Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 - April 30, 1945) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers' Party and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. In that capacity he was Chancellor of Germany, head of government, and head of state, ruling as a dictator.

A gifted, charismatic orator possessed of a profound personal presence, Hitler is regarded as one of the most significant leaders of World history. The military-industrial complex he fostered pulled Germany out of the post-World War I economic crisis and, at its height, controlled the greater part of Europe.

Hitler's attempts to create a Greater Germany (Lebensraum), specifically the annexation of Austria and the invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland, were one of the primary factors leading to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. The embrace of total war both by the Axis and Allied powers during this time led to the destruction of much of Europe. Hitler is held accountable for the racial policy of Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and the death and displacement of millions occurring during his leadership. Hoping to be the founder of a thousand-year Reich, he was reported to have committed suicide in his bunker beneath Berlin, Germany in ruins around him and the Red Army closing in.
Adolf was an intelligent but moody boy and he twice failed to pass the high school admission examinations in Linz. There, he became captivated by the anti-Semitic , Pan-German lectures of Professor Leopold Poetsch , who greatly influenced the young man's views. Hitler was devoted to his indulgent mother and may have had a hatred for his father, who was a strict disciplinarian. In his book, Mein Kampf , written by Hitler partially as propaganda, Adolf is respectful of his father, though he does state that they had irreconcilable differences over his firm decision to become an artist. His father wanted Adolf to become a civil servant instead. In January 1903 Alois died, and in December 1907 Klara died of cancer.

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