Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau am Inn, Austria. He spent most of his childhood in Linz, in Upper Austria.

2

Military Career of Adolf Hitler

In 1913, Hitler moved to Munich and during WWI he volunteered to fight in the war. Hitler was wounded twice in the Battle of Somme in 1916, and was told after Germany was defeated in WWI.

3

Nazi Party

In 1918, Hitler returned to Munich and joined a small German Workers Party which united their interests in nationalism. Because Hitler was so well spoken, and charismatic, he was propelled to the higher ranks and started controlling propaganda. He renamed the party to the Nazi Party, and adopted the symbol of the swastika.

4

Beer Hall Putsch

On the evening of November 8, 1923 members of the strong arms squad forced their way to a large beer hall and addressed the crowd proclaiming the beginning of a national revolution. Later, they got into a gun battle with the police. Hitler quickly fled, and the rebels were arrested.

Hitler was tried for treason and was sentenced to 5 years in prison, however he only served 9 months. While in prison he wrote a book named "Mein Kampf" which translates to "My Struggle" and was published in 1925. In the book, he talks about his views on nationalism, and anti-Semitic views he developed while in Vienna. He would then finish Volume II, and became the second best selling book after the Bible. He released a second book named "The Zweites Buch" which translates to "Hitler's Secret Book".

6

The Schutzstaffel (SS)

By the time Hitler left prison, the economy had recovered and restored popular support for the Weimar Republic. Over the next few years, Hitler laid low and focused on perfecting the Nazi Party. He also established Hitler Youth, that organizes the young people. Members of the SS wore under oath to Hitler, and the 200 members would be destructive to Europe in WWII.

7

Eva Braun

Hitler spent most of his time at Berchtesgaden with his half sister, and her 2 daughters often joined him. Hitler became infatuated with his niece and that led her to commit suicide in 1931 because he was too possessive. He then started a long relationship with Eva Braun, but refused to marry her.

8

The Third Reich

In 1932, Hitler ran for president against Paul von Hindenburg, and received 36.8% of the vote. In January of 1933, Hitler was named as chancellor of Germany. January 30, 1933 marked The Third Reich.

Even though the Nazi's never attained more than 37% of the votes, Hitler was able to grab absolute power in Germany. Germany's Parliament building was set on fire by the Nazi's, but Hitler claimed political oppression. That July, the government passed a law stating that the Nazi Party constitutes the only political party in Germany. Now that Hitler had absolute power, Hitler turned his eyes to the rest of Europe.

10

Night of the Long Knives

On June 29, 1934, Hitler had Rohm former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and hundreds of other problematic members in his party murdered.

11

Persecution of Jews

On September 15, 1935, Jews were deprived of German citizenship, and prohibited them from marrying or having relations with persons of German related blood. The Nazi's tried to downplay the the persecution of Jews, and hide evidence due to the Olympics being held in Berlin in 1936.

12

Outbreak of World War II

On March 26, going against his generals, Hitler ordered German troops to reoccupy the left bank of Rhine. Germany made alliances with Italy, and Japan. In May 1939, Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. September 1, 1939, Nazi troops invaded Poland, causing France and Great Britain to declare war on Germany.

After Hitler ordered the operation with Denmark and Norway, in April 1940, he adopted a plan to attack France through the Ardennes Forest. Holland surrendered followed by Belgium. Hitler hoped to make peace with Britain, but when they denied he attacked the country, as well with an invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor that same year, the United States declared war on Japan. Since Germany and Japan have an alliance, Hitler decided to declare war on the United States as well.

14

Concentration Camps

Beginning of 1933, the SS operated multiple concentration camps to hold Jews, and other groups the Nazi's targeted. Nazi's started to exterminate Jewish people in these camps. Besides the forced harsh labor, and massive executions, certain Jews at Auschwitz were subject to medical experiments performed by Josef Mengele. He exposed over 3,000 children to disease, disfigurement, and torture for medical research.

15

End of World War II

By the end of 1942, the war turned on Germany. As the conflict continued, Hitler became increasingly unwell, isolated, and depended on medications. Multiple assassination attempts were made on his life, including one that was almost successful in July 1944 while Hitler was at a conference in Prussia. After the successful allied invasion in Normandy in June of 1944, Hitler made plans to split British and American forces. After January of 1945, he hid in a bunker underneath the Chancellery in Berlin, abandoning that plan.

16

How Did Adolf Hitler Die?

At midnight on the night of April 28-29, Hitler married his long time girlfriend Eva Braun in the Berlin bunker. After Hitler dictated his political testament, Hitler shot himself in his suite on April 30 while Eva drank poison. According to Hitler's instructions their bodies were burned. Soviet troops surrounded all of Berlin, Germany, Germany had no choice but to surrender bringing the war in Europe to a close. In the end, Hitler's Thousand Year Reich lasted only 12 years, but caused massive destruction across Europe.