Hitler's Austrian Army Service: Fact Or Fiction?

Adolf Hitler was born in the Austrian town of Braunau in 1889. In 1913, he moved to Munich, Germany, to avoid conscription into the Austrian Army. However, he was arrested in 1914 for dodging the Austrian draft and was ordered to report to his hometown of Linz, Austria, for a fitness exam. He was ultimately deemed unfit to serve in the Austrian Army due to his physical weakness and evidence of a lung ailment. Instead, Hitler went on to serve in the Bavarian Army during World War I, where he was promoted to the rank of lance corporal and awarded several medals for his bravery.

Hitler's rejection from the Austrian Army

Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, had a military career that can be divided into two distinct portions of his life. The first was during World War I, when he served in the Bavarian Army, and the second was during World War II, when he served as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) through his position as Führer of Nazi Germany.

Hitler lived in Vienna, Austria, from 1907 to 1913, and it is believed that he left to evade conscription into the Austrian Army. He moved to Munich, Germany, where he earned money by painting architectural scenes. However, the Bavarian police sent him back to Salzburg, Austria, for induction into the Austrian Army. On February 5, 1914, he failed his physical exam and was deemed unfit for military service due to his gaunt physique. He was then allowed to return to Munich.

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Austria-Hungary and the German Empire entered the conflict. Due to his Austrian citizenship, Hitler had to request permission to serve in the Bavarian Army, which was granted. This was considered an error on the part of the German government, as they could not explain why he was not deported back to Austria after failing his physical exam for the Austrian Army.

Despite his initial rejection from the Austrian Army, Hitler went on to serve in the Bavarian Army during World War I. He held various positions, including infantryman, regimental message-runner, and dispatch runner, and he was decorated for bravery on multiple occasions.

Hitler's reasons for avoiding conscription

In 1914, Hitler was arrested for dodging the Austrian draft. He fled the Hapsburg realm to avoid military service, but was arrested by a German police detective and taken to the Austrian consulate, where he was ordered to report to his hometown of Linz, Austria, for a fitness exam. Hitler was determined to avoid the tedium of military drill and barracks life at all costs and was willing to lie to do so. In a letter to Austrian officials, he pleaded poverty and ignorance, claiming that he had been unaware that he was supposed to register for military service in 1909. However, this was a lie, as he had inherited money from both his parents and an aunt.

Hitler's main reason for wanting to avoid conscription was his opposition to the multiethnic character of the Hapsburg army. He despised Slavs and Jews and was not fond of Hungarians, Italians, or Romanians, all of whom were part of the armed forces of the patchwork empire. Instead, Hitler embraced the radical "Pan-German" ideology espoused by anti-Semitic demagogues like Georg Ritter von Schönerer, who called for the German-speaking part of Austria to secede and join the German Reich of Wilhelm II.

In February 1914, Hitler was judged unfit for military service due to his gaunt physique, which was likely a result of his days of poverty in Vienna. Thus, he was able to return to his previous life in Munich, where he earned money by painting architectural scenes.

Hitler's enrolment in the Bavarian Army

In May 1913, Hitler moved from Vienna to Munich, the capital of Bavaria, to avoid conscription into the Austrian Army. He had received a windfall from a dying aunt, which he used to finance the move. However, the Bavarian police sent him back to Salzburg for induction into the Austrian Army, where he was deemed unfit to serve due to his gaunt physique.

On August 1, 1914, Hitler was in Munich, cheering and singing with a crowd gathered on Odeonsplatz to listen to the proclamation of war. Rejecting the idea of fighting for Austria, Hitler volunteered for the German Army. He submitted a petition to enlist in the Bavarian Army and was granted permission to serve, despite his Austrian citizenship.

Hitler joined the 1st Company of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, also known as the List Regiment. After initial training in Munich, Hitler arrived on the Western Front on October 21, 1914, where his regiment took part in the Battle of Ypres. Hitler, like all those who survived the battle, was promoted to the rank of lance corporal. He was assigned as a dispatch runner, carrying messages between the front line and Regimental Headquarters, three kilometres away.

Hitler served a total of four years in the trenches and was wounded twice. In October 1916, he was wounded by an enemy shell and evacuated to a hospital in Berlin. In October 1918, he was temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack in Belgium.

