Hitler: the rise of evil TIMELINE

  • Adolf Hitler is bornin the Austrian town of Braunau on the border between Austria and Germany.

  • Period: to

    Hitler's years

  • Hitler's father died of a heart attack when Hitlers was only 13 years old

  • Hitler fails the entrance examination of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

  • Hitler’s mother Klara (born Pölzl), dies of breast cancer.

  • Hitler fails the Academy of Fine Arts entrance examination forthe second time.

  • in 1908-1913, Hitler lives the life of a nomad in Vienna, paintingpostcard scenes of the city to earn a meager living.

  • On his 24th birthday, Hitler receives his inheritance from hisfather’s estate. He moves shortly afterward to Munich, Germany.

  • Hitler cheers the news that the First World War has begun,and two days later he enlists in the German army. At the outset ofthe war, Germany and Austria-Hungary are lined up against Serbiaand Russia, who are joined almost immediately by England andFrance,

  • Hitler receives the Iron Cross for bravery as a frontlinerunner.

  • Hitler is temporarily blinded during a mustard-gas attack.

  • Kaiser Wilhelm, the ruler of Germany, abdicates and theGerman Empire comes to an end. Hitler, recuperating in a military hospital, isstunned when he hears the news.

  • Germany’s new Social Democratic government signs anarmistice with the Allies; the First World War is over.

  • The Treaty of Versailles is signed in France, formally endingthe war. Under its terms, heavy reparation payments are imposed onGermany, generating an economic crisis that threatens the country’s frail newdemocratic government.

  • from 1921-1922, Rudolf Hess, Ernst and Helene Hanfstaengl, and Hermann Göringjoin Hitler’s inner political and social circle. All four were drawn to Hitler’scharismatic personality.

  • Inflation runs rampant in Germany, causing much sufferingand political unrest. At the height of the inflation, one egg costs what thirtymillion eggs cost before the First World War.

  • Hitler and his Nazi followers launch the “Beer HallPutsch” in Munich. Its goal is to seize power in the city and the rest of Bavaria,and then overthrow the weak national government in Berlin.

  • The putsch collapses. After contemplating suicide, Hitleris arrested and charged with treason.

  • Hitler pleads guilty at his trial and is sentenced to five yearsin prison. But he is eligible for an early parole.

  • march-november, 1924, 1924—While in prison, Hitler begins work on his bookMein Kampf (My Struggle), which is part autobiography, part political testament.In it, he details his irrational hatred of the Jews and spells outGermany’s need for more territory i

  • Hitler is released from prison and returns to Munich

  • Hitler resumes leadership of the Nazi Party and says that itsnew policy will be to win elections, not attempt another putsch.

  • at summer, Mein Kampf is published and attracts many new members tothe Nazi Party.

  • spring, Hitler rents a country house in the Bavarian Alps and hires hishalf-sister, Angela Raubal, to manage it. He becomes enamored of Angela’stwenty-year-old daughter, Geli.

  • The New York Stock Exchange (Wall Street)crashes, setting off a worldwide depression. Germany, still burdenedby its debts from the First World War, is hit especially hard. That samemonth, Hitler meets Eva Braun, the attractive young assistant of his favor

  • As Germany suffers from the Great Depression, the Nazismake major gains in an election for seats in the Reichstag, the nation’s parliament.

  • Geli Raubal is found dead in Hitler’s Munich apartment

  • Hitler runs for president of Germany against the incumbent,Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg. Hitler loses, but has more than a third ofthe vote, making him a figure to contend with on the German political scene.

  • The Nazis win more seats in the Reichstag than any other party.Hitler demands that he be named chancellor,the second most powerful position inthe government.

  • Hitler is sworn in aschancellor after President Hindenburggives in to heavy pressure from Franz vonPapen and other influential figures.

  • The Reichstag building goes up in flames. A young DutchCommunist is accused of setting the fire. The Nazi-controlled Reichstag grantsHitler emergency powers to protect the nation from a presumed Communistuprising, and most of the civil liberties guarantee

  • June 30-July 1, Hitler purges many of his rivals and enemies, and alsoa number of his longtime colleagues, including Ernst Röhm. This systematicslaughter is often called “The Night of the Long Knives.”

  • President Hindenburg dies. The offices of president and chancellorare combined, and Adolf Hitler assumes both positions. Now he is theundisputed ruler of Germany and can embark on the evil course he first laidout in Mein Kampf: to remove the Jews from Eur