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The Early Years of Adolf Hitler
Standards Alignment
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Text Questions
Images of the Early Years
Image Analysis sheets
Standards Alignment
California State Standards for Grade 10
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10.6 Students analyze the effects of the First World War.
– 1. Analyze the aims and negotiating roles of world leaders, the terms and influence of the
Treaty of Versailles and Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, and the causes and effects of the
United States' rejection of the League of Nations on world politics.
– 2. Describe the effects of the war and resulting peace treaties on population movement, the
international economy, and shifts in the geographic and political borders of Europe and the
Middle East.
– 3. Understand the widespread disillusionment with prewar institutions, authorities, and values
that resulted in a void that was later filled by totalitarians.
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10.7 Students analyze the rise of totalitarian governments after World War I.
– 3. Analyze the rise, aggression, and human costs of totalitarian regimes (Fascist and
Communist) in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, noting especially their common and
dissimilar traits.
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10.8 Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II.
Common Core Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Science for Grades 9 & 10 Students:
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RH 1 - Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending
to such features as the date and origin of the information.
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RH 3 - Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused
later ones or simply preceded them.
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RH 4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary
describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social studies.
Common Core Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Science for Grades 9 & 10 Students:
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WHST 2 - Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific
procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.
– b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions,
concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s
knowledge of the topic.
– d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic
and convey a style appropriate to the discipline and context as well as to the expertise of likely
readers.
The Early Years of Adolf Hitler
Just as postwar Italy found itself open to revolutionary political change, so did Germany. As we have
seen, the Germany of the Weimar Republic suffered economically under the pressures of war reparations
placed on it by the Versailles Treaty. Politically, the Republic never experienced strong leadership. Many
splinter and revolutionary political organizations, some of them little more than violent gangs, attempted
repeatedly to topple the democratic, yet lukewarm state of the German Weimar Republic.
Among those who were to challenge the government during the 1920s and early 1930s was an
obscure Bavarian rabble-rouser named Adolf Hitler. As an eventual leader of a socialist organization known
as the National Socialist German Worker’s Party, which became known as the Nazi Party, Hitler rose to a
position of absolute dictator over Germany within 15 years of the end of World War I. How he came to
power is a fascinating and tragic story.
Hitler was born in Austria on April 20, 1889, the illegitimate son of a local customs official and a
woman named Anna Schicklgruber. Adolf was a poor student in school, which constantly angered his
father, who regularly beat the young boy. Adolf aspired to become an artist, a goal his father never
accepted, wanting instead for his son to become a government worker.
Two years after his father’s death, sixteen0year-old Adolf dropped out of school, staying at home,
drawing and reading, dreaming about his future. By 1907, he set out on his own, traveling to Vienna – the
Austrian capital. His plans to become an art student were dashed when he failed the entrance examination
for the Academy of Fine Arts. A year later, he tried again and failed a second time. In the meantime, his
mother died, leaving Adolf alone.
As his dream of becoming a great artist began to die, Adolf Hitler’s life became that of a shiftless
street vagrant, moving from menial job to job, living in cheap boarding rooms. Adolf spent much of his time
depressed and brooding. Like many of his fellow countrymen, Adolf grew up hating other nationalities and
races. Considering himself and all German people supreme, he developed a strong dislike, even loathing,
for non-Germans, especially people of Slavic and Jewish descent. Although he was actually a Germanspeaking Austrian, Hitler always considered himself German.
By 1913, Hitler abandoned life in Vienna and moved to Germany, settling in Munich. The next year,
Hitler enlisted in the German army. Despite his involvement in several battles – he was decorated for
bravery twice, including receiving the Iron Cross – he did not achieve a rank higher than corporal. At war’s
end, Hitler was laid up in a hospital, having been temporarily blinded by a poisonous gas attack.
In the aftermath of World War I, Adolf Hitler became a bitter, frustrated, and angry man. As were
most German citizens, he was shocked by the final defeat of Germany in 1918. The terrible conditions
during the days following the war – including an economy destroyed by the conflict – caused many in
Germany, including Hitler, to look for answers. Some blamed the communists and their supporters in
Germany who campaigned for a state similar to Russia’s. Others felt the government of the new Republic
was too weak and directionless. And Hitler, like others, was angry with the Versailles treaty, which placed
the blame for the war solely on Germany’s shoulders.
Political extremists, including Hitler, began to campaign and speak against the political leaders of the
newly defeated Germany. Such revolutionaries decried the Versailles treaty and the harsh, vindictive war
reparations it placed on Germany, further wrecking its economy. Over the next several years, Hitler became
more and more involved in revolutionary politics.
The Early Years of Adolf Hitler Text Questions
1. Why did the German Weimar Republic suffer economically after WWI? Did the Weimar Republic ever
experience strong leadership?
2. What was the name of the organization Adolf Hitler was the leader of?
3. How many years after World War I did it take Hitler to become the absolute dictator of Germany?
4. When, where and to whom was Hitler born?
5. Was young Hitler a good student? What did he want to be? What did his father think of all this?
6. Why were his plans to become an art student destroyed?
7. Because Hitler felt himself and all German people supreme, who did he hate?
8. What awards did Hitler achieve because of his service in the German army during World War I?
9. Why were people, including Hitler, looking for answers after World War I?
10. Why was Hitler, and many other Germans, angry about the Treaty of Versailles?
Images from Hitler’s Early Years
Hitler’s Mother and Father
Hitler’s as a Child
Hitler’s Art
Hitler in Munich
Hitler in WWI
Image Response
Select one image that stands out to you to analyze further. Describe the image, completing the following information.
Content
Connections
Describe what you see. What do you notice first?
What people and objects are shown?
How does this connect with what you already
know?
Citation:
Context
What is going on in the world, country, region, or
locality when this was created?
Conclusions
What can you learn from examining this image?
Image Response Summary
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Image Response
Select one image that stands out to you to analyze further. Describe the image, completing the following
information and summarize your thoughts.
General description: This is an image of __________________________________________
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Number of people:______ Number of men/boys:______ Number of women or girls:______
Describe clothing: ____________________________________________________________
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Describe facial expressions: ____________________________________________________
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Describe the objects in the image: ______________________________________________
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Describe what is happening in the image: _________________________________________
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Setting of the Image
Describe as many details as you can identify about the place where the image was taken or
is depicting: ________________________________________________________________
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Image Response Summary
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Image Response
Select one image that stands out to you to analyze further. Describe the image, completing the following
information and summarize your thoughts.
Observe
Reflect
Question
- Citation (if present): who created
the image and when? If no
citation, what do you think?
- Describe what you see.
- What is happening in the image?
- What is the image trying to tell
you?
- What questions would you want
to ask the creator of the image?
- What are things you don’t
understand or want more
information about?
Image Response Summary
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