The German dictator was born in Austria, Braunau, on 20th April 1889. Braunau is a small town situated on the River Inn, close to the German border. Hitler's family moved to Linz shortly after he was born. Young Adolf went to primary school in Linz and proved to be a good student at the very beginning. As the years were passing by, he showed little interest in studying. This worried and enraged Hitler's father- Alois Hitler- who hoped his son would be working in government in the future. Unfortunately, as a young boy Adolf planned to become an artist.
Hitler decided that he wanted to learn in artistic school and he went to Vienna, Austria, in 1907. He wanted to make his dreams come true. However, he failed to pass the entering exams to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Soon after that, Hitler's mother died. Adolf decided not to come back to Linz, but to stay in the city. He tried to get to the Academy once more, but failed again. He had problems with work. He was not able to find regular work, so he took several strange jobs. As well as no regular job, Hitler had no place to live. When he had money, he hired some cheap rooms. But usually he slept in parks and ate, what he could get from charity organizations. It was the time, when Hitler's hatred for non-Germans was born. He felt that he was German. He was making fun of the Austrian government because it recognized 8 languages as official. He was sure that it is impossible that the government treating ethnic groups in an equal way, might last.
Hitler moved to Munich in 1913. He wanted to be the German. When, in 1914, the First World War began, he wanted to get to the German army. He proved to be a good soldier. He was even decorated. He was considered very brave. Nevertheless, he managed to achieve only the rank of corporal. As the world was over, Adolf was in the hospital. He got poisoned with gas and suffered from temporary blindness. As the Versailles Treaty was established, Germany was deprived of large parts of land. Moreover, the whole army was supposed to disarm and Germany was forced to pay great reparations. When the German army came back to the country, it was in terrible condition. There was no work for millions of people and the government was bankrupt.
Hitler decided to join the National Socialist German Workers Party (the Nazis), in 1920. The party had one goal- to make all Germans, together with those remaining outside the country, unite. They stated that to make the country recover, it is necessary to organize powerful central government. They wanted to cancel all establishments from the Versailles Treaty. In short period of time, Hitler was chosen to be the leader of Nazis. He appeared to be the excellent and brilliant speaker. Soon, the party had its own army - the Storm Troopers, organized by its leader. The army was ordered to fight each group or person, who is not following Nazis' rules.
Hitler was the leader of the army of 2000 Storm Troopers on the attempt to seize the government of Bavaria. It happened on 9th November 1923. They failed to do it. Hitler was under arrest and they sentenced him to prison for treason of the country. Adolf spent there 5 years. He spent it on writing his famous book- "Mein Kampf" ( My Struggle ). He described his beliefs and visions of the 'new' Germany there. He managed to make the Nazis organize the private group of soldiers willing to protect and fight for him- the "Shutzstaffel", (SS). In 1929 already, the Nazis were an influential political party.
The financial depression reached Germany in 1930. The situation was even worse, as Germany had additionally the huge dept to pay for the damages it caused in the World War I. The Nazis claimed that they wouldn't pay the dept. in his mind, it was the Communists and the Jews, who were responsible for the defeat of Germany in the war. He said that the main goal of Germany is to get rid of all Jews and Communists. He wanted to unite all German speaking countries and people.
On the election in July 1932, the Nazis were given more than 40% of the votes. They proved to be the most powerful party in Germany. Hitler was appointed the Chancellor of Germany on 30th January 1933. It soon became clear that Hitler's goal is to become a dictator. The president of Germany- Hindenburg- died in 1934 and by this time Hitler managed to be in control of the country and he called himself the 'Fuhrer' (leader).
The government led by Hitler was not allowing any freedom in Germany. The Third Reich wanted to control every area of people's lives. The propaganda used by the Fuhrer was overwhelming. Hitler made everyone believe in theory of 'the chosen nation'- Germans. He claimed that it is possible to create the pure Aryan race of people. such people would be the strongest, most intelligent and most powerful. He decided that to attain this goal, the Germans have to destroy whole nations of Jews, Negroes and Gypsies. The handicapped and the mentally ill were supposed to be killed as well. Hitler called his plan the 'final solution'.
In 1939 the Second World War started. First, the Germans invaded Polish territories. It was the beginning of the following of the plan. It took little time to organize the extermination camps in Poland, Germany and in Russia.
By the time the Allied countries stopped Hitler and the German army, more than 12 million people were exterminated in the camps. On 30th April, 1945, Adolf Hitler was found dead. It is believed that he committed suicide. The week later, the Germans surrendered.
