The Impact of Adolf Hitler’s Childhood to His Leadership Style

Adolf Hitlers young life and experiences would one day lead to the destruction he caused as the leader of the Nazi party. His movement would place great importance on a persons family tree, even making it a matter of life and death. However, the supreme irony is that Hitlers own grandfather was most likely Jewish. He would never, in truth, know who his grandfather was.

Hitlers fathers uncle had convinced Alois to change his name form Schicklgruber to Hiedler, to continue the family name. However, when it came time to write the name, it went down as Hitler. In 1885, Alois Hitler married the pregnant Klara Polzl. After four miscarriages, Hitler was born in 1889, in the small Austrian village of Branau Am Inn just across from the German Border.

At age seven, the family moved to Lambach, an old town containing an old Catholic Benedictine monastery. The ancient monastery was decorated with carved stones and woodwork that contained swastikas. Adolf attended school there and saw them every day. Adolf did well in this school and singing in the choir during high mass left a very deep impression. One day, Hitler found books in his fathers collection having to do with the military. These included a picture book on the War of 1870-71 between the Germans and the French, he later admits that this book became an obsession. It was not long before that great historic struggle had become my greatest spiritual experience. From then on, I became more and more enthusiastic about everything that was in any connected with war or, for that matter, with soldering. Hitler stated in Mein Kampf. Playing cowboys and Indians gave way to battle re-enactments. However, when his little brother died at age six, Adolf, the boy who loved war play and pretend death now had to confront death for the first time. It appears to have shaken him badly. To make matters worse, the boy was buried in the cemetery behind his house, to which he could see from his window.

When the time came, Hitler had to make a choice between the classical school and the technical school. His father, wanting him to become a civil servant like himself, forced him to attend the technical school. When Hitler began his second year, he was the oldest boy in his class since he had been kept back. This gave him advantage over the other boys. Once again he became a little ringleader and lead the boys in their after school games. Another interest surfaced at this time, German Nationalism.

In defiance of the Austrian Monarchy, Adolf Hitler and his young friends used to like to use the German greeting Heil, and sing the German anthem Deutchland Uber Alles. His father had continually expressed loyalty to the Hapsburg Monarchy, perhaps unknowingly encouraging his rebellious son to give loyalty to the German Kaiser. He history teacher at school also touched his imiagination with tales of glorious German figures such as Bismark and Frederick the Great. German Nationalism quickly became an obsession.

Hitler saw his first opera at age twelve and was immediately captivated by its german music, Pagan myths, tales of ancient Kings and Knights and their struggles against hated enemies. He borrowed large number of books from the library on German history and Nordic mythology. After seeing Wagners opera Rienzi Hitler behaved as if possessed. He led his friend atop a steep hill where he spoke n a strange voice of a great mission in which he would lead the people to freedom, similar to the plot in the opera he had just seen.

In 1903, Hitlers father died suddenly of a lung hemorrhage, leaving his thirteen year-old son as head of the household. Adolf broke down and cried when he saw his fathers body laid out. But, now, with no threat of discipline at home and disinterest shown by his teachers, Hitler performed pranks and practical jokes. Some of his teachers were even anxious to see him thrown out of school because of the trouble he caused. he demanded of his fellow pupils their unqualified subservience, fancying himself in the role of leader, at the same time indulging in many a less innocuous prank of a kind not uncommon among immature youths. A teacher later stated. He dropped out, finally, and decided he would be self- taught. He continued his heavy reading habits and interpreted what he read on his own, living in his own dream-like reality and creating his own sense of truth. He would later describe these teenage years free from responsibility as the happiest time of his life.

By now, Hitler had strong pride in the German race and all things German along with a strong dislike of the Hapsburg Monarchy and the non-Germanic races in the multicultural Austro-Hungarian empire. He also examined the philosophical works of Nietzsche, Hegel, Fitche, Treitschke and Houston Stewart Chamberlain. Hitler picked up bits and pieces of ideas from them and wound up with a mix of racist, nationalistic, anti-Semitic attitudes that became a die hard philosophy, later described in Mein Kampf. He also developed a harsh, survivalist mentality, which lest little room for consideration of kindness and compassion. At this time, Hitler was also exposed to the ideas of Liebenfels. He published periodicals about the superiority of Aryans, and the inferiority of other races, especially Jews.

Hitlers mother became sick with advanced breast cancer. His ambition to become a great artist overcame his reluctance to leave her. However, his test drawings were said to be unsatisfactory and he went back home. Klara bore her pain well, but Adolf couldnt stand her suffering. He blamed her Jewish doctors treatment for this, and she soon died. Hitler would soon be sleeping on park benches and eating at charity soup kitchens. His years in Vienna would also be a time when he formulated many of his ideas on politics and race, which would have immense consequences in the future.

After witnessing a large protest march by workers, he immersed himself in an extensive study of the politics of the workers party, the social Democrats. He gained appreciation of their ability to organize rallies and use propaganda and fear as political weapons. Furthermore, anti-Semitism was considered fashionable by the middle class. The mayor was a noted anti-Semite, and he included these ideas in his political platform. Hitler admired this Mayor for his speech making skills, and his use of propaganda in gaining popular appeal. He studied this man, and carefully modeled some of his later behavior on what he learned.

I suddenly encountered and apparition in a black caftan and black hait locks. Is this a Jewbut the longer I stared at this foreign face, scrutinizing feature for feature, the more my first question assumed a new form: is this a German? Hitler quoted, and then added, the more I saw, the more sharply they became distinguished in my eyes from the rest of humanity Hitler left left Vienna at age 24, to avoid mandatory military service in the Austrian army, thus avoiding serving the multicultural Austrian Empire he now despised. On August 1, 1914, a large crowd gathered in a big plaza in Munich- the occasion: to celebrate the German proclamation of War. Two days later Hitler volunteered for the German army. On first hearing the news of the war, Adolf sunk to his knees and thanked heaven for being alive.

After the war, he joined a handful of other nationalistic veterans in the German Workers Party. In 1920m this was renamed the National Socialist German Workers, or Nazi, Party. In 1921 Hitler was recognized as the chairman.

A friend described Hitlers personality as violent and high strung. Hitler would only tolerate approval from his friend and could not stand to be corrected. He also displayed an increasingly unstable personality with a terrible temper. Even as Fuhrer, Hitler liked to dwell on his school boy pranks and would recall them in detail to his top generals in the midst of waging a world war. Hitler was also prone to sudden bursts of inspiration and had many interesting ideas but never finished anything he started.

Many historians have concluded that Hitler suffered psychological distress partly brought on by an unhappy childhood, but mostly his relationship with his father. At the same time, Hitler had shown extraordinary attachment to his mother. These experiences contributed his ideas of anti-Semitism and the superiority of different races.