Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, Austria and spent his childhood there, nicknamed as “Adi”. He dreamed of becoming an artist but did not pass the entrance exam in Vienna. However, he became a venerated soldier in World War I and eventually went into politics. He was responsible for starting World War II and for killing more than 11 million people during the Holocaust. However, his leadership helped Germany to recover and also led to some positive campaigns and the development of technologies that have helped modern society thrive today. Despite the scars that the world has yet to heal, there are some lesser evils related to this man highlighted as follows:
- Good Things Hitler Did For Germany
- Good Things Hitler Did Reddit Live
- Reddit Secret Hitler
- Did Hitler Do Any Good
- Hitler Good Things
10. Olympic Torch Relay
Hitler inaugurated the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin that was marked with a lot of controversy. The torch relay was one of the ways which helped define the modern Olympic experience as we know it today. The ancient Greeks had run relay races that involved flames as part of their worship to the Gods, but there had been no such symbolism in the modern Games.In the lead-up to the Games, the Nazi Propaganda Ministry supported a relay of the Olympic flame. This would not only provide spectacular footage for Olympia (the 1938 film) but also for significant political and public relations benefit.
The Russians took it and denied they'd even found it. The book 'The Last Days of Hitler' by Hugh Trevor-Roper is well worth reading, as it is in essence the full British Army investigation into Hitler's death, that took place after the Russians proclaimed that Hitler was alive and living in the British occupation zone. Nazi regime was the first to introduce animal rights and limited hunting seasons. Hitler had outlawed animal testing (who needs animals when you got thousands of Untermenschen). Nazis had the first public anti smoking campaign at a time when smoking was not linked to cancer.
9. Blow-up dolls
Hitler reportedly was the first person to approve blow-up dolls for army men. The project was meant to “counterbalance” the sexual desires of German troops and was considered “more secret than top secret”. Media reports had quoted Hitler as saying, “It is our duty to prevent soldiers from risking their health for the sake of a quick adventure.” Later, the plan of using sex dolls for the troops was dismissed in 1942. Many German soldiers refused to carry those blow-up dolls in their back-packs to avoid embarrassment in case they were captured by the British.
8. The outfits
The founders of Adidas were the brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler. Jesse Owens of the Summer 1936 Olympic Games, wore the new running shoes with spikes which they had designed. Following Owens’s haul of four gold medals, his success cemented their reputation. Eventually, the two split up over their dispute relating to the Nazi Party. It seemed Rudolph was more pro-Nazi than his brother. He later went on to create the company “Ruda” which was renamed as “Puma”. The two companies exist successfully to this day.
7. Film technology
The interest that Adolf Hitler took in film was not only the result of a personal fascination. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) and Triumph des Willens (Leni Riefenstahl, 1934), two important German films separated by almost a decade, reflect very different feelings of nationalism. These controversial films were created as a means to propogate the Nazi party further. Leni Riefenstahlwas heavily influenced by The Third Reich. She used an astounding thirty film cameras and over one hundred technicians to produce the two hour film. Since this film had an unlimited budget, the latest technologies were used. Cranes and track-rail filming were used, techniques still used today to make a smooth ‘traveling’ effect. This led to pioneering techniques of camera movement and editing that have influenced many later films.
Good Things Hitler Did For Germany
6. Winterhilfswerk of the German People (WHW)
After Hitler was appointed Chancellor, the “Winter Help Work—WHW” was started. In a speech he explained, “This great campaign against hunger and cold is governed by this principle: We have broken the international solidarity of the proletariat. We want to build the living national solidarity of the German people!” It was the official Nazi-Party winter relief charity. Welfare programs were important as they made recipients more open to propaganda and created support. Money was collected in many ways. One of the most obvious ways was using the Hitler Youth children to collect coins. At first this was on street corners and later, the children began going door to door. Badges were another means to promote this program. The Nazi’s in 1933-34 claimed that WHW beneficiaries exceeded 16.6 million persons. This would mean that one out of every four Germans received WHW assistance.
5. Animal protection
After the suicide of his niece, Hitler witnessed the autopsy and became so disgusted that he renounced meat forever. Today, it is acknowledged by historians that he followed a vegetarian diet during the war. At social occasions, he sometimes gave graphic descriptions of how animals were slaughtered to discourage the guests from eating meat. He was an avid antivivisectionist like many other members of the Nazi party. In 1934, a national hunting law was passed known as “The Reich Hunting Law”. It regulated proper hunting seasons and the number of animals to be killed per year. It also supported the bill for animal conservation education in primary, secondary and college levels. Another law was passed in 1935, called “Reich Nature Protection Act” which was for protection of several native species such as the Eurasian Lynx. These hunting and conversations laws are used as legal guidelines in Europe even today.
