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153-481: The ANS quickly gained a reputation for provocative action, attracting much attention in 1978 when its members clashed with police after staging a "Justice for Hitler " rally. In 1977 and 1978, ANS members robbed a number of banks and stole weapons from military bases. Accused of planning to bomb NATO facilities and a memorial for the victims of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and wanting to liberate Rudolf Hess ,

306-544: A casual labourer and by painting and selling watercolours of Vienna's sights. During his time in Vienna, he pursued a growing passion for architecture and music, attending ten performances of Lohengrin , his favourite Wagner opera. In Vienna, Hitler was first exposed to racist rhetoric. Populists such as mayor Karl Lueger exploited the city's prevalent anti-Semitic sentiment, occasionally also espousing German nationalist notions for political benefit. German nationalism

459-571: A central role in the organization, its activities diminished considerably during his imprisonment. In 1981, Johannes Bügner, a former member of the ANS, was killed by five ANS members for leaving the group and for allegedly being gay. Despite Kühnen's imprisonment, the group continued and, after Kühnen was released from prison in November 1982, it merged with the National Activists ( Nationale Aktivisten ),

612-545: A challenge to the government in Berlin. Hitler and Ludendorff sought the support of Staatskommissar (State Commissioner) Gustav Ritter von Kahr , Bavaria's de facto ruler. However, Kahr, along with Police Chief Hans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow , wanted to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hitler. On 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people organised by Kahr in

765-656: A classical high school and become an artist, Alois sent Hitler to the Realschule in Linz in September 1900. Hitler rebelled against this decision, and in Mein Kampf states that he intentionally performed poorly in school, hoping that once his father saw "what little progress I was making at the technical school he would let me devote myself to my dream". Like many Austrian Germans, Hitler began to develop German nationalist ideas from

918-466: A crowd of over 6,000. To publicise the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around Munich waving swastika flags and distributing leaflets. Hitler soon gained notoriety for his rowdy polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, and especially against Marxists and Jews. In June 1921, while Hitler and Eckart were on a fundraising trip to Berlin , a mutiny broke out within

1071-712: A failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, serving just over a year of his sentence. While there, 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 , antisemitism , and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda . He frequently denounced communism as being part of an international Jewish conspiracy . By November 1932,

1224-610: A few months and the Soviet Union quickly began the process of Sovietization , the enforcing of communist-led people's assemblies (" soviets ") which would be the new governmental bodies. The new Baltic soviets voted for their countries to become republics of the Soviet Union; the Soviet Union formally accepted these additions in August 1940. On 9 April 1940, in Operation Weserubrung , Germany invaded Norway and Denmark as essentially

1377-442: A former Nazi politician, from prison, six members were arrested and convicted to eleven years in prison. Kühnen, himself, was jailed for inciting racial hatred and violence in 1979 after being charged with setting up a terrorist organisation. While in prison, Kühnen wrote Die zweite Revolution ( The second Revolution ), a program for the ANS. The title referred to the SA leader Ernst Röhm 's plans in 1934. Because Kühnen played such

1530-477: A key motivation of Germany's expansion in Europe in the mid-to-late 1930s. In 1934, Germany signed a non-aggression pact with Poland, but this would not last as Poland was considered a part of the lebensraum ; Nazi mythology considered eastern Europe to be lost German land. In 1933, Germany began building concentration camps to hold their political enemies and those they considered " degenerates ", such as people on

1683-651: A legal and a clandestine wing, the organization's structure was modeled on Hitler's SA . Its five central goals were ending Germany's ban on the Nazi Party , the expulsion of non-Germans from the country, protecting the environment, opposing the United States, and finally the unification of a neutral and socialist Germany. The organization worked closely with Gary Lauck , a German-American neo-Nazi in Nebraska , and his NSDAP/AO . This organization published literature, stickers and

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1836-469: A letter to Hindenburg. The signers urged Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties", which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people". Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler as chancellor after two further parliamentary elections—in July and November 1932—had not resulted in the formation of a majority government. Hitler headed

1989-639: A like-minded movement based in Frankfurt , under the leadership of Arndt-Heinz Marx, and in Fulda , where it included Thomas Brehl  [ de ] . Among the ANS/NA's other leading members were Christian Worch and Bela Ewald Althans . By 1983 the group had some 270 members with other thirty local organisations or "comradeships" ( Kameradschaften ) and continued to attract attention by holding rallies and leafleting events and posting bills and graffiti. Consisting of both

2142-690: A matter of debate. His friend August Kubizek claimed that Hitler was a "confirmed anti-Semite" before he left Linz. However, historian Brigitte Hamann describes Kubizek's claim as "problematical". While Hitler states in Mein Kampf that he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna, Reinhold Hanisch , who helped him sell his paintings, disagrees. Hitler had dealings with Jews while living in Vienna. Historian Richard J. Evans states that "historians now generally agree that his notorious, murderous anti-Semitism emerged well after Germany's defeat [in World War I], as

2295-515: A meeting with the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Heinrich Held , on 4 January 1925, Hitler agreed to respect the state's authority and promised that he would seek political power only through the democratic process. The meeting paved the way for the ban on the Nazi Party to be lifted on 16 February. However, after an inflammatory speech he gave on 27 February, Hitler was barred from public speaking by

2448-555: A paramilitary that terrorized the Italian countryside in a campaign against socialism. In 1922, during a controversial general strike by a weakened trade unionist movement, Mussolini and his followers seized power in Rome and installed him as the Prime Minister of Italy to run the country alongside the pre-existing monarchy of King Victor Emmanuel III . Similar to Germany, Mussolini turned

2601-506: A political party linked to Die Bewegung . The group was officially dissolved on 7 December. A minor political party that had stood for election in the 1983 election to the Landtag of Hesse , Aktion Ausländerrückführung – Volksbewegung gegen Überfremdung und Umweltzerstörung , was banned at the same time after being adjudged a front movement of ANS/NA. Kühnen re-emerged soon afterwards with a new group called Nationale Sammlung , although this too

2754-529: A preventative measure to stop the U.K. and France from occupying Norway, as well as to protect German industry; Britain previously had set up naval blockades between Norway and Germany which cut off the import of iron from northern Sweden that was being shipped out of the Norwegian port of Narvik . The invasion was led by General of the Infantry Nikolaus von Falkenhorst . Germany notified the U.K. and France of

2907-534: A product of the paranoid "stab-in-the-back" explanation for the catastrophe". Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich , Germany. When he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army , he journeyed to Salzburg on 5 February 1914 for medical assessment. After he was deemed unfit for service, he returned to Munich. Hitler later claimed that he did not wish to serve

