Nine Unknown Facts About Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler is one of the most famous names you will ever hear.

While worldwide he is known for his actions during World War II and the way in which he treated people during this period, there is plenty that you probably never knew about this man.

Here are nine unknown facts that you’ve probably never heard before – along with your chance to brush up on your history knowledge.

Adolf Hitler wasn’t born in Germany.

Since we associate Hitler with his leadership of Germany during the Second World War and the way in which he fought so adamantly for the “pure bred” German people.

It’s easy to think without consideration that he himself was born in Germany.

However, he was actually born in Austria to an Austrian couple – father Alois Hitler and mother Klara Hitler

Born on April 20, 1889, Adolf had five other siblings, although four of them died before making it to adulthood.

He sustained serious injuries during World War I.

He is so heavily associated with World War II that we don’t often stop to think about Hitler’s association with the First World War as well.

In a bid to avoid joining the Austrian military, he fled to Germany but ended up fighting there for the German army instead.

In 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, he was wounded by shrapnel and spent several weeks in the hospital.

Furthermore, he survived a mustard gas attack in 1918 but partially lost his sight and spent a long time trying to fully recover from both these injuries.

Hitler’s dream was to be an artist.

A far cry from the life he ended up leading, but Adolf Hitler had dreamed of becoming an artist early on in life.

In both 1907 and 1908, he applied to the Vienna Academy of Art but was turned down on both occasions.

Towards the end of 1908, not long after his second application had been rejected, his mother Klara died after suffering from breast cancer.

This was something which Adolf Hitler struggled to deal with, and he spent four years on the streets of Vienna, using his artistic skills to get by as he attempted to sell his artwork to passers-by.

He created the Nazi party after Germany lost World War I.

The Nazi party wasn’t in existence until Hitler came along, but the political party that he initially joined was called the German Workers’ Party.

This was a small political party mainly made up of those who were disillusioned by the fact Germany had lost the war.

The harsh consequences of the Treaty of Versailles for Germany did not help appease the anger which many right-wing Germans felt.

With their anti-Semitic tendencies and strong right-wing beliefs, Adolf Hitler soon became the leader of the party and created the famous Swastika symbol.

In 1920, just two years after the war had ended, the party’s name was changed to the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party.

Under this name and with a stronger and larger following, the “Nazi” party grew from strength to strength as Hitler toured the country giving speeches and talks.