Adolf Hitler and Fried Green Tomatoes: Difference between pages

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{{Infobox Film

[[Image:Hitler.jpg|thumb|230px|right|Adolf Hitler [[:Images of Hitler|alternate images]]]]

| name = Fried Green Tomatoes

'''Adolf Hitlre''' ([[April 20]], [[1889]] - [[April 30]], [[1945]]) was the [[Führer]] (leader) of the [[National Socialist German Workers' Party|National Socialist German Workers' Party]] and of [[Nazi Germany]] from [[1933]] to [[1945]]. In that capacity he was [[Chancellor of Germany|Chancellor]] of [[Germany]], [[head of government]], and [[head of state]], ruling as a [[dictator]].

| image = Fried green tomatoes.jpg

| caption = Movie poster

| director = [[Jon Avnet]]

| producer = [[Jon Avnet]]

| writer = [[Fannie Flagg]]<br />[[Carol Sobieski]]

| narrator =

| starring = [[Kathy Bates]]<br />[[Mary Stuart Masterson]]<br />[[Mary-Louise Parker]]<br />[[Jessica Tandy]]

| music = [[Jo Jo Hailey]]<br />[[K-Ci Hailey]]<br />[[Thomas Newman]]

| cinematography = [[Geoffrey Simpson]]

| editing = [[Debra Neil-Fisher]]

| distributor = [[Universal Pictures]]

| released = [[December 27]] [[1991]]

| runtime = 136 min.

| country = {{USA}}

| language = [[English language|English]]

| budget =

| preceded_by =

| followed_by =

| website =

| amg_id = 1:18668

| imdb_id = 0101921

}}

'''''Fried Green Tomatoes''''' is a [[1991]] drama film based on the novel ''[[Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe]]'' by [[Fannie Flagg]]. It was released in the [[UK]] under the novel's full title.

The film was directed by [[Jon Avnet]] and written by [[Fannie Flagg]] and [[Carol Sobieski]]. It stars [[Kathy Bates]], [[Jessica Tandy]], [[Mary-Louise Parker]] and [[Mary Stuart Masterson]]. It received a [[MPAA film rating system|PG-13]] rating from the [[Motion Picture Association of America|MPAA]].

A gifted, [[charisma|charismatic]] orator possessed of a profound personal presence, Hitler is regarded as one of the most significant [[leadership|leaders]] of [[World history]], although he has become, especially in the United States and Western Europe, virtually emblematic of tyranny and monstrous evil. The [[military-industrial complex]] he fostered pulled Germany out of the post-[[World War I]] economic crisis and, at its height, controlled the greater part of [[Europe]].

==Cast==

{| class="wikitable"

|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"

! Actor !! Role

|-

| [[Kathy Bates]] || Evelyn Couch

|-

| [[Mary Stuart Masterson]] || Idgie Threadgoode

|-

| [[Mary-Louise Parker]] || Ruth Jamison

|-

| [[Jessica Tandy]] || Ninny Threadgoode

|-

| [[Cicely Tyson]] || Sipsey

|-

| [[Chris O'Donnell]] || Buddy Threadgoode

|-

| [[Stan Shaw]] || Big George

|-

| [[Gailard Sartain]] || Ed Couch

|-

| [[Timothy Scott]] || Smokey Lonesome (as Tim Scott)

|-

| [[Gary Basaraba]] || Grady Kilgore

|-

| [[Lois Smith]] || Mama Threadgoode

|-

| [[Jo Harvey Allen]] || Women's Awareness Teacher

|-

| [[Macon McCalman]] || Prosecutor

|-

| [[Richard Riehle]] || Reverend Scroggins

|-

| [[Raynor Scheine]] || Curtis Smoot

|-

| [[Grace Zabriskie]] || Eva Bates

|-

| [[Reid Binion]] || Young Julian

|}

== Plot summary ==

Hitler's attempts to create a [[Greater Germany]] ([[Lebensraum]]), specifically the annexation of [[Austria]] ("[[Anschluss]]") and the invasions of [[Czechoslovakia]] and [[Poland]], were one of the primary factors leading to the outbreak of [[World War II]] in [[1939]]. The embrace of [[total war]] both by the [[Axis Powers|Axis]] and [[Allies|Allied]] powers during this time led to the destruction of much of [[Europe]]. Hitler is held accountable for the [[racial policy of Nazi Germany]], the [[Holocaust]], and the death and displacement of millions occurring during his leadership. Hoping to be the founder of a thousand-year [[Reich]], he was reported to have committed [[suicide]] in his [[Führerbunker|bunker]] beneath [[Berlin]] with Germany in ruins around him and the [[Red Army]] closing in.

Evelyn Couch ([[Kathy Bates]]) meets an elderly woman named Ninny Threadgoode ([[Jessica Tandy]]) in a nursing home waiting room. Ninny tells her the story of the now-abandoned town of Whistle Stop, [[Alabama]], and the people that lived there - specifically the tale of the relationship between Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, the two women that ran the Whistle Stop Cafe. As the story of Idgie and Ruth (and a missing person) develops, Evelyn Couch finds herself being empowered by the stories of the strong-willed Idgie and the fiercely loyal and independent Ruth. She also finds a true best friend in Ninny.