3060-665: A recommendation by Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann , his Jewish superior, Hitler received the Iron Cross, First Class, a decoration rarely awarded at Hitler's Gefreiter rank. On 15 October 1918, he was temporarily blinded in a mustard gas attack and was hospitalised in Pasewalk . While there, Hitler learned of Germany's defeat, and, by his own account, suffered a second bout of blindness after receiving this news. Hitler described his role in World War I as "the greatest of all experiences", and

3213-544: A result of military action in the European theatre . The number of civilians killed during World War II was unprecedented in warfare, and the casualties constitute the deadliest conflict in history . Hitler's father, Alois Hitler (1837–1903), was the illegitimate child of Maria Schicklgruber . The baptismal register did not show the name of his father, and Alois initially bore his mother's surname, "Schicklgruber". In 1842, Johann Georg Hiedler married Alois's mother. Alois

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3366-625: A short-lived coalition government formed by the Nazi Party (which had the most seats in the Reichstag) and Hugenberg's party, the German National People's Party (DNVP). On 30 January 1933, the new cabinet was sworn in during a brief ceremony in Hindenburg's office. The Nazi Party gained three posts: Hitler was named chancellor, Wilhelm Frick Minister of the Interior, and Hermann Göring Minister of

3519-515: A special party congress on 29 July, he was granted absolute power as party chairman, succeeding Drexler, by a vote of 533 to 1. Hitler's vitriolic beer hall speeches began attracting regular audiences. A demagogue , he became adept at using populist themes, including the use of scapegoats , who were blamed for his listeners' economic hardships. Hitler used personal magnetism and an understanding of crowd psychology to his advantage while engaged in public speaking. Historians have noted

3672-450: A widespread genocide of Jews in the Holocaust . In 1940, Italy invaded Greece , and in 1941, Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Greece . Germany then began an invasion of the Soviet Union , breaking the countries' non-aggression pact , and Germany declared war on the United States after Imperial Japan did so. The United States was led by President Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1942,

3825-473: A young age. He expressed loyalty only to Germany, despising the declining Habsburg monarchy and its rule over an ethnically diverse empire. Hitler and his friends used the greeting "Heil", and sang the " Deutschlandlied " instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem . After Alois's sudden death on 3 January 1903, Hitler's performance at school deteriorated and his mother allowed him to leave. He enrolled at

3978-540: Is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe . He directed large-scale rearmament and, on 1 September 1939, invaded Poland, causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany . In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union . In December 1941, he declared war on the United States . 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

4131-587: Is that van der Lubbe set the fire alone. At Hitler's urging, Hindenburg responded by signing the Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February, drafted by the Nazis, which suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. The decree was permitted under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which gave the president the power to take emergency measures to protect public safety and order. Activities of

4284-481: Is undeniable", according to Ian Kershaw . Published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, Mein Kampf sold 228,000 copies between 1925 and 1932. One million copies were sold in 1933, Hitler's first year in office. Shortly before Hitler was eligible for parole, the Bavarian government attempted to have him deported to Austria. The Austrian federal chancellor rejected the request on the specious grounds that his service in

4437-770: The Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act) to a vote in the newly elected Reichstag. The Act—officially titled the Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich ("Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich")—gave Hitler's cabinet the power to enact laws without the consent of the Reichstag for four years. These laws could (with certain exceptions) deviate from the constitution. European theatre of World War II Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The European theatre of World War II

4590-655: The Uranverein ( uranium club) began a project to develop a bomb using nuclear fission that could destroy entire cities, the atomic bomb . This was supposed to be secret, but scientists fleeing Nazi Germany to avoid persecution made word of the program in other Western countries. In 1939, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt was warned of the program by one of these fleeing scientists, Albert Einstein . The U.K. and France responded to Germany's aggressive expansion through appeasement , "maintain[ing] peace in Europe by making limited concessions to German demands", which

4743-567: The 1932 presidential elections . A speech to the Industry Club in Düsseldorf on 27 January 1932 won him support from many of Germany's most powerful industrialists. Hindenburg had support from various nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, and republican parties, and some Social Democrats . Hitler used the campaign slogan " Hitler über Deutschland " ("Hitler over Germany"), a reference to his political ambitions and his campaigning by aircraft. He

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4896-659: The Allied armies defeated the German army. On 29 April 1945, he married his longtime partner, Eva Braun , in the Führerbunker in Berlin. The couple committed suicide the next day to avoid capture by the Soviet Red Army . In accordance with Hitler's wishes, their corpses were burned. The historian and biographer Ian Kershaw described Hitler as "the embodiment of modern political evil". Under Hitler's leadership and racist ideology ,

5049-507: The Allies , a name reused from the Allies who were the main opponent of the Central Powers in World War I. Under the Nazi Party, Germany developed a hierarchy which considered the pseudoscientific " Aryan race " — white ethnic Germans or those closest genetically to them — as the most superior race, and Jews and Slavs at or near the bottom. A major part of Nazi Germany's racial policy was

5202-609: The Atlantic Ocean . On 17 September, the Soviets invaded Poland , and the Poles now fought on two fronts. The next day, Polish government officials escaped into Romania, and for the next ten days, the Polish garrison in the capitol of Warsaw held on as Germans bombed the city massively, killing many civilians. On the 28th, Poland surrendered, and the next day, Germany and Soviet Union partitioned

5355-711: The Axis powers . Italy and Japan needed allies, as Italy was involved in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War (the Italian invasion of the Ethiopian Empire ) from 1935 to 1937, and Japan started the Second Sino-Japanese War (Japan's expanded invasion of the Republic of China ) in 1937, the latter of which was subsumed by World War II and ended in 1945. In 1936, Italy and Germany made a pact of mutual assurance,

5508-700: The Baltic states — Lithuania, Latvia , and Estonia — were allocated to the Soviet sphere of influence in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. On 10 October 1939, the Soviets demanded the Baltic states to allow Soviet garrisons to be stationed within them. The countries felt threatened, resentfully agreeing to sign pacts of mutual assurance allowing the soldiers in. The beginning of World War II escalated tensions between Finland and

5661-723: The Battle of Britain , the German Luftwaffe air branch launched air assaults on the United Kingdom in preparation to launch an amphibious invasion of Britain codenamed Operation Sea Lion . The British Royal Air Force (RAF) successfully defended Britain, and that phase of bombing ended in September 1940. On September 7, the Luftwaffe started an aerial bombing campaign on Britain known as the Blitz , which instead destroyed strategic targets to hurt

5814-610: The Battle of Taranto , the British navy destroyed almost half of the Italian fleet. In March 1941, the British sent 58,000 Commonwealth troops to help Greece, despite their intense combat in North Africa. During the Battle of Britain, the U.K. asked the U.S. for help, but the American public was divided over the need to get involved in the war. In the November 1940 U.S. presidential election ,

