Hitler was finally released from hospital but he remained in military service. In 1919 he underwent training as a ‘political officer’. Having completed his training, Hitler’s job was to ensure that the troops were not influenced by those advocating socialist, pacifist, and even democratic ideas. Again in 1919 the head of the political section of the army gave Hitler a specific task. He was instructed to attend, in civilian clothes, the meetings of both left and right-wing political groups around the city of Munich. His job was to go along to these meetings, listen to what was being said, and then report his findings to his superiors. In this way it was hoped to learn what was happening at a grass-roots level on the then turbulent political scene.

It was while doing this work that Adolf Hitler first came in contact with a particular small right-wing group, the Deutscher Arbeiterpartei (German Workers’ Party) in September 1919. Going along to the meetings Hitler discovered that the views of this party were actually very similar to his own views. Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party as member number 55. When Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party’s Executive Committee his original membership number 55 would be altered; Hitler then became number 7. It was only then that Hitler discovered that he could hold an audience through the power of his oratory. He was soon addressing the meetings of the German Workers’ Party on a regular basis and encouraging new membership. Hitler finally left the army in April 1920. Undoubtedly Hitler’s greatest attribute was his natural ability as a great orator, but also his uncanny ability to attune to the expectations and needs of his audiences. Additionally he had a fantastic memory; Hitler could accurately recall minute details from conversations and events that had taken place many years before.

By July 1921 Adolf Hitler had won the internal battle for control of the party, now renamed the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP; National Socialist German Workers’ Party). On 9 November 1923 the Nazis attempted to seize power in Bavaria when they carried out the Munich Beer-Hall Putsch (Revolt). The attempt failed, and Hitler subsequently stood trial on a charge of treason. If convicted, and given the maximum penalty under the law, Hitler was in fact facing a death penalty. The trials began on 28 February 1924. Of the accused, Adolf Hitler would dominate the proceedings. Thanks to the intervention of powerful friends in the Justice Ministry, and while highly irregular, Hitler was permitted to cross-examine witnesses. Additionally, he was allowed to make what amounted to speeches and proclamations promoting the Party’s ideals during the trials. Again, thanks to the intervention of these same powerful friends and a judge who was not unsympathetic towards the Nazis, Hitler was sentenced to five years imprisonment on 1 April 1924. This, in fact, was the minimum sentence that could be handed down to a person convicted of treason.

The trials attracted great media attention. The press reported the trials throughout Germany and beyond on a daily basis. Hitler seized upon the interest of the press, here was his opportunity, and he made the most of it. By the end of the proceedings Hitler had emerged as both victim and patriot. He and his party had achieved a level of publicity they might otherwise never have dreamed of. The Putsch had not been a failure after all. It was around this time that Adolf Hitler decided that all further attempts to achieve power would be by legal means. In the meantime, he was dispatched to the prison fortress at Landsberg am Lech to serve his sentence. On his arrival at Landsberg, Hitler found he was treated as something of a celebrity. His cell door was left open most of the time, he had the freedom of the prison grounds, and he could receive visitors. It was during this period of incarnation that Hitler wrote the first part of his book; Mein Kampf (My Struggle). His friend and fellow-prisoner, Rudolf Hess, acted as secretary to Hitler during this time.

Adolf Hitler was released from Landsberg Prison on 20 December 1924. He had in fact served less than twelve months of the five year sentence. Upon his release he immediately returned to Berchtesgaden where he stayed with friends and benefactors. One of the terms of Hitler’s early prison release was a ban on public speaking. But that did not stop Adolf Hitler; he still found opportunities to speak to local people and those in the surrounding areas. He did however keep quite a low profile, should the authorities back in Munich get wind of his public speaking activities he might just find himself back in prison. It was during this time, while renting a small hut on the Obersalzberg above Berchtesgaden that Hitler wrote the second part of Mein Kampf.

Notwithstanding the charismatic, almost magnetic personality and oratory of its leader, Adolf Hitler, many ordinary Germans were drawn to the Nazi Party simply because it opposed Communism. Nonetheless, while the Party attempted to assume the mantle of respectability, the existing mainstream political parties viewed the NSDAP as upstarts not to be taken seriously. This failure to recognize what was really happening would be their undoing. While never able to achieve an overall majority in the Reichstag, the NSDAP achieved great electoral success during the many elections held in Germany through the late 1920s and early 1930s. The elections held in November 1932 saw the Nazis emerge as the single strongest political party in Germany. In the end the NSDAP came to power through legal means. No longer able to exclude Hitler and the Nazis, and seeing their own position weakened, German Chancellor Franz von Papen and Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, the ageing German President did a deal; they offered Hitler the Chancellorship with von Papen as Vice-Chancellor, believing in this way they might contain and control Hitler. They were wrong. Once in power, Hitler, the skilled politician, easily outmanoeuvred his soon-to-be bewildered would-be keepers with ease.

