ical
             conversations in the local coffee houses that he visited. Hitler's views of the
             world were shaped by his experiences on the streets of Vienna, and this is where
             his violent anti-Semitism derived from.
             In 1913 Hitler left Vienna and moved across the border to Munich, the capital of
             the German State of Bavaria. He was in Munich at the break out of the First
             World War and although not a German citizen, he served in the German Army
             throughout the war. For most of the war he served as a runner, and served at the
             front line in Flanders (Belgium) and in France. He displayed courage under fire
             and was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class. He was sent home in 1916 when he
             was wounded but returned to fighting in 1917. He was promoted to the rank of
             Lance Corporal and took part in the Lundendorff offensive of March 1918. In the
             last months of the war Hitler was awarded the Iron Cross First Class "For
             bravery and general merit", an honour for a corporal. Hitler's campaign ended
             when he was partly blinded in a gas attack. He was taken to recuperate in a
             hospital in Germany and it was here that he heard the news that Germany had
             surrendered. He describes the shock in his book, Mein Kampf- "Everything went
             black before my eyes as I staggered back to my ward and buried my aching head
             between the blankets and pillow.... during these nights my hatred increased,
             hatred for the originators of this dastardly crime".
             After the end of World War One Hitler was made a political officer for the army.
             One of his jobs was to report to the army command on the small political parties
             that had flourished in Bavaria. It was at this time that he attended a meeting
             of a small group called the German Worker's Party in September 1919. Hitler had
             found what he wanted- a small political party that he could shape with his own
             ideas. Hitler quickly became the leader of the party where his brilliant power
             as a public spea...