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Rabu, 11 November 2009
Hypodermic Needle Theory

Sejarah dan latar belakang

Suatu konsep penting untuk memahami cara kerja komunikasi massa dengan konsep “penjaga gawang” (gatekeeper). Seorang gatekeeper adalah orang yang memilih, mengubah, dan menolak pesan dan dapat mempengaruhi aliran informasi kepada seseorang ataupun sekelompok. Konsep ini sangat relevan untuk komunikasi massa.
Media massa memiliki kemampuan dalam mempengaruhi perilaku dan sifat seseorang. Pada jaman perang, penguasa menjadikan media massa sebagai alat propaganda untuk menakuti musuh dan menciptakan loyalitas kepada rakyat untuk mendukung kebijakan penguasa tersebut. Model komunikasi massa yang berlaku pada saat itu adalah model linear, yaitu komunikator menyebarluaskan pesan melalui media massa, yang ditujukan pada khalayak.

Pada sisi lain masyarakat membutuhkan informasi dari media massa, termasuk juga informasi komersial. Terjadilah lingkaran simbiosis mutualisma. Pada fase ini, media massa bukan lagi barang langka. Dengan begitu masyarakat sebagai khalayak bisa dengan mudah menenttukan pilihan darimana sumber sebuah informasi yang di butuhkan.
Setiap terjadinya perkembangan media selalu melahirkan konsep atau theory baru dalam ilmu komunikasi. Kemampuan media dalam menghubungkan individu komunikasi dijadikan acuan dalam membentuk suatu teori dan konsep baru dalam ilmu komunikasi. “Dalam membangun theory melalui komunikasi bermedia, tidak saja menghasilkan dan berupa statement-statement saja melainkan juga menggunakan model-model. Meskipun model-model tersebut tidak menguraikan deskripsi, prediksi dan eksplanasi tujuan area fokus pengamatan, tetapi sebuah model menyediakan hubungan antara komponen dalam proses komunikasi dan menerangkan bagaimana komponen tersebut beroperasi” (Mulyana, 2005, 208).
Pada umumnya khalayak dianggap hanya sekumpulan orang yang homogen danmudah dipengaruhi. Sehingga, pesan-pesan yang disampaikan pada mereka akan selalu diterima. Fenomena tersebut melahirkan teori ilmu komunikasi yang dikenal dengan teori jarum suntik (Hypodermic Needle Theory). Teori ini menganggap media massa memiliki kemampuan penuh dalam mempengaruhi seseorang.
Teori peluru ini merupakan konsep awal sebagai effek komunikasi massa yang oleh para teoritis komunikasi tahun 1970 an dinamakan pula hypodermic needle theory yang dapat diterjemahkan sebagai teori jarum hipodermik. Teori ini ditampilkan pada tahun 1950 an setelah peristiwa penyiaran kaleidoskop stasiun radio CBS di Amerika berjudul “The Invasion From Mars”. Wilbur Schramm pada tahun 1950 an itu mengatakan bahwa seorang komunikator dapat menembakkan peluru komunikasi yang begitu ajaib kepada khalayak yang pasif tidak berdaya. Tetapi pada tahun 1970 an Scrhamm meminta pada khalayak peminatnya agar teori peluru komunikasi itu tidak ada, sebab khalayak yang menjadi sasaran media massa itu ternyata tidak pasif.
Model magig bullet theory atau teori jarum suntik. Asumsi dari teori ini tidak jauh berbeda dengan model SOR, yakni bahwa media secara langsung dan cepat memiliki efek yang kuat tehadap komunikan.

Gambar : Model jarum hipodermik




Sumber : http//jurnalkomunikasi.com

INTI TEORI JARUM SUNTIK

Teori ini berkembang di sekitar tahun 1930 hingga 1940an. Dan ini merupakan teori media massa pertama yang ada. Teori ini mengasumsikan bahwa komunikator yakni media massa digambarkan lebih pintar dan juga lebih segalanya dari audience.
Teori ini memiliki banyak istilah lain. Biasa kita sebut Hypodermic needle ( teori jarum suntik ), Bullet Theory ( teori peluru ) transmition belt theory ( teori sabuk transmisi ). Dari beberapa istilah lain dari teori ini dapat kita tarik satu makna , yakni penyampaian pesannya hanya satu arah dan juga mempunyai efek yang sangat kuat terhadap komunikan.

Dari beberapa sumber teori ini bermakna :
# Memprediksikan dampak pesan pesan komunikasi massa yang kuat dan kurang lebih universal pada semua audience ( Severin, Werner J.2005: 314

.
# Disini dapat dimaknai bahwa peran media massa di waktunya ( sekitar tahun 1930an ) sangat kuat sehingga audience benar mengikuti apa yang ada dalam media massa.
Selain itu teori ini juga di maknai dalam teori peluru karena apa yang di sampaikan oleh media langsung sampai terhadap audience. ( Nurudin . 2007 : 165 )

.
# Kekuatan media yang begitu dahsyat hingga bisa memegang kendali pikiran khalayak yang pasif dan tak berdaya. ( http//jurnalkomunikasi.com )
.
Dari sini kita ketahui bahwa teori peluru adalah :
Sebuah teori media yang memiliki dampak yang kuat terhadap audiencenya sehingga tak jarang menimbulkan sebuah budaya baru dan penyaampaiannya secara langsung dari komunikator yakni media kepada komunikan ( audience ).
beberapa hal yang juga ada dan menjadi bagian yang sangat penting ada dalam teori ini antara lain :
# Media : dalam hal ini berperan sebagai komunikator, dan komunikator di sini sifatnya adalah melembaga dan bukan perorangan

.
# Pesan : disni pesan adalah isi atau hal yang disampakan oleh media tersebut

.
# Audience : audience berfungsi sebagai komunikan yang menerima pesan dari komunikator
.
Komunikator yakni media juga memiliki kriteria yang ada :
# kredibilitas media tersebut

.
# daya tarik dari media tersebut

.
# kekuasaan media
.
Pesan yang di sampaikaan juga memiliki beberapa unsur :
# struktur pesan tersebut

.
# gaya dari pesan tersebut

.
# appeals dari pesan tersebut.
.
Dan selain itu sebagai komunikan, ada beberapa perubahan atau efek yang di harapkan diantaranya :
# perubahan afeksi dari komunikan

,
# perubahan behaviour dan

.
# perubahan kognisi

Jadi disini media benar mempunyai kekuatan yang sangat kuat untuk mempengaruhi audience.

TERAPAN TEORI TERHADAP MASYARAKAT
Masyarakat bukanlah atom- atom yang mengalami alienasi, melainkan agen-agen yang akan menunjukkan kemampuan subyektivitasnya dalam menanggapi pesan-pesan media. Masyarakat merupakan pihak yang dapat bertindak aktif untuk membaca dan memaknai setiap pesan media yang melintas dan menghunjam benak kesadarannya. Masyarakat mampu menunjukkan kelihaiannya dalam menegosiasikan pesan-pesan media. Sampai pada titik yang sulit diramalkan kepastiannya, masyarakat pun akan melakukan oposisi atau perlawanan terhadap pesan-pesan media itu sendiri. Selain dipertimbangkan, pesan-pesan media akan mendapatkan subversi tanpa henti.
Contoh yang akan kita bahas dalam makalah ini adalah, pada iklan air mineral yang bermerek Aqua. Dimana pada saat produk air mineral ini dipublikasikan, secara langsung bisa mempengaruhi asumsi khalayak bahwasanya air mineral itu adalah aqua. Sehingga sampai saat ini aqua sudah terdoktrin di ingatan khalayak. Walaupun sudah banyak merek-merek air mineral yang bermunculan.


Kelemahan dan kekuatan theory hypodermic needle theory
Pada dasarnya setiap theory memmpunyai kekuatan dan juga kelemahan. Dan tentunya beberapa teori tersebut hanya bisa berkembang di masanya dan juga mengalami penyempurnaan seperti teori ini yang juga terus mengalami perkembangan.
Kekuatan teori jarum suntik :
# media memiliki peranan yang kuat dan dapat mempengaruhi aveksi, kognisi dan behaviour dari audiencenya.

.
# Pemerintah dalam hal ini penguasa dapat memanfaatkan media untuk kepentingan birokrasi ( negara otoriter )

.
# Audience dapat lebih mudah di pengaruhi

.
# Pesanya lebih mudah dipahami
.
Sedikit kontrol karena masyarakat masih dalam kondisi homogen.
Kelemahan teori jarum suntik :
# keberadaan masyarakat yang tak lagi homogen dapat mengikis teori ini
tingkat pendidikan masyarakat yang semakin meningkat

.
# Meningkatnya jumlah media massa sehingga masyarakat menentukan pilihan yang menarik bagi dirinya

.
# Adanya peran kelompok yang juga menjadi dasar audience untuk menerima pesan dari media tersebut
.

KESIMPULAN

Salah satu teori komunikasi massa dalam media adalah hypodermic theory atau biasa yang disebut dengan teori jarum suntik. Artinya media massa sangat mempunyai kekuatan penuh dalam menyampaikan informasi. Apa pun pesan yang disiarkan oleh media bisa dengan sendirinya dapat mempengaruhi khalayaknya. Teori ini menyatakan bahwa efek-efek merupakan reaksi spesifik terhadap stimuli yang spesifik pula. Jika seseorang menerapkan teori ini dapat mengharapkan dan memprediksikan hubungan yang dekat antara pesan media dan reaksi khalayak.
Untuk mengkaji pengaruh pesan pada khalayak, diperlukan lebih banyak fariabel, antara lain jenis informasi yang diikuti dari media, frekuensi dan intensitas mengikuti informasi tersebut, dan juga variabel-variabel internal kahalayak sendiri seperti, tingkat pendidikan dan wawasan, jenis kelamin, tingkat usia, dan kelompok sosial lainnya.
Teori ini, sebagaimana diuraikan Denis McQuail dan Sven Windahl (dalam Communication Models: For the Study of Mass Communications, 1981: 42) mengandaikan keterlibatan tiga elemen, yakni (1) stimulus atau rangsangan dalam wujud pesan- pesan atau informasi; (2) organisme yang tidak lain merupakan khalayak yang berkedudukan sebagai penerima pesan; dan (3) respons yang merupakan efek yang dipastikan muncul sebagaimana yang dikehendaki oleh pemberi pesan.
Ringkasnya adalah khalayak yang diberlakukan layaknya organisme biologis akan menyajikan tanggapan yang pasti sesuai dengan rangsangan yang disemburkan oleh sumber yang memberikan informasi. Jalinan stimulus- organisme-respons (S-O-R) pun dengan sendirinya akan tertata dengan rapi.




Oleh;
Widia Astutik ( 05220194 )
Gagah Adi .N. ( 06220123 )
Vita Setya .C. ( 06220224 )
Prahatma Dyan Nugroho ( 06220252 )
Bayu Kristianto ( 06220265 )
Yanuar Catur .P. ( 06220286 )
Annisa Nahdya Safitri ( 06220324 )


DAFTAR PUSTAKA

Bland Michael, dkk. 2001. Hubungan Media Yang Efektif. Jakarta : ERLANGGA
J. Severin dan Tankard. 2008. Teori Komunikasi. Jakarta : Kencana: Media
Pressindo.
Mulyana Deddy. 2005. Konteks –Konteks Komunikasi. Bandung : PT. Remaja Rosdakarya.
Nurudin. 2007. Pengantar Komunikasi Massa. Jakarta: PT. Rajawali Pers.
_______ . 2004. Komunikasi Massa. Yogyakarta : Pustaka Pelajar.



