Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler
Official portrait, 1938
Führer of Germany
In office 2 August 1934 – 30 April 1945
Preceded by	Paul von Hindenburg (President)
Succeeded by	Karl Dönitz (President)
Chancellor of Germany
In office 30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945
President	Paul von Hindenburg (1933–1934)
Deputy	Franz von Papen (1933–1934) Hermann Göring (1941–1945)
Preceded by	Kurt von Schleicher
Succeeded by	Joseph Goebbels
Führer of the Nazi Party
In office 29 July 1921[1] – 30 April 1945
Deputy	Rudolf Hess (1933–1941)
Preceded by	Anton Drexler (Chairman)
Succeeded by	Martin Bormann (Party Minister)
Personal details
Born	(1889-04-20)20 April 1889 Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary
Died	30 April 1945(1945-04-30) (aged 56) Berlin, Nazi Germany
Cause of death	Suicide by gun
Citizenship	Austrian (1889–1925) Stateless (1925–1932) German (1932–1945)
Political party	Nazi Party (1921–1945)
Other political affiliations	German Workers' Party (1919–20)
Spouse(s)	Eva Braun ​ (m. 1945)​
Parents	Alois Hitler Klara Pölzl
Occupation	General of Nazi Germany
Cabinet	Hitler cabinet
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire  Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany
Branch	Imperial German Army Bavarian Army Reichswehr Wehrmacht
Service years	1914–1920 1939–1945
Rank	Gefreiter
Unit	16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment
Wars	World War I Western Front First Battle of Ypres Battle of the Somme  (WIA) Battle of Arras Battle of Passchendaele World War II
Awards	Iron Cross First Class Iron Cross Second Class Wound Badge
Hitler's voice Hitler giving a Speech at the Krupp Factory in Germany Recorded 1935

Adolf Hitler^[2] (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the Nazi Party from 1933 until his death in 1945. He and his Nazi government are known for causing World War II and the Holocaust, which killed millions.

Hitler became the 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"). He led them to become the most powerful political party in Germany after the 1932 elections. He began running the government when he became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933. The Nazis banned all other political parties and turned Germany into a dictatorship (meaning that the government was ruled by one person). Hitler's dictatorship is known as Nazi Germany, also known as the Third Reich (meaning "Third Empire" or "Third Realm"). Hitler called himself the Führer (meaning "leader") after the year 1934.

Hitler ordered the takeover of Poland in 1939, and this started World War II in Europe. Hitler made all the important decisions during the war.^[3] At first, Nazi Germany did well in the war, but by 1945 they were losing. On 29 April 1945, Hitler married his longtime lover, Eva Braun, in the Führerbunker in Berlin. Less than two days later, Hitler and Braun committed suicide, as the Soviet Army got to Berlin, because they did not want to be captured alive by the Soviet Union.

Because of the Nazi government, at least 50 million people died.^[4] About 28.7 million soldiers and people died in the fighting. The war also killed 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. Nazi forces committed many war crimes and atrocities during the war.^[5] They killed their enemies sometimes with mobile death squads or put them in concentration camps and death camps. Hitler and his men persecuted and killed Jews and other ethnic, religious, and political minorities. In what is called the Holocaust, the Nazis killed six million Jews, Roma people, homosexuals, Slavs, and many other groups of people.^[6]

1. ↑ Evans 2003, p. 180. sfn error: no target: CITEREFEvans2003 (help)
2. ↑ German pronunciation: adɔlf hɪtlɐ
3. ↑ "BBC - History - World Wars: Hitler's Leadership Style". bbc.co.uk. 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
4. ↑ Both, Owen (1999). Der Zweite Weltkrieg (in German). Kaiser. p. 7. ISBN 978-3-7043-6046-5.
5. ↑ This applies mainly to the SS: the Schutzstaffel, which was the Nazi security and military organisation. The regular army, known as the Wehrmacht, was a separate organisation.
6. ↑ "The Holocaust: an unbelievable tragedy". Archived from the original on 18 October 2002. Retrieved 9 January 2010.^{[dead link]}