4. Stop smoking!
Adolf Hitler was a heavy smoker in his early life—he used to smoke 25 to 40 cigarettes daily—but gave up the habit, concluding that it was a waste of money. He promised to end the use of tobacco in the military after the end of the war and personally encouraged close friends not to smoke. The ones who quit the habit were rewarded as well. His personal distaste for tobacco was one of the catalysts behind the anti-smoking campaign on a nationwide level. The National Socialist leadership condemned smoking and several of them openly criticized tobacco consumption. Smoking was banned from government offices, civic transport, university campuses, rest homes, post offices, many restaurants and bars, hospital grounds and workplaces. Research on smoking and its effects on health thrived as well. They limited cigarette rations in the Wehrmacht, organized medical lectures for soldiers, and raised the tobacco tax. Earlier, such anti-tobacco campaigns had been tried out in Europe but none had been implemented on a scale as under the reign of Hitler.
3. Rocket technology
Werner von Braun, developed the V-2 as director of Hitler’s research station at Peenemunde. He was was a part of the Nazi Party and commissioned Schutzstaffel Officer. After the war, Britain, the US and the Soviet Union all gained access to the V-2’s technical designs and liaised with the German scientists responsible for developing it. Braun eventually got captured by the allies and later became a naturalized citizen in USA and went on to work with NASA, furthering pioneering in rocket science that paved the way for destruction and creation as well. His best achievement there was undoubtedly the development of the Saturn V booster rocket, that helped man to finally touch the moon, in July 1969.
2. Gehen Auf de Autobahns! (Go to the highway)
These freeways were called “autobahns” in Germany. Did you know that Hitler was actually involved in furthering the construction of these freeways when he took over as Chancellor? Plans for the autobahn date to the 1920’s. Their construction began in September 1933. Eventually by December 1941, they had completed 2,400 miles (3,860 km), with another 1,550 miles (2,500 km) under construction. The highway network enhanced Germany’s ability to fight on two fronts-Europe in the west, the Soviet Union in the east during World War II. This was eventually used in America in 1940’s where car congestion’s had begun to occur. American president Eisenhower explained years later, “after seeing the autobahns of modern Germany and knowing the asset those highways were to the Germans, I decided, as President, to put an emphasis on this kind of road building. The old [1919] convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land.”. The rest, as we know, is history.
1. The people’s car
Hitler proposed to build a cheap car that almost anyone could afford. He gave it the name “KdF Wagen,”. KdF was the abbreviation for “Kraft durch Freude” (Strength through Joy), a subsidiary of the German Labor Front. He advised the designer that it should resemble a beetle. In 1934, Porsche submitted the best design — and was awarded the contract. At the 1935 German auto show, Hitler was full of praise for Porsche. He wanted to call the factory the “Porsche Plant,” but Ferdinand Porsche was opposed to the idea. Instead, it became the Volkswagen Plant instead. The car was a huge success (it was made available to citizens of the Third Reich through a savings scheme at 990 Reichsmark, about the price of a small motorcycle), but toward the end of the war resources were low and public availability declined. However, till this day, the legacy of Volkswagen continues to thrive all over the world with its great design and performance.
Before he was the Fuhrer, he was a Gefreiter in the Imperial German Army, a rank equivalent to Lance Corporal. Before he was a nationalist, he was a painter, documenting the everyday life on the battlefield.
Adolf Hitler survived the First World War describing it as “the greatest of all experiences”. He was appointed as a dispatch runner for the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16. Even though his position was a rather fortunate one, since he spent most of his time in the headquarters, he was wounded several times and given the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class and a Black Wound Badge.
After the war, he nurtured the image of a disappointed foot soldier, an image which many Germans in the immediate post-war period could relate to. These are the ten events that laid the foundation for his rise to power and his role in the biggest conflict in history.
1 – Treaty of Versailles
The start of the rise of Hitler was the peace treaty signed in Versailles in 1919, which served as a severe punishment for the German involvement in the First World War. The treaty stripped Germany of all its colonies in Africa and the Far East. A large part of European German territory was given to France and Belgium.
Due to reparation agreements, the most developed industrial regions – the Ruhr and Saar – were occupied by the French. The treaty also included large limitation on the German Army, which has turned the Imperial Army into a symbolic interior peace-keeping force.
These circumstances caused mass unemployment and hyperinflation. Also, after the Great War, Germans felt humiliated by their historic enemies, the French, who had designed the peace agreement. Hate and despair were looming across the remnants of an empire, and the situation provided fertile ground for a dictatorship .