Lanjut Membaca......
Diposkan oleh yanuar catur rastafara di 16:23 12 komentar
halah tugas kuliah
Kamis, 05 November 2009
Kucing Uts Putus

Wadeaw, beberapa minggu terakhir ini kok media massa kita semakin heboh yah, apalagi kalau bukan berita terkait dengan KPK..kalau dulu sich versi cicak dan buaya, tapi kalau sekarang aku nggak tahu lagi istilah apa yang di pakai. Kucing-kucingan mungkin yah..hehehhe. Yang ngaku kucing, jangan tersinggung yah, maap dech

Nah, pas tanggal 5 pagi ini, berita di tv, koran, portal dan apalah namanya, masih mengangkat headline seputar rekaman yang diputar pada sidang tanggal 3 kemaren. Sekarang, tadi ding, si Anggodo (saksi pelapor) maen kucing-kucingan sama wartawan (kabar terkini tv one). Anggodo ini keluar dari mabes lewat pintu belakang kantor itu. Dia kabur dengan mobil, kenceng pula, jadi nggak mungkin terkejar sama rekan-reekan wartawan disana.
Memang sich, Anggodo masih belum menyandang status lagi selain sebagai saksi pelapor. Pas tim kuasa hukumnya yang berhasil dicegat wartawan, keliatannya sich dia gimana gitu, agak kurang sreg ngeliatnya. Jadi satu yang saya telat percaya, pengacara selalu membela kliennya, benar atau salah, mungkin...
Nggak tau lah, biarin orang-orang disana pada repot ngurus itu. Aku ingin kuliah aja dah, biar cepet selesai. Sekarang aja tugasku udah numpuk nggak kebayang. Pusing mikir tugas ini itu, sempeti ngeblog and nulis. Tapi aku juga nggak tahu apa yah yang aku tulis ini.hehehehe. Oiya, doain aku ya bentar lagi UTS. Moga-moga aja ujianku lancar.. amien..
Eits, ada yang kelupaan lagi nih. Tapi nggak ngerti harus di mulai dari mana ceritanya. Ijo barusan putus dengan pacar barunya. Aduh, aku mestinya seneng ato sedih yah??
Tau ach,,pusing.. hehehee.. pak dokter, minta obat donk??
kok aq gag jelas bgt!! emank nape!!!
Numpang Narsis dikit yah..hohohohoho


Lanjut Membaca......
Diposkan oleh yanuar catur rastafara di 00:51 48 komentar
halah rehat
Minggu, 01 November 2009
Susahnya Mencari Keikhlasan

Aneh, kok blog ku akhir-akhir ini berubah jadi semacam curhat gitu yah? berhubung suasana masih mendung, ada yang ingin aku ceritain lagi nih. Mungkin kalian juga makin bosen jika berkunjung ke blog rastafara island ini, tapi ya mau gimana lagi. Saat ini ya cuma itu yang ingin aku tulis, masih belum kepikiran nulis apalagi...

Semenjak kejadian itu, aku belum pernah lagi menulis. Nulis sekedar update status diberbagai rumah sosialku pun tidak. Bukan tidak sich sebenarnya, tapi jarang. Entah kenapa, seolah-olah aku kehilangan semangat dan nyawa dalam menulis. Mungkin inilah efek domino dari penyakit yang paling ditakuti oleh setiap manusia, PATAH HATI.
Malam itu, aku mengungkapkan semua segala perasaan yang ada kepada ijo, walaupun sedari awal aku sudah tahu kenyataannya bahwa tak mungkin aku mendapat balasan perasaan yang sama. Tapi karena aku belum mengucapkan secara langsung kepadanya, maka aku berpikir, alangkah baiknya jika aku mengucapkan dan didengar langsung olehnya, biar hati ini bisa sedikit lega. Dari postinganku sebelumnya, tanda bendera putih telah aku kibarkan untuk mengejar ijo. Signal pengibaran bendera putih tersebut memang sudah diberikan dari pihak ijo, bahwa dia telah memiliki “sesuatu yang baru”. Tapi entah mengapa, aku belum lega jika tidak mengungkapkan isi hatiku secara langsung. Malam itupun terlaksana seperti rencana. Dengan terbata-bata dan sedikit meringis sedih, akhirnya aku dapat mengungkapkan sepenuh isi hatiku padanya, ijo. Saat itu, aku mendapat pertanyaan darinya, “terus mau kamu gimana tur?”. Dengan berusaha tersenyum aku pun menjawab, “ya mungkin seperti ini lebih baik kok, lagipula aku nggak berhak mendapatkan jawaban yang nanti ujung-ujungnya muncul kata terpaksa”. Aku tak boleh egois menghadapinya, dan saat ini yang bisa aku lakukan hanya memberi, ingin meminta rasanya tak berhak. Sesudahnya, semua berjalan masih seperti biasa pada awalnya, bersama teman-teman aku dapat dengan sedikit melewati perasaan yang kalau dirasakan sebetulnya amat pedih, sangat. Tapi jika aku dihadapkan pada kesendirian, kalian bisa tebak kan apa yang terjadi. Aku ingin menangis sejadi-jadinya. Tapi aku juga nggak bisa mengeluarkan air mata sepenuhnya, apakah itu hal yang memang jadi ciriku, ataukah sesuatu yang musti aku munafikan, aku juga nggak tahu. Dan baru kali ini aku merasa sadar, bahwa sebenarnya hati ini belum lega dan ikhlas menerima kenyataan.
Dengan mendadak, aku memutuskan untuk mencari sebuah arti kata ikhlas di kota yang amat aku sukai, Yogya. Modal yang aku bawa pas-pasan, yang penting cukup untuk transportasi kesana. Didalam perjalanan, dalam kereta, aku masih saja kebawa arus pikiran dan hati yang mellow, sesudah itu sedikitpun aku tak bisa lepas bayangan ijo yang muncul setiap saat dari kejauhan pikiran. Dibalik keramaian Jogja yang aku harapkan, bayangan pikiran itu sedikit demi sedikit luntur, walaupun hanya sementara, tapi tetap saja hadir meski tanpa undangan. Lari ke pantai, aku berusaha mengungkapkan apa saja yang berdesakkan ingin keluar dari dalam hati. Dengan berteriak sekeras-kerasnya, sedikit kuluangkan rongga-rongga hati ini. Aku juga ingin menangis disini, tapi tetap saja tak ada airmata yang ingin keluar, semua berdiam dan berkumpul di pojokan pelupuk mata. Hanya sembab saja yang muncul.
Sudah tiga hari aku berada disini, jogya, tapi tetap saja nggak bisa menghabiskan sisa-sisa bayangan yang terus saja membuntuti pikiran serta hatiku. Sia-sia pikirku jika berlama-lama disini andai bayangan itu tetap ada. Satu kata yang tepat saat itu, Pulang. Kenangan yang kudapat di Jogja hanya satu, masih sulitnya mencari celah titik temu sebuah makna keikhlasan.
Semua berjalan kembali, kegiatan akademis kembali aku lakoni seperti biasa. Ceria, tawa, diam, kadang ngakak tak karuan. Tapi ada yang tersikasa dibalik keceriaan semua itu. Hati ini rasanya masih terkunci rapat, senyum hatipun tak dapat. Apalagi, dalam kegiatan yang wajib aku lakukan selama 4 tahun ini, aku selalu ketemu dengan dia, sosok nyata bayangan yang telah mengikutiku. Sejak kejadian malam itu, aku berusaha bersikap wajar seperti biasa padanya. Mendekat tak mungkin, menjauhpun aku tak mau. Dari kejauhan imajinasi otakku, muncul suatu pernyataan bernada harapan, “andaikan aku dapat menerima kenyataan ini, ijinkanlah aku meraih arti ikhlas itu, singkirkan pikiran egoisku dan berikan aku sebuah kesadaran bahwa ternyata aku telah DI TOLAK”!.


Lanjut Membaca......
Diposkan oleh yanuar catur rastafara di 10:53 56 komentar
halah Ijo
Selasa, 13 Oktober 2009
I Wanted To Cry But The Tears Wouldn’t Come

“katakanlah sebelum kau menyesalinya”.. kata-kata itu sungguh mengena padaku sekarang. Memang benar sekali setiap kata tersebut, jangan sampai kalian merasakan hal itu, sungguh menyakitkan. Entah kenapa aku sampai sejauh ini merasakannya, mungkin karena tak lain adalah sosok “IJO”.

