The rise of Adolf Hitler started when he was 25 years old. In that year he enlisted as a soldier in World

War I. Hitler was a brave, loyal, and lucky soldier. His first battle was near Ypres; fighting the British

and Belgians. In this battle 2,500 of the 3,000 men in Hitler's regiment were killed, wounded, or

missing. Hitler survived without injury. More than once, he moved away from the spot were moments

later a shell exploded killing or wounding many. Hitler was also eager for action. He was always ready

to volunteer for dangerous assignments even after many narrowly escaped death.

On October 7, 1916, Hitler's luck ran out. He was wounded by a shell fragment during the battle

of the Somme. It was his first time away from the front in two years. After his recovery he went sight

seeing in Berlin. What he saw there angered him. The German citizens were apathetic and anti-war.

Hitler blamed the Jews for this and thought they were conspiring to undermine the German war effort.

In August 1918, Hitler received the iron cross first class. This award was rarely given to a foot

soldier. The most interesting fact about this award is the man who recommended it was a Jew.

On November 10,1918 World war I was over.

On June 28, 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed. The Treaty made Germany accept

responsibility for causing the war and Germany had to pay huge amounts of money for war damages.

The Germans thought this was unfair. Some didn't obey it.

At that time Hitler was still in the army. He became an informer. he named soldiers in his

barracks who supported the Marxist uprising, resulting in their arrest and execution. Hitler became an

undercover agent for the German Army. He and others like him were in charge of getting rid of all

Marxist influence within the army.

In September of 1919 he was sent to investigate the German Workers' Party in Munich. Hitler

was pleased to find that the Party believed the same thing he did, building a strong nationalist,

pro-military, anti-Semitic party made up of working class people.

Hitler then joined the committee of the German Workers' Party also called the Deutsche

Arbeiterpartei or D.A.P.

The first thing Hitler set out to do was make the party larger with new members.

In February of 1920 Hitler urged the Party to hold a mass meeting. the meeting was held on

February 24, 1920. Hitler speech was disrupted by a fight between Party members and the communist,

Marxist.

During the summer of 1920 Hitler realized that the Party was missing something, a recognizable

symbol or flag. He chose the swastika. he placed it inside a white circle on a red background. The

symbol helped the Party gain popularity immediately.

Hitler also changed the Party's name. It became the National Socialist German Workers' also

called the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or N.S.D.A.P.

Nazi for short.

By the end of 1920 the Nazi Party had about 3,000 members.During the summer of 1921, while

Hitler was away, the Nazi Party formed an alliance with a similar group. This made Hitler less powerful.

When he returned he quit the Party. The Party realized that by losing Hitler the Nazi Party was finished.

Hitler said he would return if he was given dictatorial powers. The Party members voted 543 to 1 in

favor of Hitler.

On July 29, 1921 Adolf Hitler was introduced as the Fuhrer of the Nazi Party.

Fuhrer = Leader