Hitler Was NOT German... So How Did He Take Over Germany?

Hitler Rose to Power by bending the rules  and exploiting loopholes in the fragmented political system of postwar Germany you know  the story of what happened once he became Chancellor but how the did this man get elected  as Germany's head of state when he wasn't even German if you have political Ambitions of  any degree unfortunately there is one simple winning formula you need to utilize nationalistic  Spirit exploit tensions between nations and invoke Nostalgia to Rally a crowd and when it c

omes to  history's biggest social climbers one guy who knew this well was Adolf Hitler don't get me wrong the  furer ain't exactly a go-to role model ultimately the man as well as the Empire he built got what  they deserved but how he ruled a country despite being a four National is as much a fascinating  story as it is a cautionary [Music] tale Step One Nail your pitch with a backstory a little over  a century ago the world was so different it might as well been another planet Europe was made u

p  of Empires kingdoms and the occasional emerging nation state one of the big players was the austr  Hungarian Empire which formed in the aftermath of the austral Prussian War most historians  refer to it as a 7 weeks War but some call it the German Civil War that's because following  the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire Germany was not unified but made up of 39 sovereign  states that shared a language and culture some of these German states supported Austria in their  fight against Prussia

and other states supported Prussia in their fight against Austria in the end  Prussia was the decisive Victor so Austria formed an alliance with Hungary in 1867 whereby both  sovereign powers would be United under a single Monarch basically they did the buddy system to  make sure neither of them got their butts beat again this new project encompassed a vast range  of different cultures traditions and languages however Austria remained the core identity of this  fledging Empire as for the remain

ing German states they unified together under Prussian leadership to  create another European power it was like Prussia divorced Austria and took custody of the kids for  many Germans this moment of nationalistic Pride reverberated deeply especially in the German  parts of Austria this means that Germany and Austria remained a strong cultural Bond despite  the new political borders which kept them a part politically and geographically and this  relationship strengthened when Germany became a lea

ding economic power during the 19th century  Austria was even one of their biggest markets then World War I happened its devastating results  shattered long-standing Empires after 623 years as a global player the Ottoman Empire was wiped  out for good the Russian Empire's 196e stink crumbled Paving the way for the Soviets as for the  German Empire it was cut short at just 47 years while the austro Hungarian Empire only lasted a  bit longer at 51 years old Europe was dead new Europe was getting s

tarted made up of a patchwork  of Lone States or remaining Empires divvying up the continent for themselves everyone's identity  was in flux and with Germany's humiliation and Austria's Imperial demotion many austrians felt  disillusioned their sense of longing found kinship with their longtime German brothers who too were  looking for a sense of unity and strength what they really wanted was someone to make their  wish come true enter Adolf Hitler he was born and raised in a world where he and

many others  viewed Germany and Austria as one people but kept apart by the forces which had ruined their  legacy a sense of former glory was in the air and the emerging new Europe smelled of opportunity  he knew these feelings were shared amongst his fellow austrians and felt by neighboring Germans  he also knew that these sentiments were kept at Bay by despondency pessimism and harsh economic  living conditions to anyone else this was a sign that they had lost but couldn't accept it but to  Hi

tler this was the opposite this was his first real step to bending the world to his will in  sales terms he hadn't just figured out what his customer wanted he figured out why they wanted it  so long as he kept touching this pressure point he'd always have a supply chain to meet their  demands no matter what form their desires took so it's time to learn how history works as we study  how Hitler ruled Germany even though he wasn't German we now turn your attention away from our  schedule program

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he market to stand  out Hiller wasn't the only radical on the street corner the spread of socialism after the Russian  Revolution proved that all-encompassing political ideologies were the new Gold Rush everywhere  you went it seemed someone had a new school of thought for how new Europe was going to pan  out it was only a matter of time until someone's philosophy had a monopoly over the marketplace of  ideas think of it like the political equivalent between VHS and betamax gaining the lead now

would  be why one movement lived and another failed and with World War I bringing no peace to the streets  of Vienna or Berlin time was of essence for Adolf Hitler to give the people what they wanted the  first thing everyone would be trying to fix was the economy Austria's Republic was crippled by the  austr Hungarian Empire's defeat meanwhile Germany had received harsh penalties for its role in  World War I in fact it was forced to accept full responsibility for the conflict with an economy  l

ike that inflation soared as fast as unemployment rates the situation was so dire that Germans used  stacks of money as kindling because because it was cheaper than firewood chances are it was  more combustible too even German territories were seated following the signing of the Treaty  of Versailles there were even stipulations that Germany and Austria never be United ever again so  it wasn't just the case that they had lost money and opportunities they lost land they lost homes  they lost hope