==Childhood==

'''Expanded information'''

Adolf Hitler was born on [[April 20]], [[1889]] at [[Braunau am Inn|Braunau-am-Inn]], a small town near [[Linz]] in the province of [[Upper Austria]], not far from the German border, in what was then [[Austria-Hungary]]. His father, [[Alois Hitler]] ([[1837]]&ndash;[[1903]]), was a minor customs official who had been born illegitimately. Until he was 40, Alois used his mother's surname, ''Schicklgruber''. In [[1876]], Alois took on his adoptive father's surname, originally spelt 'Hiedler'. Later, Adolf Hitler was accused of not rightfully being a Hitler, but a Schicklgruber by his political enemies. Hitler's mother, [[Klara Hitler]] (née Pölzl), was also his father's second cousin. Ultimately, she bore him a total of six children. Only Adolf, who was her second child, and his younger sister [[Paula Hitler|Paula]] survived childhood.

The action takes place in Alabama. The heroine, Evelyn Couch, is a housewife. Evelyn is unhappy with her life and her marriage and her husband Ed appears to not be interested in her any more. Their son Cal is grown and is "busy with his own life." She has a lot of problems including thinking very lowy of herself. She and Ed are visiting his aunt in a nursing home and there in a waiting room she meets an old but very nice woman - Ninny Threadgoode.

Adolf was an intelligent but moody boy and he twice failed to pass the high school admission examinations in Linz. There, he became captivated by the [[anti-Semitism|anti-Semitic]], [[Pan-German movement|Pan-German]] lectures of Professor [[Leopold Poetsch]], who greatly influenced the young man's views. Hitler was devoted to his indulgent mother and may have had a hatred for his father, who was a strict disciplinarian. In his book, ''[[Mein Kampf]]'', written by Hitler partially as propaganda, Adolf is respectful of his father, though he does state that they had irreconcilable differences over his firm decision to become an artist. His father staunchly opposed this career path, wanting Adolf to become a civil servant instead. In January [[1903]] Alois died, and in December [[1907]] Klara died of breast cancer.

Ninny tells her stories about the life of two women she used to know. The heroines of her story are Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison. Together they ran the Whistle Stop Cafe in Ninny's small Alabama home town. The film is named “Fried Green Tomatoes” because it is a feature dish at the cafe. From Ninny’s recollections Evelyn knows that Ruth loved Idgie’s brother who was killed in a railway accident. Then follows the story of the relationship between Ruth and Idgie.

==Early Years==

Ruth and Idgie’s story is about their life after Buddy's death. Idgie helps Ruth to become free from her abusive husband. These two strong women work together to raise Ruth's son. He loses an arm in a railway accident. It is a very touching story of friendship and love, as well as courage and self-sacrifice.

Shortly after his mother's death, Hitler, aged 18, left Linz for [[Vienna]], hoping to become an artist. He had an orphan's pension, and worked as an illustrator of houses and grand buildings. He applied to the Vienna school of art twice, but was rejected. He lost his pension in [[1910]], but by then he had inherited some money from an aunt. The money he had inherited soon ran out. For the next several years he was a painter copying scenes from postcards and selling his paintings to merchants. Yet Hitler lived in [[hostel]]s for homeless people and lived a marginal existence. During his spare time he often attended operas in Vienna's concert halls, especially Norse mythological operas by [[Richard Wagner]]. He also spent much time reading.

The recollections of Ninny greatly influences Evelyn. First she is inspired by the strength and strong-will of these two independent women, and Evelyn’s life changes for the better. Second, she finds a true best friend in Ninny. Evelyn invites Ninny to live with her after Ninny's house in Whistle Stop is destroyed.

It was during his years in Vienna that Hitler began developing into an active [[anti-Semitism|anti-Semite]]. Viennese, at the time, often scorned Jewish people. Moreover, Anti-Semitism was deeply ingrained in the Austrian Catholic culture in which Hitler was raised. Vienna had a large [[Jew]]ish community, including many [[Orthodox Jews]] from Eastern Europe. He became influenced by publicists such as [[Lanz von Liebenfels]] and politicians such as [[Karl Lueger]], the Mayor of Vienna, or [[Georg Ritter von Schönerer]]. From them Hitler acquired the belief in the superiority of the "[[Aryan race]]" which formed the basis of his political views. Ultimately Hitler came to believe that the Jews were the natural enemies of the "Aryans" and were also responsible for Germany's economic problems.

The ending leads you to believe that Ninny is in fact Idgie herself, but her statements during the film do not support this.

In [[1913]], Hitler moved to [[Munich]] to avoid military service in the Austro-Hungarian army. The more racially homogeneous Germany was also more to his liking. The Austrian army later arrested him and gave him a physical examination. Found unfit for service, he was allowed to return to Munich. But in August [[1914]] when the [[German Empire]] entered [[World War I]], he at once enlisted in the [[Bavaria]]n Army. He saw active service in [[France]] and [[Belgium]] as a messenger, which exposed him to enemy fire. Though Hitler's service record was exemplary, he was never promoted beyond corporal because of missing German citizenship. There were also rumours that there was a psychiatric examination which called him "incompetent to command people" and "dangerously [[psychotic]]". He was twice cited for bravery in action, receiving the [[Iron Cross]], Second Class, in December 1914, and the Iron Cross, First Class (an honour seldom given to corporals), in August 1918.

