The Strategies and Downfall of Adolf Hitler

Max Bailey

Adolf Hitler is considered one of the vilest people to ever walk the face of the earth. He is

known for the genocide that Germany committed at his command, and the terror that reigned over

Europe in the 1930s and early 1940s. In 1933, he became the Chancellor of Germany, after 39 wealthy

industrialists wrote a letter to President Hindenburg urging him to appoint Hitler.1 Using political

strategy, Hitler took advantage of a struggling German people and became President in August of 1934,

solidifying the fate of Germany and most of Europe for the next ten years. His military strategies, which

included the famous Blitzkrieg2, kept his enemies on the run. Adolf Hitler had very strong political and

military strategies; however, his ego led to the mismanagement of military resources and eventually the

downfall of Germany and the Nazi party during the waning days of World War II.3

Adolf Hitler’s path to infamy started long before the Second World War. On June 28,

1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian rebel. Germany quickly

followed Austria into a declaration of war against Serbia. As a result, Russia, France and Britain

mobilized their troops against Germany and World War I began. Hitler enlisted with a Bavarian

Regiment to fight for Germany at the age of 25, expecting it to be a short war. However, new

1 Letter from Franz von Papen, Alfred Hugenberg, and other industrialists to President Hindenburg urging him to appoint Hitler as Chancellor of Germany in November, 1932 (http://www.glasnost.de/hist/ns/eingabe.html)2 Blitzkrieg is the German term meaning “lightning war.”3 Researching Hitler’s policies begins with Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1943). Gottfried Feder, Hitler’s Official Programme and its Fundamental Ideas (New York: H.Fertig, 1971) provides the early policies of Hitler and the Nazi Party. Traudl Junge, Until the Final Hour: Hitler’s Last Secretary (New York: Arcade Publishing, 2003) is used to track Hitler’s movement and reinforce his strategies. Jonathan Bastable, Voices from Stalingrad: Unique First-Hand Accounts from World War II’s Cruellest Battle (United Kingdom: David & Charles, 2006) provides accounts of Operation Barbarossa. From there, Anton Joachimsthaler, The Last Days of Hitler: Legend, Evidence and Truth (London: Cassell Military Paperbacks, 1995) and Antony Beevor, The Fall of Berlin 1945 (New York: Viking, 2002) give insight into the later days of the war and Hitler. Walter C. Langer, The Mind of Adolf Hitler: The Secret Wartime Report (New York: Basic Books Inc, 1972) and John Lukacs, The Hitler of History (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997) provide further detail into Hitler and his strategies. Michael J. Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War (New York: Vintage Books, 2007) is used to research the V2 program. Konnilyn Feig, Hitler's death camps: the sanity of madness (New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1981) is used for the labor camps. Ralf Georg Ruthe, Rommel: the End of a Legend (London: Haus Books, 2005) supplies information on Atlantic Wall preparations. Douglas Phillips Miller, You can't do business with Hitler (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1941) provides economic strategies of Hitler.

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technologies4 made sure that was not the case and

left the battlefields covered with corpses. Hitler

narrowly escaped death several times. In a conflict

with the British and Belgians, 2500 of the 3000 men

in his Regiment were killed, injured, or missing.

After escaping death so many times, he was injured

by a shell fragment during the Battle of the Somme.

He spent his recovery in a hospital in Berlin, as seen

in Figure 1, before being sent to Munich for light duty. While in Munich, Hitler witnessed a lot of anti-

war sentiment. He blamed the Jewish population, whom he thought were responsible for the anti-war

sentiment and were just trying to undermine the German war effort. This idea overwhelmed Hitler,

becoming an obsession which fueled a pure hate for the Jewish people. In an effort to get away from

Munich, he requested to be sent back to the front lines.5 Hitler was awarded a total of five medals,

including the Iron Cross 1st Class; however, he was never promoted because his superiors thought that

he lacked leadership. As the war was coming to a close, Hitler became more and more depressed, often

shouting about the “invisible foes.”6 Hitler spent the rest of the war in a hospital recovering from a

chlorine gas attack which blinded him.

The War ended with the surrender of Germany by its top leadership and others. Hitler blamed

top politicians and the Jews for Germany’s failure and this fueled a hatred inside him that would drive

Hitler from then on. Following the surrender, the Allied forces convened to determine the terms of

Germany’s surrender and their punishment. German delegates were not allowed to participate in the

4 Airplanes, tanks, long-range artillery, machine guns, and toxic gas used by both sides meant that no real progress was made by either side. This dragged out the war and drastically elevated the casualty count. 5 The “front lines” described the area where battle was actually taking place. Being sent to the front lines was a deadly order, as millions of soldiers died there.6 Hitler often described the Jews and Marxists as the “invisible foes” of the German people.

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conversations, but were only allowed to be there to sign the final treaty. Because of this the treaty that

came out of it would not be accepted by Hitler. He saw the treaty, known as the Treaty of Versailles, as

a gross injustice and betrayal for the German people.

