Adolf Hitler (The German Century)

Adolf Hitler ( 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was a German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; NSDAP), Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1951. As dictator, he led the Western Axis in World War II after the Soviet Invasion of Poland and the Baltics. He is often believed to be responsible for the murder of thousands to millions of Jews.

Hitler was born in Austria, then part of Austria-Hungary, and raised near Linz. He moved to Germany in 1913 and was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I. He joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the NSDAP, in 1919 and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923 he attempted a coup in Munich to seize power. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"). After his release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by promoting Pan-Germanism, anti-semitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. Hitler frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as being part of a Jewish conspiracy.

By 1933, the Nazi Party was the second largest elected party in the German Reichstag, which led to Hitler's appointment as Deputy Chancellor on 30 January 1933, depsite being despised by Emperor Wilhelm II and Chancellor von Hindenburg. Following fresh elections won by his coalition, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which began the process of transforming the German Empire into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of National Socialism. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice of the post-World War I international order dominated by Britain and France. His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the Great Depression, the effective abandonment of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories that were home to millions of ethnic Germans—actions which gave him significant popular support. Hitler is often considered a highly controversial figure.