==Differences between the film and novel==

During the war Hitler became a passionate German [[patriotism|patriot]], although he did not actually become a German citizen until [[1932]]. He was shocked at the German capitulation in November [[1918]], when the German army remained, in popular German belief, undefeated. At the time of the surrender, Hitler was recovering in a field hospital from a poison gas attack that had temporarily blinded him. Like many other German nationalists, he blamed civilian politicians (the "[[November criminals]]") for the surrender.

The film version does not present the lesbian romance between the two central characters, making it appear, to viewers who had not read the book, that Idgie and Ruth were merely best friends. The [[DVD]] edition of the film has an audio commentary with the director acknowledging this and pointing out that a scene between the two women engaging in a food fight was intended to be seen as symbolic love-making.

The character [[Artis O. Peavey]], who was a favorite of many in the novel, did not merit an appearance. Additionally, in the novel every important character has his or her own backstory, but many of these were eliminated in the film version.

== The Nazi Party ==

In the novel, Evelyn tries, unsuccessfully, to lose weight on her own several times and, eventually, resorts to going to a weight loss spa. In the film, Evelyn is able to control her dietary habits and maintain a regular exercise regimen on her own.

''See also [[Hitler%92s political beliefs]]''

In the novel, Ninny passes away while Evelyn is visiting a weight loss spa. However, in the film, Ninny leaves the nursing home and ends up going to live with Evelyn and Ed in their home.

After the war Hitler stayed in the army, which was now mainly engaged in suppressing the [[socialist]] uprisings that were breaking out across Germany&mdash;including in Munich, where Hitler returned in [[1919]]. Hitler took part in "national thinking" courses organised by the ''Education and Propaganda Department'' (Dept Ib/P) of the Bavarian ''Reichswehr'' Group, Headquarters 4 under Captain Mayr. One key purpose of this group was to create a [[scapegoat]] for the outbreak of the World War and for Germany's defeat. This scapegoat was found in "international Jewry", in communists, and in politicians across the party spectrum.

The novel's version of Evelyn is somewhat darker than her film portrayal. In the novel, Evelyn is extremely depressed over her weight and how her life has turned to the point of considering suicide. While her unhappiness with her marriage and weight are stated in the film, the degree of seriousness is much lighter than in the novel.

In July 1919 Hitler, because of his intelligence and oratory skills, was appointed a ''V-Mann'' of an "Enlightenment Commando" for the purpose of influencing other soldiers with the same ideas and was assigned by Headquarters to infiltrate a small nationalist party, the [[German Workers' Party]]. Hitler joined the party in September [[1919]]. Here he met [[Dietrich Eckart]], an anti-Semite and one of the early key members of the party.[http://ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/festjc/chap2.htm]

The passage of time in the novel and the film is portrayed differently. In the novel, the events of the story are stretched and explored just after the ending of [[World War I]] up to the late 1980's. In the film, most of the story takes place between 1919 and the late 1930's.

[[Image:Hitlermember.png|thumb|Adolf Hitler's membership card for the German Workers' Party. Hitler wanted to create his own party, but was ordered by his superiors in the Reichswehr to infiltrate an existing one instead.]]

In the novel, Idgie and Big George are placed on trial for the murder of Frank Bennett years after Ruth has passed away. In the film, the trial takes place less than a year before Ruth's death in which she testifies on Idgie's behalf.

In [[1920]], Hitler was discharged from the army. After this he began to take full part in the party's activities. He soon became its leader and changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers Party (''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei''&mdash;NSDAP), usually known as the [[Nazi party]] .

==Box office==

Hitler soon discovered that he had two remarkable talents&mdash;for public oratory and for inspiring personal loyalty. His street-corner oratory, attacking the Jews, the socialists and liberals, the capitalists and Communists, began to attract adherents. Early followers included [[Rudolf Hess]], [[Hermann Göring]], and [[Ernst Röhm]], head of the Nazis' paramilitary organisation, the [[Sturmabteilung|SA]]. Another admirer was the wartime Field-Marshall [[Erich Ludendorff]]. Hitler decided to use Ludendorff as a front in an attempt to seize power in Munich, the capital of [[Bavaria]], later known as the "[[Beer Hall Putsch|Beer Hall ''Putsch'']]" of [[November 8]] [[1923]], when the Nazis marched from a beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry, intending to overthrow Bavaria's right-wing separatist government and then march on Berlin. The army quickly dispersed them and Hitler was arrested. To protect his position as leader, Hitler quickly appointed [[Alfred Rosenberg]] temporary leader.

The film grossed a total of $82,418,501 in the United States alone, and took in $37,000,000 outside the U.S., bringing the total to $119,418,501 worldwide [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=friedgreentomatoes.htm].

