Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler grew up with a poor record at school and left, before finishing, with an ambition to become an artist. He failed to win a scholarship at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1910 he was living in homeless shelters and eating at charity soup-kitchens. He took the odd job and sold some of his paintings whenever he could. It was in Vienna that he developed his hatred of foreigners and Jews, and when war broke out in 1914 he volunteered to join the German army and won the Iron Cross for bravery.
After joining the German Workers Party he led an attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government in Munich. The attempt failed, and he was sentenced to nine months in prison where he dictated his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle). He then helped to rebuild the Nazi Party.
The Wall Street Crash in 1929 and the subsequent worldwide depression hit Germany hard and Hitler used the situation to blame Jews and Communists and presented himself and the Nazis as the answer to Germany's problems. He became Chancellor in 1933, President in 1934 and used the title Führer - leader. During the 1930s he removed all opposition and enforced Nazi ideas on education, the church and on society. He led Germany to war in 1939 and tried to exterminate the Jews and other groups in Germany and Europe. When Germany was defeated in 1945 Hitler shot himself in his bunker in Berlin.
Key events
After joining the German Workers Party he led an attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government in Munich. The attempt failed, and he was sentenced to nine months in prison where he dictated his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle). He then helped to rebuild the Nazi Party.
The Wall Street Crash in 1929 and the subsequent worldwide depression hit Germany hard and Hitler used the situation to blame Jews and Communists and presented himself and the Nazis as the answer to Germany's problems. He became Chancellor in 1933, President in 1934 and used the title Führer - leader. During the 1930s he removed all opposition and enforced Nazi ideas on education, the church and on society. He led Germany to war in 1939 and tried to exterminate the Jews and other groups in Germany and Europe. When Germany was defeated in 1945 Hitler shot himself in his bunker in Berlin.
Key events
- 1919 Joins Nazi Party.
- 1923 Tries to take over Munich but fails.
- 1924 Imprisoned for 9 months and writes his autobiography, Mein Kampf (My Struggle).
- 1933 President appoints Hitler Chancellor.
- 1935 Nuremberg Laws takes away Jewish rights and deny Jews German citizenship.
- 1938-9 Germany takes over Austria and Czechoslovakia.
- 1939 Germany invades Poland - Second World War begins.
- 1941 Germany invades Russia, and in December declares war on the USA.
- 1944 June - Britain and USA invade German-occupied France. The operation was named D Day.
- 1942-5 6 million Jews killed on Hitler's orders - the Holocaust.
- 1945 Hitler commits suicide in his bunker in Berlin.