The Treaty of Versailles was a peace settlement written by the Allied nations, with no input or

consideration from Germany, which required certain reparations and limitations to be followed by

Germany. The most important piece of the Treaty was Article 231: “The Allied and Associated

Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the

loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been

subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her

allies.”7 Article 231, also known as the “war-guilt” clause, placed full blame on Germany and its allies for

World War I. As a result, it would be required that Germany pay reparations to the Allied nations for the

damages caused. Hitler thought Article 231 was unfair to Germany, as he later wrote in his book, Mein

Kampf. “It was absolutely wrong to discuss war-guilt from the standpoint that Germany alone could not

be held responsible for the outbreak of the catastrophe; it would have been correct to load every bit of

blame on the shoulders of the enemy, even if this had not really corresponded to the true facts, as it

actually did.”8 While Hitler did not think Germany was responsible for World War I, he did understand

why the blame should be placed on the Allies’ enemies, but did not believe Germany should bear the

total burden.

The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to pay massive war reparations, which amounted to

$33 billion in 1919. These reparations would be made in German Marks, gold, and other instruments, as

in accordance with Articles 232 through 244. The Treaty also required Germany to reduce its military to

7 Treaty of Versailles, US-UK-France-Germany-Others, June 28, 1919, Article 231.8 Mein Kampf, 182.

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only 100,000 soldiers and did not allow submarines or military aircraft. On top of that, Germany had to

surrender one-seventh of its territory to the Allies as shown in Figure 2 below.

Hitler was angry about the Treaty. He felt that the German leadership were pushed by Jewish

business leaders to end the War. As a result, the leadership betrayed the German people in the eyes of

Hitler. This drove a lot of Hitler’s anger for the Jews as well. Because he thought that they were behind

the early surrender of Germany, he blamed them for all of Germany’s problems that followed the end of

World War I.

After the War, Hitler was given the job of teaching the returning POWs about the dangers of

Communism, pacifism, democracy, and disobedience. He impressed his superiors with his anti-Semitic

outbursts. At this same time, Germany was plunged into a domestic political war. Marxists continually

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Figure 2: Map of German Territory after Treaty of Versailles (http://wars.mrdonn.org/treatyofversailles.html)

tried to proclaim Russia-like revolutions and were met with severe opposition from former soldiers and

nationalists. Communists, Socialists and others were rounded up and executed in Berlin and Munich, a

political move that Hitler would later use against his opposition. In an effort to rid Germany of Marxism,

the military sent Hitler to Munich to investigate the German Workers’ Party. At the first meeting he

attended, someone suggested that Bavaria should separate from Germany and join Austria. This

enraged Hitler, who immediately stood up and argued against it for 15 minutes. He captured the

attention of all the members there, including Anton Drexler9, and he was invited back. He was accepted

as a member, and found an opportunity to bring his goals to the nation. At a meeting with just over 100

people in attendance, Hitler outlined his Program.10 After his success at the meeting, the German

Workers’ Party was renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) and called “Nazi”

for short. Hitler became dictatorial within the party and was eventually called Fuhrer11 of the Nazi Party.

In 1921, France and Britain handed Germany a bill for 33 billion dollars in war reparations. This

bill for reparations immediately sent the German economy into turmoil. Inflation rocketed and the

German Mark’s value fell drastically.12 People felt a strong sense of resentment not only towards the

French and British, but also towards German leadership for putting Germany in this position. Once

Germany defaulted on its reparations, French and Belgian soldiers began to occupy parts of Germany.

This made Germans, including Hitler, even angrier with the French. Hitler and the Nazi party

immediately planned to consolidate power in a takeover. The attempt that Hitler came up with would

become known as the Beer Hall Putsch. The plan was to kidnap Bavarian leaders and force them at

gunpoint to accept Hitler as their leader. On the night of November 8, 1923, storm troopers under the

9 Anton Drexler was one of the founders of the German Workers’ Party. He stood for many of the same beliefs as Hitler, including the need for a strong nationalist, pro-military, anti-Semitic party for the average working man.10 Hitler’s Program, also known as the 25 Points, established set goals for the party as well as a powerful German nation. In it, he openly rejected the Treaty of Versailles and pushed for a strong central government, reformed education system, and citizenship determined by race with no Jews being allowed.11 Fuhrer means leader/guide.12 The German Mark was the currency of Germany. Its value fell from four marks to the U.S. dollar in 1921 to 4,000,000 to the dollar in 1923.

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direction of Hermann Goring13 surrounded a Munich beer hall where businessmen and Bavarian

leadership were meeting; Hitler rushed in with storm troopers at his side. He began yelling “The

National Revolution has begun!”14 He took the three highest officials representing the Bavarian

government at the meeting into a back room where he convinced them to give in. Hitler left to deal

with problems at other sites and came back to find the revolution fizzling out. On November 9 th, over

three thousand Nazis marched into Munich and towards the War Ministry building. They encountered a

police blockade where a fire fight broke out, leaving three police officers and sixteen Nazis dead. Hitler

was arrested for high treason and placed on trial; however, his trial had the opposite intended effect

and gained him national and international attention. This attention was a result of the massive media

presence at his trial. Hitler used the opportunity to push his agenda forward. “I alone bear the

responsibility. But I am not a criminal because of that. If today I stand here as a revolutionary, it is as a

revolutionary against the revolution. There is no such thing as high treason against the Traitors of

1918.”15 Hitler’s testimony was quoted in many newspapers and radio programs, giving Hitler a platform

to get his message out. Many people found his ideas pleasing. He was found guilty and order to serve

five years in prison with parole in six months. It was in prison, pacing back and forth, that Hitler’s ideas

would culminate in the first volume of Mein Kampf. Hitler received help in writing his book from Rudolf

Hess. When the book first came out, sales were very low. Many people expected an in-depth look at

the Beer Hall Putsch or a more organized autobiography; however, what was published was the ranting

of an apparent maniac. It was only after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany that sales began to rise.

