I'm sorry to be posting cliché Hitler questions but I'm currently in an ever escalating debate about Hitler's personal feelings during World War 1 and we are struggling to come to a conclusion about some of these questions. If anyone knows answers to any of these questions you would be of great service to us. Thank you.
How did World War 1 affect Hitler's mental health and personality?
Was Hitler as motivated for battle as later claims in his life lead us to believe?
What do we know about Hitler's military career to be truth or propaganda?
Do we have first hand sources from Hitler on his views of his service in World War 1? If so, what do they detail?
Last but not least, Did Hitler enjoy the War?
Please post sources supporting your argument.
Hitler enjoyed being a soldier immensely. Hitler was always a fan of (physical) struggle and violence, and claimed that the military was one of the last assets Germany had going for it. Consequently, he detested weakness and the desire to avoid war, which he saw as inevitable anyway.
Additionally, Hitler believed that what is truly human if revealed only in times of extreme crisis, when a man cannot hide behind his business, his intellectual credentials or his position. He contrasted what he saw as dead, dry, consequence-free intellectualism to the heroic deeds done by actual men in actual conflicts. It is possible that this view was also influenced by Hitler's bitterness about the fact that he never learned a trade and thus felt looked down upon by more well-to-do people.
From his writings at least, we can see that he actually found the camaraderie and brotherhood he always thought war. War tore him out of his aimless pre-war existence, and focused all his will on one goal, a feeling he also found in his fellow soldiers. War was exhilarating for Hitler, and he felt an enormous sense of purpose, something that had so far been lacking in his life, he felt. In his later writings, he calls his wartime experience "the most unforgettable and greatest time of my earthly life". Hitler hoped that victory would elevate the, in his mind, fallow and weak Germany back to a great nation
Hitler was wounded several times during fighting, and even received medals (Iron Cross first class as well as a medal for wounds received), but newer research found that he apparently didn't actually do that much fighting. However, Hitler, and subsequently Nazi propaganda, portrayed his job (courier runner) as especially dangerous. In this he was backed by former comrades, who were rewarded by the Nazis for their support. That being said, Hitler himself never made much of his wartime service, likely in a deliberate attempt to appear humble and folksy.
Bearing this in mind, "Mein Kampf" doesn't actually focus that much on the physical fighting. The true test, for Hitler, was the fight against himself. Hitler describes how, over the first years of the war, Will (the will to die doing your duty) finally won out over sense or reason (self-preservation, justified fear for your life and safety), an experience Hitler found enormously satisfying on a deep, personal level.
Hitler compares this heroism of the soldiers fighting at the front to the lame, cautious or even defeatist attitudes that, according to Hitler, soon replaced the initial rush of excitement and patriotism. This, so Hitler, is what allowed the heroic army to actually be defeated.
One thing to note, however, is that Hitler detested the style of fighting that WW 1 eventually turned into on the Western front, with masses upon masses of faceless soldiers being sent to die for the purpose of bleeding the enemy dry. He didn't think that such a war was cruel or inhuman, but it devalued the sacrifice of the individual, and the heroic soldier who gives his life to live on as a hero to his people was turned into just another number in the weekly casualty reports.
Hitler actually loved the war so much that he had a small nervous breakdown when he learned of the surrender during his stay in a field hospital.
Source: "Hitlers Mein Kampf - eine Interpretation", Barbara Zehnpfennig
This is a quick overview, if you're interested, I can write some more on Hitler's view on propaganda and his worldview in general.