He left Vienna and went back home to his mother and did not tell her he failed the exam. Her condition steadily worsened and as the festive Christmas season approached in December 1907, she was near death. In the early hours of December 21, amid the glowing lights of the family's Christmas tree, she died quietly. Adolf was devastated. Now, with both parents gone, Hitler once again set his sights on Vienna and the art academy. He moved there in February, 1908. But in that beautiful old city things would go quite poorly for Hitler. He would eventually wind up sleeping on park benches and eating at charity soup kitchens. His years of misery in Vienna would also be a time when he formulated many of his ideas on politics and race which would have immense consequences in the future.
In February, 1910, he moved into a home for poor men where he would stay for the next few years. Hitler had a passion for reading, grabbing all the daily newspapers available at the men's home, reading numerous political pamphlets and borrowing many books from the library on German history and mythology. At age 21, he was becoming keenly interested in politics, watching events unfold around him in Vienna. Hitler left Vienna at age 24, to avoid mandatory military service in the Austrian army, and thus avoid serving the multicultural Austrian Empire. In May of 1913, he moved to the German fatherland and settled in Munich. August 1, 1914, a huge, enthusiastic crowd including Hitler gathered in a big public plaza in Munich - the occasion - to celebrate the German proclamation of war. Two days later, Hitler volunteered for the German Army. In the muddy, lice infested, smelly trenches of World War One, Adolf Hitler found a new home fighting for the German Fatherland. All over Europe and England young men, including Adolf Hitler, eagerly volunteered. Hitler, by all accounts, was an unusual soldier with a sloppy manner and unmilitary bearing. In August 1918, he received the iron cross first class, a rarity for foot soldiers. His superiors felt he lacked leadership qualities and thought he would not command respect as a sergeant. During the war Adolf Hitler became obsessed with idea of laying blame on Jews and Marxists in Germany. In the summer of 1919, Adolf Hitler was still in the army and was stationed in Munich where he had become an informer. Hitler then became one of many undercover agents in the German army weeding out Marxist influence within the ranks and investigating subversive political organizations.