Hannah Jackson

26 January 2015

Article Research

To begin my research, I first started by logging onto our class Moodle page to ensure I knew exactly what I

was suppose to be doing for this assignment. I then gather my thoughts and decide what I am going to be looking for.

My topic is about the different tactics Hitler used to become such a powerful dictator. The article I will be

looking for should meet the following requirements. It must provide factual information and it needs to be unbiased.

With that being decided, I started my research at Google typing in “Hitler’s Dictating Tactics” into the search bar. I

selected the third article from the list named, “The Rise of the Nazi Party, 1933 – Mount Holyoke College”. It was

introduced with a biography about Hitler. Where and when he was born, when he became a citizen of Germany and

how his dictatorship/leadership began and also where his Anti-Semitic views originated. This was very important to me

because it shows that he may actually have some reasoning behind his actions. Of course, there is no excuse for his

actions, but it helps with understanding Hitler’s thinking process. It says that when Hitler was a teenager, he was very

interested in art. Although he could not draw people, he wanted to be an artist. Thus, when he was fifteen, he moved to

Vienna to further his art education at a school that was primarily ran by Jews, but he was rejected from the school. This

began his resentment of Jews. Then, it says that Hitler’s mother had cancer and was treated by a Jewish doctor, but he

was unable to keep her alive.

After serving for the German army in World War One, Hitler went back to Germany and joined small

national socialist gangs to lead. Hitler created greater structure and organization in the gangs. He then created a circle

of local party leaders that reported directly to him and saw his leadership and charisma in action. In 1923, the national

socialist movement was active only in Munich and Hitler made a failed attempt to take control of this Bavarian city

through the Munich Putsch. After this is was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but only served 9 months due to sympathy.

During this time Hitler dictated Mein Kampf to Rudolph Hess. In Mein Kampf, Hitler emphasized the importance of

race, purity and subsequently Anti-Semitic views. Finally, he said that if on wanted to take power, then they needed to

have an illusion of legitimacy. The article then discussed more about the Nazi Party and “Nazification”. Stating, “Hitler

created a leadership cult of himself to make him seem like an extremely special individual.” It then talked about

Hitler’s tactics for doing so. For example, he used his public speaking skills to mesmerize and hypnotize crowds. He

would even wait 5 minutes for cheering crowds to quiet down and then shout in the midst of silence. He would repeat

messages over and over again and manipulate his tone to further emphasize points. He was extensively involved with

powerful Industrialist. It was powerful industrialist like Krupps, Steines and Thyseen that financed Hitler’s election

campaign. These industrialists helped form the military industrial complex that supported the government. Then, to add

extra convincing, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels ruthlessly controlled propaganda and utilized it extensively to

further Nazi goals. He made sure that Jews were presented as parasites, therefore making their banishment from society

legitimate in the eyes of the people. All of these examples show how Hitler was able to appeal to all. He brought in an

example of every person to convince everyone to side with him. It was quite brilliant.

This article was perfect for my initial research and will lead to great research for the rest of this assignment.