Mein Kampf, which means “My Struggle,” was Hitler’s most famous writing. In it, Hitler

describes his early childhood and rise to power within the Nazi party. He speaks of the Treaty of

Versailles and calls it propaganda masterfully formulated by the Allies. He rejects its “war guilt” clause

13 Hermann Goring was an advisor to Hitler.14 “The Beer Hall Putsch,” The History Place, last modified 1997, accessed April 17, 2015, http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/putsch2.htm.15 Adolf Hitler’s testimony during his trial for high treason.

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and claims that placing all the blame on Germany is unfair. He recalls the end of World War I, stating

that the German Army was not given the proper chance to be victorious because of the treachery of

political leaders back at home. He also pins most of the blame for losing the War on the Jews. From

there he goes on to speak of his future plans for Germany and ideas on politics and race. Hitler divides

people into groups based on their physical features, with the supreme Aryan16 race at the top while “the

mightiest counterpart to the Aryan is represented by the Jew.”17 Hitler’s view of the German people

belonging to an Aryan race is also used to justify the conquest of land known as Lebensraum, or living

space, which would later cause World War II. He speaks of defeating France, the old and enduring

enemy of Germany, in order to regain the land lost as a result of the Treaty of Versailles as well as

secure Germany’s western border. He also makes claims that Germany would take Russia for farm land.

While he was in prison, Hitler also had time to reflect on the failed attempt at taking control of

Germany during the Beer Hall Putsch. He had used ideas from Benito Mussolini of Italy, thinking that

the same results would be achievable in Germany. The Beer Hall Putsch was supposed to be the start of

that, but its failure instead led to Hitler’s imprisonment. As a result, Hitler determined that he would

have to use the democratic system to come to power. “Instead of working to achieve power by an

armed coup we shall have to hold our noses and enter the Reichstag against the Catholic and Marxist

deputies. If outvoting them takes longer than outshooting them, at least the results will be guaranteed

by their own Constitution! Any lawful process is slow. But sooner or later we shall have a majority –

and after that Germany.”18 Hitler stated this while in prison, now understanding his mistakes, and he

aimed to learn from them and correct them. He took the Nazi Party in a new direction with new tactics

for coming to power. The first problem that Hitler had to overcome after being released from jail was

the ban on the Nazi Party put in place by the Bavarian government. Hitler went and spoke to the Prime

16 The Aryan race were those people with blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin.17 Mein Kampf, 30018 Proclamation by Hitler while in prison after the Beer Hall Putsch.

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Minister of Bavaria who lifted the ban on the conditions of good behavior and an agreement to work

within the confines of the Constitution. Doing as Hitler frequently did, he immediately broke the

conditions by giving a long speech that condemned the democratic Republic, the Marxists, and the Jews.

As a result, he received a two year ban from giving public speeches, a major setback in Hitler’s plan to

gain power democratically.

Even while being banned from giving public speeches, Hitler used bold political strategies to

strengthen his name in Germany. He essentially created two new parties out of the one. The first new

organization was set up to undermine and overthrow the democratic republic. The second new

organization was established to form a new, highly organized government that would take the place of

the democratic republic when the first organization overthrew it. At the same time, Hitler developed

two organizations for children and teens to join in. For boys ages fifteen to eighteen, there was the

Hitler Jugend, which meant Hitler Youth. For boys ages ten to fifteen, there was the Deutsches Jungvolk.

These new groups for boys were designed to bring them into the Nazi party, teach them the Nazi

philosophy, and gain more supporters for Hitler’s political aspirations.

At the same time, Hitler was using a new security force called the Sturmabteilung, also known as

the storm troopers or SA. The original job of the SA was to protect Nazi meetings from being broken up

by Marxists. SAs also fought Marxists in the streets to keep them down. The storm troopers, whom

Hitler referred to as “an instrument for the conduct and reinforcement of the movement’s struggle for

its philosophy of life,”19 were his main force used at the Beer Hall Putsch. After the election of 1930, SAs

went out and smashed the windows of Jewish-owned stores. Hitler began to think that the SAs were

more detrimental to his efforts than helpful but he did not do anything about it at the time.

One of Hitler’s most important political strategies came during the German elections of 1932.

He brought modern campaigning to Germany. Hitler used simple messages as seen in Figure 3 below, as 19 Mein Kampf, 238

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well as strong images. He became very good at using propaganda to his advantage. He also used a new

technique of campaigning in a much larger area. Hitler used radio broadcasts to spread his short, simple

messages over large areas. He also used a plane to fly around Germany; this allowed him to give a

speech in one location in the morning, fly across the country, and give another speech in the afternoon.