==Awards==

Hitler was tried for [[high treason]] and in April [[1924]] he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in [[Landsberg concentration camp|Landsberg Prison]]. Here he dictated a book called ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' (''My Struggle'') to his deputy [[Rudolf Hess]]. Considered relatively harmless, Hitler was given an early amnesty and released in December [[1924]]. By this time the Nazi party barely existed and Hitler would have a long effort in trying to rebuild it. In [[1925]] Hitler established a personal bodyguard, the ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'' ("Protection Unit" or SS). This elite black-uniformed corps was to be commanded by [[Heinrich Himmler]], who was to become the principal executor of his plans with respect to the "Jewish Question" during the Second World War.

[[Image:Dvd fried green tomatoes.jpg|thumb|130px|right|DVD cover]]

The movie was nominated for [[Academy Awards]] for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Actress in a Supporting Role]] (Jessica Tandy) and for [[Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay|Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium]] (Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski).

==The Café==

A key element of Hitler's appeal was the sense of offended national pride caused by the [[Treaty of Versailles]] imposed on the defeated [[Second Reich|German Empire]] by the Allies. Germany lost territory in Europe and its colonies, had to admit to sole responsibility for the war, and pay a huge [[reparations]] bill, totalling $6,600,000 (32 billion marks). Most Germans bitterly resented these terms. Early attempts to gain support by blaming all these humiliations on "international Jewry" were not particularly successful with the electorate. But the party learned quickly, and soon a more subtle propaganda combining anti-Semitism with an attack on the failures of the "[[Weimar]] system" and the parties which had supported it began to come to the fore.

The "Whistle Stop Café" is loosely based on a real-life restaurant, the Irondale Café in [[Irondale, Alabama]]. The restaurant is still very much in operation, and is something of a local tourist attraction, thanks to the novel and movie. It is famous for its [[Fried green tomatoes (food)|fried green tomatoes]], and is located adjacent to the main line of the [[Norfolk Southern Railroad]] (formerly [[Southern Railway (US)|Southern Railway]]) and very near one of the line's large [[classification yard]]s.

Irondale is a suburb of [[Birmingham, Alabama]], Flagg's birthplace. After the film became a hit, the set used as the Whistle Stop Café, on ___location in [[Juliette, Georgia]], was converted into a real restaurant, and is still a tourist attraction.

== The road to power ==

A second Whistle Stop Café ___location can now be found on Houston Rd in [[Macon, Georgia]].

''See also the [[Weimar Timeline]].''

A third Whistle Stop Cafe can can be found in downtown Kennesaw in Georgia.

==External link==

The turning point in Hitler's fortunes came with the [[Great Depression|Depression]] which hit Germany in [[1930]]. The democratic regime established in Germany in [[1919]], the so-called [[Weimar Republic]], had never been genuinely accepted by conservatives and was openly opposed by fascists. The Social Democrats and the traditional parties of the centre and right were unable to deal with the shock of the Depression. In the elections of September [[1930]] the Nazis suddenly rose from obscurity to win more than 18% of the vote and 107 seats in the [[Reichstag (institution)|Reichstag]], becoming the second largest party.

*{{imdb title|id=0101921|title=Fried Green Tomatoes}}

*[http://fgobsession.ravenwolfprods.com Fried Green Obsession]

Hitler won over the bulk of the German farmers, war veterans and the middle-class, who had been hard hit by the inflation of the [[1920s]] and the unemployment of the Depression. The urban working classes generally ignored Hitler's appeals, and [[Berlin]] and the [[Ruhr]] towns were particularly hostile. The [[1930]] election was a disaster for [[Heinrich Brüning|Heinrich Brüning's]] centre-right government, which was now deprived of a majority in the Reichstag. In December 1931, Hitler's niece, [[Geli Raubal]], was found dead in her bedroom. Hitler had taken in his half-sister Angela and her daughter Geli, to live in his Munich apartment in 1929. Some claimed he fell in love with Geli despite the fact she was much younger than he was and was his niece. She had shot herself with one of his handguns. This tragedy disturbed Hitler immensely.

With Brüning's austerity measures having little success, the government was anxious to avoid a presidential election in [[1932]], and hoped to secure the Nazis' agreement to an extension of President [[Paul von Hindenburg]]'s term. But Hitler refused to agree, and ultimately competed against Hindenburg in the presidential election, coming in second in both the first and second rounds of the election, attaining more than 35% of the vote in the second round, in April.

[[image:Adolf-Hitler-7.jpg|left|thumb|320px|Hitler greets supporters from aboard a parade vehicle]]

Hindenburg dismissed the government, appointing a new government under the reactionary non-entity [[Franz von Papen]], which immediately called for new Reichstag elections. In the July [[1932]] elections the Nazis had their best showing yet, winning 230 seats and becoming the largest party. Since now the Nazis and Communists together controlled a majority of the Reichstag, the formation of a stable government of mainstream parties was impossible. Following a vote of no-confidence in the Papen government supported by 84% of the delegates, the new Reichstag was immediately dissolved and new elections called.

Papen and the [[Catholic Centre Party|Centre Party]] now both opened negotiations to secure Nazi participation in the government, but Hitler set high terms, demanding the Chancellorship and the President's agreement that he be able to use emergency powers. This failure to join the government, along with the Nazis' efforts to win working class support, alienated some of the Nazis' previous supporters, so that in the elections of November 1932, the Nazis actually lost votes, although they remained by far the largest party in the Reichstag. As Papen had failed to secure a majority, Hindenburg dismissed him and appointed General [[Kurt von Schleicher]], who promised that he could secure a majority government by negotiations with both Social Democratic labour unions and with the dissident Nazi faction led by [[Gregor Strasser]].