2 – The Stab in the Back Myth
The harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles helped create a conspiracy theory that became widely accepted among Germans. The Stab in the Back myth said that the Army wasn’t to blame for losing the war, but the workers led by Bolsheviks and Jews.
Hundreds of worker strikes were held in Germany in the period of 1916-1918, due to hunger and general discontent on the home front, this was merely a consequence of the exhausting war effort which was bleeding the country dry. The nationalists blamed the politicians for signing the capitulation on November 11th, 1918, calling them the November Traitors.
Hitler used the myth to spread hatred towards Jews and political adversaries alike, as the National-Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) grew larger in numbers, under the leadership of Anton Drexler. Drexler was Hitler’s mentor and a political father-figure in his early days. They gathered the disbanded soldiers without a job and angry citizens of all classes, reviving old Germanic legends and historical accomplishments that evoked pride towards the nation and hatred towards the foreigners, so-called traitors, and outsiders of any kind.
3 – The Bavarian Republic/The Spartacus Uprising
The year 1919 was marked by civil unrest across Europe, but especially in Germany. The country transformed into a post-war republic with its capital in the city of Weimar. The Weimar Republic was created with the sponsorship of the winning side to guarantee the decisions Treaty of Versailles. The Republic’s leadership was in an ungrateful position of preserving order in a country that was under constant threat of a civil war between radical groups – left and right alike.
In January 1919, the leftist organization – The Spartacist League, tried to violently take power in Berlin with deadly consequences. The revolt was crushed by the police and German paramilitary called the Freikorps. A similar thing happened in Munich that same year, with the forming of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic.
At that time, Hitler had already infiltrated the NSDAP and was known for his rowdy antisemitic and anti-Marxist speeches mobilizing the popular discontent for his own gain while the left elements were slowly losing their momentum after a series of failed revolutions.
4 – The Beerhall Putsch
In 1921, Hitler became the head of the NSDAP and in 1923, he attempted a coup in Munich that shook the foundations of the Weimar Republic. Burgerbraukeller was the famous beer hall in Munich in which the riots started. The putsch was inspired by the March on Rome, a coup that landed Benito Mussolini in power only a year earlier. The Party already had a military wing called SA – Storm Detachment.
They had about 600 SA members surrounding the beer hall and a machine set up in the auditorium. Hitler declared a national revolution in the hall and called everyone to join him, in a hostage-like situation, since there was a machine gun behind him. About 2,000 people gathered in support of the Nazi Party and they headed to the Munich main square Marienplatz where he gave an inflammatory speech ending it with a sentence:
“Either the German revolution begins tonight or we will all be dead by dawn!”
The response came quickly but not as bloody as the earlier uprisings in Berlin and Munich. In the last attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government, the putschists marched to the Ministry of Defense, where they were met by a force of 130 armed soldiers. After a short skirmish, 16 Nazi supporters were dead and Hitler was lightly wounded. The Bavarian Army lost 4 soldiers.
Hitler was arrested, and a trial was held in which he had yet another chance to practice his speaking skills. The judges were pro-Nazi oriented and he was sentenced to five years but got out only a year later. Leading figures of other coup attempts like the Spartacus uprising were all shot for treason. This shows that Hitler had a huge amount of sympathy from the ruling elites.
In the meantime, in prison, he wrote his manifesto, Mein Kampf. The putsch was a Nazi propaganda victory that turned the nation’s attention to Munich and Hitler.
5 – The Financial Crisis, 1929
The Great Depression was a serious blow to Germany’s already unstable economy. Widespread unemployment reached 25% as every sector was hurt. The government did not increase government spending to deal with Germany’s growing crisis, as they were afraid that a high-spending policy could lead to a return of the hyperinflation that had affected Germany in 1923. Germany’s Weimar Republic was hit hard by the depression, as American loans to help rebuild the German economy now stopped.
A change in the government was inevitable. The Weimar government was ineffective, and the people considered Hitler to be the leader capable of regaining Germany’s former glory. In the meantime, his antisemitic propaganda had affected the population to a significant extent, and he was preparing to shift his politics from the streets into the parliament.
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6 – German Referendum 1929
The German referendum of 1929 was held to vote on the “Law against the Enslavement of the German People,” which referred to the famous Treaty of Versailles and it denounced all its decisions by the German people and government. The referendum was very favorable to the Nazi Party and again won them public attention, since Hitler was the loudest opponent of the treaty signed in 1919. “Adolf Hitler” by this time became a well-known name in every household in Germany.
In addition to this, he made an important step in campaigning with the more mainstream right-wing political parties with whom he formed a coalition to see the referendum through. This gave him a wider support as he was recognized by the more traditional nationalist voters.
