| Adolf Hitler | |
|---|---|
| |
| Chancellor of Germany | |
| In office 30 January 1933 – 12 May 1945 | |
| Head of state | Paul von Hindenburg Wilhelm II Wilhelm III |
| Preceded by | Kurt von Schleicher |
| Succeeded by | Konrad Adenauer (Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 April 1889 Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 22 September 1946 (aged 57) Nuremberg Prison, Nuremberg, Bavaria, Allied-occupied Germany |
| Citizenship | Austrian (1889–1925) Stateless (1925–1932) German (1932–1946) |
| Political party | Nazi Party (1921–1945) |
| Other political affiliations |
German Workers' Party (1919–1920) |
| Spouse(s) | Eva Braun (m. 1945) |
| Parent(s) | Alois Hitler Klara Pölzl |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  German Empire (1914–1918) Weimar Republic (1918–1920)
|
| Service/branch | Imperial German Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1920 |
| Rank | Gefreiter |
| Unit | 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Iron Cross First Class Iron Cross Second Class Wound Badge |
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 22 September 1946) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 until he was executed in 1946. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.
Hitler was born in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna later in the first decade of the 1900s and moved to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I. In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and was appointed leader of the Nazi Party in 1921. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was imprisoned with a sentence of five years. In jail, 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, anti-Semitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. He frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as part of a Jewish conspiracy.
By November 1932, the Nazi Party held the most seats in the German Reichstag, but did not have a majority. As a result, no party was able to form a majority parliamentary coalition in support of a candidate for chancellor. Former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders persuaded President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly after, 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. 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 abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans, which gave him significant popular support.
Hitler sought Lebensraum (lit. 'living space') for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive foreign policy is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe. He directed large-scale rearmament and, on 1 September 1939, invaded Poland, resulting in Britain and France declaring war on Germany. In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union. By the end of 1941, German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa. These gains were gradually reversed after 1941, and in 1945 the Allied armies defeated the German army. Hitler married his lifetime love interest, Eva Braun, on 2 May, and ten days later, Hitler and his remaining ministers were captured by Allied troops, officially ending the Nazi regime. Hitler was tried in the Nuremberg trials for crimes against humanity, and was executed on 22 September 1946 by shooting.