Adolf Hitler (Dies Irae)

Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
	Hitler in 1945
Führer of Germany
	In office; 2 August 1934 – 27 July 1973
Preceded by	Paul von Hindenburg (as President of Germany (1919–1945)
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Chancellor of Germany
	In office; 30 January 1933 – 27 July 1973
President	Paul von Hindenburg (1933–1934)
Vice Chancellor	Franz von Papen (1933–1934)
Preceded by	Kurt von Schleicher
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Führer of the Nazi Party
	In office; 29 July 1921 – 27 July 1973
Deputy	Rudolf Hess (1933–1941)
Preceded by	Anton Drexler (Party Chairman)
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	20 April 1889; Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary
Died	27 July 1973 (aged 84); Berlin, Nazi Germany
Citizenship	Austria (until 1925); Stateless (1925–1932); Germany (from 1932);
Political party	Nazi Party (from 1920)
Other political; affiliations	German Workers' Party (1919–1920)
Spouse(s)	Eva Braun (m. 1945; d. 1973)
Parent(s)	Alois Hitler; Klara Pölzl;
Signature	Adolf Hitler (Dies Irae)'s signature
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire; Weimar Republic; Nazi Germany;
Service/branch	Imperial German Army Bavarian Army; ; Reichswehr;
Years of service	1914–1920
Rank	de: Gefreiter
Commands	German Army (from 1941); Army Group A (1942);
Battles/wars	World War I Western Front First Battle of Ypres; Battle of the Somme (WIA); Battle of Arras; Battle of Passchendaele; ; ; World War II; World War III;

“	“if you want to shine like sun first you have to burn like it.”	”
–Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 27 July 1973) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1973.

Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna in the first decade of the 1900s before moving to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I, receiving the Iron Cross. In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was appointed leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, serving just over a year of his sentence. While there, he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf (My Struggle). After his early release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism, antisemitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. He frequently denounced communism as being part of an international Jewish conspiracy.

By November 1932, the Nazi Party held the most seats in the Reichstag, but not a majority. No political parties were able to form a majority coalition in support of a candidate for chancellor. Former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly thereafter, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933, which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism. Upon Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934, Hitler succeeded him, becoming simultaneously the head of state and government, with absolute power. Domestically, Hitler implemented numerous racist policies and sought to deport or kill German Jews. His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the Great Depression, the abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans, which initially gave him significant popular support.

One of Hitler's key goals was Lebensraum (lit. 'living space') for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive, expansionist foreign policy is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe. He directed large-scale rearmament and, on 5 October 1938, invaded Czechoslovakia, causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany. In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union, resulting in the latter's collapse. In December 1941, he declared war on the United States. By the end of 1941, German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa. However, German gains were soon reversed and a stalemate ensued. On 29 April 1945, he married his longtime partner, Eva Braun, in the Führerbunker in Berlin.

The number of civilians killed during World War II and World War III was unprecedented in warfare, and the casualties constitute the deadliest conflicts in history.