How Did Adolf Hitler's Impact On Europe

The name “Hitler” has been a household name since World War II. People use the term “Hitler” as a comparison or reference to a negative behavior or attitude towards something or someone. It has become a rather commonplace analogy, especially in the media. However, some may not truly know the horrific actions he commited upon innocent people, or the true implications of his impact on Europe before, during and after World War II. He manipulated history in his favor, and earned himself a place in the history books. Adolf Hitler significantly impacted Europe through the creation of the Nazi party, the German military invasions across Europe, and the design of the Holocaust to eliminate a complete race.

The Nazi Party provided the platform for

Hitler was driven by power and revenge from the start, so he promoted an agenda of territorial invasion. “In 1938 German troops entered Austria. One year later they invaded Czechoslovakia. By 1940, Hitler’s armies had swept into Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France and in 1941, they declared war on the United States” (Twiss, 150). According to Twiss, Hitler knew that Europe was reluctant to return to war, and he used this knowledge to his own advantage. “Having never been interested in administration, only in power, Hitler now began using the State as an instrument with which he meant to conquer Europe” (Twiss, 150). Within three years, Hitler invaded six countries and declared war on the United States. His actions demonstrate his determination and deliberation towards expansion, control, and recovering what was wrongfully taken from

Hitler outlined his plans for the extermination of Jewish lives in his autobiographical novel titled Mein Kampf ("My Struggle") which he wrote while he was imprisoned for political crimes. In the words of Jeremy Black, author of The Holocaust History & Memory, “Hitler blamed the Jews for the German defeat in 1918 and for the problems that emerged thereafter. Jews were seen by Hitler as universally malign and as responsible for radical, political, economic, financial, and cultural threats to Germany, European culture, and humanity” (13). To understand Hitler, you have to understand his deep rooted negative sentiment for the Jews. “Jew hatred became crucial to Hitler’s psychology and the basis of his decision making, and gave energy to his rhetoric and purpose to his foreign policy and, indeed, his territorial expansion” (13). Essentially every decision that Hitler made was crafted with his underlying hate for Jews at the forefront. For someone to hold an entire race accountable for the decisions and influences of some Jewish members of the German government based on decisions they made nearly twenty years prior is insane. His powers could have been utilized to foster peace and growth in Germany, but instead they were used to persecute and conquer. In order to understand how Hitler could be so cruel to a race of people, you have to first understand his