5967-577: The Battle of the Somme in October 1916, he was wounded in the left thigh when a shell exploded in the dispatch runners' dugout. Hitler spent almost two months recovering in hospital at Beelitz , returning to his regiment on 5 March 1917. He was present at the Battle of Arras of 1917 and the Battle of Passchendaele . He received the Black Wound Badge on 18 May 1918. Three months later, in August 1918, on

6120-951: The Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (1st Company of the List Regiment), he served as a dispatch runner on the Western Front in France and Belgium, spending nearly half his time at the regimental headquarters in Fournes-en-Weppes , well behind the front lines. In 1914, he was present at the First Battle of Ypres and in that year was decorated for bravery, receiving the Iron Cross , Second Class. During his service at headquarters, Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. During

6273-592: The Berlin Declaration , proclaiming the unconditional surrender of Germany to the four victorious powers, was signed. The Allied powers then moved to finishing the Pacific War against Japan. Once World War II ended, the Allies occupied the continent, giving some countries back to their pre-war leaders or creating new governments, before funding their nations' economic recovery. German military leaders were subject to

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6426-485: The Bürgerbräukeller , a beer hall in Munich. Interrupting Kahr's speech, he announced that the national revolution had begun and declared the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. Retiring to a back room, Hitler, with his pistol drawn, demanded and subsequently received the support of Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow. Hitler's forces initially succeeded in occupying the local Reichswehr and police headquarters, but Kahr and his cohorts quickly withdrew their support. Neither

6579-403: The Centre Party , governed through emergency decrees from President Paul von Hindenburg . Governance by decree became the new norm and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government. The Nazi Party rose from obscurity to win 18.3 per cent of the vote and 107 parliamentary seats in the 1930 election, becoming the second-largest party in parliament. Hitler made a prominent appearance at

6732-459: The Dutch government-in-exile . The next day, the Germans crossed the Meuse river, entering France. On 14 May 1940, Dutch Commander-in-Chief Henri Winkelman surrendered his forces east of the Scheldt river, essentially all of the Netherlands. On the 15th, French general Maurice Gamelin reported to French Premier Paul Reynard that the Germans might take Paris within days. Reynard then replaced Gamelin with retired general Maxime Weygand , who

6885-515: The German Communist Party (KPD) were suppressed, and some 4,000 KPD members were arrested. In addition to political campaigning, the Nazi Party engaged in paramilitary violence and the spread of anti-communist propaganda in the days preceding the election . On election day, 6 March 1933, the Nazi Party's share of the vote increased to 43.9 per cent, and the party acquired the largest number of seats in parliament. Hitler's party failed to secure an absolute majority, necessitating another coalition with

7038-402: 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 initially gave him significant popular support. One of Hitler's key goals was Lebensraum ( lit.   ' living space ' ) for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive, expansionist foreign policy

7191-468: The Habsburg Empire because of the mixture of races in its army and his belief that the collapse of Austria-Hungary was imminent. In August 1914, at the outbreak of World War I , Hitler was living in Munich and voluntarily enlisted in the Bavarian Army . According to a 1924 report by the Bavarian authorities, allowing Hitler to serve was most likely an administrative error, because as an Austrian citizen, he should have been returned to Austria. Posted to

7344-407: The Munich Agreement , which gave Germany the Sudetenland , a Czech region near its border with Germany which had long been ethnically German. Chamberlain returned back to England and proclaimed that the U.K. had achieved " Peace for our time ". At the same time, Hungary annexed a part of southern Slovakia and Poland annexed the Tešin District of Czech Silesia . On 15 March 1939, Germany occupied

7497-422: The Nuremberg criminal trials . Western Europe became a series of capitalist governments and eastern Europe became communist , beginning the Cold War among the former Allied nations. Germany was split into the capitalist West Germany and the communist East Germany . Germany was defeated in World War I , and the 1919 Treaty of Versailles placed punitive conditions on the country after finding Germany and

7650-434: The Realschule in Steyr in September 1904, where his behaviour and performance improved. In 1905, after passing a repeat of the final exam, Hitler left the school without any ambitions for further education or clear plans for a career. In 1907, Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art in Vienna , financed by orphan's benefits and support from his mother. He applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna but

7803-404: The Reichstag building was set on fire . Göring blamed a communist plot, as Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found in incriminating circumstances inside the burning building. Until the 1960s, some historians, including William L. Shirer and Alan Bullock , thought the Nazi Party itself was responsible; according to Ian Kershaw, writing in 1998, the view of nearly all modern historians

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7956-414: The Rome-Berlin axis agreement. Also that year, Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact to counter the perceived threat of communism from the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin ; Italy joined the pact in 1937. Italy and Germany signed the Pact of Steel in 1939, formalizing the Rome-Berlin axis. Other smaller powers joined the Axis throughout World War II. The Axis' main opponents would be

8109-400: The Third French Republic (the French government before Germany invaded) and later for the French resistance against the Nazis. Spain claimed neutrality during World War II, but collaborated with the Axis. They gave Germany raw materials to use in weapons production. 10,000 to 15,000 Spaniards that were previously refugees in France were deported to Germany, where about 60% were killed by

8262-421: The Wehrmacht the most powerful army in the world. Britannica writes: In accordance with the doctrines of General Heinz Guderian , the German tanks were used in massed formations in conjunction with motorized artillery to punch holes in the enemy line and to isolate segments of the enemy, which were then surrounded and captured by motorized German infantry divisions while the tanks ranged forward to repeat

8415-411: The chancellor and fuhrer of Germany in 1933. In February 1933, the German Reichstag building caught on fire in an arson attack, giving Hitler the opportunity to blame the fire on his political opponents, especially communists . In response, the government passed the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State , which "abolished freedom of speech, assembly, privacy and

8568-421: The parliamentary republic , which faced challenges from right- and left-wing extremists . The moderate political parties were increasingly unable to stem the tide of extremism, and the German referendum of 1929 helped to elevate Nazi ideology. The elections of September 1930 resulted in the break-up of a grand coalition and its replacement with a minority cabinet. Its leader, chancellor Heinrich Brüning of

8721-444: The "Nazi Party"). Hitler designed the party's banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red background. Hitler was discharged from the Army on 31 March 1920 and began working full-time for the party. The party headquarters was in Munich, a centre for anti-government German nationalists determined to eliminate Marxism and undermine the Weimar Republic . In February 1921—already highly effective at crowd manipulation —he spoke to

8874-410: The 12th that the French battle had been lost. Meanwhile, French Major General Victor Fortune surrendered his 10,000 men of the British Expeditionary Forces' 51st Highland Division who were being exhausted at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux . On the 14th, the French military evacuated Paris and the Germans entered the city. Reynaud again moved the government, this time to Bordeaux. The next day, Verdun fell, and on

