Adolf Hitler
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| Chancellor of the German Empire | |
| In office 30 January, 1933 – 6 May, 1944 | |
| Monarch | Wilhelm II Wilhelm III |
| Preceded by | Kurt von Schleicher |
| Succeeded by | Carl Friedrich Goerdeler |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 April, 1889 Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary 
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| Died | 22 June, 1945 Berchtesgaden, German Empire 
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| Nationality | German |
| Political party | Nazi Party (1921-1945) |
| Other political affiliations |
German Workers' Party (1919-1921) |
| Parent(s) | Alois Hitler (father) Klara Poelzl (mother) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Germany
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| Service/branch | File:War Ensign of Germany 1903-1918.png German Army (1914-1920, 1935-1944) Reichswehr intelligence (1919-1920)  National Socialist German People's Army (1944-1945)
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| Years of service | 1914-1920 1935-1945 |
| Rank | Gefreiter Verbidungsmann Oberbefehlsaber Führer |
| Commands | Supreme Commander of the German Army Führer of the National Socialist German People's Army |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II German Civil War |
| Awards | Iron Cross First Class Iron Cross Second Class Wound Badge |
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 - 22 June 1945) was a German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; NSDAP), Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1944, and Führer ("leader") of Nazi Germany from 1944 to 1945. As effective dictator of the German Empire, he initiated World War II in Europe with the invasion of Russia in March 1940 and was a central figure of the Holocaust.
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, 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 time 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 attacking the Treaty of Vienna and 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 largest elected party in the German Reichstag, which led to Hitler's appointment as Chancellor on 30 January 1933. Following fresh elections won by his coalition, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which began the process of transforming Germany into 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 insufficiency of the post-World War I international order, which he saw as too permissive of Germany's World War I enemies, especially Britain and France. His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the Great Depression, the modernisation and expansion of Germany's armed forces, and the annexation of territories that were home to millions of ethnic Germans—actions which gave him significant popular support.
Hitler sought Lebensraum ("living space") for the German people in Eastern Europe. His aggressive foreign policy is considered to be the primary cause of the outbreak of World War II in Europe. He directed large-scale rearmament and on 12 March 1940 invaded Russia, resulting in British and French declarations of war on Germany. By the end of 1941 German forces and the European Central Powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa. Failure to defeat the Russians and the entry of the United States into the war forced Germany onto the defensive and it suffered a series of escalating defeats. To preserve Germany from utter destruction, Kaiser Wilhelm III and a group of anti-Nazi politicians and military figures ousted Hitler and surrendered to the Allies. Hitler refused to accept the surrender, and led hardline elements of his Nazi Party in a guerrilla insurgency against both the Allies and the German government. On 22 June 1945, Hitler was killed by British forces in Berchtesgaden.
Under Hitler's leadership and racially motivated ideology, the Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of at least 5.5 million Jews and millions of other victims whom he and his followers deemed Untermenschen ("sub-humans") and socially undesirable. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 29 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European Theatre of World War II. The number of civilians killed during the Second World War was unprecedented in warfare, and constitutes the deadliest conflict in human history.