thumb|right|200px|Adolf Hitler
'''Adolf Hitler''' a l'era nassù a Braunan-am-Inn (Àustria) ai 20 d'avril dël 1889 e a l'é mòrt a Berlin ai 30 d'avril dël 1945.

Ai 30 ëd gené 1933 Hitler a l'é dventà canselié an Almagna.<br>
Con j'elession dij 5 ëd mars ëd col ann, ij nasista e ij nassionalista a l'han otnù na cita magioransa; ai 23 ëd mars, lë Strument d'abilitassion a l'ha dàit a Hitler ij podèj ditatoriaj.

Hitler, Adolf

als:Adolf Hitler
am:አዶልፍ ሂትለር

ang:Adolf Hitler

bar:Adolf Hitler
bat-smg:Aduolfos Hėtlerės

be-x-old:Адольф Гітлер

cv:Адольф Китлĕр

eo:Adolf Hitler
es:Adolf Hitler

ext:Adolf Hitler

fo:Adolf Hitler

fy:Adolf Hitler
ga:Adolf Hitler
gan:希特勒
gd:Adolf Hitler

hsb:Adolf Hitler

hy:Ադոլֆ Հիտլեր
ia:Adolf Hitler

kab:Adolf Hitler
kk:Һитлер, Адолф
kn:ಅಡೋಲ್ಫ್ ಹಿಟ್ಲರ್

li:Adolf Hitler

ml:അഡോള്‍ഫ് ഹിറ്റ്‌ലര്‍

mt:Adolf Hitler
nah:Adolf Hitler

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{{Infobox President
|name               = Adolf Hitler
|nationality        = Austrian until 1925;<ref></ref> after 1932 German
|citizenship        = German (1932–1945)
|image              = Adolf Hitler cph 3a48970.jpg
|birth_date         = 20 April 1889
|birth_place        = Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary
|death_date         = 
|death_place        = Germany
|death_cause        = Suicide
|party              = National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
|spouse             = Eva Braun<br />''(married on April 29, 1945)''
|occupation         = Politican, Head of State, Writer, Artist
|religion           = section below)
|order              = ''Führer''<br /><small> 3rd President of Germany (Weimar Republic) </small>
|term_start         = 30 January 1933
|term_end           = 30 April 1945
|predecessor        = Paul von Hindenburg<br />''(as President)''
|successor          = Karl Dönitz<br />''(as President)''
|order2             = Reichskanzler
|term_start2        = 30 January 1933
|term_end2          = 30 April 1945
|predecessor2       = Kurt von Schleicher
|successor2         = Joseph Goebbels
|order3             = Reichsstatthalter of Prussia
|term_start3        = 1933
|term_end3          = 1935
|successor3         = Hermann Göring (acting)
|signature          = Hitler signature.jpg
}}

'''Adolf Hitler''' (German politician who led the National Socialist German Workers Party (''National Sozialistik Deutschen Arbeiten Partei NSDAP''), more commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany (1933–1945) and Führer of Germany (1934–1945). 

Hitler was a decorated veteran of Nazi Party in failed coup, he gained support by promoting charismatic propaganda. The Nazis executed or assassinated many of their opponents, restructured the state economy, rearmed the armed forces (''totalitarian and fascist German invasion of British and French Empires to declare war on Germany, leading to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.<ref>{{cite book
  |last=Keegan
  |first=John
  |title=The Second World War
  |location=Glenfield, New Zealand
  |publisher=Hutchinson
  |year=1989 }}</ref>

The Allies defeated the racial subjugation caused the deaths of tens of millions of people, including the systematic "undesirable" populations, in what is known as the Holocaust.

During the final days of the war in 1945, as committed suicide in the Führerbunker.

== Early years ==
thumb|left|Adolf Hitler as an infant.

=== Childhood and heritage ===
Adolf Hitler was born at the Gasthof zum Pommer, an inn in Paula reached adulthood.<ref name="bull25"></ref> Hitler's father also had a son, Alois Jr, and a daughter, Angela, by his second wife.<ref name="bull25"/>

Alois Hitler was an illegitimate child. For the first 39 years of his life he bore his mother's surname, Schicklgruber. In 1876, he took the surname of his stepfather, Standard Ger. ''Hütte''), 'shepherd' (Standard Ger. ''hüten'' 'to guard,' Eng. ''heed''), or is from the Slavic word ''Hidlar'' and ''Hidlarcek''. (Regarding the first two theories: some German dialects make little or no distinction between the ''ü''-sound and the ''i''-sound.)

Allied propaganda exploited Hitler's original family name during World War II. Pamphlets bearing the phrase "Heil Schicklgruber" were airdropped over German cities. He was legally born a Hitler, however, and was also related to Hiedler via his maternal grandmother, Johanna Hiedler.