Seperti yang telah aku ceritakan berkali-kali di blogku, “IJO” adalah seorang perempuan (tentunya) yang selama kurang lebih tiga tahun ini sangat aku kagumi dan akhirnya sampai jatuh cinta padanya. Dan akhir-akhir ini, kurang lebih sudah 3 bulanan, aku mulai dekat dengan “IJO”. Awalnya sich aku agak kagok, tapi lama-kelamaan aku mulai terbiasa menghadapi situasi jika sedang ada atau bersama dengannya. Makan bareng, pulang kuliah bareng, nongkrong bareng, meskipun tensinya masih sedikit tapi tetep berjalan.
Di tengah jalan pedekate ku ini, aku sempat menghadapi tekanan mental yang cukup kuat, soal materi tentunya. Pertama yang kulihat adalah mantan kekasihnya dulu yang jauh lebih “tinggi” dari keadaanku sekarang. Dia (mantannya) lebih cakep, lebih kaya, dan “mungkin” lebih pintar (mungkin, karena kami berdua belum pernah debat kali ya, hehehehe). Apakah dia sebanding dengan aku yang lebih “rendah”, lebih “jelek”, lebih “miskin” ? dan nggak tahulah lebih apalagi. Seiring jalannya detik, menit, jam, hari, dan minggu (belum sampai ke bulan karena lapisan ozon makin tipis,nggak nyambung yah?hehehehe) aku berpikir sedkit lebih positive alias tetep PeDe dengan keadaanku yang ada untuk mendekati ijo. Lama-kelamaan perasaan minderku ini luntur dengan sendiri. Mungkin karena aku percaya, kalau cowok yang “sesempurna” itu belum tentu sempurna untuk “IJO”. Dan dengan “IJO” sendiri, aku percaya kalau dia orang yang bukan memandang seseorang dari segi materi saja.
Setelah perasaan minder tadi agak sedikit luntur, aku kembali berusaha menerobos masuk pintu hati “IJO” dengan segala cara yang aku tahu. Memang sich cara yang aku lakukan cukup sederhana, sangat sederhana bahkan, hanya lewat sms dan telpon (itupun aku musti ngutang pulsa di konter kawan). Acara “ngapel” ke kosnya saja masih bisa dihitung dengan jari sebelah tangan. Dan asal kalian tahu saja, sampai sejauh aku deket dengannya, sampai detik terakhir aku nulis ini juga aku masih belum sempat mengutarakan isi hatiku. Entah ketololan macam apa pula yang menggantung dan mengikat lidah merahku ini. Kadang-kadang, perasaan minder itu muncul kembali dalam semak-semak benak. Itu mungkin, dan kadang-kadang pasti.
Seperti biasa, kontrakku dengan “IJO” untuk hari selasa sejatinya masih berlaku, yaitu jemput dia sekalian berangkat bareng ke kampus karena kebetulan jadwal kita berdua ada yang sama. Nah, sebelum hari selasa datang (hari aku posting ini), senin malam aku berencana datang ke kosnya secara diem-diem alias surprise gitu. Sekalian malam itu adalah niatku mengutarakan desakkan dari hati ini. Kali ini jujur aku mau mengungkapkannya, sudah nggak kuat sampe terasa penuh dada ini. Sebelum datang ke kosnya, aku membeli sesuatu sebagai tanda ungkapan kalau aku cinta sama “IJO” ku ini. Emank sich bukan dari barang yang wuah atau mahal, tapi menurutku sich kayaknya oke juga buat aku bawa. Kadonya apaan sich? Nanti dulu donkk...nyerobot aja..hahahha. Senin malam datang, aku segera bersiap menuju kos “IJO” dan tak lupa membawa kado untuknya yang udah aku siapin. Baq’da isya’ (kayak kondangan) aku berangkat. Tumben lho bauku harum kayak gini,hahahaha. Kupacu motorku (pinjeman lagi, motor kakakku korbannya), selip kiri-selip kanan, persis valentino rossi dah gayaku. Sambil cengar-cengir di jalan membayangkan suatu harapan. 10 menit aku nyampe di depan kosnya. Langsung aku pencet keypad hape jadulku, kali ini nelpon nggak pake acara utang pulsa, malu donk. Berkali-kali nada dering di speaker hapeku hanya terdengar “tut...tut..tut..” dering telp kalau nggak diangkat-angkat. Akupun sms, “Jo, aku dah di depan kos kamu.” Tahu kan jawabannya?!
“sorry, aku lagi keluar” gitu lah balasannya. Apes bener aku ini. Mau gimana lagi donk. Karena ijo sedang keluar, aku berniat kabur dari kosnya menuju gang sebelah kosnya, seumpama kalau nanti dia nyampe, bau-bau surprise masih ada. Sambil nuggu, aku juga smsan ma “IJO”. Ba..bi..bu..ngomongin (nulis, cuz sms) di hape, iseng aku tanyain kontrakku buat selasa besok masih ada apa nggak.
Aku : “Jo, besok kontrakku masih ada?”
IJO : “sorry tur, kalau besok nggak gmn?”
Aku : “please jo. Aku mohon”
IJO : “nggak usah gih, kita ketemu langsung dikampus aja ya?”
Aku : “ada yang marah ya Jo?”
IJO : “jujur, iya”
Aku : “kenapa nggak bilang dari dulu?”
IJO : “kan masih baru”
Dier...kayaknya malam ini ujan turun lebat diselingi kilatan petir menyerang ubun-ubunku (hanya imajinasi, kalau petir udah di ubun2 mana mungkin aku bisa posting sekarang).
Aku : “ya udah Jo, aku nyerah aja wes”
IJO : “maap, kita temenan aja ya”
(tapi kan aku belum sempat nembak kamu Jo)
Aku : “oke”, (ini adalah pernyataan paling muna yang aku lontarkan)
Langsung saja setelah aku tutup acara smsan ini, aku buka jaket ku lalu kuambil 12 tangkai mawar putih dengan 12 dauunnya, langsung kuinjek-injek dan kulempar ke got. Aku juga nggak nyangka kalau refleks ku kayak gitu. Dengan kepala tegak (pura-pura), aku meninggalkan mawar tadi yang kalau di itung mungkin bisa menjadi 1000 tangkai, lalu ngebut meninggalkan areal kos “ijo”. Aku menuju rumah temen yang kebetulan nggak terlalu jauh dari kos “ijo”. Disini aku curhat, sambil ngopi (mumpung dikasih gratis). Eh, ujung-ujungnya temenku tadi malah bilang gini “salah kamu sendiri tur, kelamaan”. Aduh!!!!! Aku kok salah lagi ya? Tapi kalau dipikir-pikir mungkin bener juga kata temenku tadi. Ya udahlah, mau gimana lagi. tapi seumpama “IJO” masih memberiku celah, aku pasti akan berusaha masuk. Yang aku tak heran, kenapa aku dari awal dikasih sedikit pintu yang terbuka?
Ehm, kenapa yah?? Jujur, aku masih bego’ memang kalau masalah amor-amoran kayak gini. Wah, kayaknya mulai sekarang aku berubah status menjadi orang yang paling munafik nih, dengan slogan “kontrak tiada, muka’ tetep ketawa, otak rada gila”.. Pusing, di kos sambil ngetik ini tulisan, aku hanya mendengarkan dan menyanyikan lagu scorpions yang judulnya kalau gag salah sich gini “I Wanted To Cry But The Tears Wouldnt Come”

*kisah nyata dari pecinta yang BBB, Bener Bener Bego*



Lanjut Membaca......
Diposkan oleh yanuar catur rastafara di 04:36 73 komentar
halah Ijo
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o oo..itu tugas kuliah ya yan?? tapi bagus bgt kok,...
o Ada yg baru nih.....seger liat ijo... bener masyar...
o bikin makalah tah yannnnn??? hahahha eh aku baca i...
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Hithler

Adolf Hitler
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Adolf Hitler

20 April 1937 (48th Birthday)
Führer of Germany
In office
2 August 1934 – 30 April 1945
Preceded by Paul von Hindenburg
(as President)
Succeeded by Karl Dönitz
(as President)
Reichskanzler (Chancellor) of Germany
In office
30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945
Preceded by Kurt von Schleicher
Succeeded by Joseph Goebbels
Born 20 April 1889
Braunau am Inn, Austria–Hungary
Died 30 April 1945 (aged 56)
Berlin, Germany
Citizenship Austrian (1889–1932)
German (1932–1945)
Nationality Austrian citizen until 1925[1] German citizen after 1932
Political party National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
Spouse(s) Eva Braun
(married on 29 April 1945)
Occupation politician, soldier, artist, writer
Signature
Military service
Allegiance German Empire German Empire
Service/branch War Ensign of Germany 1903-1918.svg Reichsheer
Years of service 1914–1918
Rank Gefreiter
Unit 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment
Battles/wars World War I
Awards Iron Cross First and Second Class
Wound Badge
The Holocaust
Early elements
Racial policy · Nazi eugenics · Nuremberg Laws · Euthanasia program · Concentration camps (list)
Jews
Jews in Nazi Germany (1933–1939)

Pogroms: Kristallnacht · Bucharest · Dorohoi · Iaşi · Kaunas · Jedwabne · Lviv

Ghettos: Budapest · Lublin · Lviv · Łódź · Kraków · Kovno · Minsk · Warsaw · Vilna (list)

Einsatzgruppen: Babi Yar · Rumbula · Ponary · Odessa · Erntefest · Ninth Fort

Final Solution: Wannsee · Operation Reinhard · Holocaust trains · Extermination camps

Concentration and Extermination camps:
Auschwitz-Birkenau · Bełżec · Bergen-Belsen · Bogdanovka · Buchenwald · Chełmno · Dachau · Gross-Rosen · Herzogenbusch · Janowska · Jasenovac · Kaiserwald · Majdanek · Maly Trostenets · Mauthausen-Gusen · Neuengamme · Ravensbrück · Sachsenhausen · Sajmište · Salaspils · Sobibór · Stutthof · Theresienstadt · Treblinka · Uckermark

Resistance: Jewish partisans · Ghetto uprisings (Warsaw · Białystok · Łachwa)

End of World War II: Death marches · Berihah · Surviving Remnant
Other victims

Romani people · Homosexuals · People with disabilities · Slavs in Eastern Europe · Poles · Soviet POWs · Jehovah's Witnesses
Responsible parties

Nazi Germany: Adolf Hitler · Heinrich Himmler · Ernst Kaltenbrunner · Theodor Eicke · Reinhard Heydrich · Adolf Eichmann · Rudolf Höß · Nazi Party · Schutzstaffel · Gestapo · Sturmabteilung

Collaborators

Aftermath: Nuremberg Trials · Denazification · Reparations Agreement
between Israel and West Germany
Lists
Survivors · Victims · Rescuers
Resources
The Destruction of the European Jews Functionalism versus intentionalism
v • d • e

Adolf Hitler (German pronunciation: [ˈadɔlf ˈhɪtlɐ], 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP), popularly known as the Nazi Party. He was the authoritarian leader of Germany from 1933 to 1945, serving as chancellor from 1933 to 1945 and as head of state (Führer und Reichskanzler) from 1934 to 1945.

A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the Nazi Party (DAP) in 1919 and became leader of NSDAP in 1921. Following his imprisonment after a failed coup in Bavaria in 1923, he gained support by promoting German nationalism, anti-semitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. He was appointed chancellor in 1933, and quickly transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideals of national socialism.

Hitler ultimately wanted to establish a New Order of absolute Nazi German hegemony in Europe. To achieve this, he pursued a foreign policy with the declared goal of seizing Lebensraum "living space" for the Aryan people; directing the resources of the state towards this goal. This included the rearmament of Germany, which culminated in 1939 when the Wehrmacht invaded Poland. In response, the United Kingdom and France declared war against Germany, leading to the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe.[2]

Within three years, Germany and the Axis powers had occupied most of Europe, and most of Northern Africa, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean. However, with the reversal of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the Allies gained the upper hand from 1942 onwards. By 1945 Allied armies had invaded German-held Europe from all sides. Nazi forces committed numerous atrocities during the war, including the systematic killing of as many as 17 million civilians[3], an estimated six million of whom were Jews targeted in a genocide known as the Holocaust.

In the final days of the war, at the fall of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married his long-time mistress Eva Braun. Facing capture by Soviet forces less than two days later, the two committed suicide.[4]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Early years
o 1.1 Ancestry
o 1.2 Childhood
o 1.3 Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich
o 1.4 World War I
* 2 Entry into politics
o 2.1 Beer Hall Putsch
o 2.2 Mein Kampf
o 2.3 Rebuilding of the party
* 3 Rise to power
o 3.1 Brüning Administration
o 3.2 Cabinets of Papen and Schleicher
o 3.3 Appointment as Chancellor
o 3.4 Reichstag fire and the March elections
o 3.5 "Day of Potsdam" and the Enabling Act
o 3.6 Removal of remaining limits
* 4 Third Reich
o 4.1 Economy and culture
o 4.2 Rearmament and new alliances
o 4.3 The Holocaust
* 5 World War II
o 5.1 Early diplomatic triumphs
+ 5.1.1 Alliance with Japan
+ 5.1.2 Austria and Czechoslovakia
o 5.2 Start of the Second World War
o 5.3 Path to defeat
o 5.4 Defeat and death
* 6 Legacy
* 7 Religious beliefs
* 8 Health and sexuality
o 8.1 Health
o 8.2 Sexuality
* 9 Family
* 10 Hitler in media
o 10.1 Oratory and rallies
o 10.2 Recorded in private conversation
o 10.3 Patria picture disc
o 10.4 Documentaries during the Third Reich
o 10.5 Television
o 10.6 Documentaries post Third Reich
o 10.7 Films
* 11 See also
* 12 Footnotes
* 13 References
* 14 External links

Early years
Ancestry

Hitler's father, Alois Hitler, was an illegitimate child and, for the first 39 years of his life, bore his mother's surname, Schicklgruber.[5] Alois’ paternity was not listed on his birth certificate, and has been the subject of much controversy. After receiving a "blackmail letter" from Hitler's nephew William Patrick Hitler threatening to reveal embarrassing information about Hitler's family tree, Nazi Party lawyer Hans Frank investigated, and, in his memoirs, claimed to have uncovered letters that revealed Ms. Schicklgruber was employed as a housekeeper for a Jewish family in Graz and that the family’s nineteen-year-old son, Leopold Frankenberger, fathered Alois.[5] No evidence has ever been produced to support Frank's claim, and Frank himself said Hitler's full Aryan blood was obvious.[6] Frank's claims were widely believed in the 1950s, but by the 1990s, were generally doubted by historians.[7][8] Ian Kershaw dismisses the Frankenberger story as a "smear" by Hitler's enemies, noting that all Jews had been expelled from Graz in the 15th century and were not allowed to return until well after Alois was born.[8] (For more, see Leopold Frankenberger.)