Good Things Hitler Did Reddit Live
The referendum itself had very low voter turnout, at only 14 %, but 94% of those voters were in favor of denouncing the treaty. Nevertheless, the turnout wasn’t enough for the referendum to pass and this event proved to be yet another victory for Hitler and raised his profile, with no real consequences in German politics.
7 – German Federal Reichstag election 1930
In 1930, Federal elections the Nazi Party showed considerable growth earning 107 seats out of 577 in the Reichstag (German Parliament). The party which held the most seats was the Social Democrat Party, but the Nazis were gaining ground in state affairs. The other important fact is that the traditional nationalist party, DNVP, which was an alliance of nationalists, reactionary monarchists, völkisch, and antisemitic elements lost its influence in the Reichstag and it slowly fragmented, as its supporters stood behind Hitler, whom they saw as their new leader.
8 – Hitler uber Deutschland – the election 1932
On 13th of March, 1932, Adolf Hitler became the main opposition candidate to Paul von Hindenburg in the elections. Hindenburg was an aging war hero who was appointed president in 1925. This was to be Hindenburg’s second seven-year term, but his real political power faded as he himself became disappointed with the Weimar Republic. In the end, he remained president, only because of the grudging support of the Social Democrats, who were keen on keeping him in the office, just to deny that right to Hitler.
Hitler’s rhetoric was often pointed directly against the Social Democrats, who leaned towards the left-wing politics at that time. Hindenburg thought he could rely on Hitler, who came second in the elections and appointed him Chancellor of Germany. At this point, Hitler was a popular figure who had the support of conservative politicians, huge industrialists, soldiers, and workers alike.
He incorporated the idea of technological progress into his concept of racial purity as he saw Germany as the leading force in Europe, opposed to the primitive peoples of other races. He justified colonialism and slavery, as he believed that one nation is superior to all others. His campaign during the elections was marked by hate-filled speeches, which anticipated his future politics.
He also became known as the first politician to utilize the airplane as a fast means of transport from one rally to another, across the country. The campaign was popularly known as “Hitler above Germany” because of his flights and a record number of political rallies.
9 – The Reichstag Fire or Nero burning Rome
Reddit Secret Hitler
The Reichstag fire occurred on February 27th, 1933. It was an arson attack on the building of the German parliament, known as the Reichstag. The event is recognized as pivotal for the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. Just weeks earlier, Adolf Hitler was preparing to push through the Enabling act as a Chancellor of Germany, that would give him extraordinary powers to deal with his political adversaries in an undemocratic way.
During the elections in 1932, he had already begun a propaganda campaign claiming that the communists were preparing a revolution in Germany. This claim improved his image with the middle classes who had reasons to fear revolution and the confiscation of property that follows.
On the evening of the fire, a young Dutch communist, Marinus Van Lubbe, was arrested, and he confessed he was the culprit. After the arrest of Van Lubbe, three more Bulgarian communists were imprisoned as accomplices.
Among them was a high ranking Comintern agent, Georgi Dimitrov. The Bulgarians were set free, but Van Lubbe was executed. The fire gave wings to Hitler as he now had proof that the communists were plotting against the state. The event remains a mystery to this day, as most historians claim that Van Lubbe acted alone while some of them think that it was a false flag operation conducted by the Nazis to gain complete control and deal with their main political opponents in unconstitutional ways.
10 – The Banning of Political Competition
After the Reichstag fire, Hitler had initiated the EnablingAct. He was now capable of enacting laws without the consent of the other parties in the parliament for four years. These laws could in some cases even deviate from the constitution. It was absolute power for Hitler, from this point on. Having achieved full control over the legislative and executive branches of government, Hitler and his allies began to suppress the remaining opposition.
The Social Democratic Party was banned and its assets seized. While many trade union delegates were in Berlin for May Day activities, SA stormtroopers demolished union offices around the country. On 2nd of May 1933, all trade unions were forced to dissolve, and their leaders were arrested.
Some were sent to concentration camps. The German Labour Front was formed as an umbrella organization to represent all workers, administrators, and company owners, thus reflecting the concept of national socialism in the spirit of Hitler’s Volksgemeinschaft (“people’s community”).
Did Hitler Do Any Good
After banning the political left in the country, Hitler turned against his coalition partners, the nationalists from the DNVP, making their influence minimal. The next step was a purge among his own ranks in the SA. The SA saw itself as Hitler’s paramilitary organization, that should be granted more political and military power. But an autocratic leader couldn’t let anyone get in his way, so he removed the entire SA leadership, crowning his decision with the execution of Ernst Rohm, the official leader of the SA.
Hitler Good Things
At that point, Germany was firmly in his grip, and he could focus on foreign policy and the final dismantling of the Treaty of Versaille.