Papen and Alfred Hugenberg, who was also Chairman of the [[German National People's Party]] (DNVP), before the Nazis' rise to being Germany's principal right-wing party, now conspired to persuade Hindenburg to appoint Hitler Chancellor in a coalition with the DNVP, promising that they would be able to control him. When Schleicher was forced to admit failure in his efforts to form a coalition and asked Hindenburg for yet another Reichstag dissolution, Hindenburg fired him and appointed Hitler Chancellor, Papen [[Vice Chancellor of Germany|Vice-Chancellor]] and Hugenberg Minister of Economics, in a cabinet which only included three Nazis&mdash;Hitler, Göring, and [[Wilhelm Frick]]. On [[30 January]] [[1933]], Adolf Hitler was officially sworn in as Chancellor in the Reichstag chamber, with thousands of Nazi supporters looking on and cheering.

In the election of [[March]] [[1933]], the Nazis received 44% of the vote. The party gained control of a majority of seats in the Reichstag through a formal coalition with the [[DNVP]]. Finally, the [[Enabling Act]], which invested Hitler with dictatorial authority, was passed by the Reichstag after the Nazis expelled the Communist deputies and intimidated Centre Party ministers to make sure it got the two thirds support it needed. Under the Enabling Act, the Nazi cabinet had the power to pass legislation, just as the Reichstag did; the Act further specified that the cabinet could only approve measures submitted by the Chancellor (Hitler), and that it would lapse after four years time or upon the installation of a new government. The Enabling Act was dutifully renewed every four years, even during World War II.

In a series of decrees that followed soon after the passage of the Enabling Act, other parties were suppressed and all opposition was banned. In only a few months Hitler had achieved [[authoritarian]] control. Finally, in early August 1934, President Von Hindenburg died. Rather than have new presidential elections, Hitler's cabinet passed a law combining the offices of President and Chancellor, with Hitler holding the powers of both offices (including the President's decree powers) as "Leader and National Chancellor." This consolidation was approved by the electorate in mid-August 1934. Hitler then had the military swear an oath of allegience to him personally --- an unprecedented step.

== The Nazi regime ==

Having secured supreme political power without winning support from the majority of Germans, Hitler did go on to win it and remained overwhelmingly popular until the very end of his regime. He was a master orator, and with all of Germany's mass media under the control of his propaganda chief, Dr. [[Joseph Goebbels]], he was able to persuade most Germans that he was their saviour from the Depression, the Communists, the Versailles Treaty and the Jews.

===Economics and Culture===

Once in power, Hitler oversaw one of the greatest expansions of industrial production and civil improvement that Germany had ever seen. The German economy achieved near full employment and greatly expanded its economic and industrial base. Hitler also oversaw one of the largest infrastructure improvement campaigns in German history, with the construction of dozens of dams, [[autobahn]]s, railroads, and other civil improvements. Hitler's health initiatives for ethnic Germans were successful and progressive. Hitler's policies emphasised the importance of family life: men were the breadwinners, women&#8217;s priorities being Church, Kitchen and Children.

Excellence was encouraged in all spheres. Hitler&#8217;s government sponsored architecture on a great scale, with [[Albert Speer]] becoming famous as the first architect of the Reich. In 1936, Berlin hosted the [[1936 Summer Olympics|summer Olympic games]], which were opened by Hitler and billed as a showpiece of German excellence.

For these and other reasons, Hitler was very popular among the German people during this time.

While Hitler made plans for a [[Breitspurbahn]], or [[broad gauge]] railroad network, such plans were pre-empted by WWII. The gauge, had the railroad been built as planned, was to have been three meters, even wider than the old [[Great Western Railway]] of Britain.

===Repression===

For those who were not persuaded, the SA, the SS and the ''[[Gestapo]]'' (secret state police) were given a free hand, and thousands disappeared into [[concentration camps]]. Many thousands more emigrated, including about half of Germany's Jews.

By [[1934]], [[Ernst Röhm]]'s SA had become unpopular with most of the other arms of political and military influence in Germany. Hitler unleashed his lieutenant Himmler to murder Röhm and dozens of other real and potential enemies during the night of [[June 29]]&ndash;[[June 30]], [[1934]], the [[Night of the Long Knives]]. When Hindenburg died on [[August 2]] [[1934]] Hitler merged the offices of President and Chancellor, appointing himself Leader (''[[Führer]]'') of Germany, and extracting an oath of personal loyalty from every member of the armed forces. This merger, which had been approved by the Weimar parliament only hours before the death of Hindenburg, was later validated by a majority of 89.9% of the electorate in a vote by plebiscite on [[August 19]] [[1934]].

Under the [[1935]] [[Nuremberg Laws]] the Jews lost their status as German citizens and were expelled from government employment, the professions and most forms of economic activity. They were subject to a barrage of hateful propaganda. Few non-Jewish Germans objected to these steps. These restrictions were further tightened later, particularly after the [[1938]] anti-Jewish operation known as ''[[Kristallnacht]]''. From [[1941]] Jews were required to wear a yellow star in public. Between November 1938 and September 1939, more than 180,000 Jews fled Germany; the Nazis seized whatever property they left behind.

