http www spiegel deinternationalzeitgeistrussianmpwantstobuyanddestroyhitlerhouseinbraunaua866737 html Adolf Hitler was

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Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria in 1889. He aspired to be an artist as a youth and became quite discouraged when he was rejected from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He then made a living in Vienna by sketching and selling obscene postcards and lived amongst the derelicts in the hostels. While there he was greatly influenced by these people and came up with two ideas which followed him the rest of his life: 1)Pan Germanism- the idea that Germany and Austria should unite to form a super nation called the Third Reich. 2)Anti-Semitism- the hatred of Jews.

Hitler served as a runner in WW I and was twice decorated for bravery. At the end of the war he went to work for army intelligence, monitoring the new radical political parties emerging. One such group was the German Workers’ Party. Hitler saw an opportunity to spread his ideas and after resigning from the army became the leader of the new National Socialist Workers’ Party - the NAZIS. In 1923 Hitler and his followers tried to overthrow the government by force but failed. Hitler was thrown in jail and tried for treason. He received only a five year prison sentence after delivering a spell-bounding speech and served only nine months. While in jail Hitler outlined his future plans for Nazi Germany in a book he wrote entitled Mein Kampf. He then enacted his diplomatic rise to power, winning elections, and taking over Germany in 1933.

START OF WORLD WAR II In 1936 Hitler ordered his troops to march into the Rhineland, ignoring the Treaty of Versailles. Fearing opposition and feeling he was not yet strong enough he told his generals to retreat if challenged. Nobody tried and they remained. In 1938 the Germans invaded and took over neighboring Austria. Again this went unchallenged! Later in 1938 Hitler ordered the Czechs to give him the German-speaking northern part of their country, known as the Sudetenland. They refused and prepared for war. France promised to help if the Germans attacked.

British and French leaders really wanted to avoid war at all costs. Thus, they proposed a meeting to resolve the dispute and as a result the Munich Agreement was drawn up. Germany was granted the Sudetenland but they had to promise to leave the rest of Czechoslovakia alone. A few months later (1939) Hitler ignored the agreement and swallowed up the rest of Czechoslovakia. Hitler then started to threaten Poland. Britain and France promised to help the Poles but the Germans felt they feared their war-machine and would let them down as they had done the Czechs. On Sept. 1, 1939 the Nazis marched into Poland. Two days later, Sept. 3, 1939 France and Britain declared war on Germany. WORLD WAR II WAS ON!!!

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Lebensraum- “living space”, Hitler’s policy of expansion for Germany. * Italy and Japan were also upset at the conclusion of World War I as they were not given the land they were promised in the peace treaty. * Alliances also emerged; ex. “Rome- Berlin- Tokyo Axis” between Italy, Germany, and Japan. (1939) • 1939 Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact signed between Germany and the Soviet Union.