Each speech that he gave had a similar pattern; the audience would be kept waiting to build up tension.

Then, Hitler would come out and start speaking in a low tone, gradually increasing the intensity as he

went on. He built the crowd up to tremendous levels, listing off all the ways that he would help them.

This new style of campaign made Hitler a front runner in the 1932 elections; however, he did not prevail

victorious over his opponents. In contrast, the Nazi Party gained 230 seats in the German Reichstag with

a total of 37.3% of the vote.20

After failing to obtain the Chancellorship through coercion of political opponents, Hitler was at a

loss. In an effort to obtain the Chancellorship, Hitler began making deals with his opponents, such as

Franz von Papen, who had been betrayed in the race for the Chancellorship by Kurt von Schleicher.21 In

November of 1932, 39 German industrialists wrote a letter to President Hindenburg, urging him to

appoint Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. After having a number of meetings with different officials and

powerful members of the community, President Hindenburg appointed Hitler to Chancellor of Germany

on January 30, 1933. This appointment was by far the biggest achievement of Hitler’s political career up

until that point; however, what he would do from there would dwarf this achievement in comparison.

Hitler’s time as Chancellor was relatively short, lasting only one and a half years. The first thing

that Hitler did as Chancellor was to convince President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and

establish a new election. On that same day, Hitler told the German General Staff that Germany would

20 “Weimar Elections 1928 to 1932,” History Learning Site, last modified 2014, accessed April 17, 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/weimar_elections_1928_1932.htm.21 Kurt von Schleicher was appointed Chancellor of Germany on December 2, 1932. He would only remain in office for 57 days, as an unprecedented amount of political backstabbing would take place.

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re-arm. After the Reichstag burned to the ground on February 27, 1933, Hitler ordered for the arrest of

every communist in Berlin, claiming that it was the communists who burnt down the Reichstag.22

President Hindenburg signed off on the emergency act and Nazi SAs and SS23 began rounding up

thousands of communists.

One of Hitler’s greatest political moves

was his ability to use propaganda to extinguish

his opponents. Throughout his time as

Chancellor, Hitler used false news articles

claiming secret uprisings by the communists to

stir hatred for them and justify his actions

towards them. He also used it to make it

impossible for any anti-Nazi faction to

campaign. Hitler also used SAs to take over

local government offices and expel any non-Nazi

presence. He also used photography and the news to broadcast images of a peaceful and respectful

Hitler, as seen in Figure 4 to the left, for the world to see. This enabled Hitler to continue gaining power

and extinguishing his opponents without the world knowing it was happening.

Hitler also used his oratory skills to appease the nerves of the Reichstag members. Days after

the Reichstag opened, Hitler attempted to pass a bill called the Enabling Act, which was officially called

“The Law for Removing the Distress of the People and the Reich.” The bill would essentially destroy the

democratic system in Germany. Hitler spoke to the Reichstag immediately before the vote in an effort

22 The exact cause of the fire is still debated today. It is generally believed that an arsonist and communist caused the fire with the help of storm troopers. 23 SS stands for Schutzstaffel. The unit was founded in 1925 by Hitler as a personal bodyguard unit. The unit would grow into a violent death machine known for its role in the Holocaust.

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Figure 4: Adolf Hitler bows before President Hinenburg at an important event. This type of image was used as Nazi propaganda to project an image of Hitler as a peaceful, respectful, and humble man to the world. (Accessed 4/21/2015, http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/dictator.htm)

to obtain the necessary votes. “The government will make use of these powers only insofar as they are

essential for carrying out vitally necessary measures…The number of cases in which an internal necessity

exists for having recourse to such a law is in itself a limited one.”24 Hitler was reassuring the Reichstag

that in voting to take away the democratic system, they wouldn’t actually be taking away the

democratic system. In the end, he convinced enough members of the Reichstag to vote for it, as 441 out

of the 525 members voted to pass the measure.25

As Chancellor, Hitler also over saw the formation of the Gestapo and the opening of Dachau.

The Gestapo stood for Geheime Staats Polizei, which meant “Secret State Police.” This new force was

used to silence Hitler’s political opponents. Dachau was a labor camp initially built for political

prisoners. The famous phrase “Arbeit Macht Frei” was placed above the entrance to the camp. Hitler

oversaw the development of the camp as a place to keep his enemies contained. The camp would

become an infamous symbol of the Holocaust in the coming years. One of Hitler’s most infamous

achievements of his Chancellorship is the Night of the Long Knives. In the early days of Hitler’s political

career, he used the SA to intimidate his political opponents. As Hitler became more powerful and less

threatened by his political opponents, he found the SA to be more trouble than anything; the SA became

the most prominent threat to Hitler’s power. As a result, Hitler determined that the SA needed to be

removed from power. He first attempted to make peace with the leaders of the SA;26 however, Von

Papen ruined that by giving a speech at a local university and berating the SA and Nazi policy of

censorship. A plan to bring down the SA was put in place and carried out. The leaders were first

arrested on homosexual acts. After that, a code was given and a purge of the SA began throughout

Germany. Although it is not known exactly how many people were killed in the purge, it is estimated

that at least several hundred faced death.

