Description

Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945)was an Austrian-born German politician who was the leader of theNazi Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei(NSDAP); National Socialist German Workers Party). He wasChancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and Führer ("leader") ofNazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. As effective dictator of NaziGermany, Hitler was at the centre of World War II in Europe and theHolocaust.

Hitler was a decorated veteran of World War I. He joined theprecursor of the NSDAP, the German Workers' Party, in 1919 andbecame leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923 he attempted a coup inMunich to seize power. The failed coup resulted in Hitler'simprisonment, during which time he wrote his autobiography andpolitical manifesto Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"). After his releasein 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty ofVersailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism, andanti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. Hitlerfrequently denounced international capitalism and communism asbeing part of a Jewish conspiracy.

Hitler's Nazi Party became the largest elected party in theGerman Reichstag, leading to his appointment as chancellor in 1933.Following fresh elections won by his coalition, the Reichstagpassed the Enabling Act, which began the process of transformingthe Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-partydictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology ofNational Socialism. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany andestablish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice ofthe post-World War I international order dominated by Britain andFrance. His first six years in power resulted in rapid economicrecovery from the Great Depression, the denunciation ofrestrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and theannexation of territories that were home to millions of ethnicGermans—actions which gave him significant popular support.

Hitler sought Lebensraum ("living space") for the German people.His aggressive foreign policy is considered to be the primary causeof the outbreak of World War II in Europe. He directed large-scalerearmament and on 1 September 1939 invaded Poland, resulting inBritish and French declarations of war on Germany. In June 1941,Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union. By the end of 1941German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europeand North Africa. Failure to defeat the Soviets and the entry ofthe United States into the war forced Germany onto the defensiveand it suffered a series of escalating defeats. In the final daysof the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married hislong-time lover, Eva Braun. On 30 April 1945, less than two dayslater, the two committed suicide to avoid capture by the Red Army,and their corpses were burned.

Under Hitler's leadership and racially motivated ideology, theNazi regime was responsible for the genocide of at least 5.5million Jews and millions of other victims whom he and hisfollowers deemed Untermenschen ("sub-humans") and sociallyundesirable. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible forthe killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners ofwar. In addition, 29 million soldiers and civilians died as aresult of military action in the European Theatre of World War II.The number of civilians killed during the Second World War wasunprecedented in warfare, and constitutes the deadliest conflict inhuman history.