9027-512: The 16th, Reynaud resigned, being succeeded by Philippe Petain . On the 17th, Petain asked the Germans for an armistice. The terms were dictated with Hitler on the 21st, and on the 25th, war between France and Germany/Italy was officially over. On 22 June, France was divided into two sections under the Franco-German Armistice ; one was occupied by the German military and the other, Vichy France , had some autonomy. The Chasselay massacre occurred in France in June 1940. Starting in June 1940, in

9180-419: The 24th, the Germans almost reached Dunkirk, but Hitler ordered them back, giving the British Expeditionary Forces and other Allies in Dunkirk some time to evacuate to England . They moved quickly, and the situation worsened on the 27th, when Leopold III , the king of Belgium , surrendered his army. The Allies successfully evacuated by 4 June, saving 198,000 British men and 140,000 French men. At this point,

9333-476: The Allies, while having about an equal number of tanks and military aircraft to the three of them combined. New types of military technology invented in the interwar years included radar , the dive bomber , and the aircraft carrier . The Allied countries, motivated by their victory in World War I, had generally not worked to produce significant amounts of newer weapons and military equipment afterwards, feeling confident in what they already had, while Germany did

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9486-403: The Army nor the state police joined forces with Hitler. The next day, Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government, but police dispersed them. Sixteen Nazi Party members and four police officers were killed in the failed coup. Hitler fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl and by some accounts contemplated suicide. He

9639-518: The Army. In July 1919, he was appointed Verbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of an Aufklärungskommando (reconnaissance unit) of the Reichswehr , assigned to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate the German Workers' Party (DAP). At a DAP meeting on 12 September 1919, Party Chairman Anton Drexler was impressed by Hitler's oratorical skills. He gave him a copy of his pamphlet My Political Awakening , which contained anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist , and anti-Marxist ideas. On

9792-452: The Army. They quickly destroyed vital Polish infrastructure including the railways, essentially taking out the Polish Air Force before it could be used. In 1939, they surpassed the three current Allied powers in their individual numbers of infantry and armoured divisions (the Wehrmacht 's armoured divisions are also known as panzer divisions ). Germany also had more machine guns, mortars , antitank guns , and howitzers per division than

9945-429: The Axis powers under the Tripartite Pact . In 1941, Hitler and other Nazi Party leaders including Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich agree on a program of mass extermination of Jews throughout occupied Europe, beginning the Holocaust ; this was referred to as the " Final Solution " to the " Jewish question ", or the debate over what should happen to the Jews living on the continent. On 1 March 1941, Himmler ordered

10098-549: The Bavarian Supreme Court, he was released from jail on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutor's objections. Including time on remand, Hitler served just over one year in prison. While at Landsberg, Hitler dictated most of the first volume of Mein Kampf ( lit.   ' My Struggle ' ); originally titled Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice ) at first to his chauffeur, Emil Maurice , and then to his deputy, Rudolf Hess . The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart,

10251-404: The Bavarian authorities, a ban that remained in place until 1927. To advance his political ambitions in spite of the ban, Hitler appointed Gregor Strasser , Otto Strasser , and Joseph Goebbels to organise and enlarge the Nazi Party in northern Germany. Gregor Strasser steered a more independent political course, emphasising the socialist elements of the party's programme. The stock market in

10404-404: The British war effort. On 28 October 1940, Italy began invading Greece . This surprised the Greeks, as well as Hitler, who did not want Axis troops to be taken away from the North African campaign . Mussolini was convinced that Italy would quickly win, but they were pushed back into Albania after a week. The Italians then spent the next three months in Albania defending against the Greeks. At

10557-437: The DNVP. On 21 March 1933, the new Reichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony at the Garrison Church in Potsdam . This "Day of Potsdam" was held to demonstrate unity between the Nazi movement and the old Prussian elite and military. Hitler appeared in a morning coat and humbly greeted Hindenburg. To achieve full political control despite not having an absolute majority in parliament, Hitler's government brought

10710-419: The French front had been pushed back to the Somme and Aisne rivers. French numbers and morale weakened, and many retreated westward across France. On 9 June, the Germans crossed the Seine . On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom. They began attacking France on the 20th, but it made little effect. Reynaud had fled Paris to Tours , and he and his ministers were told by Weygand on

10863-433: The German Army made his Austrian citizenship void. In response, Hitler formally renounced his Austrian citizenship on 7 April 1925. At the time of Hitler's release from prison, politics in Germany had become less combative and the economy had improved, limiting Hitler's opportunities for political agitation. As a result of the failed Beer Hall Putsch, the Nazi Party and its affiliated organisations were banned in Bavaria. In

11016-403: The Interior for Prussia. Hitler had insisted on the ministerial positions as a way to gain control over the police in much of Germany. As chancellor, Hitler worked against attempts by the Nazi Party's opponents to build a majority government. Because of the political stalemate, he asked Hindenburg to again dissolve the Reichstag, and elections were scheduled for early March. On 27 February 1933,

11169-675: The Low Countries, the latter movement resembling the Schlieffen Plan from World War I. On the 10th, the Germans first entered the Netherlands and Belgium, and Neville Chamberlain resigned, making Winston Churchill the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Chamberlain had been criticized for the failure of the Norwegian campaign, and Churchill had become the Labour Party 's choice for leading

11322-787: The Mannerheim Line. On 6 March, Finland asked for peace terms, and on the 12th, the two countries signed the Moscow Peace Treaty , in which the Finns ceded 9% of their territory to the Soviet Union, and the Hanko Peninsula was leased to the Soviets for 30 years. The war ended the following day. In June 1940, Joseph Stalin sent another set of ultimatums to the Baltic states, demanding the allowance of an unlimited number of Soviet troops into their countries and to form governments under Soviet terms. All three countries were occupied by within

11475-524: The Nazi Party held the most seats in the Reichstag , but not a majority. No political parties were able to form a majority coalition in support of a candidate for chancellor. Former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly thereafter, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933 , which began

11628-527: The Nazi Party in Munich. Members of its executive committee wanted to merge with the Nuremberg-based German Socialist Party (DSP). Hitler returned to Munich on 11 July and angrily tendered his resignation. The committee members realised that the resignation of their leading public figure and speaker would mean the end of the party. Hitler announced he would rejoin on the condition that he would replace Drexler as party chairman, and that

11781-414: The Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary organization, believing them to have gotten too powerful. From 1919 to 1921, Italian fascist Benito Mussolini grew a base of supporters who wanted him to deal with Italy's political and economic crises, which involved civil conflict over the growth of socialism in the country. Many of Mussolini's supporters became known as blackshirts , who would form

11934-451: The Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of an estimated six million Jews and millions of other victims, whom he and his followers deemed Untermenschen (subhumans) or socially undesirable. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the deliberate killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as