24 Excerpt from speech Adolf Hitler gave to Reichstag before vote on Enabling Act on March 23, 193325 http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/dictator.htm26

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The Night of the Long Knives had several important implications for Hitler’s political career.

First, the German Army commanders had allowed the purge to happen and even supplied weapons to

the SS. Their participation locked them in with Hitler and solidified their place in history for the next

decade. The purge also gave Hitler more power than anyone was supposed to have. As a result, Hitler

began telling people that he was the supreme judge of the German people. Finally, the SA, who had

been a constant threat to Hitler’s political rule, were wiped out and no longer stood a threat, clearing

the way for Hitler to become dictator. The most important piece of the event was his justification. In

justifying the purge, he cited rumors of a potential revolution, rumors that he and his subordinates had

started and spread throughout Germany. “It was no secret that this time the revolution would have to

be bloody; when we spoke of it we called it the ‘Night of the Long Knives.’ Everyone must know for all

future time that if he raises his hand to strike the State, then certain death is his lot!”27 Hitler not only

justified his actions using propaganda, but he also struck fear in his opponents, assuring them that their

fate would be death.

In early January of 1934, Adolf Hitler initiated a treaty with Poland. There had been rumors that

Poland was pushing France to initiate a joint war against Germany. In an effort to prevent this from

happening and to secure Germany’s eastern border, Hitler opened talks with Polish officials. The

resulting treaty, known as the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact, prevented the two nations from

fighting for ten years.28 For Hitler, the treaty was security and time. By negotiating the treaty, Hitler was

able to buy time for Germany to rearm without the threat of attack or a war on both sides. This pact

also gave Poland a false sense of security, which would haunt them as World War II began.

After obtaining so much power as Chancellor of Germany, only one person stood in the way of

Hitler becoming the dictator of Germany. President Hindenburg, who was progressively deteriorating in

27 Speech given by Hitler before the Reichstag on July 13, 193428 German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact, Germany-Poland, January 26, 1934.

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health and mental status, was still in charge of Germany. In the summer of 1943, however, that would

completely change. Expecting Hindenburg’s death to be close, Hitler had a law drafted that would

combine the offices of Chancellor and President and proclaim Hitler as Fuhrer. On August 2, 1934,

President Hindenburg passed away and the Reichstag announced the new law. “The Office of Reich

President will be combined with that of Reich Chancellor. The existing authority of Reich President will

consequently be transferred to the Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor, Adolf Hitler. He will select his

deputy.”29 This law, which Hitler had drafted prior to Hindenburg’s death, was illegal under the Treaty of

Versailles; however, Hitler did not care and consolidated power anyways.

Hitler continued to use his classic

political strategy of propaganda, even after

he became Fuhrer. In September of 1934,

Hitler hired, Leni Riefenstahl, a film

director, to produce a film of the annual

Nuremberg Rally.30 The film, “Triumph of

the Will,” showed the massive festival and

events that captured the world. One of the

most famous scenes, shown in Figure 5 to

the right, is of Hitler, Heinrich Himler, and the new SA leader walking through the center aisle with a

massive number of troops on either side. The movie was played before sold out audiences, and

received recognition throughout Europe. Hitler and his subordinates felt that they had found the

greatest piece of propaganda in history. The film painted Nazi Germany as a well-organized and

intimidating country. The film also helped boost attendance at the Nuremberg rallies.

29 Law on the Head of State of the German Reich, Section 1. (August 1, 1934).30 The Nuremberg Rally was an annual, week-long festival to honor fallen Nazis and heroes. The festival included torch-lit marches, parades, and rallies that Hitler spoke at.

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Figure 5: Hitler, Himler and SA leader stand and salute the Nazi flag while surrounded by troops at Nuremberg Rally

In the spring of 1935, Hitler began to blatantly disregard the Treaty of Versailles. The first

portion of the treaty that Hitler violated was the limit of 100,000 soldiers in the military. Hitler order for

military conscription, also known as compulsory enrollment, to restart. As a result, the military

increased in size to 550,000 soldiers, clearly in violation of the Treaty. This was an important point in

Hitler’s political career because it showed him that no one was going to enforce the Treaty. At the same

time, Hitler introduced a new political strategy that he would use more frequently leading up to the war.

While rebuilding the military, Hitler also declared that he wanted peace. “Germany wants peace…none

of us means to threaten anybody.”31 This new political strategy allowed Hitler to violate many aspects of

the Treaty of Versailles. He would do something to violate the Treaty or threaten other nations; then,

he would claim that Germany wanted peace to soothe their nerves. By rebuilding the military, Hitler

had made neighboring countries and Europe nervous. He calmed their fears by claiming he wanted

peace.

Hitler pushed the limits of violating the Treaty of Versailles even further on March 7, 1936. On

that day, Germany reclaimed the Rhineland, a region that was taken from Germany after World War I.