===Rearmament and new alliances===

In March [[1935]] Hitler repudiated the [[Treaty of Versailles]] by reintroducing conscription in Germany. He set about building a massive military machine, including a new Navy and an Air Force (the [[Luftwaffe]]). The enlistment of vast numbers of men and women in the new military seemed to solve unemployment problems, but seriously distorted its economy.

In March [[1936]] he again violated the [[Treaty of Versailles]] by reoccupying the demilitarised zone in the [[Rhineland]]. When Britain and France did nothing to stop him, he grew bolder. In July [[1936]] the [[Spanish Civil War]] began when the military, led by General [[Francisco Franco]], rebelled against the elected [[Popular Front]] government of [[Spain]]. Hitler sent troops to help the rebels. Spain served as a testing ground for Germany's new armed forces and their methods, including the bombing of undefended towns such as [[Guernica]], which was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in April [[1937]], prompting [[Pablo Picasso]]'s famous painting of the same name (see [[Guernica (painting)]]).

Hitler formed an alliance with the Italian fascist dictator [[Benito Mussolini]] on [[October 25]], [[1936]]. This alliance was later expanded to include [[Japan]], [[Hungary]], [[Romania]] and [[Bulgaria]]. They are collectively known as the [[Axis Power]]s. Then on [[November 5]], [[1937]] at the [[Reich Chancellery]], Adolf Hitler held a secret meeting and stated his plans for acquiring "living space" ([[Lebensraum]]) for the German people.

=== The Holocaust ===

[[Image:Himmler_Hitler.jpg|left|thumb|[[Heinrich Himmler]] (left) chief of the SS (responsible for rounding up Jews), with Adolf Hitler]]

''Main article: [[Holocaust]]''.

Between [[1942]] and [[1944]] the SS, assisted by collaborationist governments and recruits from occupied countries, systematically killed approximately 3.5 million Jews in concentration camps. Others were killed less systematically elsewhere, or died of starvation and disease while working as [[slave labor]]ers. As well as Jews, [[communist]]s, [[homosexual]]s, [[Catholicism|Catholics]], [[Roma (people)|Roma]], the physically [[handicapped]], the mentally [[retarded]], [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] prisoners of war, the [[Poland|Polish]] [[intelligentsia]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses and the Holocaust|Jehovah's Witnesses]], anti-Nazi clergy and [[trade union]]ists and [[psychiatric]] patients were also targeted. This programme to eliminate those considered undesirable by the Nazis is now generally called the [[Holocaust]].

The massacre that would lead to the word "[[genocide]]" being coined, the [[Endlösung]], emerged among top Nazis, with Himmler playing a key role. While no specific order from Hitler authorizing the mass killing of the Jews has surfaced, although there is documentation that he approved of the ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'', the evidence suggests that sometime in the fall of [[1941]], Himmler and he agreed in principle on mass murder by gassing. To make for smoother intra-governmental cooperation in the implementation of this "Final Solution," to the "Jewish Question," the [[Wannsee conference]] was held near Berlin on [[January 20]], [[1942]] with the participation of fifteen senior officials, led by [[Reinhard Heydrich]] and [[Adolf Eichmann]], the records of which provide the best evidence of the central planning of the Holocaust. Just days later, on [[February 22]], Hitler was recorded saying "We shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews" to his closest associates.

==World War II==

===Opening moves===

On [[12 March]] [[1938]], Hitler pressured his native [[Austria]] into unification with Germany (the [[Anschluss]]) and made a triumphal entry into Vienna. Next he intensified a crisis over the German-speaking [[Sudetenland]] district of [[Czechoslovakia]]. This led to the [[Munich Agreement]] of September [[1938]], which British prime minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] hailed as 'Peace in our time'. At Munich, Britain and France had weakly given way to his demands, averting war but failing to save Czechoslovakia. As a result of the summit, Hitler was ''[[Time Magazine]]'''s [[Man of the Year]] in 1938.

Hitler ordered Germany's army to enter [[Prague]] on [[10 March]] [[1939]]. At this point Britain and France decided to make a stand. and they resisted Hitler's demand for the return of the territories ceded to [[Poland]] under the [[Treaty of Versailles|Versailles Treaty]]. But the western powers were unable to come to an agreement with the [[Soviet Union]] for an alliance against Germany, and Hitler outmaneuvered them. On [[23 August]] [[1939]] he concluded a secret alliance (the [[Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]]) with Stalin. On [[1 September]] Germany invaded Poland. Hitler was surprised when Britain and France honoured their pledge to the Poles by declaring war on Germany.

After conquering Poland by the end of September, Hitler built up his forces much further during what was colloquially called the "[[sitzkrieg]]", (sitting war). The sitzkrieg ended in March 1940, when he ordered German forces to march into Denmark and Norway. In May 1940, Hitler ordered his forces to attack France, conquering the Netherlands and Belgium during the offensive. France surrendered on June 22, 1940. This string of victories convinced his main ally, [[Benito Mussolini]] of Italy, to join the war on Hitler's side on May 1940.

