Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau am Inn, a small town in Austria-Hungary (now Austria), near the German border. He was the fourth of six children born to Alois Hitler, a customs official, and Klara Pölzl, his third wife.
Hitler had a troubled and emotionally distant relationship with his authoritarian father, but was very close to his mother. After his father’s death in 1903, Hitler’s academic performance declined, and he eventually dropped out of school.
As a young man, he moved to Vienna, aspiring to become an artist. He applied twice to the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna but was rejected both times. During his years in Vienna, he lived in poverty and developed many of the ideas that would later form the core of his ideology—particularly anti-Semitism, German nationalism, and a disdain for Marxism and liberal democracy.
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World War I Service
In 1913, Hitler moved to Munich, Germany, and when World War I broke out in 1914, he enlisted in the Bavarian Army. He served as a messenger on the Western Front and was wounded twice. He was awarded the Iron Cross (both Second and First Class) for bravery—rare for someone of his rank.
The war deeply shaped Hitler’s worldview. He was devastated by Germany’s defeat in 1918 and blamed it on Jews, Marxists, and politicians who, he believed, had betrayed the nation—what later became known as the “stab-in-the-back myth.”
Rise to Power
After the war, Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party (DAP) in 1919, which later became the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), or Nazi Party. He quickly rose to leadership, known for his powerful oratory skills, propaganda mastery, and ability to stir nationalist emotions.
In 1923, Hitler attempted to seize power through the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. The coup failed, and Hitler was imprisoned for nine months, during which he dictated his political manifesto, Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”). The book laid out his ideas on race, anti-Semitism, Lebensraum (living space), and his vision for Germany’s future.
After his release, Hitler rebuilt the Nazi Party into a mass movement. The Great Depression of 1929 played a crucial role in expanding the party’s support, as economic despair made many Germans more susceptible to extremist ideologies.
Becoming Chancellor and Führer
In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg. Once in power, Hitler moved swiftly to dismantle democracy:
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The Reichstag Fire in February 1933 was used to justify the Reichstag Fire Decree, which suspended civil liberties.
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The Enabling Act (March 1933) allowed Hitler to rule by decree without parliamentary consent.
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By 1934, after the death of President Hindenburg, Hitler merged the offices of Chancellor and President and assumed the title of Führer (Leader).
Germany had now become a totalitarian state under Nazi rule.
Nazi Regime and World War II
Under Hitler’s dictatorship, Germany saw:
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Massive rearmament and military expansion
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The persecution and systematic elimination of Jews, disabled people, Roma, and other minorities
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The establishment of the Gestapo and SS to enforce Nazi rule
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Implementation of Nazi ideology in schools, media, and society
In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, prompting World War II. Over the next few years, Germany occupied much of Europe. However, his decision to invade the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) in 1941 and to declare war on the United States were major strategic errors.
The Holocaust
The most horrific aspect of Hitler’s rule was the Holocaust—the genocide of six million Jews and millions of others, including political opponents, Roma, and homosexuals. This state-sponsored extermination was carried out through ghettos, mass shootings, concentration camps, and gas chambers across Nazi-occupied Europe.
Fall and Death
By 1944–1945, Germany was collapsing under the Allied advance from the West and the Soviet push from the East. Hitler became increasingly isolated and delusional, refusing to surrender.
On April 30, 1945, as Soviet troops entered Berlin, Hitler committed suicide in his underground Führerbunker, alongside his wife Eva Braun, whom he had married just a day before.
Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, bringing World War II in Europe to an end.
Legacy
Adolf Hitler’s legacy is one of brutality, war, and genocide. His regime led to the deaths of over 60 million people during World War II and remains one of the most studied and condemned periods in modern history.
His name is synonymous with fascism, dictatorship, and anti-Semitism, and the crimes committed under his leadership forever altered the global order, led to the founding of the United Nations, and prompted the establishment of international human rights laws.
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