12087-510: The Nazis' paramilitary organisation, the Sturmabteilung (SA, "Stormtroopers"), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. A critical influence on Hitler's thinking during this period was the Aufbau Vereinigung , a conspiratorial group of White Russian exiles and early Nazis. The group, financed with funds channelled from wealthy industrialists, introduced Hitler to

12240-522: The Nazis. Portugal claimed neutrality as well, but they allowed the British to access Portuguese bases in the Azores . On 10 May 1940, Germany began an invasion of France and the Low Countries ( the Netherlands , Belgium , and Luxembourg ). Three German commanders, Willhelm von Leeb , Fedor von Bock, and Gerd von Rundstedt took control of an army each and invaded France through the northern end of its German border, and also by crossing into France through

12393-471: The Soviet Union during an invasion, the two countries signed an agreement to neutrality named the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact after secret negotiations from 23 to 24 August. Hitler gave the orders to invade on 26 August, certain that the U.K. and the Soviet Union would not retaliate. However, on the 25th, the U.K. and Poland publicly signed a formal treaty of military assurance, causing Hitler to delay

12546-635: The Soviet Union invaded Finland, justifying it with a staged incident at the countries' border. Thus began the Winter War , with the Soviet objective being the conquest of Finland and the installation of a communist puppet government in Helsinki . At the start of the war, the Soviets suffered severe losses and made little progress. The Finns made use of the Molotov cocktail , a type of makeshift grenade, naming it after Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov who

12699-705: The Soviet Union. The Soviets thought the Axis would use Finland as a base to attack them, and the Finns thought the Soviets were trying to expand into Finnish territory. The Soviets then forwarded demands to Finland that were similar to the demands sent to the Baltic states; the Finns also had to destroy their defensive Mannerheim Line along the Karelian Isthmus near the border with the Soviet Union. Finland rejected these demands, instead mobilising their army and unsuccessfully attempting to gain Allied support. On 30 November 1939,

12852-667: The Soviets launched a massive counterattack in eastern Europe in Operation Bagration . Both campaigns were successful for the Allies. In 1945, Roosevelt died and was succeeded by Harry S. Truman . The Soviet Union conquered most of Eastern Europe including the German capital Berlin , as Mussolini was hanged and Hitler committed suicide . Concentration camps that were used in the Holocaust were liberated. Germany unconditionally surrendered on 8 May 1945 , although fighting continued elsewhere in Europe until 25 May . On 5 June 1945,

13005-459: The Soviets stopped further invasion of their country at the Battle of Stalingrad . Meanwhile, the Allies engaged in a mass bombing campaign of German industrial targets. In 1943, the Allied powers began an invasion of Italy , causing the end of Mussolini's regime , but Germans and Italians loyal to the Axis continued fighting. The Allies liberated Rome in 1944. In June 1944, the Allied powers began an invasion of German-occupied western Europe, as

13158-502: The Soviets' Leningrad commissar Andrei Zhdanov had started making observations of their border with Finland . Based on these observations, the Soviets began building railway spur tracks leading west toward Finnish wilderness, in particular toward Kuusamo , Suomussalmi , Kuhmo , and Lieksa . The tracks were meant for a future invasion of Finland; they could have served no other purpose than to transport troops and material, since little trade passed through these regions. Finland and

13311-487: The United Kingdom, declared war on Germany days after the invasion of Poland but did not want to actually engage in conflict. This changed after Germany invaded Norway , Denmark , France , the Netherlands , Belgium , and Luxembourg . The six countries were taken over, and Germany began two successive aerial bombardments of the United Kingdom, in the Battle of Britain and the Blitz . British Prime Minister Winston Churchill led his country's war effort. Germany also began

13464-547: The United States crashed on 24 October 1929 . The impact in Germany was dire: millions became unemployed and several major banks collapsed. Hitler and the Nazi Party prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their party. They promised to repudiate the Versailles Treaty, strengthen the economy, and provide jobs. The Great Depression provided a political opportunity for Hitler. Germans were ambivalent about

13617-664: The aim of the government "must unshakably be the removal of the Jews altogether". At the DAP, Hitler met Dietrich Eckart , one of the party's founders and a member of the occult Thule Society . Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him and introducing him to a wide range of Munich society. To increase its appeal, the DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei ( National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), now known as

13770-527: The camps' prisoners, which started as soon as they were built, expanded in 1941, which is usually when the start date of the Holocaust is given. In 1938, during the Kristallnacht pogroms , 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps. In 1938, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman , discovered nuclear fission , or the release of large amounts energy after the " nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei ". German scientists of

13923-660: The claim that Alois's father was Jewish. Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn , a town in Austria-Hungary (present-day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire . He was the fourth of six children born to Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara Pölzl . Three of Hitler's siblings—Gustav, Ida, and Otto—died in infancy. Also living in the household were Alois's children from his second marriage: Alois Jr. (born 1882) and Angela (born 1883). When Hitler

14076-558: The concept of lebensraum , or "living space": increasing the amount of land in Europe where members of the Aryan race could live. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum writes: The Nazis also adopted the social Darwinist take on Darwinian evolutionary theory regarding the “ survival of the fittest .” For the Nazis, survival of a race depended upon its ability to reproduce and multiply, its accumulation of land to support and feed that expanding population, and its vigilance in maintaining

14229-710: The construction of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. At the same time, Bulgaria joined the Tripartite Pact, and two days later, Germany began sealing off a Jewish ghetto in Krakow, Poland . Aside from concentration camps, the Final Solution was also enacted with Einsatzgruppen , mobile killing units. Croatia joined the Tripartite Pact on 15 June. On 6 April 1941, Germany, aided by Bulgarian and Hungarian forces, started invading Yugoslavia and Greece . This

14382-438: The country into a one-party fascist state which outlawed free speech, the free press, trade unions, and targeted socialists, Catholics, and liberals with a network of secret police and spies. Italy became sympathetic to Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Italy, Germany, and Imperial Japan — led by Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo — increasingly allied with each other, and during World War II they would be known as

14535-449: The country needed to expand in order for the pseudoscientific " Aryan race " to survive. They were aided by Italy, another fascist state which was led by Benito Mussolini . World War II started with Germany 's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, and the Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin , joined the invasion later that month. They partitioned Poland so the country was split up among the two nations. Poland's allies, France and

14688-439: The country. Many Germans saw the treaty as an unjust humiliation. They especially objected to Article 231 , which they interpreted as declaring Germany responsible for the war. The Versailles Treaty and the economic, social, and political conditions in Germany after the war were later exploited by Hitler for political gain. After World War I, Hitler returned to Munich. Without formal education or career prospects, he remained in