Later that morning, a memorandum informing British, French, and Italian leaders of the reclamation of

the Rhineland. Later that day, Hitler announced the reclamation to the Reichstag, who cheered for

Hitler. Just as he had done in violating the Treaty the first time, Hitler again announced the want for

continued peace. “First, we swear to yield to no force whatever in the restoration of the honor of our

people, preferring to succumb with honor to the severest hardships rather than to capitulate. Secondly,

we pledge that now, more than ever, we shall strive for an understanding between European peoples,

especially for one with our Western neighbor nations…We have no territorial demands to make in

Europe!...Germany will never break the peace.”32 Once again, Hitler was able to reassure the rest of the

world while in gross violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

31 Hitler’s speech given before the Reichstag on May 21, 193532 Hitler’s speech given before the Reichstag on March 7, 1936

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Just months later, the 1936 Olympic Games were set for Berlin. From the start, Hitler did not

want the Olympics in Germany. Unfortunately for Hitler, he had no choice; the 1936 Games would take

place in Berlin. At the time, there was concern from other countries, such as the United States, over the

treatment of Jews in Germany. To soothe concerns, Hitler invited the head of the U.S. Olympic

Committee (USOC) to come to Germany and see for himself. While in Germany, the head of the USOC

received VIP treatment. He returned to the United States, now assured that everything in Germany was

alright. During the Olympics, Hitler remained relatively hidden. He attended most of the events but

kept out of the way. The Olympics took place with only minor issues, a major source of propaganda for

Germany. While everyone was in Berlin for the Olympics, the town appeared organized and peaceful,

leaving a positive impression with everyone who visited. Hitler used this as political propaganda to

reassure other nations that Germany was not a threat and only wanted peace.

After the Olympic Games, Hitler began to focus more on building up the German military. While

building the military up, Hitler continually reinforced his desire for peace in Europe, leaving many

European leaders feeling relaxed about the situation. Even before the games, Hitler was planning to

rebuild in secret. On May 21, 1935, Hitler gave a major speech in which he again tried to reassure other

leaders. “The blood which has been shed on the European continent for the past three hundred years

bears no proportion whatsoever to the outcome of events in terms of nationalities. In the end, France

has remained France, Germany Germany, Poland Poland, Italy Italy, etc. What dynastic egoism, political

passion and patriotic blindness have attained by rivers of blood in the way of seemingly far-reaching

national and political changes served, in terms of the nations, only to scratch the surface of peoples,

doing very little to really alter their basic parameters. Had these states devoted merely a fraction of their

sacrifices to wiser aims, the resultant success would certainly have been greater and more

permanent.”33 Once again, European leaders were impressed with Hitler’s speech and apparent desire

33 Hitler’s speech in Berlin on May 21, 1935

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for peace. Behind closed doors, however, Hitler was plotting war. On the same day that he gave that

speech, Hitler signed the Reich Defense Law, which put Germany into a war economy mode and brought

back the Army’s General Staff Organization, which had been banned in the Treaty of Versailles.

Hitler’s last major political move was a peace treaty with the Soviet Union, which would come

only two months before Germany invaded Poland. The Ribbentrop-Molotov Non-Aggression Pact, also

known as the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, secured Germany from attack by the Soviet Union.

Hitler used this pact to assure the Soviet Union that they were not in danger when Germany invaded

Poland. Because of the pact, the Soviet Union was caught off guard and unprepared when Germany

invaded in June of 1941.

In the end, Hitler had five major political strategies. First, he used intimidation, coercion, and

execution to get rid of his political enemies. Dachau, the work camp, was built to hold Hitler’s political

prisoners. The SA would fight Marxists and communists in the street and were also used to kill some.

When trying to pass laws that were unfavorable in the Reichstag, Hitler used the SA to intimidate

members. On the Night of the Long Knives, Hitler had many of his political enemies in the SA rounded

up, and some were executed. As a second strategy, Hitler used propaganda to rid Germany of his

political opponents. When the Reichstag burnt to the ground, Hitler used newspapers to spread rumors

that the Marxists did it. Then, he had the Marxists arrested based on these rumors. Also, on the Night

of the Long Knives, Hitler claimed that the SA were plotting a revolution, a rumor that Hitler’s

subordinates had started. Hitler used the 1936 Olympic Games at Berlin as a major source of

propaganda as well. The use of propaganda played a role in several major events in Hitler’s political

career and enabled Hitler to extinguish his opponents. The third strategy that Hitler employed was the

modern campaign. When campaigning, Hitler utilized the airplane to be at one place in the morning and

across the country by the afternoon. He also used radio to get his simple messages out to the public.

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The fourth strategy that Hitler utilized was the basic peace treaty. Hitler signed non-aggression pacts

with several rival nations including the Soviet Union and Poland. These pacts left countries blindsided to

Hitler’s invasion while keeping Hitler’s borders secure. Finally, Hitler used his “charm” to soothe the

fears of foreign leaders. On multiple occasions, Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles, which worried

foreign leaders. Hitler would stand before the Reichstag and proclaim his desire for peace, effectively

soothing the concerns of the foreign leaders.

Hitler was also an excellent military strategist in the early years of the war. He gained much

needed experience during his time as a Corporal in World War I. He put Germany on a war economy in

1935. By 1937, Hitler had fully began preparations for a war. On November 5, 1937, he held a secret

meeting with top official. The meeting, which came to be known as the Hossbach Conference, was the

first time that the German officials had been informed of Hitler’s imminent plans for war. In the end, it

was determined that the military could be fully prepared for war by 1943, which Hitler agreed to.34 In

1939, Germany invaded Poland, initiating World War II. Within weeks, the rest of Europe would join in,

followed by Japan and the United States later on. In total, over 60 million people lost their lives during

the war. Hitler’s military strategies and their execution had direct and immediate impacts on the war.

