Austrian Dictators: Who Are They?

Austrian-born Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. Hitler was responsible for starting World War II, which resulted in the deaths of more than 50 million people. He was also responsible for the Holocaust, the state-sponsored killing of six million Jews and millions of others.

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German dictator

Hitler's worldview revolved around two concepts: territorial expansion and racial supremacy. These concepts informed his decision to invade Poland, which marked the start of World War II, as well as the Holocaust—the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Hitler's father, Alois, was the illegitimate child of Maria Schicklgruber. Hitler never used any other surname. After Alois' retirement from the state customs service, Hitler spent most of his childhood in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, which remained his favourite city throughout his life. Hitler had a mixed record as a student and never advanced beyond secondary education. He wished to study art but twice failed to secure entry to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

Hitler joined the German Workers' Party (the precursor of the Nazi Party) in 1919 and was appointed party leader in 1921. In 1923, he attempted a failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison. While in prison, he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto, Mein Kampf. After his early release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism, antisemitism, and anti-communism. By November 1932, the Nazi Party held the most seats in the Reichstag. In January 1933, former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor. Shortly thereafter, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933, which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism.

Hitler became simultaneously the head of state and government in 1934, with absolute power. He implemented numerous racist policies and sought to deport or kill German Jews. Hitler's first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the Great Depression, the abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans. One of his key goals was Lebensraum ("living space") for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive, expansionist foreign policy is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe. He directed large-scale rearmament and, on September 1, 1939, invaded Poland, causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany. Hitler was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust.

Hitler committed suicide in 1945 as Soviet troops entered Berlin. He and his longtime partner, Eva Braun, whom he had recently married, took their own lives to avoid capture.

Hitler's invasion of Poland started World War II

Austrian-born Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 started World War II. Hitler's invasion of Poland was the culmination of years of expansionist policy, anti-Polish sentiment, and aggressive diplomacy.

Hitler's ideology, as laid out in his book, Mein Kampf, centred on the belief that Germans were the "master race" and required Lebensraum ("living space") to fulfil their destiny. This meant territorial expansion, and Poland was a key target. Hitler had long denounced Poland's right to independence, and by 1939, he was ready to take aggressive action.

On April 28, 1939, Hitler withdrew from the non-aggression pact with Poland, signalling his intent. He also learned that British and French attempts to secure a non-aggression pact with the Soviets had failed. Seizing the opportunity, Hitler signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with the Soviet Union on August 23, 1939, which secretly provided for the division and annexation of Poland between the two powers.

Hitler ordered his generals to finalise "Case White," the invasion plan for Poland. He made clear that the invasion was not just about conquest but also annihilation:

> "The object of the war is...physically to destroy the enemy. That is why I have prepared, for the moment only in the East, my 'Death's Head' formations with orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language."

The invasion began on September 1, 1939, with a surprise attack on a Polish military transit depot at Westerplatte by the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein. The German assault force consisted of over 2,000 tanks, nearly 900 bombers, and over 400 fighter planes. In total, Germany deployed 60 divisions and nearly 1.5 million men.

The Polish army was at a severe disadvantage. They mobilised late, and political considerations forced them into a disadvantageous deployment. They also lacked modern arms and equipment, with few armoured and motorized units and only about 300 planes, most of which were quickly destroyed by the Luftwaffe. Despite their valiant efforts, the Polish forces were defeated within weeks.

The invasion of Poland triggered Britain and France to declare war on Germany on September 3, 1939. However, their aid to Poland was limited. On September 17, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland, sealing the country's fate. The last operational Polish unit surrendered on October 6, 1939, and Poland ceased to exist as a country.

Hitler's invasion of Poland marked the beginning of World War II and set in motion a conflict that would engulf the world and result in unprecedented death and destruction.

Hitler's rise to power

Austrian-born Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in 1919, when he joined the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or DAP) that would later become the Nazi Party. By 1920, the DAP had renamed itself the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), or Nazi Party, and Hitler had become its leader. He rose to prominence as one of the party's most popular speakers, and his considerable oratory and propaganda skills helped transform the party.