14841-401: The county between them in accordance with a secret provision of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The provision originally stated the western third of Poland would be given to the Germans, and the eastern two thirds to the Soviets, while Lithuania would be put in the German sphere of influence; now, the two countries agreed to let Lithuania fall under the Soviet sphere of influence if more of Poland

14994-576: The democratically elected Spanish government in the Spanish Civil War . Hitler sided with Franco, giving aid to the insurgents. In 1939, Franco won the war, becoming the dictator of Spain. Before that, though, in early 1939, many Spaniards crossed the border into France, where they were given a choice by the French government whether to return to Spain (and be punished by Franco), or join the French military; during World War II, many Spanish soldiers fought for

15147-532: The eastern part of Slovakia, the Subcarpathian Rus , was annexed by Hungary. The latter two annexations formally ended the country of Czechoslovakia, which had existed since 1918. By early 1939, Hitler had plans of invading Poland , despite Poland having assurances from the U.K. and France that those countries would intervene if Poland was attacked. Germany revoked its non-aggression pact with Poland on 28 April. To ensure Germany would not face resistance from

15300-442: The evening of 9 April 1940, and he became the Prime Minister of Norway under Germany's administration during the war. Norway's army agreed to cooperate with Germany, and began attacking the Allies. The U.K. tried to defend Norway with ground, air, and sea presence, but it was difficult. On 27 April, the British ground soldiers began to retreat. On 28 May, the British recaptured Narvik, but the Axis took it again on 9 June. The invasion

15453-468: The family moved to Lambach. The eight-year-old Hitler took singing lessons, sang in the church choir, and even considered becoming a priest. In 1898, the family returned permanently to Leonding. Hitler was deeply affected by the death of his younger brother Edmund in 1900 from measles . Hitler changed from a confident, outgoing, conscientious student to a morose, detached boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers. Paula Hitler recalled how Adolf

15606-457: The field", had been "stabbed in the back" on the home front by civilian leaders, Jews, Marxists , and those who signed the armistice that ended the fighting—later dubbed the "November criminals". The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany had to relinquish several of its territories and demilitarise the Rhineland . The treaty imposed economic sanctions and levied heavy reparations on

15759-661: The hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Alfons Heck , a former member of the Hitler Youth, recalled: We erupted into a frenzy of nationalistic pride that bordered on hysteria. For minutes on end, we shouted at the top of our lungs, with tears streaming down our faces: Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil! From that moment on, I belonged to Adolf Hitler body and soul. Early followers included Rudolf Hess , former air force ace Hermann Göring , and army captain Ernst Röhm . Röhm became head of

15912-477: The idea of a Jewish conspiracy, linking international finance with Bolshevism . The programme of the Nazi Party was laid out in their 25-point programme on 24 February 1920. This did not represent a coherent ideology, but was a conglomeration of received ideas which had currency in the völkisch Pan-Germanic movement, such as ultranationalism , opposition to the Treaty of Versailles , distrust of capitalism , as well as some socialist ideas. For Hitler,

16065-507: The incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to his third term in office. America was becoming more certain of the need to send aid to the U.K.; for example, Roosevelt's main opponent in the election, Wendell Wilkie of the Republican Party , differed from his party's previous sentiment by agreeing to give aid. In December 1940, president-elect Roosevelt gave a speech in which he explained his " Arsenal of democracy " approach to

16218-458: The invasion in a memorandum claiming that the Allies were trying to use Scandinavia as a base from which to attack Germany from the north, and that Scandinavia needed to be protected from Allied "aggression". Norwegian resistance quickly faltered, and Norwegian government heads fled for the countryside. Vidkun Quisling , of the Nasjonal Samling fascist party, proclaimed a new government on

16371-440: The invasion, and had overwhelming military superiority to Poland's 1 million soldiers. The invasion was led by generals Fedor von Bock , Franz Halder , Georg von Küchler , Gerd von Rundstedt , Günther von Kluge , Johannes Blaskowitz , Walther von Brauchitsch , Walther von Reichenau , and Wilhelm List . Poland fought on a large front, both on the German border and with their flanks in the German territory of East Prussia in

16524-617: The island of Crete . On 20 May, 1941, Germany began an invasion of Crete . They launched paratrooper assaults on multiple Cretan cities, overwhelming the Allies, who evacuated the island. Germany fought off guerilla resistance in Yugoslavia and Greece for the rest of the war. In late 1941, the Brits started aiding the Chetnik guerillas, led by Dragoljub Mihailovic . Eventually, the Chetniks fought in

16677-494: The leader of the Nazi Party , becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. His invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the start of the Second World War . 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

16830-588: The like illegal under Germany's ban on Nazi propaganda and exported it to Germany and the ANS/NA. However the ANS/NA was banned by the Ministry of the Interior in 1983 and Kühnen fled to France, but was soon deported back to Germany. The ban was not unexpected and most of its members resurfaced in a group called Die Bewegung (the Movement) and in the Free German Workers' Party (Freie Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; FAP),

16983-403: The lower end of their racial hierarchy, the Nazi Party's political enemies (like socialists , social democrats , and communists), Poles, Romani people , Jehovah's Witnesses , Freemasons , disabled people, and LGBTQ people. They were brought from many places across lower continental Europe to the camps using the extensive railway network which crossed the continent. The mass killing of

17136-603: The meaning "one who lives in a hut". Nazi official Hans Frank suggested that Alois's mother had been employed as a housekeeper by a Jewish family in Graz , and that the family's 19-year-old son Leopold Frankenberger had fathered Alois, a claim that came to be known as the Frankenberger thesis . No Frankenberger was registered in Graz during that period, no record has been produced of Leopold Frankenberger's existence, so historians dismiss

17289-573: The most important aspect of it was its strong anti-Semitic stance. He also perceived the programme as primarily a basis for propaganda and for attracting people to the party. In 1923, Hitler enlisted the help of World War I General Erich Ludendorff for an attempted coup known as the " Beer Hall Putsch ". The Nazi Party used Italian Fascism as a model for their appearance and policies. Hitler wanted to emulate Benito Mussolini 's " March on Rome " of 1922 by staging his own coup in Bavaria, to be followed by

17442-600: The nation — even if they disliked his anti-socialist beliefs — because of his willingness to fight Germany. A coalition government was formed, led by a war cabinet of Churchill, Chamberlain, the conservative Lord Halifax , and the Labour members Clement Attlee and Arthur Greenwood . Churchill also became the Minister of Defence . On 12 May, the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina fled with her ministers to England, where she established

17595-593: The newer Hurricane fighter and was producing the Spitfire , which began combat in 1940. France's military aircraft, however, were outdated, and they were trying to buy newer models from the United States . The U.K. did not have any armoured divisions, and France's tanks were spread thin across its infantry divisions. The Allies in 1939 were "together superior in industrial resources, population, and military manpower", but German weapons, equipment, training and logistics made

