There have been many great people throughout history. People that have changed the world and made it a better place. Humans that have done incredible things which are forever marked in history and which are talked about many times. However, there have been numerous of world leaders with power that was used unjustly which created world suffering, that too forever remembered. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are the two great Übermensches that made world history in the 1900s, men that are seen as inhumane to many. How could it have been that these two leaders grew up to do the things that they are remembered for? Leading up to the modern world, European Russia was a hot place during the twentieth century. For both Hitler and Stalin, context of their lives that was different from anybody else’s eventually lead to the becoming of such totalitarian dictators of the twentieth century. Three main topics will be covered for both great dictators: individual context of Hitler’s youth, individual context of Stalin’s youth and a comparison of both men through events that turned them into an Übermensch. In the analysis of these men’s young lives, gradually content will emerge supporting their cause of dictatorship. 1. From Hitler's Youth to Power Historians have admired the way Adolf Hitler obtained such power that he had; such a cruel dictator apparently came from a harsh background. His family moved from Austria to Germany when Hitler was still a very small child. At six years old in 1895, his father had retired from the Austrian civil service, which meant that his siblings along with him were under the very hard discipline of his strict father, Alois Hitler. Due to this, his relationship with his father was uneasy, with often fights and beatings Hitler received from his father. To make matters worse, Adolf’s little brother, Edmund, age six, died of measles where Hitler had confronted death for the first time, which seemed to have shaken him badly; Hitler had become detached and introverted, (The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Hitler's Boyhood). His grade school years were coming to an end and he had to pick out what type of secondary school he was going to attend. Young Adolf had aspired to become an artist and wanted to go to classical school, his father contradicted his idea and wanted his son to become a civil servant by sending him to technical school in the city of Linz in 1900, (The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Hitler's Boyhood). The struggle between Hitler and his father rose. In acts of rebellion, Hitler would defy the Austrian Monarchy as his friends and him would often like to use the German greeting “Heil” and sang the German anthem instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem, (Hitler's Rise to Power). For Hitler, German nationalism quickly became an obsession, but he kept an interest in art and architecture. This nationalism would become a motivating force of Hitler’s life. Hitler went to a technical school against his wishes and performed poorly, knowing he would already fail, he behaved badly, his rebellion continued. On January 3, 1903, Alois Hitler, died and two year later Hitler’s mom allowed him to drop out of high school. At age sixteen, he moved to Vienna to work as a casual laborer and watercolor painter, reviving his dreams of becoming an artist made him apply to the Academy of Fine Arts. His test drawings were judged as unsatisfactory and he was not admitted, though he was told that he had some ability for the field of architecture, but without the required high school diploma, Hitler decided to retry to take the exam the next year. Feeling depressed, Hitler left Vienna and returned home to his mother who was dying of cancer, (Bio.com. A&E Networks Television). His mother’s death devastated him horribly. On October 1908, Hitler tried for the second time to get in the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, where he got rejected for the second time. This time, without money, he moved into a small home for poor men where he would stay for the next few years. These next few years in Vienna were probably the years that shaped his future views of dictatorship. With a passion for reading, Hitler grabbed daily newspapers, reading numerous political pamphlets and borrowing many books from the German library on German history and mythology, through examining philosophical pieces of works, Hitler picked up ideas that turned him towards a racist, nationalistic and anti-Semitic attitude which turned into a die-hard philosophy, in which he describes in his book, Mein Kampf (Hitler's Rise to Power). The miserable days of failure during his youth along with ideas he acquired would forever remain with him. Conditions adjusted to create an almost perfect pathway in which Hitler escalated to becoming a totalitarian dictator. During World War I he applied to serve in the German army, where he was accepted. Soon he was recognized for bravery, his experience in war served to reinforce his passionate German patriotism. Continuing to work for the military after the war, he quickly gained popularity for his beer-hall speeches attracting regular audiences against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, Marxists and Jews, (Hitler's Rise to Power). Throughout the next few years, weaknesses of Germany involving the Great Depression, elevated power to Hitler until President Hindenburg made the mistake of giving Hitler the post of being Chancellor in January 1933. Shortly after Hindenburg’s death, Hitler became the German Dictator. 2. From Stalin's Youth to Power Joseph Stalin, the ultimate Dictator of Soviet Russia, has his own story as well which transformed a young boy born to a harsh youth to another dark figure who marked twentieth century history. Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Stalin’s birth name) was the son of a cobbler and a washerwoman born on December 18, 1879. Stalin had a difficult childhood, other village children treated him with cruelty, installing sense of inferiority,which later turned him on a quest for greatness and respect. An only child, Stalin was growing up under poor conditions, his father was an alcoholic, he contracted smallpox, which left him with permanent facial scars (Joseph Stalin). Joseph’s mother wanted him to become a priest, in 1888, she managed to enroll him in a church school in Gori. His efforts in the school made him gain a scholarship to Tiflis Theological Seminary in 1894, a year later Stalin came to contact Mesame Dassi, a secret organization which supported Georgian independence from Russia. Some members introduced him into the writings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, he only stayed in the group for a year before he was expelled shortly before graduation for spreading views that went against the government . Stalin studied history carefully developing his own views of Marxist literature (World Biography). Having interest in revolution movement against Russian monarchy turned that into his life devotion. Staying in Tiflis, in 1901 he joined the Social Democratic Labor Party working full-time for the revolutionary movement. As part of the rebellious group, he was arrested in 1902 for being part of a labor strike and was exiled to Siberia. During this time of the Russian Revolution he adopted the name “Stalin” which means steel in Russia. After escaping from exile, he was marked by the tsar’s secret police as an outlaw, continuing to work in hiding, raising money through robberies and other crimes. Now a young adult, Stalin was a great organizer, organizing operations of the revolution, calling meetings and strikes. He continued seeking power through crimes, such as the famous Tiflis bank robbery of 1907, resulting in about $3.4 million U.S. dollars. A few years later, Stalin rose to higher political power due to the Bolshevik War, identifying himself as a Bolshevik, attending governing parties where he met Lenin, the Bolshevik leader (World Biography). Now that Stalin had some political influence over him, he rose to higher ranks until Lenin established Stalin as a close companion. Slowly gaining more supporters, Stalin became the most powerful man after Lenin, and when Lenin died, all the power was seized by Stalin, turning him into the Soviet Dictator. 3. Wide View of Hitler and Stalin Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, men whose youth transformed them into cruel dictators. The context of both men’s lives led them to seek power viscously. Hitler, like Stalin had a difficult childhood, Hitler developed the desire for power during his years of frustration and depression in Vienna, while it seems that Stalin developed want for power and respect at a much younger age for being bullied harshly by children of the village he grew in. Similarities in the youth of both dictators collide, somewhat different from other people, eventually leading to becoming a dictator. Their childhood was poor, unhappy, Hitler often clashed with his father and faced his little brother’s sudden death, Stalin’s father also seemed to be a harsh with him, a frail child who was insecure and felt inferior to others, from this moment, Stalin was already seeking power. Hitler may have been different from Stalin, who unlike Stalin, actually wanted to become a great artist, being rejected twice along with the sudden death of his mother turned him to poverty and failure as a teenager. Stalin spent most of his teenage years in Seminary school, where he developed his own views of philosophy based on Marxist ideas. Hitler gained his future ideas through his lonely years in Vienna. Once both men had their own mind set, they both acquired a passion for gaining power having their own experiences at war; Hitler during World War I and Stalin at the Russian Revolution. After years of failure, depression, isolation and a brutal life, Adolf Hitler took advantage of Germany’s weak government to take power. Besides getting bullied as a kid and contracting smallpox, Stalin’s childhood was unpleasant, his teenage years like Hitler pursued him to a rebellious young man with thirst for power, but unlike Hitler, Stalin’s teenage years seemed to be more stable. Hitler looked for resources to enrich his German nationalism and philosophical ideas which were made real by experiences of his life. Stalin on the other hand, seemed to want respect and power already at an early age, he did not seek Marxist ideas, he was presented with ideas at a school he attended. Naturally, their own life experiences turned them to who they came to be. Many humans experience life changing events that mark new viewpoints or ways of living that affect everything in relation to them. The analysis of Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler’s lives demonstrate support to their becoming of a totalitarian dictator. Their lives elucify that one does not simply become a dictator. One must come from a hard background, obtain the desire to maintain power over everyone else and create an own philosophy gaining support of followers. For European Russia in the twentieth century, perhaps two of the most powerful dictators of all time rose to power in Germany and Soviet Russia, they created world suffering, are remembered to many as even inhumane monsters in which context of their lives created the men history will never forget. Works Cited Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-stalin-9491723#early-life>. BBC News. BBC. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/stalin_01.shtml>. "The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Hitler's Boyhood." The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Hitler's Boyhood. Web. 20 Mar. 2015. <http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/boyhood.htm>. "Hitler's Rise to Power." Hitler's Rise to Power. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. <http://www.johndclare.net/Weimar7.htm>. "How Important Was the Idea That Jews Were Communists to Anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany." 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