Introduction: The Birth of the Third Reich
The birth of the Third Reich was preceded by a period of intense political decay and social unrest in Berlin. By early 1933, the Weimar Republic was nearing its end, having been governed by presidential decrees rather than parliamentary consensus for over a year. Amidst rumors of military coups and general strikes, Adolf Hitler, leader of the National Socialists, demanded the chancellorship.
Despite initial disdain from the aging President von Hindenburg, political maneuvering by conservative elites eventually wore down the eighty-six-year-old leader. On January 30, 1933, Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of a coalition government. This moment marked the end of German democracy and the beginning of a twelve-year reign of terror that would reshape the world.
The man who orchestrated this transformation came from humble and somewhat obscure beginnings in a border town of Austria. Born in 1889, Hitler was the son of a minor customs official, and his youth was defined by a bitter struggle against his father’s desire for him to become a civil servant. This conflict sparked a fierce, unbending will in the boy, who insisted on becoming an artist instead.
Moving to Vienna with high hopes of entering the Academy of Fine Arts, he was rejected twice due to a lack of talent in painting. He descended into a period of extreme poverty, living in flophouses and eking out a meager living by painting postcards. It was during this time in Vienna that his political worldview solidified, transforming him into a fanatical anti-Semite who viewed Jewish people as a biological threat to German purity.
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