Adolf Hitler acted quickly in his bid to gather all power unto himself. The Enabling Act that was passed on 24 March 1933 gave him independence from both the Reichstag and the President. Previous Chancellors had been dependent on the President’s power to issue emergency decrees under Article 48 of the Constitution. Hitler now reserved that right for himself; furthermore, he now had the right to set aside the Constitution itself. President von Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934. Within a matter of hours of his passing it was announced that henceforth the office of President would be merged with that of Chancellor. Effectively Adolf Hitler would become Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces. Later that day the men of the German Army swore an oath of allegiance to their new commander, Adolf Hitler.

On 19 August 1934 the German people went to the polls to vote on the amalgamation of the powers of the President’s office with those of the Reich Chancellor, 95.7 per cent of the electorate went to the polls. Of over forty-five million voters who turned out, thirty-eight million, 89.93 per cent voted in favour. Hitler was jubilant; he had achieved everything he had set out to. The following years were spent openly defying the terms of the much-hated Versailles Treaty imposed on the German nation in 1919. Hitler set about regaining many of the former German territories lost following the First World War. Again, apart from some diplomatic protesting on the part of the Western Allies, chiefly Britain and France, there was no action taken. Even when German forces entered Czechoslovakia in 1939 the European powers sat idly by. Hitler’s popularity at home was now immense. German national pride had been restored. The injustices of the Versailles Treaty had been redressed.

The Führer would soon turn his attention towards Poland and the east, leading his reinvigorated country into a world war that would spell disaster for millions. Adolf Hitler would shoot himself in his Berlin bunker on 30 April 1945 as the great empire he had built crumbled around him. Eva Hitler would end her life at her husband’s side, taking cyanide. The Führer had left instructions as to what should take place after his death, and these were followed to the letter. Hitler had previously ordered that fuel should be collected and brought to the Reich Chancellery. The two bodies were carried up out of the bunker, and under almost continuous Russian artillery bombardment, the remains were placed side by side in a shell crater close to the bunker entrance. Fuel was poured into the crater and over the remains; then set alight.

Hitler’s reasoning for not having married as a younger man was in part explained in a conversation he had with his valet, Heinz Linge. The Führer explained that from a propaganda viewpoint he was anxious to maintain the appearance of a statesman who dedicated all his energy to the German nation. He went on to question the role and achievements of the children of great men through history. He continued by stating that the people’s expectation of the children of those who achieve greatness, often, if not always, fell far short of the expectation. Hitler concluded, ‘A son of mine would only be a burden and accordingly an unhappy person or a danger.’ However, the possibility that Hitler may have had a son remains vague and unanswered. It was said that a liaison between Hitler and a French girl, Charlotte Lobjoie in 1917 had produced a son, Jean-Marie, born in March 1918. Linge believed that a private meeting between Hitler and Himmler in July 1940 concluded with Himmler being instructed to do everything possible to trace the mother and child. On the other hand, having personally discussed this matter with a former member of Hitler’s staff, and someone who spent considerable time in his presence, I am reliably informed by this person that they never heard any talk amongst Hitler’s intimates of the Führer having fathered a child.

To unravel and to begin to understand the complex personality that was Adolf Hitler is a subject worthy of several volumes in its own right. However, understanding Hitler’s immense popularity through the 1930s is somewhat easier. While we know that innovative propaganda was instrumental in bringing about Nazi electoral success. A number of contributing factors beyond Hitler’s control also played their part in bringing the Nazis to power. The humiliation of defeat in 1918; the deeply resented Versailles Treaty; the loss of national pride; the perceived weakness and subsequent resentment of the democratic Weimar government; world economic depression; high unemployment; lawlessness and general misery; all these things were continually played upon by the Nazis. By the end of 1932 the establishment had lost all credibility in the eyes of the public. An ageing German President, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and Chancellor Franz von Papen concluded that a Hitler in government would be more easily controlled than a Hitler outside government. These would-be controllers soon became the controlled.

In less than four years in power it seemed that Hitler got to grips with many of the country’s ills. The almost ‘Godlike’ image of the Führer, in no small part manufactured by Nazi propaganda, reflected the expectations and sentiments of the vast majority of the population. The Führer’s perceived success in rebuilding much of the infrastructure and the economy, not to mention his successes in foreign policy made Hitler extremely popular. High unemployment had been addressed. Law and order had been re-established, if at the cost of certain civil liberties. Above all, national pride had been restored. Any shortcomings were put down to the actions of subordinates; they were not the fault of the Führer. Hitler, it seemed was beyond reproach. Even foreign governments of the day stood in awe and admiration of Hitler’s achievements in the 1930s. The German Führer was perceived as a talented visionary. At home the life of the average German had improved beyond all recognition. Notwithstanding the as yet unknown terrible hidden agenda, why would they not support the Führer and the Nazi Party?