Growth of the Nazi Party: Hitler's early life GCSE Edexcel History 2A

Hitler's Early life - 1

Hitler was born in Austria, in Braunau, which was a small town in Austria.
His younger brother died at the age of 6.
Adolf was at first bright and clever, but after his brother died he turned rebeliious.
His father was a customs officer and wanted Hitler to follor in his footsteps, and so he would physically and mentally abuse him.
Hitler failed school, leaving at the age of 16 and leaving his home at 18 to live in Vienna, the capital of Austria.
He applied for the Arts Academy there twice and failed to get in both times.
He ended up in a hostel for the homeless, scraping a living by painting postcards.
During his 5 years in Vienna, he became interested in politics.
He supported nationalist parties, demanding better wages, conditions and right to vote for workers.
He also grew to hate foreigners, especially the Jews.

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Hitler had a soft spot for his mother, and carried a photo of her everywhere when she died of breast cancer at the age of 48.
He dodged army service during peacetime, but in 1914 he was 'infected' by 'war fever'.
He served the German army and proved to be a brave soldier-he carried messages accross trenches which was a very dangerous job to do.
He won 6 medals for bravery, including the Iron Cross, 1st Class, which was the best medal a soldier could get.
However, he never got above the rank of a corporal.

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