On the 29th of July 1921, Adolf Hitler became the leader of the Nazi Party (which was also known as the 'National Socialist German Workers Party'). The Nazi Party had only changed its named to the National Socialist German Workers Party the previous year, in February 1920. Before that, the National Socialist German Workers Party, it was simply known as the German Workers Party.
When Adolf Hitler joined the party, it was a small, insignificant party. But, through his actions, he would draw attention to the Nazi Party as the 1920s went on. On November 9th, 1923, Adolf Hitler and his party attempted a coup, which became known as the Beer Hall Putsch; the coup failed. It resulted in Adolf Hitler being imprisoned in Landsberg Prison, where he wrote Mein Kampf. The Nazi Party was also temporarily banned after the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison, but he only served one year in prison - he was released on the 20th of December 1924. By 1925, the Bavarian government banned Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party from public speaking. Most other governments across Germany also banned them from public speaking, after the Bavarian government had done so. Hitler's speaking ban did not last long; it was lifted by the Bavarian government in March 1926. Two years later, the Nazi Party contested the 1928 German elections. Although the Nazi Party only secured 2.6% during the 1928 German election, there was evidence that the party was growing. In 1924, they only received just over 36,000 votes, just four years later in 1928, they received just over 800,000 votes. Other regions of Germany also lifted their ban on Hitler publicly speaking after this election, for example, Prussia lifted its ban on Hitler speaking in September 1928. Lifting the ban on Hitler (and the Nazi Party) speaking, would prove to be a disastrous mistake. In just two short years, the Nazi Party jumped from having just fewer than 1 million votes to gaining 6 million votes in the 1930 German election. This resulted in the Nazi Party becoming Germany's second largest party. Previously the Nazi Party just had 12 seats in the Reichstag, the 1930 German election resulted in them having 107 seats. The largest party of that election was the Social Democratic Party, which took 143 seats. Two years later, the German presidential election 1932, saw Adolf Hitler lose out to Paul Von Hindenburg. Hindenburg won the German presidential election 1932 with over 19 million votes, while Adolf Hitler had just over 13 million votes. Just a few months later in July 1932, there was another German election, this time, the Nazi Party became the largest political party of Germany for the first time. They more than doubled their seats, this time, they went from having 107 seats to securing 230 seats. By the end of 1932, another election was held in November 1932. This time, the Nazi vote declined. They lost 34 seats in that election, leaving them with 196 seats. They were still the largest party though and won that election. By 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, on the 30th of January. Hitler was appointed as Chancellor by Hindenburg. Technically Germany was still a democracy at this point, but the signs were there of Germany slowing slipping into a dictatorship in the following weeks and months since Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany. In just a few weeks of gaining power, Hitler began cracking down on civil liberties and his political opponents. The former was already part of Hitler's rise to power - he used violent intimidation to gain power. Gaining full power of Germany, unfortunately, allowed him to suppress his opponents with full force.
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On the 12th of June, 1942, Anne Frank received a diary for her birthday. Two days later, Anne Frank would begin writing what is now known as 'Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl.' Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl, gives us an insight into what it was like for Jewish people hiding from the Nazis across Europe. Although it can give us an insight into Nazi-occupied Europe, we also have to take into consideration that diaries are subjective experiences. In other words, diaries give us an insight into how an individual sees things. That's not to say that diaries or Anne Frank's diary are any less valid. It doesn't mean that her diary is not a reliable source. It just means that we are seeing things from Anne Franks point of view. If we had diaries from each of her family members while hiding, we would probably have variations in what happened during their time of hiding. Anne Frank and her family went into hiding, just under a month after she had received the diary for her birthday. Her sisterMargot was summoned to go to a Nazi work camp, on the 5th of July 1942. A day later, on the 6th of July 1942, Anne and Margot, with their mother (Edith) and their father (Otto), went into hiding. They were joined by another family. The other family that the Franks were joined by, were the Pels. Peter Pels the son. With his parents, Hermann Van Pels (Peters father), and Auguste (Peters mother) went into hiding with the Franks. Herman Van Pels was Otto Franks business partner.
The two families went into hiding in what has now become the Anne Frank museum. It is also referred to as the 'Secret Annex.'
