Introduction
Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria on April 20, 1889. According to Ian Kershaw, the young Adolf Hitler was moody and became hostile towards his father Alois when the family moved to Linz. Hitler initially wanted to be a priest but moved to Vienna, Austria in 1907 to pursue training at the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts. He was turned down for admission twice, an experience embittered him. Hitler remained in Vienna living off a small inheritance and what he could earn selling his art. He moved from hostel to hostel, roaming the street. This paper will argue that it was during this period, from 1907 to 1913, that Hitler would develop his views on Jews, German nationalism and Socialism. …show more content…
This paper will first look the factors and people who helped shape Hitler 's anti-Semitic views beginning with his decision to move to Vienna, his application to the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts and his exposure to several influential politicians. Next, we examine the German nationalistic fervor in the Vienna of Hitler 's youth and this fervor and several politicians that influenced his nationalistic ideas, including the writing of Guido von List. Finally, Hitler 's exposure to the government of Vienna, Prussian traditions and political influences are considered as we look at how these influences affected his Socialist …show more content…
The four politicians who Hitler described as his models were Georg von Schönerer, Karl Lueger, Karl Hermann Wolf, and Franz Stein. Each of these men was a radical anti-Jew. Evidence shows that during his time in Vienna, Hitler read many anti-Semitic newspapers and studied anti-Semitic pamphlets that were freely distributed. Hitler writes about the development of his anti-Semitic views in Mein Kampf:
For me, this was a time of the greatest spiritual upheaval I have ever had to go through. I had ceased to be a weak-kneed cosmopolitan and became an anti-Semite." Vienna, he said, had significantly contributed to his becoming anti-Semitic, "At the time of this bitter struggle between spiritual education and cold reason, the visual instruction of the Vienna streets had performed invaluable