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(詳細はAdolf Hitler's life. Mainly, the period during World War I when Hitler served as a ''Gefreiter'' (lance corporal) in the Bavarian Army, and the era of World War II when Hitler served as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) through his position as Führer of Nazi Germany. ==World War I== Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich where he earned money painting architectural scenes. He may have left Vienna to evade conscription into the Austrian army. Hitler later claimed that he did not wish to serve the Habsburg Empire because of the mixture of "races" in its army. The Bavarian police sent him back to Salzburg for induction into the Austrian Army but he failed his physical exam on 5 February 1914 and returned to Munich. He was 25 years old in August 1914, when Austria-Hungary and the German Empire entered into the First World War. Because of his Austrian citizenship, he had to request permission to serve in the Bavarian Army. Permission was granted. In the army, Hitler continued to put forth his German nationalist ideas which he developed from a young age. During the war, Hitler served in France and Belgium in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment. He was an infantryman in the 1st Company during the First Battle of Ypres (October 1914), which is remembered in Germany as the ''Kindermord bei Ypern'' (Massacre of the Innocents) because approximately 40,000 men (between a third and a half) of nine newly enlisted infantry divisions were killed in 20 days. Hitler's regiment entered the battle with 3600 men and at its end mustered 611.〔Solleder, 1932〕 The regimental commander was killed and thereafter they were known as the ''Regiment List'' in his honor. By December Hitler's own company of 250 was reduced to 42. Biographer John Keegan claims that this experience drove Hitler to become aloof and withdrawn for the remaining years of war. After the battle Hitler was promoted from ''Schütze'' to ''Gefreiter'' (PFC or Lance Corporal) and assigned to be a regimental message runner. Some regard this assignment as "a relatively safe job", because regimental headquarters was often several miles behind the Front.〔("Adolf Hitler a war hero? Anything but, said first world war comrades: Unpublished letters and diaries from List regiment soldiers portray Hitler as a loner, an object of ridicule and 'a rear area pig'" ), ''The Guardian'', 16 August 2010〕 According to Thomas Weber of the University of Aberdeen, earlier historians of the period had not distinguished between regimental runners, who were based away from the front "in relative comfort", and company, or battalion runners, who moved among the trenches and were more often under fire.〔 It is scarcely surprising that those living in the trenches envied those in the rear. But relative comfort and safety distract from recognizing a decisive step in Hitler's rise to the command of the German armed forces. Regimental headquarters became the classroom in which he obtained his on-the-job military education. For almost four years he was allowed to read incoming orders, directives and outgoing orders. He studied military history and theory and discussed his ideas with the officers. He researched the capabilities of German and Allied weapons in detail, learned the muzzle velocities and ranges of artillery tubes and machine guns, as well as the horsepower and carrying capacities of the new trucks and automobiles. After the List Regiment were attacked by British tanks near Ypres on July 31, 1917〔Meyer, A/ (1934) ''Mit Adolf Hitler im Bayr. R.I.R. 16 List'', Neustat-Aisch:Georg Apperle〕 he studied them also. Messengers' duties changed as the army on the Western Front settled into the defense. Fewer messages went by foot or bicycle and more so done by telephone. However, whenever a circuit went out of action two messengers were sent to repair the break; this usually occurred during a bombardment. His circle of close army friends shown in the photographs were also at headquarters. They laughed at "Adi" for his aversion to smutty stories and traded their jam rations for his tobacco. In early 1915, he adopted a stray dog he named Foxl (little fox), who was taught many tricks and became his beloved companion. Hitler described him as a "proper circus dog". In August 1917, the List Regiment was transferred to a quiet sector in Alsace. During the journey, both Foxl and Hitler's portfolio of sketches and paintings were stolen.〔Joachimsthaler, A. (1989) ''Korrektur einer Biographie. Adolf Hitler 1908-1920_'',München:Herbig, pp. 141-144〕 Hitler was heartbroken by his loss, but did take his first leave which consisted of an 18 day visit to Berlin where he stayed with the family of a comrade. The List regiment fought in many battles, including the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras, and the Battle of Passchendaele. During the Battle of Fromelles on 19–20 July 1916 the Bavarians were assaulted by the Australians who were mounting their first attack in France. They were repulsed, suffering the second highest losses they had in any day on the Western Front, about 7,000 men.〔Weber, 2010, p. 156〕 The history of the List Regiment hailed this brilliant defense as the "personification of the German Army on the Western Front".〔Solleder, 1932, p. 114〕 At the Nuremberg Trials, two of his former superiors testified that Hitler had refused to be considered for promotion.〔Kershaw 91〕 Hitler was twice decorated for bravery. He received the relatively common Iron Cross, Second Class, in 1914 and Iron Cross, First Class, in 1918, an honour rarely given to a ''Gefreiter''. Hitler's First Class Iron Cross was recommended by Hugo Gutmann, a Jewish List adjutant. According to Weber this rare award was commonly awarded to those posted to regimental headquarters, such as Hitler, who had more contact with more senior officers than combat soldiers.〔 Hitler's Iron Cross, First Class was awarded after an attack in open warfare during which messengers were indispensable and on a day in which the depleted regiment lost 60 killed and 211 wounded.〔Meyer, A. (1934) ''Mit Adolf Hitler im Bayr. R.I.R. 16 List,'' Neustat-Aisch: Georg Apperle〕 During the Battle of the Somme in October 1916, he was wounded in the left thigh when a shell exploded at the entrance to the dispatch runners' dugout. He begged not to be evacuated,〔weidmann 29〕 but was sent for almost two months to the Red Cross hospital at Beelitz. Thereafter, he was ordered to the depot in Munich. He wrote to his commanding officer, Hauptmann Fritz Wiedemann, asking that he be recalled to the regiment because he could not tolerate Munich when he knew his comrades were at the Front. Wiedemann arranged for his return to his regiment on 5 March 1917. On 15 October 1918, he and several comrades were temporarily blinded —and according to Friedelind Wagner Hitler also lost his voice— due to a British mustard gas attack. After initial treatment, Hitler was hospitalized in Pasewalk. While there on 10 November, Hitler learned of Germany's defeat from a pastor, and—by his own account—on receiving this news he suffered a second bout of blindness. Hitler was outraged by the subsequent Treaty of Versailles, which forced Germany to state that they had started the war, deprived Germany of various territories, demilitarised the Rhineland which was occupied by the Allies, and imposed economically damaging sanctions. Hitler later wrote, "When I was confined to bed, the idea came to me that I would liberate Germany, that I would make it great. I knew immediately that it would be realized." However it is unlikely that he committed himself to a career in politics at that point in time. Hitler wanted to remain in the army after the war, but this was impossible with the near total demilitarisation of the armed forces. He returned to Munich for demobilization. In July 1919 he was appointed ''Verbindungsmann'' (intelligence agent) of an ''Aufklärungskommando'' (reconnaissance commando) of the ''Reichswehr'', to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate the German Workers' Party (DAP). While monitoring the activities of the DAP, Hitler became attracted to the founder Anton Drexler's antisemitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist, and anti-Marxist ideas. Impressed with Hitler's oratory skills, Drexler invited him to join the DAP, which Hitler did on 12 September 1919. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Military career of Adolf Hitler」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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