In 1876, Alois took the surname of his stepfather, Johann Georg Hiedler. The name was spelled Hiedler, Hüttler, Huettler and Hitler, and was probably regularized to Hitler by a clerk. The origin of the name is either "one who lives in a hut" (Standard German Hütte), "shepherd" (Standard German hüten "to guard", English heed), or is from the Slavic word Hidlar and Hidlarcek. (Regarding the first two theories: some German dialects make little or no distinction between the ü-sound and the i-sound.)[5]
Childhood

Adolf Hitler was born at the Gasthof zum Pommer, an inn in Braunau am Inn, Austria–Hungary, the fourth of Alois and Klara Hitler's six children.
Adolf Hitler as an infant.

At the age of three, his family moved to Kapuzinerstrasse 5[9] in Passau, Germany where the young Hitler would acquire Lower Bavarian rather than Austrian as his lifelong native dialect.[10] In 1894 the family moved to Leonding near Linz, then in June 1895, Alois retired to a small landholding at Hafeld near Lambach, where he tried his hand at farming and beekeeping. During this time, the young Hitler attended school in nearby Fischlham. He was a happy, carefree child who tirelessly played "Cowboys and Indians" and, by his own account, became fixated on war after finding a picture book about the Franco-Prussian War in his father's things.[11] He wrote in Mein Kampf: "It was not long before the great historic struggle had become my greatest spiritual experience. From then on, I became more and more enthusiastic about everything that was in any way connected with war or, for that matter, with soldiering."

His father's efforts at Hafeld ended in failure and the family moved to Lambach in 1897. There, Hitler attended a Catholic school located in an 11th-century Benedictine cloister whose walls were engraved in a number of places with crests containing the symbol of the swastika.[12] In 1898, the family returned permanently to Leonding.

His younger brother Edmund died of measles on February 2, 1900, causing permanent changes in Hitler. He went from a confident, outgoing boy who found school easy, to a morose, detached, sullen boy who constantly battled his father and his teachers.[13]

Hitler was close to his mother, but had a troubled relationship with his tradition-minded authoritarian father, who frequently beat him, especially in the years after Alois's retirement and disappointed farming efforts. Alois wanted his son to follow in his footsteps as an Austrian customs official, and this became a huge source of conflict between them.[11] Despite his son's pleas to go to classical high school and become an artist, his father would not budge, and sent him to the technical high school in the city of Linz in September 1900. Hitler rebelled, and, in Mein Kampf confessed to failing his first year in hopes that once his father saw "what little progress I was making at the technical school he would let me devote myself to the happiness I dreamed of." But Alois never relented and Hitler became even more bitter and rebellious.

For young Hitler, German Nationalism quickly became an obsession, and a way to rebel against his father, who proudly served the Austrian government. Most people that lived along the German-Austrian border considered themselves German-Austrians, but Hitler expressed loyalty only to Germany. In defiance of the Austrian Monarchy, and his father who continually expressed loyalty to it, Hitler and his young friends liked to use the German greeting, "Heil," and sing the German anthem "Deutschland Über Alles," instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem.[11]

After Alois' sudden death on January 3, 1903, Hitler's behavior at the technical school became even more disruptive, and he was asked to leave. He enrolled at the Realschule in Steyr in 1904, but upon completing his second year, he and his friends went out for a night of celebration and drinking, and an intoxicated Hitler tore his school certificate into four pieces and used it as toilet paper. When someone turned the stained certificate in to the school's director, he “... gave him such a dressing-down that the boy was reduced to shivering jelly. It was probably the most painful and humiliating experience of his life.”[14] Hitler was expelled, and never to return to school again.

Hitler became a Christian at age 15. He was confirmed on Whitsunday, 22 May 1904 at the Linz Cathedral.[15] His sponsor was Emanuel Lugert, a friend of his late father.[16]
Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich

From 1905 on, Hitler lived a bohemian life in Vienna on an orphan's pension and support from his mother. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (1907–1908), citing "unfitness for painting", and was told his abilities lay instead in the field of architecture.[17] His memoirs reflect a fascination with the subject:

The purpose of my trip was to study the picture gallery in the Court Museum, but I had eyes for scarcely anything but the Museum itself. From morning until late at night, I ran from one object of interest to another, but it was always the buildings which held my primary interest.[18]

Following the school rector's recommendation, he too became convinced this was his path to pursue, yet he lacked the proper academic preparation for architecture school:

In a few days I myself knew that I should some day become an architect. To be sure, it was an incredibly hard road; for the studies I had neglected out of spite at the Realschule were sorely needed. One could not attend the Academy's architectural school without having attended the building school at the Technic, and the latter required a high-school degree. I had none of all this. The fulfilment of my artistic dream seemed physically impossible.[18]

On 21 December 1907, Hitler's mother died of breast cancer at age 47. Ordered by a court in Linz, Hitler gave his share of the orphans' benefits to his sister Paula. When he was 21, he inherited money from an aunt. He struggled as a painter in Vienna, copying scenes from postcards and selling his paintings to merchants and tourists. After being rejected a second time by the Academy of Arts, Hitler ran out of money. In 1909, he lived in a shelter for the homeless. By 1910, he had settled into a house for poor working men on Meldemannstraße.

Hitler said he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna,[18] which had a large Jewish community, including Orthodox Jews who had fled the pogroms in Russia. According to childhood friend August Kubizek, however, Hitler was a "confirmed anti-Semite" before he left Linz.[18] Vienna at that time was a hotbed of traditional religious prejudice and 19th century racism. Hitler may have been influenced by the writings of the ideologist and anti-Semite Lanz von Liebenfels and polemics from politicians such as Karl Lueger, founder of the Christian Social Party and Mayor of Vienna, the composer Richard Wagner, and Georg Ritter von Schönerer, leader of the pan-Germanic Away from Rome! movement. Hitler claims in Mein Kampf that his transition from opposing antisemitism on religious grounds to supporting it on racial grounds came from having seen an Orthodox Jew.

There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become Europeanised in external appearance and were so much like other human beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason why I did not then perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark which I recognized as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion. As I thought that they were persecuted on account of their faith my aversion to hearing remarks against them grew almost into a feeling of abhorrence. I did not in the least suspect that there could be such a thing as a systematic antisemitism. Once, when passing through the inner City, I suddenly encountered a phenomenon in a long caftan and wearing black side-locks. My first thought was: Is this a Jew? They certainly did not have this appearance in Linz. I carefully watched the man stealthily and cautiously but the longer I gazed at the strange countenance and examined it feature by feature, the more the question shaped itself in my brain: Is this a German?[18]

If this account is true, Hitler apparently did not act on his new belief. He often was a guest for dinner in a noble Jewish house, and he interacted well with Jewish merchants who tried to sell his paintings.[19]

Hitler may also have been influenced by Martin Luther's On the Jews and their Lies. In Mein Kampf, Hitler refers to Martin Luther as a great warrior, a true statesman, and a great reformer, alongside Wagner and Frederick the Great.[20] Wilhelm Röpke, writing after the Holocaust, concluded that "without any question, Lutheranism influenced the political, spiritual and social history of Germany in a way that, after careful consideration of everything, can be described only as fateful."[21][22]

Hitler claimed that Jews were enemies of the Aryan race. He held them responsible for Austria's crisis. He also identified certain forms of Socialism and Bolshevism, which had many Jewish leaders, as Jewish movements, merging his antisemitism with anti-Marxism. Later, blaming Germany's military defeat in World War I on the 1918 revolutions, he considered Jews the culprits of Imperial Germany's downfall and subsequent economic problems as well.

Generalising from tumultuous scenes in the parliament of the multi-national Austrian monarchy, he decided that the democratic parliamentary system was unworkable. However, according to August Kubizek, his one-time roommate, he was more interested in Wagner's operas than in his politics.

Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich. He wrote in Mein Kampf that he had always longed to live in a "real" German city. In Munich, he became more interested in architecture and, he says, the writings of Houston Stewart Chamberlain. Moving to Munich also helped him escape military service in Austria for a time, but the Munich police (acting in cooperation with the Austrian authorities) eventually arrested him. After a physical exam and a contrite plea, he was deemed unfit for service and allowed to return to Munich. However, when Germany entered World War I in August 1914, he petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to serve in a Bavarian regiment. This request was granted, and Adolf Hitler enlisted in the Bavarian army.[23]
A young Hitler (left) posing with other German soldiers.
World War I

Hitler served in France and Belgium in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment (called Regiment List after its first commander), ending the war as a Gefreiter (equivalent at the time to a lance corporal in the British and private first class in the American armies). He was a runner, one of the most dangerous jobs on the Western Front, and was often exposed to enemy fire.[24] He participated in a number of major battles on the Western Front, including the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras and the Battle of Passchendaele.[25] The Battle of Ypres (October 1914), which became known in Germany as the Kindermord bei Ypern (Massacre of the Innocents) saw approximately 40,000 men (between a third and a half) of the nine infantry divisions present killed in 20 days, and Hitler's own company of 250 reduced to 42 by December. Biographer John Keegan has said that this experience drove Hitler to become aloof and withdrawn for the remaining years of war.[26]

Hitler was twice decorated for bravery. He received the Iron Cross, Second Class, in 1914 and Iron Cross, First Class, in 1918, an honour rarely given to a Gefreiter.[27] However, because the regimental staff thought Hitler lacked leadership skills, he was never promoted to Unteroffizier (equivalent to a British corporal). Other historians say that the reason he was not promoted is that he was not a German citizen. His duties at regimental headquarters, while often dangerous, gave Hitler time to pursue his artwork. He drew cartoons and instructional drawings for an army newspaper. In 1916, he was wounded in either the groin area[28] or the left thigh[29] during the Battle of the Somme, but returned to the front in March 1917. He received the Wound Badge later that year. A noted German historian and author, Sebastian Haffner, referring to Hitler's experience at the front, suggests he did have at least some understanding of the military.

On 15 October 1918, Hitler was admitted to a field hospital, temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack. The English psychologist David Lewis and Bernhard Horstmann suggest the blindness may have been the result of a conversion disorder (then known as hysteria).[30] Hitler said it was during this experience that he became convinced the purpose of his life was to "save Germany." Some scholars, notably Lucy Dawidowicz,[31] argue that an intention to exterminate Europe's Jews was fully formed in Hitler's mind at this time, though he probably had not thought through how it could be done. Most historians think the decision was made in 1941, and some think it came as late as 1942.

Two passages in Mein Kampf mention the use of poison gas:

At the beginning of the Great War, or even during the War, if twelve or fifteen thousand of these Jews who were corrupting the nation had been forced to submit to poison-gas . . . then the millions of sacrifices made at the front would not have been in vain.[32]

These tactics are based on an accurate estimation of human weakness and must lead to success, with almost mathematical certainty, unless the other side also learns how to fight poison gas with poison gas. The weaker natures must be told that here it is a case of to be or not to be.[18]

Hitler had long admired Germany, and during the war he had become a passionate German patriot, although he did not become a German citizen until 1932. Hitler found the war to be 'the greatest of all experiences' and afterwards he was praised by a number of his commanding officers for his bravery.[33] He was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918 even while the German army still held enemy territory.[34] Like many other German nationalists, Hitler believed in the Dolchstoßlegende ("dagger-stab legend") which claimed that the army, "undefeated in the field," had been "stabbed in the back" by civilian leaders and Marxists back on the home front. These politicians were later dubbed the November Criminals.