Hitler's experience in World War I

In 1913, Hitler moved to Munich, Germany, to avoid conscription into the Austrian Army. In January 1914, he was arrested for dodging the Austrian draft and taken to the Austrian Consulate, where he was ordered to report to Linz, Austria, for a fitness exam. On February 5, 1914, he was deemed unfit to serve in the Austrian Army due to his gaunt physique and evidence of a lung ailment.

When World War I broke out, Hitler, who had Austrian citizenship, requested permission to serve in the Bavarian Army. This request was granted, and he joined the 1st Company of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. After less than two months of training, Hitler's regiment saw its first combat near Ypres, against the British and Belgians. Hitler narrowly escaped death in battle several times and was eventually awarded two Iron Crosses for bravery. He rose to the rank of lance corporal but no further.

Hitler's duties as a dispatch runner involved carrying messages between the front line and Regimental Headquarters, several kilometres away. Some have regarded this assignment as "a relatively safe job" because regimental headquarters were often several miles behind the front. However, Hitler was wounded in October 1916 by an enemy shell and evacuated to a Berlin area hospital. After recovering, and serving a total of four years in the trenches, he was temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack in Belgium in October 1918.

Hitler considered his time in World War I the best years of his life. He was described by other soldiers as aloof, quiet, and a loner, never receiving mail from home but regularly reading pamphlets and literature. He often expressed outrage at his fellow soldiers visiting French prostitutes, both for their nationality and the act's immorality. Despite being considered odd, Hitler was liked and accepted by his peers.

Hitler's post-war life

Hitler returned to Munich in January 1919 and spent a few months in barracks waiting for reassignment. Munich was in a state of chaos at the time, with a number of assassinations occurring, including that of socialist Kurt Eisner, who was shot by a German nationalist. In this turbulent political climate, Hitler was elected as the liaison of his military battalion and urged his unit to stay out of the fighting and not join either side.

In June 1919, Hitler was moved to the demobilization office of the 2nd Infantry Regiment. Around this time, an edict was released stating that the army's priority was to carry out stricter surveillance of the population in conjunction with the police. This period marked the beginning of Hitler's involvement in intelligence work, as he was recruited as an undercover agent by army intelligence agent Karl Mayr. Hitler's duties included influencing other soldiers and infiltrating the German Workers' Party (DAP), a small anti-communist, anti-Semitic right-wing organization.

Hitler was attracted to the founder of the DAP, Anton Drexler's nationalist, anti-capitalist, and anti-Marxist ideas. Impressed by Hitler's oratory skills, Drexler invited him to join the DAP, which he did on September 12, 1919. Hitler soon challenged Drexler to become the leader of the party, and after some resistance, his request was granted.

Hitler's involvement with the DAP, his growing influence, and his anti-communist views allowed him to avoid discharge when his unit was disbanded in May 1919. He continued to rise through the ranks of the DAP, which was later renamed the National Socialist German Workers Party, or Nazi Party. In 1923, Hitler and World War I hero General Erich Ludendorff attempted to overthrow the Bavarian government in what became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. The rebellion was crushed, and Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison. During his time in Landsberg Prison, he began dictating his political autobiography, "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle"), which expanded on his nationalistic and anti-Semitic views.

Hitler was released from prison after serving only nine months and vowed to work within the parliamentary system. However, the Nazi Party was still considered a fringe group at this point. Hitler continued to gain support, especially after the worldwide economic depression, and he pledged to restore prosperity and create civil order. In the 1932 general election, the Nazi Party became the largest political party in the Reichstag.

In January 1933, with the government in chaos, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor of Germany, marking the birth of the Third Reich. Hitler quickly began dismantling democratic institutions and consolidating his power. He abolished the position of president after Hindenburg's death and became "Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor." He rearmed Germany, introduced military conscription, and expanded the army, all in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

Hitler's military spending and ambitious public works programs helped restore prosperity and gain support from the German people. He suppressed the Communist Party and purged his own paramilitary storm troopers, an act known as the Night of the Long Knives, which was welcomed by the middle class as a blow for law and order.

Hitler continued his long-promised expansion of national boundaries, annexing Austria and forcing Czechoslovakia to surrender the Sudetenland. In September 1939, he invaded Poland, triggering the European phase of World War II. Throughout the war, Hitler served as the supreme commander of the German Armed Forces and made key military decisions.

As the tide of the war turned against him, Hitler became increasingly unwell, isolated, and dependent on medications. He refused to consider peace negotiations and remained committed to his destructive ideology. In April 1945, as Soviet troops closed in on Berlin, Hitler committed suicide, bringing an end to his life and his reign of terror.

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