Adolf Hitler

Definition

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933. He gained power by making popular promises like improving Germany's economy and status in Europe, but when he took these policies too far, he was responsible more than anything else for starting the Second World War (1939-45). Germany lost the war, and Hitler committed suicide in April 1945.

More about: Adolf Hitler

Timeline

  • 20 Apr 1889
    Adolf Hitler is born in Braunau am Inn, Austria.
  • 1907
    Adolf Hitler fails the entrance exam to Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts.
  • 1908 - 1913
    Adolf Hitler lives in Vienna.
  • 1913
    Adolf Hitler moves to Munich, Germany.
  • 1914
    Adolf Hitler joins the Bavarian Army and serves as a messenger in WWI. He wins two Iron Cross medals.
  • 1918
    Adolf Hitler begins work as a lecturer in the Germany Army.
  • 1920
    Adolf Hitler joins the German Workers Party and then renames it the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party).
  • 1921
    Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the German Nazi Party.
  • Feb 1924
    Trial begins of Adolf Hitler. He is found guilty of treason for the Beer Hall Putsch and sentenced to five years in prison.
  • 1925
    Adolf Hitler publishes his book Mein Kampf.
  • 1925
    Adolf Hitler rents a villa, the Berghof, near Berchtesgaden in Bavaria. He later buys and develops the property, using it as his private retreat.
  • 1925
    Adolf Hitler creates a new paramilitary group, the Schutzstaffel or SS, to rival the Sturmabteilung or SA.
  • 1928
    Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party wins 12 seats in the Reichstag Parliament.
  • 1930
    Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party wins 107 seats in the Reichstag Parliament.
  • 1932
    Adolf Hitler begins his life-long relationship with Eva Braun.
  • Jul 1932
    Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party wins 230 seats in the Reichstag Parliament.
  • Nov 1932
    Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party wins 196 seats in the Reichstag Parliament.
  • Jan 1933
    President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler chancellor and he leads a coalition government.
  • 27 Feb 1933
    The Reichstag Fire, likely caused by either a communist anarchist or members of the Strumabteilung (SA), the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party.
  • 28 Feb 1933
    Adolf Hitler passes the Reichstag Decree which declares martial law and gives great new policing powers to the state.
  • 5 Mar 1933
    The Nazi party (NSDAP) wins 44% of the seats in Germany's national elections.
  • 23 Mar 1933
    The Enabling Act is passed which allows Adolf Hitler to by-pass the German parliament.
  • 30 Jun 1934
    The Night of the Long Knives when Adolf Hitler purges the Sturmabteilung (SA) Nazi paramilitary group.
  • 15 Sep 1935
    The Nuremberg Laws, which severely restrict the rights of Jews, are created in Nazi Germany.
  • 12 Mar 1938
    German troops march into Austria and, unopposed, the Anschluss is established.
  • 15 Sep 1938
    Neville Chamberlain meets Adolf Hitler in Bavaria to discuss the fate of the Czech Sudetenland.
  • 22 Sep 1938
    Neville Chamberlain meets Adolf Hitler on the Rhine to further discuss the fate of the Czech Sudetenland.
  • 30 Sep 1938
    Britain, France, Italy, and Germany sign the Munich Agreement which gives the Czech Sudetenland to Germany.
  • 5 Oct 1938
    The Czech Sudetenland is absorbed into the Third Reich.
  • 9 Nov 1938 - 10 Nov 1938
    Kristallnacht, the pogrom against Jews in Nazi Germany and Austria.
  • 15 Mar 1939
    Nazi Germany occupies what remains of Czechoslovakia.
  • Aug 1939
    A series of agreements between Germany and the USSR, known as the Nazi-Soviet Pact, carves up Europe between the two states, and both promise not to attack the other.
  • 1 Sep 1939
    Nazi Germany invades Poland, starting WWII.
  • 20 Jul 1944
    A plot led by Claus von Stauffenberg to assassinate Adolf Hitler fails.
  • 29 Apr 1945
    Adolf Hitler marries Eva Braun.
  • 30 Apr 1945
    Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin bunker.
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