The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of various territories, demilitarised the Rhineland and imposed other economically damaging sanctions. The treaty re-created Poland, which even moderate Germans regarded as an outrage. The treaty also blamed Germany for all the horrors of the war, something which major historians such as John Keegan now consider at least in part to be victor's justice: most European nations in the run-up to World War I had become increasingly militarised and were eager to fight. The culpability of Germany was used as a basis to impose reparations on Germany (the amount was repeatedly revised under the Dawes Plan, the Young Plan, and the Hoover Moratorium). Germany in turn perceived the treaty and especially, Article 231 the paragraph on the German responsibility for the war as a humiliation. For example, there was a nearly total demilitarisation of the armed forces, allowing Germany only six battleships, no submarines, no air force, an army of 100,000 without conscription and no armoured vehicles. The treaty was an important factor in both the social and political conditions encountered by Hitler and his Nazis as they sought power. Hitler and his party used the signing of the treaty by the "November Criminals" as a reason to build up Germany so that it could never happen again. He also used the "November Criminals" as scapegoats, although at the Paris peace conference, these politicians had had very little choice in the matter.
Entry into politics
Main article: Hitler's political beliefs
A copy of Adolf Hitler's forged German Workers' Party (DAP) membership card. His actual membership number was 555 (the 55th member of the party—the 500 was added to make the group appear larger) but later the number was reduced to create the impression that Hitler was one of the founding members.[35] Hitler had wanted to create his own party, but was ordered by his superiors in the Reichswehr to infiltrate an existing one instead.

After World War I, Hitler remained in the army and returned to Munich, where he—in contrast to his later declarations—attended the funeral march for the murdered Bavarian prime minister Kurt Eisner.[36] After the suppression of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, he took part in "national thinking" courses organized by the Education and Propaganda Department (Dept Ib/P) of the Bavarian Reichswehr Group, Headquarters 4 under Captain Karl Mayr. Scapegoats were found in "international Jewry", communists, and politicians across the party spectrum, especially the parties of the Weimar Coalition.

In July 1919, Hitler was appointed a Verbindungsmann (police spy) of an Aufklärungskommando (Intelligence Commando) of the Reichswehr, both to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate a small party, the German Workers' Party (DAP). During his inspection of the party, Hitler was impressed with founder Anton Drexler's anti-semitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist and anti-Marxist ideas, which favoured a strong active government, a "non-Jewish" version of socialism and mutual solidarity of all members of society. Drexler was impressed with Hitler's oratory skills and invited him to join the party. Hitler joined DAP on 12 September 1919[37] and became party's 55th member.[38] He was also made the seventh member of the executive committee.[39] Years later, he claimed to be the party's seventh overall member, but it has been established that this claim is false.[40]

Here Hitler met Dietrich Eckart, one of the early founders of the party and member of the occult Thule Society.[41] Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him, teaching him how to dress and speak, and introducing him to a wide range of people. Hitler thanked Eckart by paying tribute to him in the second volume of Mein Kampf. To increase the party's appeal, the party changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialist German Workers Party (abbreviated NSDAP).

Hitler was discharged from the army in March 1920 and with his former superiors' continued encouragement began participating full time in the party's activities. By early 1921, Hitler was becoming highly effective at speaking in front of large crowds. In February, Hitler spoke before a crowd of nearly six thousand in Munich. To publicize the meeting, he sent out two truckloads of party supporters to drive around with swastikas, cause a commotion and throw out leaflets, their first use of this tactic. Hitler gained notoriety outside of the party for his rowdy, polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians (including monarchists, nationalists and other non-internationalist socialists) and especially against Marxists and Jews.

The NSDAP[42] was centered in Munich, a hotbed of German nationalists who included Army officers determined to crush Marxism and undermine the Weimar republic. Gradually they noticed Hitler and his growing movement as a suitable vehicle for their goals. Hitler traveled to Berlin to visit nationalist groups during the summer of 1921, and in his absence there was a revolt among the DAP leadership in Munich.

The party was run by an executive committee whose original members considered Hitler to be overbearing. They formed an alliance with a group of socialists from Augsburg. Hitler rushed back to Munich and countered them by tendering his resignation from the party on 11 July 1921. When they realized the loss of Hitler would effectively mean the end of the party, he seized the moment and announced he would return on the condition that he replace Drexler as party chairman, with unlimited powers. Infuriated committee members (including Drexler) held out at first. Meanwhile an anonymous pamphlet appeared entitled Adolf Hitler: Is he a traitor?, attacking Hitler's lust for power and criticizing the violent men around him. Hitler responded to its publication in a Munich newspaper by suing for libel and later won a small settlement.

The executive committee of the NSDAP eventually backed down and Hitler's demands were put to a vote of party members. Hitler received 543 votes for and only one against. At the next gathering on 29 July 1921, Adolf Hitler was introduced as Führer of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, marking the first time this title was publicly used.

Hitler's beer hall oratory, attacking Jews, social democrats, liberals, reactionary monarchists, capitalists and communists, began attracting adherents. Early followers included Rudolf Hess, the former air force pilot Hermann Göring, and the army captain Ernst Röhm, who eventually became head of the Nazis' paramilitary organization, the SA (Sturmabteilung, or "Storm Division"), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. As well, Hitler assimilated independent groups, such as the Nuremberg-based Deutsche Werkgemeinschaft, led by Julius Streicher, who became Gauleiter of Franconia. Hitler attracted the attention of local business interests, was accepted into influential circles of Munich society, and became associated with wartime General Erich Ludendorff during this time.
Drawing of Hitler, 1923
Beer Hall Putsch
Main article: Beer Hall Putsch

Encouraged by this early support, Hitler decided to use Ludendorff as a front in an attempted coup later known as the Beer Hall Putsch (sometimes as the Hitler Putsch or Munich Putsch). The Nazi Party had copied Italy's fascists in appearance and had adopted some of their policies, and in 1923, Hitler wanted to emulate Benito Mussolini's "March on Rome" by staging his own "Campaign in Berlin". Hitler and Ludendorff obtained the clandestine support of Gustav von Kahr, Bavaria's de facto ruler, along with leading figures in the Reichswehr and the police. As political posters show, Ludendorff, Hitler and the heads of the Bavarian police and military planned on forming a new government.

On 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting headed by Kahr in the Bürgerbräukeller, a large beer hall in Munich. He declared that he had set up a new government with Ludendorff and demanded, at gunpoint, the support of Kahr and the local military establishment for the destruction of the Berlin government.[43] Kahr withdrew his support and fled to join the opposition to Hitler at the first opportunity.[44] The next day, when Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government as a start to their "March on Berlin", the police dispersed them. Sixteen NSDAP members were killed.[45]

Hitler fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl and contemplated suicide. He was soon arrested for high treason. Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the party. During Hitler's trial, he was given almost unlimited time to speak, and his popularity soared as he voiced nationalistic sentiments in his defence speech. A Munich personality became a nationally known figure. On 1 April 1924, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison. Hitler received favoured treatment from the guards and had much fan mail from admirers. He was pardoned and released from jail on 20 December 1924, by order of the Bavarian Supreme Court on 19 December, which issued its final rejection of the state prosecutor's objections to Hitler's early release.[46] Including time on remand, he had served little more than one year of his sentence.[47]

On 28 June 1925, Hitler wrote a letter from Uffing to the editor of The Nation in New York City stating how long he had been in prison at "Sandberg a. S." [sic] and how much his privileges had been revoked.[48]
Mein Kampf
Main article: Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf

While at Landsberg he dictated most of the first volume of Mein Kampf (My Struggle, originally entitled Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice) to his deputy Rudolf Hess.[47] The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart, was an autobiography and an exposition of his ideology. It was published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, selling about 240,000 copies between 1925 and 1934. By the end of the war, about 10 million copies had been sold or distributed (newlyweds and soldiers received free copies).

Hitler spent years dodging taxes on the royalties of his book and had accumulated a tax debt of about 405,500 Reichsmarks (€6 million in today's money) by the time he became chancellor (at which time his debt was waived).[49][50]

The copyright of Mein Kampf in Europe is claimed by the Free State of Bavaria and scheduled to end on 31 December 2015. Reproductions in Germany are authorized only for scholarly purposes and in heavily commented form. The situation is, however, unclear. Historian Werner Maser, in an interview with Bild am Sonntag has stated that Peter Raubal, son of Hitler's nephew, Leo Raubal, would have a strong legal case for winning the copyright from Bavaria if he pursued it. Raubal has stated he wants no part of the rights to the book, which could be worth millions of euros.[51] The uncertain status has led to contested trials in Poland and Sweden. Mein Kampf, however, is published in the U.S., as well as in other countries such as Turkey and Israel, by publishers with various political positions.
Rebuilding of the party
Adolf Hitler (left), standing up behind Hermann Göring at a Nazi rally in Nuremberg, 1928.

At the time of Hitler's release, the political situation in Germany had calmed and the economy had improved, which hampered Hitler's opportunities for agitation. Though the Hitler Putsch had given Hitler some national prominence, his party's mainstay was still Munich.

The NSDAP and its organs were banned in Bavaria after the collapse of the putsch. Hitler convinced Heinrich Held, Prime Minister of Bavaria, to lift the ban, based on representations that the party would now only seek political power through legal means. Even though the ban on the NSDAP was removed effective 16 February 1925,[52] Hitler incurred a new ban on public speaking as a result of an inflammatory speech. Since Hitler was banned from public speeches, he appointed Gregor Strasser, who in 1924 had been elected to the Reichstag, as Reichsorganisationsleiter, authorizing him to organize the party in northern Germany. Strasser, joined by his younger brother Otto and Joseph Goebbels, steered an increasingly independent course, emphasizing the socialist element in the party's programme. The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Gauleiter Nord-West became an internal opposition, threatening Hitler's authority, but this faction was defeated at the Bamberg Conference in 1926, during which Goebbels joined Hitler.

After this encounter, Hitler centralized the party even more and asserted the Führerprinzip ("Leader principle") as the basic principle of party organization. Leaders were not elected by their group but were rather appointed by their superior and were answerable to them while demanding unquestioning obedience from their inferiors. Consistent with Hitler's disdain for democracy, all power and authority devolved from the top down.

A key element of Hitler's appeal was his ability to evoke a sense of offended national pride caused by the Treaty of Versailles imposed on the defeated German Empire by the Western Allies. Germany had lost economically important territory in Europe along with its colonies and in admitting to sole responsibility for the war had agreed to pay a huge reparations bill totaling 132 billion marks. Most Germans bitterly resented these terms, but early Nazi attempts to gain support by blaming these humiliations on "international Jewry" were not particularly successful with the electorate. The party learned quickly, and soon a more subtle propaganda emerged, combining antisemitism with an attack on the failures of the "Weimar system" and the parties supporting it.