17748-484: The north and German-occupied Slovakia in the south. Poland did not move their troops eastward to more defensive positions because their western half had their most vital industrial regions. The Wehrmacht used " Blitzkrieg attacks", surprise attacks with "massive, concentrated forces of fast-moving [armoured] units supported by overwhelming air power". Their air force, the Luftwaffe , specifically operated as support for

17901-525: The officer corps. Brüning's austerity measures brought little economic improvement and were extremely unpopular. Hitler exploited this by targeting his political messages specifically at people who had been affected by the inflation of the 1920s and the Depression, such as farmers, war veterans, and the middle class. Although Hitler had terminated his Austrian citizenship in 1925, he did not acquire German citizenship for almost seven years. This meant that he

18054-413: The onset of intense father-son conflicts caused by Hitler's refusal to conform to the strict discipline of his school. Alois tried to browbeat his son into obedience, while Adolf did his best to be the opposite of whatever his father wanted. Alois would also beat his son, although his mother tried to protect him from regular beatings. Alois Hitler's farming efforts at Hafeld ended in failure, and in 1897

18207-456: The opposite since remilitarizing in 1935. Poland did not have "tanks, armoured personnel carriers , and antitank and antiaircraft guns ", and believed horsed cavalry could take on German mechanized forces . The U.K. and France did make up for Poland's lack of air strength; Poland only had fighters and bombers , and the other Allies had those plus aircraft meant for either reconnaissance , coastal defense, or naval aviation. The U.K. had ready

18360-514: The orders of his army superiors, Hitler applied to join the party, and within a week was accepted as party member 555 (the party began counting membership at 500 to give the impression they were a much larger party). Hitler made his earliest known written statement about the Jewish question in a 16 September 1919 letter to Adolf Gemlich (now known as the Gemlich letter ). In the letter, Hitler argues that

18513-545: The other Central Powers guilty for starting the war . These punishments included the loss of Alsace-Lorraine , the temporary loss of the Saarland , military limitations, and reparation payments to the Allied powers . The Rhineland region of Germany was also made a demilitarized zone . Germany would also join the League of Nations , an international governmental body devoted to peacekeeping. Historians are divided on whether or not

18666-518: The party headquarters would remain in Munich. The committee agreed, and he rejoined the party on 26 July as member 3,680. Hitler continued to face some opposition within the Nazi Party. Opponents of Hitler in the leadership had Hermann Esser expelled from the party, and they printed 3,000 copies of a pamphlet attacking Hitler as a traitor to the party. In the following days, Hitler spoke to several large audiences and defended himself and Esser, to thunderous applause. His strategy proved successful, and at

18819-559: The press; legalized phone tapping and interception of correspondence; and suspended the autonomy of federated states, like Bavaria ". Communist politicians were arrested, leaving the Nazi Party free to do what they wanted. Hitler made Germany an absolute dictatorship, and he withdrew from the League of Nations. In 1934, during the Night of the Long Knives , Hitler ordered the purge of leaders within

18972-536: The process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism . Upon Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934, Hitler succeeded him, becoming simultaneously the head of state and government, with absolute power. Domestically, Hitler implemented numerous racist policies and sought to deport or kill German Jews . His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from

19125-407: The process: deep drives into enemy territory by panzer divisions were thus followed by mechanized infantry and foot soldiers. These tactics were supported by dive bombers that attacked and disrupted the enemy’s supply and communications lines and spread panic and confusion in its rear, thus further paralyzing its defensive capabilities. The only form of combat in which Germany had inferior capability

19278-433: The purity of its gene pool , thus preserving the unique “racial” characteristics with which “nature” had equipped it for success in the struggle to survive. Since each “race” sought to expand, and since the space on the earth was finite, the struggle for survival resulted “naturally” in violent conquest and military confrontation. Hence, war—even constant war —was a part of nature, a part of the human condition . This formed

19431-573: The remaining western half of Czechoslovakia, the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia . Later that month, part of Slovakia became the independent fascist and Catholic state of the Slovak Republic under dictator and Catholic priest Jozef Tiso . The republic was controlled by the Slovak People's Party , who made the country a client state of Germany and allowed Germany to occupy it. At the same time,

19584-437: The treaty was harsh or actually "very restrained" compared to other peace treaties at the time. Many Germans back then blamed their country's post-war economic collapse on the treaty's conditions and these resentments contributed to the political instability, which made it possible for Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party to come to power. This was worsened by the worldwide Great Depression , which began in 1929. Hitler became

19737-490: The trial of two Reichswehr officers, Lieutenants Richard Scheringer and Hanns Ludin , in late 1930. Both were charged with membership in the Nazi Party, at that time illegal for Reichswehr personnel. The prosecution argued that the Nazi Party was an extremist party, prompting defence lawyer Hans Frank to call on Hitler to testify. On 25 September 1930, Hitler testified that his party would pursue political power solely through democratic elections, which won him many supporters in

19890-684: The violation of their sovereignty, but capitulated to the U.K., who occupied the country . The U.K. promised to compensate the Icelandic population and leave at the end of the war. Canadian troops arrived in Iceland in June 1940 and the Americans arrived a year later; foreign troops continued staying in Iceland after the war, as the country became a NATO member. Sweden was able to remain neutral . In 1936, insurgents led by fascist Francisco Franco went to war with

20043-491: The war and justifying providing the U.K. with aid. In March 1941, the U.S. Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act , which allowed the U.S. to send large amounts of aid: it ranged from "tanks, aircraft, ships, weapons and road building supplies to clothing, chemicals and food." The program soon expanding to giving aid to the Soviet Union, China, and allied France. From 20 to 24 November 1940, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia joined

20196-479: The war for a few days. On 31 August, he gave the order to invade the next day. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland , falsely claiming that Poland was trying to encircle and partition Germany and that ethnic Germans were being persecuted there. Germany also staged an attack on one of their own radio stations and blamed it on the Poles. 1.5 million soldiers of the German military, the Wehrmacht , took part in

20349-452: Was stateless , legally unable to run for public office, and still faced the risk of deportation. On 25 February 1932, the interior minister of Brunswick , Dietrich Klagges , who was a member of the Nazi Party, appointed Hitler as administrator for the state's delegation to the Reichsrat in Berlin, making Hitler a citizen of Brunswick, and thus of Germany. Hitler ran against Hindenburg in

20502-418: Was a teenage bully who would often slap her. Alois had made a successful career in the customs bureau and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Hitler later dramatised an episode from this period when his father took him to visit a customs office, depicting it as an event that gave rise to an unforgiving antagonism between father and son, who were both strong-willed. Ignoring his son's desire to attend