The most well-known military strategy that Hitler used was blitzkrieg.35 Blitzkrieg was a war

tactic that aimed to overpower the enemy through speed, materials, and superiority. As a result of the

often rapid and unforeseen tactic, the enemy was left shocked and surprised, causing disorganization

among enemy forces. The first time that blitzkrieg was used was by the German during the Spanish Civil

War in 1938.36 During this civil war, military rebels tried to take control of the government. The war

began after a failed military coup. As it went on, the rebels received support and aid from Fascist Italy

and Nazi Germany. They provided troops, planes, and tanks, but more importantly, strategy. Blitzkrieg

34 Official Minutes of Hossbach Conference, November 5, 1937, Reich Chancellery, Berlin.35 The term blitzkrieg means “lightning war.” It was coined during the Spanish Civil War in 1938.36 The Spanish Civil War was fought between the military and republican government of Spain.

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was used to wipe out republican forces across the country. They cut the country in half and laid siege on

Madrid, forcing the Republican forces to surrender. The testing of blitzkrieg in Spain was important. It

gave Germany and Italy the evidence that they needed to use this as a tactic in World War II.

In World War II, Blitzkrieg was first used in Poland. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded

Poland. Within weeks of the invasion, Poland had collapsed and Hitler turned his attention to other

small countries. Hitler repeated the strategy of Blitzkrieg in Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg,

Denmark, Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway, France, and the Soviet Union. The strategy worked flawlessly in

all but the Soviet Union where German troops ran into trouble for a number of reasons.

The enigma code was also a major part of Hitler’s military strategy. The enigma was used by the

military to encode strategic messages sent from command to other parts of the military such as the U-

boats. The code changed at least once a day, sometimes more than that, meaning that there were 159

million million million possible combinations for the code. Enigma was used to outsmart the Allies for

years, until it was cracked by a British division known as Ultra. From then on, the code was useless and

proved to be detrimental to the Axis powers.

Another important part of Hitler’s military strategy was the German U-boat.37 It should be

noted that Hitler was not originally a supporter of the U-boat. He believed that the might of Germany

should be on display and the best way to do that was by building battleships, particularly destroyers. It

was actually Admiral Karl Donitz who pushed for the U-boat. In the first two years of the war, U-boats

sunk 730 Allied ships. These ships included British naval vessels and American supply ships. At the time,

Britain imported much of the raw materials and supplies that it depended on; Donitz believed that

cutting off this supply was the way to cripple Britain. By sinking those 730 ships, Donitz was able to

convince Hitler that U-boats should be a major part of the German Navy. As a result, Hitler approved

the funding for construction of 300 new U-boats. The primary strategy used for the U-boats was 37 U-boat stands for “unterseeboot” which meant “undersea boat.”

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essentially “pack hunting.” Using the enigma code discussed above, groups of U-boats would be

dispatched to a particular area. They would select targets, usually from supply convoys, and fire

torpedoes on them. In 1943, they sunk 243 ships. The U-boat was a powerful weapon, but the

increasingly inexperienced crews that replaced deceased ones were not prepared. It did not help

matters that the Allies deciphered the enigma code and were able to determine each U-boats location.

Hitler’s strategy also included defenses. One of the most impressive defenses that Hitler and

Nazi Germany constructed was known as the Atlantic Wall. After rapidly defeating much of Western

Europe, Hitler only saw one threat to his empire: Britain. Winston Churchill had assigned British

Commandos the task of infiltrating the ports on the Atlantic coast. At one point commandos destroyed

a port by floating a ship in with explosives. As a result, Hitler determined that it was necessary to

increase the defenses at the shores, and particularly the port towns, nearest to Britain. The first gun

posts that were constructed were in 1940 at Calais, which was only twenty miles away from the British

coast. The walls and ceilings of these gun posts were approximately ten feet thick in order to protect

the guns.38 The massive guns had a range of forty miles, making it easy to assault the British coast from

Calais. The guns also protected Calais’ coastline from invasion by the British. Because the British were

the only threat on the Atlantic coast at the time, Hitler felt that he had properly secured the coast line

from invasion. He then turned his attention to the invasion of the Soviet Union, also known as

Operation Barbarossa.

Operation Barbarossa, which began on June 22, 1941, was the massive invasion of the Soviet

Union by German forces. Over three million German soldiers, which included 150 divisions and 3000

panzer tanks, covered a front of 2000 miles, known as the eastern front. As seen in Figure 3 below, the

eastern front stretched from the North Cape to the Black Sea. Germans stormed into the Soviet Union,

crushing cities and putting down any opposition that fell in their way. By December, Germany was on

38 Guns refers to the 380 mm. guns that could fire large shells a very long distance.

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the door step of Moscow; however, winter hindered their progress and the Germans were forced to fall

back, signaling an important shift in the War.

