Adolf Hitler
Learn about Adolf Hitler — the dictator whose ideology of racial supremacy led to World War II, the Holocaust, and the deaths of over 70 million people.
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) was the Austrian-born German politician who rose from failed artist and decorated World War I corporal to become the dictator of Nazi Germany, the instigator of World War II, and the architect of the Holocaust. He is widely considered the most destructive political leader in human history.
Hitler's rise to power exploited the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic. The humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles, hyperinflation, and then the Great Depression created a population desperate for simple answers and strong leadership. Hitler's Nazi Party offered both: a narrative of German victimhood, racial scapegoating of Jews, the promise of national renewal, and the charismatic authority of a leader who claimed to embody the nation's will.
As dictator, Hitler pursued aggressive territorial expansion, military rearmament, and the systematic persecution of Jews and other 'undesirable' groups. His invasion of Poland in 1939 triggered World War II. The Holocaust — the industrial murder of six million Jews and millions of others — was the regime's most extreme crime. Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker on April 30, 1945, as Soviet forces closed in. His twelve-year rule left Europe in ruins, 70–85 million dead, and a permanent warning about the consequences of unchecked totalitarianism.
Lessons covering this topic
Browse all lessons →The Rise of Fascism
Mussolini, Hitler, and the assault on democracy.
The Road to World War II
Appeasement, expansion, and the failure of peace.
The Global Conflict
From Blitzkrieg to the Pacific — war on every front.
The Holocaust
Genocide, resistance, and the darkest chapter of the 20th century.