as you can imagine resentment was compounding faster than interest rates on a payday  loan it's no surprise that political extremism was on the rise because everyone was desperate for  someone to come up with something and fast like a man drowning in a Raging Sea the people were  looking for anything to grab on to even if it meant they could stay afloat just a little bit  longer and Hitler knew it there was no point giving people promises or long-term plans what  people wanted was their pain to

be articulated and their dreams to be rejuvenated that's why  Hitler made these topics the Cornerstone of his public speaking wherever he went Hitler made sure  to infuse his legendary oratory skills with broad populism he'd seen this tactic used with great  effect by German Communists but they had failed to realize that what they were selling was not  what this Market was buying they were Communists after all what do they know about markets as for  Hitler he saw how stories of the oppressed wo

rking man might have helped the Soviets overthrow  their rulers but here in Austria they'd already been through something similar with the repeated  unifying and breakup of Austrian and German states over the last 100 years plus the fact that Russia  had some tie with the breaking up of Germany and Austria meant Hitler could be sure how to keep  the Marxist competitors at Bay yet he needed a way to make the crowd feel they had agency if the  forces which kept them down were more abstract than a

Russian oligarch and two insurmountable  like the British and French debt collectors he needed an enemy that was smaller I don't think  I'm spoiling World War II history by pointing out Hitler's favorite enemy Within were the Jewish  people but what I do want to point out is how Hitler successfully pitched this idea by making  the people's story his own step three T your around your audience Hitler made sure his own life  became the national story it started when both of his parents died the you

ng Adolf moved to Vienna  in pursuit of studies at the Academy of Fine Arts at the time the capital of Austria was a Melting  Pot of political and ideological ideas during his tenure when he struggled to live as an artist  he encountered nationalism pan germanism and anti-Semitism in total he spent three formative  years steeped into this atmosphere that's more than enough time to learn the ins and outs of  these arguments add to that his own destitution and failures which gave him firsthand exp

erience  of the sense of inadequacy and bitterness that infected the zist in short he could say he is  a man of the people because he walked in their shoes he wasn't some lofty academic who heard  these talking points he lived and breathed it his own narrative mapped perfectly with the  nation's narrative even his ENT German nationalist perspective had also been cemented by the time he  served in World War I the irony is he served the Germans despite being an Austrian citizen yet  this didn't st

op him from being able to enlist in the Bavarian Army usually a foreign National is  forbidden from fighting in another country's Armed Forces however the early stages of the war were  chaotic the demands for Manpower and mobilization led to a relaxing of the usual recruitment  requirements so Hitler seized the chance to put his branding to the test he personally  petitioned King lwig III of Bavaria to allow him to sign up in his letter he conveyed his Germanic  Pride so passionately that the ma

rar personally gifted him Duty on the front lines you know your  images on point when a foreign King's view of you is as one of his subjects from then on anytime  Hitler needed to present himself as German he had street cred bringing up his Austrian citizenship  would be a mere technicality that could be easily circumvented by mentioning his time as a dispatch  Runner one of the most dangerous yet vital jobs in World War I the cultural and historical TI  between Austria and Germany was just the

cherry on top yet he didn't stop there there was a final  thing he needed to do by 1923 the wiar Republic was on Shaky Ground widespread discontent with  the democratic government gave Hitler a chance to take over with a c known as the beer hall  push it failed and little Adolf was thrown in The Slammer however his perceived martyrdom did  wonders for his image his popularity skyrocketed with his supporters whilst also giving us platform  wider reach to capitalize on this new audience he wrote m

ine c meaning my struggle think of it like  one of the earliest celebrity autobiographies but instead of spilling the beans on love affairs  and offering behindth scenes scandals he used it to preach his political Vision mixing extremist  rhetoric with his own life story helped readers to connect with the man behind the mustache they  could see how their plights were the same as his in effect Hitler's book made him an avatar for  the German people by the time he was released the Great Depression

had ruined Germany even more  Germans were even more desperate for a great leader the timing couldn't be better for Hitler  he had the product the demographic The Branding and now the opportunity though their decision to  turn to Hitler would be devastating for the world their actions couldn't be comprehended in some  sense after all Hitler wasn't some guy coming down from the Heavens to make things better he was  a guy who had come from nothing just like them and if he was like them maybe they