Great Britain, whose forces had been driven from France at the coast of Dunkirk, continued to fight on alone. Hitler ordered a bombing raid on the British Isles, leading to the [[Battle of Britain]], which continued until May 1941.

===Total war===

On June 22, 1941, Hitler gave the signal for 3 million German troops to attack the Soviet Union. The resulting invasion, called [[Operation Barbarossa]], seized huge amounts of territory, especially the Baltic states and the Ukraine, resulting in destruction of many Soviet forces. The German forces were stopped short of Moscow in December 1941 by a harsh winter and fierce Soviet resistance, however (see [[Battle of Moscow]]), and thus the invasion failed to achieve the quick triumph over the Soviet Union that Hitler had anticipated.

German forces were defeated at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], the first major defeat Germany suffered in the war. In North Africa, Britain defeated Germany at the battle of [[El Alamein]], thwarting Hitler's plans of seizing the [[Suez Canal]] and the [[Middle East]]. These defeats were a key turning point in the war. After these, Hitler&#8217;s military decisions became increasingly erratic, as Germany's military and economic position deteriorated. His health was deteriorating too: his left hand had started shaking, and he found it difficult to control. The biographer [[Ian Kershaw]] believes he suffered from [[Parkinson's disease]].

His declaration of war against the [[United States]] on [[December 11]] [[1941]] (which arguably was called for by treaty with [[Japan]]) set him against a coalition of the world's largest empire (the [[British Empire]]), the world's greatest industrial and financial power (the [[United States|USA]]), and the world's largest nation (the [[Soviet Union]]).

Hitler's ally [[Benito Mussolini]] was overthrown in [[1943]]. Meanwhile the [[Soviet Union]] was steadily forcing Hitler's armies to retreat in the East. On [[June 6]] [[1944]] ([[D-Day]]), Allied armies landed in northern France. Realists in the German army saw that defeat was inevitable, and some officers plotted to remove Hitler from power. In July [[1944]] one of them, [[Claus von Stauffenberg]] planted a bomb at Hitler's military headquarters (the so-called [[July 20 Plot]]), but Hitler narrowly escaped death. Savage reprisals followed and the resistance movement was crushed.

===Defeat and Death===

By the end of 1944, the Soviets had driven the last German troops from their territory and began charging into Central Europe. The western armies were advancing into Germany. The Germans had lost the war from a military perspective but Hitler allowed no peace talks with the Allied forces and as a consequence the German military continued to fight. By April 1945, the Soviet forces were at the gates of Berlin. Hitler's closest lieutenants urged him to flee to Bavaria or Austria to make a last stand in the mountains, but he was determined to die in his capital.

With his armies crumbled and as Soviet forces battled their way toward his Reichstag in the center of the city, Hitler committed suicide in his [[Führerbunker]] on [[April 30]], [[1945]], in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]] by shooting himself in the head while simultaneously biting into a [[cyanide]] tablet. Hitler's body, along with that of his long-term mistress who he had married days before, [[Eva Braun]] (who committed suicide with him), was burned shortly after death by fellow Nazis who were in the bunker. However, a few have questioned this account.

In his will, Hitler dismissed the other Nazi leaders and appointed Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]] as the new [[President of Germany]] and [[Joseph Goebbels|Goebbels]] as the new [[Chancellor of Germany]]. However, Goebbels and his entire family committed suicide on [[May 1]], [[1945]]. On [[May 8]], [[1945]], Germany surrendered. Hitler's proclaimed "Thousand Year Reich" had barely lasted 12 years.

Since the defeat of Germany in World War II, Hitler, the Nazi Party and the [[Consequences of German Nazism|results of Nazism]] have been regarded in much of the world as synonymous with [[evil]]. Historical and [[Hitler in popular culture|cultural portrayals of Hitler]] in the west are almost uniformly negative. Despite this, there have been instances of public figures referring to his legacy in neutral or even favourable terms -- particularly in [[South America]], [[India]], the [[Islamic World]], and parts of [[Asia]]. Future [[Egypt]]ian President [[Anwar Sadat]] wrote favourably of Hitler in [[1953]], and [[Bal Thackeray]], leader of the right-wing [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] (or [[Hindutva]]) party [[Shiv Sena]] in the Indian state of [[Maharashtra]], declared in [[1995]] that he was an admirer of Hitler.

Hitler&#8217;s ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' is not widely available in Germany. His legacy, as interpreted by most historians, has caused him to be one of the most denounced men in history. [[revisionist history|Revisionist historians]], however, point out that Hitler's attempt to improve the economic and political standing and conditions of his people and how he went about it, was, in essence, no different than that of many other leaders in history and thus this denouncement is hypocritical and not completely objective.