Having failed in overthrowing the Republic by a coup, Hitler pursued a "strategy of legality": this meant formally adhering to the rules of the Weimar Republic until he had legally gained power. He would then use the institutions of the Weimar Republic to destroy it and establish himself as dictator. Some party members, especially in the paramilitary SA, opposed this strategy; Röhm and others ridiculed Hitler as "Adolphe Legalité".
Rise to power
Main article: Hitler's rise to power
Nazi Party Election Results
Date Votes Percentage Seats in Reichstag Background
May 1924 1,918,300 6.5 32 Hitler in prison
December 1924 907,300 3.0 14 Hitler is released from prison
May 1928 810,100 2.6 12
September 1930 6,409,600 18.3 107 After the financial crisis
July 1932 13,745,800 37.4 230 After Hitler was candidate for presidency
November 1932 11,737,000 33.1 196
March 1933 17,277,000 43.9 288 During Hitler's term as Chancellor of Germany
Brüning Administration
An NSDAP meeting in December 1930, with Hitler in the centre

The political turning point for Hitler came when the Great Depression hit Germany in 1930. The Weimar Republic had never been firmly rooted and was openly opposed by right-wing conservatives (including monarchists), communists and the Nazis. As the parties loyal to the democratic, parliamentary republic found themselves unable to agree on counter-measures, their grand coalition broke up and was replaced by a minority cabinet. The new Chancellor, Heinrich Brüning of the Roman Catholic Centre Party, lacking a majority in parliament, had to implement his measures through the president's emergency decrees. Tolerated by the majority of parties, this rule by decree would become the norm over a series of unworkable parliaments and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government.[53]

The Reichstag's initial opposition to Brüning's measures led to premature elections in September 1930. The republican parties lost their majority and their ability to resume the grand coalition, while the Nazis suddenly rose from relative obscurity to win 18.3% of the vote along with 107 seats. In the process, they jumped from the ninth-smallest party in the chamber to the second largest.[54]

In September–October 1930, Hitler appeared as a major defence witness at the trial in Leipzig of two junior Reichswehr officers charged with membership of the Nazi Party, which at that time was forbidden to Reichswehr personnel.[55] The two officers, Leutnants Richard Scheringer and Hans Ludin admitted quite openly to Nazi Party membership, and used as their defence that the Nazi Party membership should not be forbidden to those serving in the Reichswehr.[56] When the Prosecution argued that the Nazi Party was a dangerous revolutionary force, one of the defence lawyers, Hans Frank had Hitler brought to the stand to prove that the Nazi Party was a law-abiding party.[56] During his testimony, Hitler insisted that his party was determined to come to power legally, that the phrase "National Revolution" was only to be interpreted "politically", and that his Party was a friend, not an enemy of the Reichswehr.[57] Hitler's testimony of 25 September 1930 won him many admirers within the ranks of the officer corps.[58]

Brüning's measures of budget consolidation and financial austerity brought little economic improvement and were extremely unpopular.[59] Under these circumstances, Hitler appealed to the bulk of German farmers, war veterans and the middle class, who had been hard-hit by both the inflation of the 1920s and the unemployment of the Depression.[60] In September 1931, Hitler's niece Geli Raubal was found dead in her bedroom in his Munich apartment (his half-sister Angela and her daughter Geli had been with him in Munich since 1929), an apparent suicide. Geli, who was believed to be in some sort of romantic relationship with Hitler, was 19 years younger than he was and had used his gun. His niece's death is viewed as a source of deep, lasting pain for him.[61]

In 1932, Hitler intended to run against the aging President Paul von Hindenburg in the scheduled presidential elections. His 27 January 1932 speech to the Industry Club in Düsseldorf won him, for the first time, support from a broad swath of Germany's most powerful industrialists.[62] Though Hitler had left Austria in 1913, he still had not acquired German citizenship and hence could not run for public office. In February, however, the state government of Brunswick, in which the Nazi Party participated, appointed Hitler to a minor administrative post and therby made him a citizen of Brunswick on 25 February 1932.[63] In those days, the states conferred citizenship, so this automatically made Hitler a citizen of Germany and thus eligible to run for president.[64]

The new German citizen ran against Hindenburg, who was supported by a broad range of nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, republican and even social democratic parties. Another candidate was a Communist and member of a fringe right-wing party. Hitler's campaign was called "Hitler über Deutschland" (Hitler over Germany).[65] The name had a double meaning; besides a reference to his dictatorial ambitions, it referred to the fact that he campaigned by aircraft.[65] Hitler came in second on both rounds, attaining more than 35% of the vote during the second one in April. Although he lost to Hindenburg, the election established Hitler as a realistic alternative in German politics.[66]
Cabinets of Papen and Schleicher
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Hindenburg, influenced by the Camarilla, became increasingly estranged from Brüning and pushed his Chancellor to move the government in a decidedly authoritarian and right-wing direction. This culminated, in May 1932, with the resignation of the Brüning cabinet.

Hindenburg appointed the nobleman Franz von Papen as Chancellor, heading a "Cabinet of Barons". Papen was bent on authoritarian rule and, since in the Reichstag only the conservative German National People's Party (DNVP) supported his administration, he immediately called for new elections in July. In these elections, the Nazis achieved their biggest success yet and won 230 seats, becoming the largest party in the Reichstag.

Knowing that it was not possible to form a stable government without Nazi support, Papen tried to persuade Hitler to become Vice-Chancellor and enter a new government with a parliamentary basis. Hitler, however, would settle for nothing less than the chancellorship. He put further pressure on Papen by entertaining parallel negotiations with the Centre Party, Papen's former party, which was bent on bringing down the renegade Papen. In both negotiations, Hitler demanded that he, as leader of the strongest party, must be Chancellor, but Hindenburg consistently refused to appoint the "Bohemian lance corporal" to the chancellorship.

After a vote of no-confidence in the Papen government, supported by 84% of the deputies, the new Reichstag was dissolved, and new elections were called in November. This time, the Nazis lost some seats but still remained the largest party in the Reichstag, with 33.1% of the vote.

After Papen failed to secure a majority, he proposed to dissolve the parliament again along with an indefinite postponement of elections. Hindenburg at first accepted this, but after General Kurt von Schleicher and the military withdrew their support, Hindenburg instead dismissed Papen and appointed Schleicher, who promised he could secure a majority government by negotiations with the Social Democrats, the trade unions, and dissidents from the Nazi Party under Gregor Strasser. In January 1933, however, Schleicher had to admit failure in these efforts and asked Hindenburg for emergency powers along with the same postponement of elections that he had opposed earlier, to which the president reacted by dismissing Schleicher.
Appointment as Chancellor
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Meanwhile, Papen tried to get his revenge on Schleicher by working toward the General's downfall, through forming an intrigue with the camarilla and Alfred Hugenberg, media mogul and chairman of the DNVP. Also involved were Hjalmar Schacht, Fritz Thyssen and other leading German businessmen. They financially supported the Nazi Party, which had been brought to the brink of bankruptcy by the cost of heavy campaigning. The businessmen wrote letters to Hindenburg, urging him to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties" which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people."[67]
Adolf Hitler, at a window of the Reich's Chancellory, receives an ovation from supporters in his first day in office as Chancellor. (30 January 1933)

Finally, the president reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler Chancellor of a coalition government formed by the NSDAP and DNVP. However, the Nazis were to be contained by a framework of conservative cabinet ministers, most notably by Papen as Vice-Chancellor and by Hugenberg as Minister of the Economy. The only other Nazi besides Hitler to get a portfolio was Wilhelm Frick, who was given the relatively powerless interior ministry (in Germany at the time, most powers wielded by the interior minister in other countries were held by the interior ministers of the states). As a concession to the Nazis, Göring was named minister without portfolio. While Papen intended to use Hitler as a figurehead, the Nazis gained key positions.

On the morning of 30 January 1933, in Hindenburg's office, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor during what some observers later described as a brief and simple ceremony. His first speech as Chancellor took place on 10 February. The Nazis' seizure of power subsequently became known as the Machtergreifung.
Reichstag fire and the March elections

Having become Chancellor, Hitler foiled all attempts by his opponents to gain a majority in parliament. Because no single party could gain a majority, Hitler persuaded President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag again. Elections were scheduled for early March, but on 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set on fire.[68] Since a Dutch independent communist was found in the building, the fire was blamed on a communist plot. The government reacted with the Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February which suspended basic rights, including habeas corpus. Under the provisions of this decree, the German Communist Party (KPD) and other groups were suppressed, and Communist functionaries and deputies were arrested, put to flight, or murdered.

Campaigning continued, with the Nazis making use of paramilitary violence, anti-communist hysteria, and the government's resources for propaganda. On election day, 6 March, the NSDAP increased its result to 43.9% of the vote, remaining the largest party, but its victory was marred by its failure to secure an absolute majority, necessitating maintaining a coalition with the DNVP.[69]
Parade of SA troops past Hitler – Nuremberg, November 1935
"Day of Potsdam" and the Enabling Act
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On 21 March, the new Reichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony held at Potsdam's garrison church. This "Day of Potsdam" was staged to demonstrate reconciliation and unity between the revolutionary Nazi movement and "Old Prussia" with its elites and virtues. Hitler appeared in a tail coat and humbly greeted the aged President Hindenburg.

Because of the Nazis' failure to obtain a majority on their own, Hitler's government confronted the newly elected Reichstag with the Enabling Act that would have vested the cabinet with legislative powers for a period of four years. Though such a bill was not unprecedented, this act was different since it allowed for deviations from the constitution. Since the bill required a ⅔ majority in order to pass, the government needed the support of other parties. The position of the Centre Party, the third largest party in the Reichstag, turned out to be decisive: under the leadership of Ludwig Kaas, the party decided to vote for the Enabling Act. It did so in return for the government's oral guarantees regarding the Church's liberty, the concordats signed by German states and the continued existence of the Centre Party.

On 23 March, the Reichstag assembled in a replacement building under extremely turbulent circumstances. Some SA men served as guards within while large groups outside the building shouted slogans and threats toward the arriving deputies. Kaas announced that the Centre Party would support the bill with "concerns put aside," while Social Democrat Otto Wels denounced the act in his speech. At the end of the day, all parties except the Social Democrats voted in favour of the bill. The Communists, as well as some Social Democrats, were barred from attending. The Enabling Act, combined with the Reichstag Fire Decree, transformed Hitler's government into a legal dictatorship.
Removal of remaining limits
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“ At the risk of appearing to talk nonsense I tell you that the Nazi movement will go on for 1,000 years! ... Don't forget how people laughed at me 15 years ago when I declared that one day I would govern Germany. They laugh now, just as foolishly, when I declare that I shall remain in power! ”

—Adolf Hitler to a British correspondent in Berlin, June 1934[70]

With this combination of legislative and executive power, Hitler's government further suppressed the remaining political opposition. The Communist Party of Germany and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) were banned, while all other political parties were forced to dissolve themselves. Finally, on 14 July, the Nazi Party was declared the only legal party in Germany.

Hitler used the SA paramilitary to push Hugenberg into resigning, and proceeded to politically isolate Vice-Chancellor Papen. Because the SA's demands for political and military power caused much anxiety among military and political leaders, Hitler used allegations of a plot by the SA leader Ernst Röhm to purge the SA's leadership during the Night of the Long Knives. As well, opponents unconnected with the SA were murdered, notably Gregor Strasser and former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher.[71]
In 1934, Hitler became Germany's president under the title Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor of the Reich).

President Paul von Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934. Rather than holding new presidential elections, Hitler's cabinet passed a law proclaiming the presidency dormant and transferred the role and powers of the head of state to Hitler as Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor). As head of state, Hitler now became supreme commander of the armed forces. When it came time for the soldiers and sailors to swear the traditional loyalty oath, it had been altered into an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler.[72] In a mid-August plebiscite, these acts found the approval of 84.6% of the electorate.[73] This action technically violated both the constitution and the Enabling Act. The constitution had been amended in 1932 to make the president of the High Court of Justice, not the chancellor, acting president until new elections could be held. The Enabling Act specifically barred Hitler from taking any action that tampered with the presidency. However, no one dared object.