too could be like  him all that stood in Hitler's way was German law but where there's a will there's a way and where  there's fine print there's a the loophole step four timing action and execution if you can't  beat them make them join you or else like many men after World War I Hitler stayed in the Army  for a lack of opportunities elsewhere but his Fearless loyalty paved the way for future work he  was tasked with infiltrating political groups to assess the sincerity of their patriotism or

level  of threat after all times were turbulent so the German government wanted to be sure no lunatic  tried to take over the world oops you'd be right to think a foreign National might not be the  best guy to measure loyalty to your country but his membership with a German military did well  to compensate for lack citizenship regulations political parties were especially Keen to attract  new members so were not strict with the rules and his military papers were the closest thing to a  seal of a

pproval so in 1919 Hitler was tasked with spying on the German Workers Party a relatively  small political group but he discovered his own views lined up perfectly with theirs even he said  that being introduced uced to them was a turning point of his life from here he joined to the ranks  and quickly ascended to a leadership position in just three short years under his rule the party  first became the National Socialist German Workers Party to then the Nazi party we all know in hate  however hi

s Austrian citizenship prohibited him from running for public office the government  couldn't stop groups of noise makers meeting up in beer halls but the small print of a law meant he  couldn't have any real influence that changed when he started pulling strings with powerful allies he  received a naturalized German citizenship in 1932 with a German seal of approval he was able to land  a low-level civil servant position in short he' done the bare minimum on paper to qualify for a  German posit

ion but wouldn't be able to get there if he didn't have the street cred of a DieHard  bror fan add to that some greasing of the wheels and he was fast-tracked for the Deutsch version  of green card think of it like him being a fan of the Foo Fighters then wearing Nirvana t-shirts  hanging out with Kurt Cobain fans until finally years later he finally l listened to Smells Like  Teen Spirit and was promoted to the president of a Nirvana fan club to an observant eye he was  punching above his weigh

t but to supporters he had proved he was one of them long before the German  government recognized him as one if anything the fact that he wasn't an official German from the  outset was taken as proof of how far the German people had fallen since the defeat at the hands  of the prussians though some could argue he was an illegal immigrant who had come through the back  door and only got a passport by Gaming the system his Charisma and swelling popularity drowned out  the naysayers speaking of na

ysayers he had to take them out if he was going to turn his Austrian  Heritage into a strength first came the richd fire which many historians think was likely caused  by the Nazi party to stoke fears of a communist takeover I'm not one to preach conspiracy theories  but let's be honest a false flag operation is exactly the type of thing Nazis would do after the  blaze Hitler used his powers as Chancellor to push for curbs of civil liberties so that his political  opponents could be more easily

arrested but even then he didn't need to arrest his opponents  especially if they were in his own party the Knight of Long Knives purged the NACI party  of Hitler's closest and biggest Rivals not So Much by stabbing them in the back but by stabbing  them in the front inch by inch Hitler was getting closer to ruling a country he wasn't born in then  1 month later president Hindenberg kicked the bucket leaving no one to stop ad off consolidating  his power by August 1st 1934 Hitler hadn't just bec

ome dictator of Germany Germany had become  Nazi he went from Outsider to interloper honorary member official member and finally Germany's  mascot all he had to do now was franchise his popularity by unifying Austria for years Nazi  propaganda undermined Austrian politics through external pressure and internal resistance through  connections with Austrian Nazis in response Austria's Chancellor Kurt shushanik demanded  a referendum he was confident the public would vote for Austrian Independence

but adov didn't  want to risk being cut off from his homeland so he threatened to invade his country of origin on  Under Pressure shush Nik resigned and appointed Arthur cin Court a secret Ally of the Mustachio  dictator thanks to him Nazi troops anex Austria without a whiff of resistance despite being  a clear violation of the Treaty of Versailles this move was welcomed by both populations in  fact adoring crowds of austrians welcomed their new furer when he visited he'd well and truly done  th

e unthinkable he'd finally reunited Germany and Austria since their split in 1867 so who could  say whether he was really a German or really Austrian when they now meant this same thing  how many people have been able to change the dictionary to fit their definition all it took  was knowing history understanding his audience standing out from the competition tailoring his  brand and executing his plan when the timing was right so which of these elements was most  responsible for sticking Hitler

on the fast track to evil dictator let us know in the comments  below if you think Hitler's track to power is unique you're probably wrong in fact the path to  power for most dictators seems to have an uncanny resemblance go watch our video on the steps  that most dictators follow to gain their power and if you like this video make sure to like And  subscribe to keep on learning how history works