Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler
Hitler in 1937
Führer of Germany
In office 2 August 1934 – 30 April 1945
Preceded by	Paul von Hindenburg (as President)
Succeeded by	Karl Dönitz (as President)
Chancellor of Germany
In office 30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945
President	Paul von Hindenburg
Deputy	Franz von Papen Vacant
Preceded by	Kurt von Schleicher
Succeeded by	Joseph Goebbels
Personal details
Born	20 April 1889(1889-04-20) Braunau am Inn, Austria–Hungary
Died	30 April 1945(1945-04-30) (aged 56) Berlin, Germany
Nationality	Austrian citizen until 7 April 1925[1] German citizen after 25 February 1932
Political party	National Socialist German Workers' Party (1921–1945)
Other political affiliations	German Workers' Party (1920–1921)
Spouse(s)	Eva Braun (29–30 April 1945)
Occupation	Politician, soldier, artist, writer
Religion	See Adolf Hitler's religious views
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire
Service/branch	Reichsheer
Years of service	1914–1918
Rank	Gefreiter
Unit	16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Iron Cross First Class Wound Badge

Adolf Hitler (German: [ˈadɔlf ˈhɪtlɐ] ( listen); 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state (as Führer und Reichskanzler) from 1934 to 1945. Hitler is most commonly associated with the rise of fascism in Europe, World War II, and the Holocaust.
A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the German Workers' Party, precursor of the Nazi Party, in 1919, and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923 Hitler attempted a coup d'état, known as the Beer Hall Putsch, at the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall in Munich. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoir, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). After his release in 1924, Hitler gained support by promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. He was appointed chancellor in 1933 and transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism.
Hitler's avowed aim was to establish a New Order of absolute Nazi German hegemony in continental Europe. His foreign and domestic policies had the goal of seizing Lebensraum (living space) for the Germanic people. He oversaw the rearmament of Germany and the invasion of Poland by the Wehrmacht in September 1939, which led to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.^[2]
Under Hitler's direction, German forces and their European allies at one point occupied most of Europe and North Africa. These gains were reversed in 1945 when the Allied armies defeated the German army. Hitler's racially motivated policies resulted in the deaths of as many as 17 million people,^[3] including an estimated six million Jews and between 500,000 and 1,500,000 Roma targeted in the Holocaust.^[4]
In the final days of the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married his long-time mistress, Eva Braun. On 30 April 1945—less than two days later— the two committed suicide to avoid capture by the Red Army, and their corpses were burned.^[5]