20655-428: Was an autobiography and exposition of his ideology. The book laid out Hitler's plans for transforming German society into one based on race. Throughout the book, Jews are equated with "germs" and presented as the "international poisoners" of society. According to Hitler's ideology, the only solution was their extermination. While Hitler did not describe exactly how this was to be accomplished, his "inherent genocidal thrust

20808-453: Was an intense conflict that led to at least 39 million deaths and a dramatic change in the balance of power in the continent. Throughout the mid-to-late 1930s, Adolf Hitler , the leader of fascist Nazi Germany, expanded German territory by annexing all of Austria and the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in 1938. This was motivated in part by Germany's racial policy that believed

20961-455: Was at sea, so they did not attack the Allies' navies with massed fleets, but instead through "the individual operation of German pocket battleships and commerce raiders ". France and the U.K. declared war on Germany on 3 September, but they did not actually engage in warfare with Germany during the invasion of Poland. Meanwhile, the Battle of the Atlantic began over control of sea routes in

21114-404: Was banned in 1989. Following this he began a tactic of regularly forming new movements in an attempt to keep ahead of any bans, a policy he continued to exercise until his death in 1991. Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as

21267-488: Was blamed for the war. The Finns, who had little outside help, became worn down in a war of attrition . The Soviets reduced their strategic objectives in late January 1940 and put an end to the puppet Finnish communist government, informing the opposing Finnish government that they were willing to negotiate peace. After the Soviets reorganized and adopted different tactics, they renewed their offensive in February and breached

21420-671: Was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz . He lived in Vienna in the first decade of the 1900s before moving to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I , receiving the Iron Cross . In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was appointed leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in

21573-437: Was brought up in the family of Hiedler's brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler . In 1876, Alois was made legitimate and his baptismal record annotated by a priest to register Johann Georg Hiedler as Alois's father (recorded as "Georg Hitler"). Alois then assumed the surname "Hitler", also spelled "Hiedler", "Hüttler" , or "Huettler" . The name is probably based on the German word Hütte ( lit.   ' hut ' ), and has

21726-451: Was depressed but calm when arrested on 11 November 1923 for high treason . His trial before the special People's Court in Munich began in February 1924, and Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the Nazi Party. On 1 April, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison . There, he received friendly treatment from the guards, and was allowed mail from supporters and regular visits by party comrades. Pardoned by

21879-793: Was even more widespread in the Mariahilf district, where Hitler then lived. Georg Ritter von Schönerer became a major influence on Hitler, and he developed an admiration for Martin Luther . Hitler read local newspapers that promoted prejudice and utilised Christian fears of being swamped by an influx of Eastern European Jews as well as pamphlets that published the thoughts of philosophers and theoreticians such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain , Charles Darwin , Friedrich Nietzsche , Gustave Le Bon , and Arthur Schopenhauer . During his life in Vienna, Hitler also developed fervent anti-Slavic sentiments . The origin and development of Hitler's anti-Semitism remains

22032-478: Was given to Germany. The last Polish unit surrendered on 6 October. The invasion ended with 14,000 Germans dead or missing and 66,000 to 70,000 Poles dead. 700,000 Poles were taken prisoner and 80,000 escaped into neutral countries. From October 1939 to March 1940, the European theatre was in a phase known as the Phoney War , when no major land operations were made by the Allied powers. As early as August 1935,

22185-658: Was in Syria. Reynard arrived from Syria on the 19th, leaving the French high command without a top general for days while the Germans pushed towards Paris. Weygand arrived and replaced 12 generals, notably employing general Charles de Gaulle . The Germans broke through the French line on the 15th and marched swiftly into undefended land. They reached the English Channel by the 20th, and days later, moved north towards Calais and Dunkirk . The Belgians became encircled in Flanders . On

22338-510: Was one of the first politicians to use aircraft travel for campaigning and used it effectively. Hitler came in second in both rounds of the election, garnering more than 35 per cent of the vote in the final election. Although he lost to Hindenburg, this election established Hitler as a strong force in German politics. The absence of an effective government prompted two influential politicians, Franz von Papen and Alfred Hugenberg , along with several other industrialists and businessmen, to write

22491-655: Was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II , taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allied powers (including the United Kingdom , the United States , and the Soviet Union ) fought the Axis powers (including Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ) on both sides of the continent in the Western and Eastern fronts. There was also conflict in the Scandinavian , Mediterranean and Balkan regions. It

22644-400: Was over by 10 June 1940. The British occupied the Faroe Islands in response to Germany's gains. Winston Churchill, meanwhile, tried to convince Iceland to join the Allies, but they wanted to stay neutral. Ultimately, the U.K. decided to invade, as the country was strategically important as a base to control the North Atlantic. The invasion began on 10 May 1940. The government disliked

22797-407: Was praised by his commanding officers for his bravery. His wartime experience reinforced his German patriotism, and he was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918. His displeasure with the collapse of the war effort began to shape his ideology. Like other German nationalists, he believed the Dolchstoßlegende ( stab-in-the-back myth ), which claimed that the German army, "undefeated in

22950-449: Was rejected twice. The director suggested Hitler should apply to the School of Architecture, but he lacked the necessary academic credentials because he had not finished secondary school. On 21 December 1907, his mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47; Hitler was 18 at the time. In 1909, Hitler ran out of money and was forced to live a bohemian life in homeless shelters and the Meldemannstraße dormitory . He earned money as

23103-580: Was seen as reasonable by the British and French populaces because the Treaty of Versailles was thought of as indeed too restrictive, and they did not want to go to war with Germany. In 1935, Germany revoked the Treaty of Versailles' limitations on its military, and remilitizared the Rhineland in 1936. On 13 March 1938, Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss . Hitler then threatened to go to war with Czechoslovakia , and in response, on 30 September 1938, Hitler, Mussolini, U.K. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , and French premiere Edouard Daladier signed

23256-472: Was three, the family moved to Passau , Germany. There he acquired the distinctive lower Bavarian dialect , rather than Austrian German , which marked his speech throughout his life. The family returned to Austria and settled in Leonding in 1894, and in June 1895 Alois retired to Hafeld, near Lambach , where he farmed and kept bees. Hitler attended Volksschule (a state-funded primary school) in nearby Fischlham . The move to Hafeld coincided with

23409-605: Was to help the Italian invasion of Greece, overthrow the pro-Allied Yugoslavia government, secure the German flank during the planned invasion of Russia, protect German oil in Romania from Allied air attacks, and create a base to attack British communication lines with the east. Major Yugoslavian cities, including Belgrade , were bombed. On 17 April, Yugoslavia capitulated, as Germany moved into northern Greece. Greek cities were subject to Blitzkrieg attacks; despite intense resistance, Athens fell on 27 April. 2,500 Germans were killed. 11,000 Allied men were captured, and 45,000 evacuated to

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