Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was a struggling young artist who became a feared dictator. He led his country into a bloody war that killed millions of people.

Hitler rose to power in Germany in the 1930s. He eventually started World War II (1939-1945), a conflict that left Europe in ruins.

HITLER'S CHILDHOOD

Adolf Hitler was born in 1889. He came from a well-to-do family in Austria-Hungary. His father was an important government worker. After his father died, Hitler quit school in the ninth grade. He decided to become an artist but had trouble finding work.

WORLD WAR I

Hilter volunteered for the German army during World War I (1914-1918) and served the whole war. Germany lost the war, and the country suffered terribly. Many Germans became jobless and poor. The people wanted someone to lead them back to glory again. Hitler wanted to be that person.

RISE TO POWER

After the war, Hitler joined the National German Socialists Workers' Party.

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germa...

Mussolini (left) and Hitler sent their armies to N...

According to Bullock, Hitler was an opportunistic ...

Many people called it the Nazi Party, for short. Hitler was an excellent public speaker. He appealed to German pride by constantly speaking about their racial superiority. This was the idea that one type of people are naturally better than others. He blamed other people, especially Jews, for Germany's problems. His speeches attracted thousands of people who thought Hitler could be a great leader. The Nazi Party grew rapidly.

Hitler ran for political office in Germany and was elected in 1930. Three years later, in January 1933, Hitler became Germany's chancellor, which was similar to a president. He immediately passed laws giving himself total power. Soon, Hitler had become a dictator. He controlled Germany's government completely.

Hitler passed laws to get rid of people he did not like. They included his political enemies and Germans who were disabled or Jewish.