Adolf Hitler
By:Timothy Butcher
Biography
During the war
Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party, a precursor of the Nazi Party, in 1919. He then progressed to become the leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923 he attempted a coup d’état, (known as the Beer Hall Putsch) in Munich. This failed event led to his capture and eventual imprisonment. Upon his release in 1924, Adolf Hitler began to gain support by actively promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism and anticommunism in Germany via the use of Nazi propaganda and what some believed to be ‘charismatic’ speeches.
Conclusion
Mystery surrounded the death of Adolf Hitler for many years. However, more is now thought to be known about Adolf Hitler’s death as a result of the work by Antony Beevor.
Slowly but surely the forces of the Red Army moved through Berlin in the spring of 1945. The German Army did not have the means to halt Marshall Zhukov’s troops – they were outnumbered 15 to 1 and the Red Army’s ability to call on mechanised armour seemed unlimited. Civilian and military casualties in Berlin were appalling. Regardless of this, Adolf Hitler clung to his belief that the German Army would defeat Zhukov’s eight armies in Berlin. Aides watched as he spoke about grandiose German armoured formations that would defeat Zhukov in Berlin. In reality, the Red Army was up against exhausted troops effectively at the end of their fighting ability, Hitler Youth troops armed with the anti-tank weapon, the panzerfaust, and the male elderly who had been forced into a civilian’s militia which was expected to make a last stand.
Any signs of surrender were dealt with harshly by the SS. In the Kurfürstendamm Boulevard, SS squads shot any householder who put a white flag outside of their house.
Adolf Hitler was based in his bunker underneath the Reich Chancellery building. Bomb proof and with its own air recycling plant, the complex had been built without a proper communication system. The only way staff officers could know about the extent of the Red Army’s movement into Berlin was to phone civilians at random (if their phones worked) to ascertain if the Red Army was in their vicinity.