In 1938, Hitler forced the resignation of his War Minister (formerly Defense Minister), Werner von Blomberg, after evidence surfaced that Blomberg's new wife had a criminal past. Prior to removing Blomberg, Hitler and his clique removed Fritsch whom they denounced as a homosexual.[74] Hitler replaced the Ministry of War with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces, or OKW), headed by General Wilhelm Keitel. More importantly, Hitler announced he was assuming personal command of the armed forces. He took over Blomberg's other old post, that of Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, for himself. He was already Supreme Commander by virtue of holding the powers of the president. The next day, the newspapers announced, "Strongest concentration of powers in Führer's hands!"
Third Reich
Main article: Nazi Germany

Having secured supreme political power, Hitler went on to gain public support by convincing most Germans he was their savior from the economic Depression, the Versailles treaty, communism, the "Judeo-Bolsheviks", and other "undesirable" minorities. The Nazis eliminated opposition through a process known as Gleichschaltung ("bringing into line").
Economy and culture

Hitler oversaw one of the greatest expansions of industrial production and civil improvement Germany had ever seen, mostly based on debt flotation and expansion of the military. Nazi policies toward women strongly encouraged them to stay at home to bear children and keep house. In a September 1934 speech to the National Socialist Women's Organization, Adolf Hitler argued that for the German woman her "world is her husband, her family, her children, and her home." This policy was reinforced by bestowing the Cross of Honor of the German Mother on women bearing four or more babies. The unemployment rate was cut substantially, mostly through arms production and sending women home so that men could take their jobs. Given this, claims that the German economy achieved near full employment are at least partly artifacts of propaganda from the era. Much of the financing for Hitler's reconstruction and rearmament came from currency manipulation by Hjalmar Schacht, including the clouded credits through the Mefo bills.
1934 Nuremberg rally

Hitler oversaw one of the largest infrastructure-improvement campaigns in German history, with the construction of dozens of dams, autobahns, railroads, and other civil works. Hitler's policies emphasised the importance of family life: men were the "breadwinners", while women's priorities were to lie in bringing up children and in household work. This revitalising of industry and infrastructure came at the expense of the overall standard of living, at least for those not affected by the chronic unemployment of the later Weimar Republic, since wages were slightly reduced in pre-World War II years, despite a 25% increase in the cost of living.[75] Laborers and farmers, the traditional voters of the NSDAP, however, saw an increase in their standard of living.

Hitler's government sponsored architecture on an immense scale, with Albert Speer becoming famous as the first architect of the Reich. While important as an architect in implementing Hitler's classicist reinterpretation of German culture, Speer proved much more effective as armaments minister during the last years of World War II. In 1936, Berlin hosted the summer Olympic games, which were opened by Hitler and choreographed to demonstrate Aryan superiority over all other races, achieving mixed results.

Although Hitler made plans for a Breitspurbahn (broad gauge railroad network), they were preempted by World War II. Had the railroad been built, its gauge would have been three metres, even wider than the old Great Western Railway of Britain.

Hitler contributed slightly to the design of the car that later became the Volkswagen Beetle and charged Ferdinand Porsche with its design and construction.[76] Production was deferred because of the war.

Hitler considered Sparta to be the first National Socialist state, and praised its early eugenics treatment of deformed children.[77]

An important historical debate about Hitler’s economic policies concerns the “modernization” debate. Historians such as David Schoenbaum and Henry Ashby Turner have argued that social and economic polices under Hitler were modernization carried out in pursuit of anti-modern goals.[78] Other group of historians centered around Rainer Zitelmann have contended that Hitler had a deliberate strategy of pursuing a revolutionary modernization of German society.[79]
Rearmament and new alliances
Main articles: Axis Powers, Tripartite Treaty, and German re-armament
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini during Hitler's visit to Venice from 14–16 June 1934.

In a meeting with his leading generals and admirals on 3 February 1933 Hitler spoke of "conquest of Lebensraum in the East and its ruthless Germanisation" as his ultimate foreign policy objectives.[80] In March 1933, the first major statement of German foreign policy aims appeared with the memo submitted to the German Cabinet by the State Secretary at the Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Office), Prince Bernhard von Bülow (not to be confused with his more famous uncle, the former Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow), which advocated Anschluss with Austria, the restoration of the frontiers of 1914, the rejection of the Part V of Versailles, the return of the former German colonies in Africa, and a German zone of influence in Eastern Europe as goals for the future. Hitler found the goals in Bülow's memo to be too modest.[81] In March 1933, to resolve the deadlock between the French demand for sécurité (“security”) and the German demand for gleichberechtigung (“equality of armaments”) at the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald presented the compromise “MacDonald Plan”. Hitler endorsed the “MacDonald Plan”, correctly guessing that nothing would come of it, and that in the interval he could win some goodwill in London by making his government appear moderate, and the French obstinate.[82]

In May 1933, Hitler met with Herbert von Dirksen, the German Ambassador in Moscow. Dirksen advised the Führer that he was allowing relations with the Soviet Union to deteriorate to a unacceptable extent, and advised to take immediate steps to repair relations with the Soviets.[83] Much to Dirksen's intense disappointment, Hitler informed that he wished for an anti-Soviet understanding with Poland, which Dirksen protested implied recognition of the German-Polish border, leading Hitler to state he was after much greater things than merely overturning the Treaty of Versailles.[84]

In June 1933, Hitler was forced to disavow Alfred Hugenberg of the German National People's Party, who while attending the London World Economic Conference put forth a programme of colonial expansion in both Africa and Eastern Europe, which created a major storm abroad.[85] Speaking to the Burgermeister of Hamburg in 1933, Hitler commented that Germany required several years of peace before it could be sufficiently rearmed enough to risk a war, and until then a policy of caution was called for.[86] In his "peace speeches" of 17 May 1933; 21 May 1935 and 7 March 1936 Hitler stressed his supposed pacific goals and a willingness to work within the international system.[87] In private, Hitler's plans were something less than

Hitler Biogrphy ..

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20th 1889 in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria. The town is near to the Austro-German border, and his father, Alois, worked as a customs officer on the border crossing. His mother, Klara, had previously given birth to two other children by Alois, (Gustav and Ida) but they both died in their infancy. Young Hitler Adolf attended school from the age of six and the family lived in various villages around the town of Linz, east of Braunau. By this time Adolf had a younger brother, Edmund, but he only lived until the age of six. In 1896, Klara gave birth to Adolf 's sister, Paula, who survived to outlive him. Adolf Hitler grew up with a poor record at school and left, before completing his tuition, with an ambition to become an artist. Alois Hitler had died when Adolf was thirteen and Klara brought up Adolf and Paula on her own. Between the ages of sixteen and nineteen, young Adolf neither worked to earn his keep, nor formally studied, but had gained an interest in politics and history. During this time he unsuccessfully applied for admission to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts.
The Vagabond - 1909-1913
Klara Hitler died from cancer when Adolf was nineteen and from then onwards he had no relatives willing or able to support him. So, in 1909, he moved to Vienna in the hope of somehow earning a living. Within a year he was living in homeless shelters and eating at charity soup-kitchens. He had declined to take regular employment and took occasional menial jobs and sold some of his paintings or advertising posters whenever he could to provide sustenance.
Munich and The Great War - 1913-1918
In 1913 Adolf Hitler, still a penniless vagrant, moved to Munich in southern Germany. Hitler during WW1At the outbreak of the First World War, in 1914, he volunteered for service in the German army and was accepted into the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment . Hitler fought bravely in the war and was promoted to corporal and decorated with both the Iron Cross Second Class and First Class, the latter of which he wore until his dying day [ironically the regimental captain who recommended him for the award was Jewish]. The day of the announcement of the armistice in 1918, Hitler was in hospital recovering from temporary blindness caused by a British gas attack in the Ypres Salient. In December 1918 he returned to his regiment back in Munich.
Early Politics - 1918-1919
Between December 1918 and March 1919 Hitler worked at a prisoner-of-war camp at Traunstein before returning again to Munich. Shortly after his return he witnessed a takeover bid by local Communists who seized power before being ousted by the army. After he gave evidence at an investigation into the takeover he was asked to become part of a local army organization which was responsible for persuading returning soldiers not to turn to communism or pacifism. During his training for this tasks and during his subsequent duties he was able to hone his oratory skills. As part of his duties he was also asked to spy on certain local political groups, and during a meeting of the German Workers' Party he became so incensed by one of the speeches that he delivered a fierce harangue to the speaker. The founder of the party, Anion Drexler, was so impressed by Hitler's tirade that he asked him to join their organization. Hitler, after some thought, finally agreed to join the committee and became their seventh official in September 1919.
The First Hofbrauhaus Speech - 1919-1920
Given responsibility for publicity and propaganda, Hitler first succeeded in attracting over a hundred people to a meeting in held October at which he delivered his first speech to a large audience. The meeting and his oratory were a great success, and subsequently in February 1920 he organized a much larger event for a crowd of nearly two thousand in the Munich Hofbrauhaus. Hitler himself was not the main speaker, but when his turn came he succeeded in calming a rowdy audience and presented a twenty-five point programme of ideas which were to be the basis of the party. The name of the party was itself changed to the National Socialist German Workers Party (or Nazi for short) on April 1st 1920. Not long after the February speech he was discharged from the army. Hitler continued to expand his influence in the party and began to form a private group of thugs which he used to quash disorder at party meetings and later to break up rival party's meetings. This group subsequently became the Sturmabteilung or S.A. - Hitler's brown shirted storm troopers. He also became the regular main speaker at party events from then onwards, attracting large crowds for each meeting. During the summer of 1920 Hitler chose the swastika as the Nazi party emblem.
Leader of the Nazi Party - 1921
By 1921 Adolf Hitler had virtually secured total control of the Nazi party, however this was not to the liking of all Nazis. In July of that year, whilst Hitler was away in Berlin, the discontent members of the party proposed a merger with a like-minded political party in Nuremburg in the hope that this would dilute Hitler's influence. On hearing the news of the proposed merger, Hitler rushed back to Munich to confront the party and threatened to resign. The other members were aware that Hitler was bringing in the lion's share of funds into the organization, from the collections following his speeches at meetings and from other sympathetic sources. Thus they knew they couldn't afford his resignation. Hitler then proceeded to turn the tables on the committee members and forced them to accept him as formal leader of the party with dictatorial powers.
The Beer Hall Putsch - 1923
Up to November 1923 Hitler continued to build up the strength of the Nazi Party. During this time he also plotted to overthrow the German Weimar Republic by force. On November 8th 1923 Hitler led an attempt to take over the local Bavarian Government in Munich in an action that became known as the "Beer Hall Putsch." Despite initially kidnapping the Bavarian officials in the Buergerbraukeller beer hall in Munich and proclaiming a new regime using their names, the coup was not successful. The officials were allowed to escape and re-gain control of the police and the armed forces. The coup was ended on the morning of November 9th, when a column of three thousand SA men headed by Hitler and General Ludendorff (one of the most senior generals of the First World War) were halted on their way to the centre of Munich by armed police. After a brief gunfight, only General Ludendorff and his aide had made it through to the central Plaza, where they were arrested. Hitler had fled the scene and was later arrested and charged with treason. After his trial for treason he was sentenced to five years in Landsberg prison, however he had successfully used the trial itself to gain publicity for himself and his ideas. During his term in prison Hitler began dictating his thoughts and philosophies to Rudolf Hess which became the book "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle).
Re-Building the Nazi Party - 1924-1932
Hitler was released from Landsberg prison in December 1924 after serving only six months of his sentence. At that time, the Nazi Party and its associated newspapers were banned by the government and Hitler himself was forbidden from making public speeches. The support for National Socialism was waning throughout Germany, their voting figures in elections fell from almost two million in 1924 to 810,000 by 1928 (this gave them only 12 out of a total of 491 representatives in Parliament). However at the same time, Hitler succeeded in increasing the party membership and developed the organization of the party throughout Germany with the help of Gregor Strasser who was responsible for the organization of the Nazi Party in northern Germany. During this period Hitler also created the infamous SS (Schutzstaffel) which was initially intended to be Hitler's bodyguard under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler. tea room meeting The collapse of the Wall St. stock exchange in 1929 led to a world wide recession which hit Germany especially hard. All loans to Germany from foreign countries dried up, German industrial production slumped and millions were made unemployed. These conditions were beneficial to Hitler and his Nazi campaigning. By July of the following year Chancellor Bruening, without a parliamentary majority in the Reichstag, was unable to pass a new finance bill and was forced to ask President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call for new elections for the coming September. Hitler campaigned hard for the Nazi candidates, promising the public a way out of their current hardship. When the results of the election were announced, the Nazi Party had won 6.4 million votes which made them the second largest party in the Reichstag. At this time Hitler also began to win over the support of both the army and the big industrialists, the latter contributing substantially to the finances of the Nazi Party.
Hitler Versus Hindenburg - 1932
In February 1932 Hitler decided to stand against Hindenburg in the forthcoming Presidential election. In order to do this he became a German citizen on 25th February 1932. The result of the election on 13th March 1932 gave Hindenburg 49.6 percent of the vote and Hitler 30.1 percent (two other candidates stood). As Hindenburg failed to win a majority a second election was called. The result of the second election gave Hindenburg 53 percent and Hitler 36.8 percent (one other candidate stood). Thus Hindenburg was re-elected to office and Hitler was forced to wait for another opportunity to win power. Chancellor Bruening lasted in office until June 1932, unable to maintain popular support his government resigned due to pressure from the President, who had been advised by an influential General called Schleicher. General Schleicher had plotted the overthrow of the cabinet in conspiracy with the Nazis. Power then passed to a Presidential cabinet headed by a new Chancellor, Franz von Papen. New Reichstag elections were also set for the end of July.
Nazis Become the Largest Party - 1932
In the July elections, the Nazi Party won 13,745,000 votes which gave them 230 out of the 608 seats in the Reichstag. Although the Nazis were the largest party, they were still short of a majority. Hitler, however, demanded that he be made Chancellor but was offered only the position of Vice-Chancellor in a coalition government, which he refused.
Hitler Becomes Chancellor - 1932-1933
In September 1932, the Nazi members of the Reichstag, together with support form the Center Party elected the prominent Nazi Herman Goering as President of the Reichstag (equivalent to House Speaker). Using his new position, Goering managed to prevent the Chancellor from presenting an order to dissolve the Reichstag, whilst a vote of no confidence in the Chancellor and his government was passed. Thus having forced the resignation of the new government, the Reichstag allowed its own dissolution. Although losing 34 of their seats in the following election, the Nazis retained enough influence to assure that Papen would be unable to form a new Government and the Chancellor resigned on 17th of November 1932. After Papen's resignation, Hindenburg still refused to appoint Hitler as chancellor fearing that a Hitler Government would become a dictatorship. The President then tried to re-install Papen as Chancellor, but Papen was unable to gain the support of his own cabinet, including Schleicher who was Minister of Defence. President Hindenburg then appointed Schleicher as Chancellor, the latter having assured the President that he could get the support of the Nazis in the Reichstag. However, Hitler and his Nazi party had other ideas, and Schleicher found that he was unable to win the support of any of the parties in the Reichstag and was forced to resign as Chancellor on January 28th 1933. Finally on January 30th, 1933 President Hindenburg decided to appoint Hitler Chancellor in a coalition government with Papen as Vice-Chancellor.
The Burning of the Reichstag - February 1933
The penultimate step towards Adolf Hitler gaining complete control over the destiny of Germany were taken on the night of 27th February 1933 when the Reichstag was destroyed by fire. The fire was almost certainly planned by the Nazis, Goebbels and Goering in particular. A Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, was made scapegoat for the fire, but the main outcome was that Hitler was given an excuse to have all the Communist deputies of the Reichstag arrested, and managed to obtain a decree from President Hindenburg giving the Nazi goverment powers to inter anyone they thought was a threat to the nation. Furthermore the Presidential decree allowed the Nazi government to suppress the free speech of its political opponents. Despite all these advantages, in the elections of March 5th 1933, the Nazis only managed to acheive 44 percent of the votes. Even with the suppression of the Communist deputies, Hitler was still short of an overall majority and nowhere near the two-thirds majority needed for any change in the German constitution.
The Enabling Act - March 1933
The Enabling Act, placed before the Reichstag on 23rd of March 1933 was to allow the powers of legislation to be taken away from the Reichstag and transferred to Hitler's cabinet for a period of four years. The act required a two-thirds majority, but passed easily with the support of the Center and Nationalist parties and the suppression of all Communist deputies and several Social Democrats. Thus dictatorial powers were finally conferred, legally, on Adolf Hitler. By July 14th Hitler had proclaimed a law stating that the Nazi Party was to be the only political party allowed in Germany. The Nazification of Germany was underway. All non-Nazi organizations were disbanded, including political parties and trade unions. The individual German states were stripped of any autonomous powers they might have had and Nazi officials were installed as state governors.
The Night of the Long Knives - 1934
After the initial rise to power of the Nazis, many of them, including the head of the SA Ernst Roehm, wanted to see a further change in the power structure of Germany by taking over control of big businesses and installing the SA as the main army of Germany with the existing army subordinate to it. Hitler however thought differently and wanted to keep the German economy in good shape, reduce unemployment and enable him to quickly re-arm the Wehrmacht. To Hitler, the SA was purely a political force not a military one. Also the ageing President Hindenburg would not survive much longer and Hitler needed the support of the Army if he was to be named as Hindenburg's successor. In May of 1934 Hitler proposed to the chiefs of the Army and the Navy that he would suppress the SA and at the same time expand the Army and Navy if they would support him as the successor to Hindenburg. The chiefs of the forces readily agreed to Hitler's endorsement. In June Hitler ordered the SA to go on leave for the entire month. However, by that time the rowdiness and lawlessness perpetrated by Nazi thugs had grown to a point where President Hindenburg and his senior generals were considering declaring a state of marshal law and Hitler was threatened with this recourse if he didn't do something to curb these excesses. These threats, coupled with rumours generated by Himmler and Goering concerning Roehm's loyalty to the Fuehrer and an impending coup against Hitler, finally prompted Hitler to order Himmler and Goering to take action against the leaders of the SA. On June 30th 1934 Himmler's SS and Goering's special police arrested and executed the leaders of the SA, including Ernst Roehm, and many others not connected with the SA, but against whom the Nazi leaders had a score to settle. These others included General von Schleicher, the former Chancellor.
The Death of Hindenburg August 1934
President Hindenburg died on August 2nd 1934. Hitler had already agreed with the Cabinet that upon Hindenburg's death the offices of President and Chancellor would be combined. The last wishes of Hindenburg were that upon his death the monarchy should be restored. Hitler managed to suppress these wishes and did not publish the President's will. Having already ensured the support of the Army, Hitler went a step further by making the whole of the armed forces swear an oath of loyalty to him personally. A plebiscite was then held for the public to decide on whether they approved of the changes already made - 90% of voters gave their approval. Thus Hitler had become "Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor" and the title of President was then abolished.
"Nazification" - 1934-1937