==Medical Health==

From the early 1930&#8217;s the care for Hitler&#8217;s health was entrusted to the young [[SS]] officer and surgeon Dr. [[Karl Brandt]] who was assisted by Professor [[Werner Haase]]. Unbeknownst to most people today, and especially to Germans at the time, Hitler suffered from a number of medical problems since confirmed by evidence left behind by the Nazis. Hitler's favorite physician, Professor [[Theo Morell]], with whom he became acquainted in the late 1930s, was somewhat responsible for this. Adolf Hitler suffered from two problems when he first met Morell, terrible gastro-intestinal problems, often resulting in flatulence, and skin lesions on his thighs. Later, under the care of Morell, he developed an irregular heartbeat and aggressive tremors throughout the left side of his body. In addition he became dependent on (and possibly addicted to) [[methamphetamines]] supplied to him daily by Morell, which the doctor called Multivitamin (both via injection and in little tablets in innocent looking gold packages). Hitler's tremors and irregular heartbeat are most likely the result of [[Syphilis]], and Morell diagnosed them as such by early 1945 in a joint report to [[Heinrich Himmler]] along with another doctor. Another piece of supporting evidence is Hitler's discussion of Syphilis through 14 pages of [[Mein Kampf]], which he called a "Jewish disease". This leads to the belief that he may have had the disease himself. Also, Hitler's symptoms throughout the last years of his life closely resemble the tertiary stage of Syphilis. It is also speculated that it could have been [[Parkinson's disease]] as Morrell started treating Hitler with a medication commonly used to treat the condition in 1945, although Morell was such an unreliable doctor that there is some doubt as to the validity of any of the doctor's diagnoses.

== Related articles ==

*[[Anti-semitism]]

*[[Cultural representations of Hitler]]

*[[Esoteric Hitlerism]]

*[[History of Austria]]

*[[History of Germany]]

*[[Homosexuals in Nazi Germany]]

*[[Members of Hitler's cabinet]]

*[[Nazism]]

*[[Nazi Germany]]

*[[Nazi Party]]

*[[Nero Decree]]

*[[World War II]]

*''[[Mein Kampf]]''

===Hitler's family===

*[[Eva Braun]] mistress and then wife

*[[Alois Hitler]] father

*[[Klara Hitler]] mother

*[[Paula Hitler]] sister

*[[Alois Hitler, Jr.]] half-brother

*[[Bridget Dowling]] sister-in-law

*[[William Patrick Hitler]] nephew

*[[Angela Hitler|Angela Hitler Raubal]] half-sister

*[[Geli Raubal]] niece and rumoured mistress

*[[Maria Schicklgruber]] grandmother

*[[Johann Georg Hiedler]] presumed grandfather

*[[Johann Nepomuk Hiedler|Johann von Nepomuk Hiedler]] maternal great-grandfather, presumed great uncle and possibly Hitler's true paternal grandfather

''See also: [http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/aa070197.htm Ancestry of Adolf Hitler - Who was Adolf's grandfather?]'' and ''[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_325b.html The Straight Dope: Was Hitler part Jewish?]''

== References and further reading ==

* ''[[The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich]]'', [[William L. Shirer]] ([[1960]]). Gramercy. (ISBN 0517102943)

*Doron Arazi, ''Adolf Hitler: A Bibliography'', Greenwood, 1994, ISBN 0-877-36360-1

*[[Alan Bullock]], ''Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives'', HarperCollins, 1991, ISBN 0679729941

*Alan Bullock, ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', ISBN 0060920203

*[[Joachim Fest]], ''Hitler'', Harvest Books, 2002, ISBN 0156027542

*Brigitte Hamann, Thomas Thornton, ''Hitler's Vienna'', Oxford University Press; New Ed edition, 2000

*[[Ian Kershaw]], ''Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris'', W W Norton, 1999, and ''Hitler 1937-1945: Nemesis'', W W Norton, 2000, ISBN 0393320359

*Lothar Machtan, ''The Hidden Hitler'' (Basic Books, 2001, ISBN 0-465-04308-9; English translation by John Brownjohn)

== External links ==

{{wikiquote}}

{{Wikisource author}}

* [http://www.hitler.org The Hitler Historical Museum]

* [http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0386944/ Adolf Hitler] at the [[Internet Movie Database]]

* [http://www.mondopolitico.com/library/meinkampf/introduction.htm Mondo Politico Library's presentation of Adolf Hitler's book, ''Mein Kampf'' (full text, formatted for easy on-screen reading)]

* [http://www.adolfhitler.ws/index.php Extensive site on Adolf Hitler]

* [http://www.third-reich-books.com/x-584-courier-adolf-hitler-1914-1918.htm Excerpt from book about Hitler's WWI military service]

* [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/6146/index.html All early images of Adolf Hitler up to 1925]

* [http://www.jewwatch.com/jew-references-gentile-hitler-quotes.html Opinion of Hitler about Jews in his own words]

* [http://www.threetwoone.org/diagrams/hitler-family-tree.gif A detailed chart of Hitler's family tree]

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{| align=center border=1 style="text-align:center;"

|-

|width="30%"|Preceded by:<br>'''[[Paul von Hindenburg]]'''

|width="40%"|'''[[President of Germany]]'''<br>1934&ndash;1945

|width="30%"|Succeeded by:<br>'''[[Karl Dönitz]]'''

|-

|Preceded by:<br>'''[[Kurt von Schleicher]]'''

|'''[[Chancellor of Germany]]'''<br>1933&ndash;1945

|Succeeded by:<br>'''[[Joseph Goebbels]]'''

|-

|colspan="3"|''Titles were combined 1934-1945 as '''[[Führer]] and Chancellor'''''

|}

[[Category:1991 films|Fried Green Tomatoes]]

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