitler's ideology was rooted in his experiences during and after World War I. He believed that Germany's loss in the war was due to a betrayal by communists, socialists, and Jews on the home front, known as the "Stab-in-the-Back Myth." This fostered his extreme antisemitism, nationalism, and anti-communism. After the war, the Treaty of Versailles further humiliated Germany, forcing them to take responsibility for the war and give up significant territories and their military power. These factors contributed to a rise in nationalism and antisemitism in Germany, which Hitler was able to exploit.

Hitler joined what became the Nazi Party in 1919 and quickly rose through the ranks to become the absolute Führer (Leader) by 1921. He helped devise the party's political program, which was based on racist antisemitism, expansionist nationalism, and anti-immigrant hostility. Hitler was a powerful and spellbinding speaker, and he used modern propaganda techniques to spread his message and gain a following. He published "Mein Kampf" in 1926, where he outlined his racist, social Darwinist, and antisemitic vision for Germany.

In 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany after a series of electoral victories by the Nazi Party. He immediately began dismantling democratic institutions and consolidating power. He seized opportunities to expand Germany's borders and annex neighbouring countries, such as Austria, to create a "Greater Germany." He colluded with Austrian Nazis to orchestrate the annexation of Austria, known as the "Anschluss."

While Hitler did not directly participate in the persecution and violence against Jews, he directed his security forces, the SS, SA, and SD, to carry out these actions. He was involved in all major policy decisions, including those that led to the persecution and eventual genocide of the Jewish people. Hitler's expansionist policies, such as Lebensraum, pushed Europe into World War II, which had severe ramifications for European Jews.

The Holocaust was the culmination of multiple factors, including historic antisemitism, the rise of eugenics and nationalism, the aftermath of World War I, the internal operation of the Nazi state, and the collaboration of individuals and governments. Hitler's role in the Holocaust was central, as he provided the ideological foundation, directed the actions of his followers, and exploited the political and social climate to pursue his genocidal agenda.

Hitler's death and the fall of Nazi Germany

By early 1945, Nazi Germany was on the verge of total military collapse. Poland had fallen to the advancing Soviet Red Army, which was preparing to cross the Oder between Küstrin and Frankfurt-an-der-Oder with the objective of capturing Berlin 82 kilometres (51 mi) to the west. German forces had recently lost to the Allies in the Ardennes Offensive, with British and Canadian forces crossing the Rhine into the German industrial heartland of the Ruhr. US forces in the south had captured Lorraine and were advancing towards Mainz, Mannheim, and the Rhine. German forces in Italy were withdrawing north, as they were pressed by United States and Commonwealth forces as part of the Spring Offensive to advance across the Po and into the foothills of the Alps.

Hitler retreated to the Führerbunker in Berlin on 16 January 1945. It was clear to the Nazi leadership that the Battle of Berlin would be the final battle of the war in Europe. On 21 April, Hitler ordered a special detachment commanded by SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner to counterattack the Soviets. The next day, Hitler suffered a nervous collapse when he was informed that his orders had not been obeyed. He launched into a tirade against his generals, calling them treacherous and incompetent, and for the first time, declared that the war was lost. Hitler announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself. Later that day, he asked SS physician Werner Haase about the most reliable method of suicide. Haase suggested the "pistol-and-poison method" of combining a dose of cyanide with a gunshot to the head.

On 29 April, Hitler married Eva Braun in a small civil ceremony in a map room within the Führerbunker. The two then hosted a modest wedding breakfast, after which Hitler took his secretary Traudl Junge to another room and dictated his last will and testament. It left instructions to be carried out immediately following his death, with Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and Joseph Goebbels assuming Hitler's roles as head of state and chancellor, respectively. Hitler signed these documents at 04:00 and then went to bed.

On the afternoon of 29 April, Hitler learned that his ally, Benito Mussolini, had been executed by Italian partisans. The bodies of Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, had been strung up by their heels. These events may have strengthened Hitler's resolve not to allow himself or his wife to be made a "spectacle" of, as he had earlier recorded in his testament.

On 30 April, Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide. Hitler's death was announced on German radio the next day, 1 May. The news of Hitler's death was first delivered to the outside world by the Germans themselves. On the night of 1 May, the Reichssender Hamburg radio station interrupted their normal program to announce that Hitler had died the previous afternoon and introduced his successor, Dönitz.

On 2 May, General Helmuth Weidling unconditionally surrendered Berlin to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov. Hitler was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Reich President and Goebbels as Reich Chancellor. Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide the next day after murdering their six children. Between 4 and 8 May 1945, most of the remaining German armed forces unconditionally surrendered. The German Instrument of Surrender was signed on 8 May, marking the end of the Nazi regime and the end of World War II in Europe.

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