At the same time that Germany was retreating, the United States was entering World War II as a

result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This posed a major problem for Hitler, as there were now

two opponents from the West and one from the East. He was sure that the U.S. and British would

invade from the West while he also had to continue fighting on the eastern front, so he issued Directive

No. 40. Directive No. 40 turned the focus to the Atlantic Wall, stating that “In the days to come the

coasts of Europe will be seriously exposed to the danger of enemy landings.”39 Hitler made his concerns

clear and began to strategize how to defend the coast from the new threat. To reinforce the Atlantic

39 Adolf Hitler, Directive No. 40

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Figure 6: Map of Operation Barbarossa from June 22, 1941 to December 5, 1941. (www.wikipedia.org)

Wall, he brought in Franz Dorsch.40 Hitler ordered for the construction of 15,000 bunkers41 across 3000

miles of coast line that could support 300,000 soldiers to be completed within seven months, a goal

which Dorsch protested.

Norway’s defenses were the primary concern; Norway was rich in iron ore, which was from its

ports for other parts of the German empire. The construction of the Atlantic Wall additions would be

done by 32,000 POWs and concentration camp members with the supervision of SS officers. When

Hitler did not see the progress of the wall that he wanted to, he replaced Dorsch with Erwin Rommel in

early 1944. Rommel, on behalf of Hitler, immediately started reviewing the defenses of the Atlantic wall

and was appalled at the lack of preparedness he saw. He and Hitler came up with a solution to the

weaknesses that were found in it. They built WNs42 to reinforce the defenses. WNs were clusters of

bunkers and defensive weaponry meant to stop an invasion before the Allies made it more than a few

feet onto the shore. Rommel was also concerned with the defensive measures on the beaches. He

added Belgian gates, ram logs, Czech hedgehogs, and steel tetrahedron.43 The new defenses were a

major improvement from what they had been before Rommel. Although they did not prevail on June 6,

1944, the defenses severely increased the casualties for Allied troops and slowed their progress down.

While Adolf Hitler had some very successful military and political strategies, his major downfall

was himself, more particularly his ego. The first problem that Hitler had was that he thought that he

was a prophet of God, if not God himself. He thought he was invincible. Hitler was obsessed with Hitler.

The day he became Fuhrer, he made all of his Army commanders and soldiers take a new oath. “I swear

40 Franz Dorsch was the Chief Engineer of the Todt Organization and was well-known for leading the project to construct the Autobahn. 41 There were an estimated 500 different types of bunkers designed by the Nazi command to serve a number of purposes.42 WN stands for Widerstandsnest, which translates into English as Resistance Nest. It is also common to see the abbreviation RN for Resistance Nest.43 Belgian gates were meant to slow tanks and troops from moving up the beach. Ram logs were used to rip out the bottom of landing craft during high tide. Czech hedgehogs and steel tetrahedron were also meant to slow troops and tanks.

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by God this sacred oath: I will render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German

Reich and people, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and will be ready as a brave soldier to risk

my life at any time for this oath.”44 The oath was not one dedicated to Germany, but to Hitler. He made

Germany about him, not him about Germany.

Operation Barbarossa was going well until Hitler made a bold decision to change the attack plan.

Hitler decided to attack Stalingrad as a personal jab at Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union. The

German Army had captured much of the city, but their resources were running low. Hitler and the

German commanders believed that by cutting off supply chains into Stalingrad and effectively starving

the population they could shorten the battle and cause the city to surrender. The line of thought was

solid; however, Hitler underestimated Stalin and his lack of compassion for the citizens of Stalingrad.

The citizens and soldiers of the Red Army fought back and defeated the German military. Hitler’s ego

drove him to change the war plan. His military was ready to fall on Moscow and effectively end the war

on the Eastern front; however, to make the victory more personal, Hitler decided to attack Stalingrad,

named after the Soviet Union’s leader. The Battle of Stalingrad ended up being an important turning

point in the war.

Hitler also thought the German military was invincible, as they were the superior Aryan race. On

June 6, 1944, the Allies landed on the Normandy coast in the largest seaborne invasion ever. Rommel

was away celebrating his anniversary with his wife, and Hitler was asleep. No one dared to wake Hitler

up for fear of his wrath. When they finally woke him up, he did not believe that the Normandy landing

was a full invasion. He felt that the invasion would occur in a harbor where the Allies could offload the

necessary equipment. As a result, he didn’t order other divisions from the region to support the

beaches, so the Allies were able to come ashore and take Normandy. His ego drove him to believe that

44 The Fuhrer Oath, effective after August 2, 1934.

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he could not be wrong about the Allies landing at a port town. As a result of this unwavering

confidence, the Allies made it to shore and began working in towards Berlin.

Overall, Hitler had some great strategies, both in domestic and foreign issues. He was able to

bring Europe to the brink of total annihilation and give the German people the “lebensraum” that he

believed they deserved. In the end, it was not poor political strategy or military strategy that led to

Hitler’s failure; it was Hitler that led to Hitler’s failure. His ego stood in the way of every important

decision that needed to be made. As a result, Germany lost World War II, fifteen million soldiers died in

battle, forty five million civilians died, and another twenty five million were wounded in battle.

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