Hitler's early life and political career were marked by several significant events, including his service in the German Army during World War I, his involvement in the German Workers' Party, and his role in the Beer Hall Putsch, an attempted coup in Bavaria in 1923. After the failed coup, Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison, but he served only nine months. During his imprisonment, he wrote "Mein Kampf," which became the handbook of his ideology of National Socialism.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Hitler and the Nazi Party exploited the economic crisis caused by the Great Depression to gain support. They ran on a platform of anti-communism, antisemitism, and ultranationalism, and criticised the ruling democratic government and the Treaty of Versailles. In 1932, Hitler ran for the presidency and was defeated by the incumbent, Paul von Hindenburg, but he achieved a strong second-place finish.

In July 1932, the Nazis became the largest party in the Reichstag, but they lacked an absolute majority. Hitler's rise to power was aided by his willingness to use violence and his ability to recruit party members who were also willing to use violent tactics. In addition to his electoral successes, violent street battles took place between the Communists' Rotfrontkämpferbund and the Nazis' Sturmabteilung (SA).

In January 1933, following several backroom negotiations, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Germany's new chancellor. Although Hitler was now chancellor, he was not yet an absolute dictator. However, the groundwork for his dictatorship was laid when the Reichstag was set on fire in February 1933. Blaming communists for the arson, Hitler convinced Hindenburg to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree, which severely curtailed the liberties and rights of German citizens.

Hitler then began arguing for more drastic measures to suppress political opposition, and in March 1933, the Enabling Act was passed, giving the German government, and by extension Hitler, emergency powers to pass and enforce laws without parliamentary oversight. By April 1933, Hitler held de facto dictatorial powers, and he ordered the construction of the first Nazi concentration camp at Dachau for communists and other political opponents.

Hitler's death and the fall of Nazi Germany

Austrian-born Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, committed suicide on 30 April 1945 in the Führerbunker in Berlin. By this time, it was clear that Germany would lose the Battle of Berlin, which led to the end of World War II in Europe. Hitler's death was announced on German radio the following day, 1 May.

Hitler's death came after a series of events that saw 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 and capture Berlin. The German forces had also 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. Hitler's refusal to admit defeat and his insistence that the war be fought to the last man led to unnecessary death and destruction in the war's closing months. Through his Justice Minister Otto Georg Thierack, Hitler ordered that anyone who was not prepared to fight should be court-martialled, and thousands of people were executed.

During the Battle of Berlin (16 April – 2 May 1945), Hitler and his staff lived in the underground Führerbunker while the Red Army approached. On 30 April, when Soviet troops were within two blocks of the Reich Chancellery, Hitler and his wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide. 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.

Hitler's legacy

Austrian-born Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. His legacy is one that the world is still struggling with.

Hitler's political programme brought about a world war, leaving behind a devastated and impoverished Eastern and Central Europe. Germany suffered wholesale destruction, characterised as Stunde Null (Zero Hour). Hitler's policies inflicted human suffering on an unprecedented scale; according to R. J. Rummel, the Nazi regime was responsible for the democidal killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European theatre of World War II. The number of civilians killed during the Second World War was unprecedented in the history of warfare.

Hitler's rise was a concrete historical event – one that modern society forgets at its own peril. The world must never forget his deeds, which were underpinned by his murderous charisma. Hitler was more than just an embodiment of evil.

Hitler's policies resulted in the killing of nearly two million non-Jewish Polish civilians, over three million Soviet prisoners of war, communists and other political opponents, homosexuals, the physically and mentally disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists, and trade unionists. Hitler's early eugenic policies targeted children with physical and developmental disabilities in a programme dubbed Action Brandt, and he later authorised a euthanasia programme for adults with serious mental and physical disabilities, now referred to as Aktion T4.

Hitler's government also sponsored architecture on an immense scale. Albert Speer, instrumental in implementing Hitler's classicist reinterpretation of German culture, was placed in charge of the proposed architectural renovations of Berlin. Despite a threatened multi-nation boycott, Germany hosted the 1936 Olympic Games. Hitler officiated at the opening ceremonies and attended events at both the Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Summer Games in Berlin.

Hitler's death in 1945 did not end the ideology he espoused. For several decades following the end of the Third Reich, extreme right-wing political movements around the world had to camouflage their true colours. Fascists had no choice but to maintain a low profile, as the Nazi horror delivered state terror, genocide, and mass destruction on an unprecedented scale.

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