Hitler

Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Führer ("leader") of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He was effectively dictator of Nazi Germany, and was at the centre of World War II in Europe and the Holocaust.

Hitler was a decorated veteran of World War I. He joined the precursor of the NSDAP, the German Workers' Party, 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 his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"). After his 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. Hitler frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as being part of a Jewish conspiracy.

Hitler's Nazi Party became the largest elected party in the German Reichstag, leading to his appointment as chancellor in 1933. Following fresh elections won by his coalition, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a single-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 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 denunciation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories that were home to millions of ethnic Germans - actions which gave him significant popular support.
Contents
1 Early years
1.1 Ancestry
1.2 Childhood and education
1.3 Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich
1.4 World War I
2 Entry into politics
2.1 Beer Hall Putsch
2.2 Rebuilding the NSDAP
3 Rise to power
3.1 Brüning administration
3.2 Appointment as chancellor
3.3 Reichstag fire and March elections
3.4 Day of Potsdam and the Enabling Act
3.5 Removal of remaining limits
4 Nazi Germany
4.1 Economy and culture
4.2 Rearmament and new alliances
5 World War II
5.1 Early diplomatic successes
5.1.1 Alliance with Japan
5.1.2 Austria and Czechoslovakia
5.2 Start of World War II
5.3 Path to defeat
5.4 Defeat and death
5.5 The Holocaust
6 Leadership style
7 Legacy
8 Views on religion
9 Health
10 Family