Anne began to write her diary before she entered the Secret Annex. Two days after receiving the diary on her 13th birthday, Anne began writing the diary. She continued to write the diary throughout her time in the Secret Annex. The two families spent just over two years in the Secret Annex. Here are some extracts from Anne Franks diary: October 9th 1942: “Today I have nothing but dismal and depressing news to report. Our many Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away in droves. The Gestapo is treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe to which they’re sending all the Jews. Miep told us about someone who’d managed to escape from there. It must be terrible in Westerbork. The people get almost nothing to eat, much less to drink, as water is available only one hour a day, and there’s only one toilet and sink for several thousand people. Men and women sleep in the same room, and women and children often have their heads shaved. Escape is almost impossible; many people look Jewish, and they’re branded by their shorn heads. If it’s that bad in Holland, what must it be like in those faraway and uncivilized places where the Germans are sending them? We assume that most of them are beingurdered. The English radio says they’re being gassed. Perhaps that’s the quickest way to die. I feel terrible. Miep’s accounts of these horrors are so heartrending… Fine specimens of humanity, those Germans, and to think I’m actually one of them! No, that’s not true, Hitler took away our nationality long ago. And besides, there are no greater enemies on earth than the Germans and Jews.” November 19th 1942: “Mr. Dussel has told us much about the outside world we’ve missed for so long. He had sad news. Countless friends and acquaintances have been taken off to a dreadful fate. Night after night, green and gray military vehicles cruise the streets. They knock on every door, asking whether any Jews live there. If so, the whole family is immediately taken away. If not, they proceed to the next house. It’s impossible to escape their clutches unless you go into hiding. They often go around with lists, knocking only on those doors where they know there’s a big haul to be made. They frequently offer a bounty, so much per head. It’s like the slave hunts of the olden days… I feel wicked sleeping in a warm bed, while somewhere out there my dearest friends are dropping from exhaustion or being knocked to the ground. I get frightened myself when I think of close friends who are now at the mercy of the cruelest monsters ever to stalk the earth. And all because they’re Jews.” July 15th 1944: “It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too will end, that peace and tranquility will return once more. In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when I’ll be able to realize them.” The two families were found by Nazi officers in August 1944. It's up for debate whether or not the finding of the two families was an accidental discovery, or, they were betrayed. For decades since the end of the Second World War, it was believed that the two families were betrayed. And given over to the Nazis. However, recently it has been suggested that that may not have been true. A new theory suggests that the families weren't betrayed. Instead, the discovery of those in the secret was accidental. It has been suggested that the raid which took place in August 1944 wasn't to do with the Secret Annex, but a raid that took place because of suspected fraud at the complex. Two men who worked in the complex were arrested for possession of illegal ration coupons. It is suggested that illegal activity, such as this, in the building, was the reason why the complex was raided. That raid was responsible for the discovery of the Franks and the Pels. The tragic thing is that this raid happened just several months before World War Two ended. What is even more tragic, is that Anne Frank died just weeks before the British liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated on the 15th of April 1945. While Anne Frank died in either February or March that year, in 1945. It seems like a cruel twist of fate. Winston Churchill is the iconic image of a British Prime Minister and on the 4th of June 1940, this iconic British Prime Minister gave one of, if not thee most iconic speech in the history of the United Kingdom. The We shall fight them on the beaches speech, which was given to Parliament on the 4th of June 1940. And broadcast around the United Kingdom. The speech was given to the House of Commons, at Parliament in Westminster. This speech was given several months after World War II had broken out. World War II started the previous year, in September 1939. The aim of the speech was to show strength and determination to win the war. The speech is Churchill's finest hour. Here is the last few paragraphs of Churchill's speech: ''Turning once again, and this time more generally, to the question of invasion, I would observe that there has never been a period in all these long centuries of which we boast when an absolute guarantee against invasion, still less against serious raids, could have been given to our people. In the days of Napoleon the same wind which would have carried his transports across the Channel might have driven away the blockading fleet. There was always the chance, and it is that chance which has excited and befooled the imaginations of many Continental tyrants. Many are the tales that are told. We are assured that novel methods will be adopted, and when we see the originality of malice, the ingenuity of aggression, which our enemy displays, we may certainly prepare ourselves for every kind of novel stratagem and every kind of brutal and treacherous maneuver. I think that no idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered and viewed with a searching, but at the same time, I hope, with a steady eye. We must never forget the solid assurances of sea power and those which belong to air power if it can be locally exercised. I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.'' To see the speech in full, go here. Adolf Hitler was released from Landsberg Prison, on the 20th of December, 1924. Hitler was arrested on the 11th of November, 1923. The arrest came from a failed attempted coup by Hitler. The coup was known as 'The Beer Hall Putsch.' The Beer Hall Putsch happened between the 8th of November and the 9th of November 1923, in Munich. It may have been a failed attempted coup by Hitler and the Nazis, however, it became a pivotal moment in the history for them. For one thing, it brought Hitler to the attention of the German people. It also brought the Nazi ideology to light. Mainly through press attention - newspaper headlines. Two days after the failed coup, Adolf Hitler was arrested by the German authorities on the 11th of November, 1923. He was arrested on charges of high treason. And was put on trial for 24 days.
The trial drew much attention to Hitler and his nationalist ideology. But, it was to be his time spent during prison that he would make an historical impact. Through the writing of his book; Mein Kampf.
Mein Kampf outlined Hitler's vision for the future of Germany. It also laid out his ideology and his anti-Semitism. Despite this, the book was popular at the time. In monetary terms today, it made Adolf Hitler the equivalent of over £1 million pounds. When Hitler rose to power, Mein Kampf became even more popular. By 1939, Mein Kampf had sold over 5 million copies, in 11 languages. But, as Hitler grew more popular, he distanced himself from the book. Claiming that it was, ''fantasies behind bars.'' He became that embarrassed by the book that he said, ''If I knew I was going to become Chancellor, I would never have written the book.'' But he did, and it was for Mein Kampf that Hitler would become most notorious for during his time in prison. Although Hitler was sentenced to 5 years in prison. He only served a few months. |
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