During the years following Hitler's consolidation of power he set about the "Nazification" of Germany and its release from the armament restrictions of the Versailles Treaty. Censorship was extreme and covered all aspects of life including the press, films, radio, books and even art. Trade unions were suppressed and replaced with the centralised "Labour Front", which didn't actually function as a trade union. The churches were persecuted and ministers who preached non-Nazi doctrine were frequently arrested by the Gestapo and carted off to concentration camps. All youth associations were abolished and re-formed as a single entity as the Hitler Youth organisation. The Jewish population was increasingly persecuted and ostracised from society and under the Nuremburg Laws of September 1935 Jews were no longer considered to be German citizens and therefore no longer had any legal rights. Jews were no longer allowed to hold public office, not allowed to work in the civil-service, the media, farming, teaching, the stock exchange and eventually barred from practising law or medicine. Hostility towards Jews from other Germans was encouraged and even shops began to deny entry to Jews. From a very early stage, Hitler geared the German economy towards war. He appointed Dr. Hjalmar Schacht minister of economics with instructions to secretly increase armaments production. This was financed in various ways, including using confiscated funds, printing bank notes and mostly by producing government bonds and credit notes.

In September 1936, Goering took over most of Schacht's duties in preparing the war economy and instituted the Four-Year Plan, which was intended to make Germany self-sufficient in four years. This put Germany on a total war economy and entailed strict control of imports, materials prices and wages as well as the creation of factories and industrial plants to produce essential war materials (e.g. synthetic rubber, fuels and steel). Workers were low paid and their freedom to move between jobs was increasingly restricted. Even the workers' recreation time was strictly controlled through the "Strength Through Joy" organisation. Hitler was the law when it came to the judicial system and had the ultimate say over legal actions of any kind. Any judge who was not favourable to the Nazi regime was dismissed, and a "Special Court" for political crimes and a "Peoples Court" for accusations of treason were introduced. Both of these courts were controlled by the Nazi Party and an unfortunate defendant was extremely unlikely to get a fair trial.
Breaking the Versailles Treaty - 1934-1937
Hitler ordered the army to be trebled in size, from the 100,000 man Versailles Treaty limit, to 300,000 men by October of 1934. This was initially ordered to be carried out under the utmost secrecy. Admiral Raeder, the chief of the navy, was given orders to begin the construction of large warships, way above the maximum size decreed by the Versailles Treaty. The construction of submarines, also forbidden by the Treaty, had already begun secretly by building parts in foreign dockyards ready for assembly. In addition, Goering had also been tasked by Hitler with the training of air force pilots and the design of military aircraft. In March 1935 Hitler decided to take a gamble and test the resolve of Britain and France by authorising Goering to reveal to a British official the existence of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). Even though this was a direct challenge to the Versailles Treaty, there was little reaction (its existence was already known anyway). Thus Hitler was given encouragement to take further steps. A few days later, Hitler took a further gamble and declared openly the introduction of military service and the creation of an army with 36 divisions (approx. 1/2 million men). Again, a weak reaction from Britain and France allowed Hitler the comfort of knowing that his gamble had paid off. At the same time that Hitler was increasing the strength of the armed forces, he was also following a policy of making speeches proclaiming a desire for peace and the folly of war. He also announced that he had no intention of annexing Austria or re-militarising the Rhineland and would respect all the territorial clauses of the Versailles Treaty. Hitler also announced that he was prepared to mutually disarm the heaviest of weapons and limit the strength of the German Navy. A quote from Hitler at that time: "Whoever lights the torch of war in Europe can wish for nothing but chaos."
The Re-militarisation of the Rhineland - 1936
On March 7th 1936 a small force of German troops marched across the Rhine bridges into the demilitarised areas of Germany towards Aachen, Trier and Saarbruecken. Once again neither the French nor British made any move to counter the flagrant breach of the Locarno Pact of 1925, which had been signed willingly by Germany and was supposed to keep these areas west of the Rhine free from German military units. The lack of French reaction was in spite of the fact that the small German force was vastly outnumbered by the French army near the border. Immediately following the re-militarisation of the Rhineland areas, Hitler once again preached in public his desire for peace throughout Europe and offered to negotiate new non-aggression pacts with several countries including France and Belgium. At the same time rapid construction of German defensive fortifications began along the French and Belgian frontiers. Meanwhile Hitler's popularity within Germany was boosted, his position as leader was strengthened and his control over the army generals was secured.
Weakening of Austrian Security and the Birth of the Axis - 1936
The security that Hitler had gained for Germany from the military stronghold in the Rhineland meant less security for those countries in Central Europe (e.g. Austria and Czechoslovakia) who were reliant on a swift response from France in the event of German aggression. This led the Austrian Government, headed by Dr. Schuschnigg, during the summer of 1936, to begin a course of appeasement of Hitler by, for example, giving Austrian Nazis influential positions within the government in return for a pledge from Hitler to confirm his recognition of Austrian sovereignty. The position of Austria was further undermined in October 1936 when the Italian dictator, Mussolini, who had previously pledged to maintain Austrian independence, formed an alliance with Hitler. This alliance, which became known as the Rome-Berlin Axis had been formed following the German and Italian support of fellow fascist, General Franco, in the Spanish Civil War. The Axis partnership included an agreement on a common foreign policy between the two countries.

[To be continued...]