The name "Adolf" comes from Old High German for "noble wolf" (Adel=nobility + wolf). Hence, one of Hitler's self-given nicknames was ''Wolf'' or ''Herr Wolf''; he began using this nickname in the early 1920s and was addressed by it only by intimates (as "Uncle Wolf" by the Wagners) up until the fall of the Third Reich.<ref></ref> The names of his various headquarters scattered throughout continental Europe (''Wolfsschanze'' in East Prussia, ''Wolfsschlucht'' in France, ''Werwolf'' in Ukraine, etc.) reflect this. By his closest family and relatives, Hitler was known as "Adi".

Hitler said that, as a boy, he was often beaten by his father. Years later he told his secretary, "I then resolved never again to cry when my father whipped me. A few days later I had the opportunity of putting my will to the test. My mother, frightened, took refuge in the front of the door. As for me, I counted silently the blows of the stick which lashed my rear end."<ref></ref>

Hitler's paternal grandfather was most likely one of the brothers Johann Georg Hiedler or racist and Czech ancestors. Although these rumours were never confirmed, for Hitler they were reason enough to conceal his origins. According to Robert G. L. Waite in ''The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler'', Hitler made it illegal for German women to work in Jewish households, and after the "Anschluss" (annexation) of Austria, Hitler turned his father's hometown into an artillery practice area. Waite says that Hitler's insecurities in this regard may have been more important than whether Judaic ancestry could have been proven by his peers.

left|thumb|[[Hitler and a boy who has been identified as Wittgenstein in a school photograph taken at the Linz Realschule in 1903]]

Hitler's family moved often, from Braunau am Inn to Passau, Lambach, Leonding, and Linz. The young Hitler was a good student in elementary school. But in the sixth grade, his first year of high school (''Realschule'') in Linz he failed and had to repeat the grade. His teachers said that he had "no desire to work." One of Hitler's fellow pupils in the Realschule was Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the great philosophers of the 20th century. A book by Kimberley Cornish suggests that conflict between Hitler and some Jewish students, including Wittgenstein, was a critical moment in Hitler's formation as an anti-Semite.<ref></ref>

Hitler later said that his educational slump was a rebellion against his father, who wanted the boy to follow him in a career as a customs official; he wanted to become a painter instead. This explanation is further supported by Hitler's later description of himself as a misunderstood artist. After Alois died on 3 January 1903, Hitler's schoolwork did not improve. At age 16, Hitler dropped out of high school without a degree.

In ''Mein Kampf'', Hitler attributed his conversion to German nationalism to a time during his early teenage years when he read a book of his father's about the Franco-Prussian War, which caused him to question why his father and other German Austrians failed to fight for the Germans during the war.<ref></ref>

=== Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich ===
From 1905 on, Hitler lived a bohemian life in Vienna on an orphan's pension and support from his mother. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (1907–1908), citing "unfitness for painting," and was told his abilities lay instead in the field of architecture.<ref></ref> His memoirs reflect a fascination with the subject:

</ref>}}

Following the school rector's recommendation, he too became convinced this was the path to pursue, yet he lacked the proper academic preparation for architecture school:

</ref>}}

On 21 December 1907, Hitler's mother died of breast cancer at age 47. Ordered by a court in Linz, Hitler gave his share of the orphans' benefits to his sister Paula. When he was 21, he inherited money from an aunt. He struggled as a painter in Vienna, copying scenes from postcards and selling his paintings to merchants and tourists.

After being rejected a second time by the Academy of Arts, Hitler ran out of money. In 1909, he lived in a shelter for the homeless. By 1910, he had settled into a house for poor working men.

Hitler said he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna,<ref name = "Kampf-vol1ch2"></ref> which had a large Jewish community, including Orthodox Jews who had fled from Mayor of Vienna, the composer pan-Germanic ''Away from Rome!'' movement. Hitler claims in ''Mein Kampf'' that his transition from opposing anti-Semitism on religious grounds to supporting it on racial grounds came from having seen an Orthodox Jew: 

{{cquote|There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become Europeanized in external appearance and were so much like other human beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason why I did not then perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark which I recognized as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion. As I thought that they were persecuted on account of their faith my aversion to hearing remarks against them grew almost into a feeling of abhorrence. I did not in the least suspect that there could be such a thing as a systematic anti-Semitism.

Once, when passing through the inner City, I suddenly encountered a phenomenon in a long caftan and wearing black side-locks. My first thought was: Is this a Jew? They certainly did not have this appearance in Linz. I carefully watched the man stealthily and cautiously but the longer I gazed at the strange countenance and examined it feature by feature, the more the question shaped itself in my brain: Is this a German?<ref name = "Kampf-vol1ch2"/>}}

If this account is true, Hitler apparently did not act on his new belief. He often was a guest for dinner in a noble Jewish house, and he interacted well with Jewish merchants who tried to sell his paintings.<ref></ref>

Hitler may also have been influenced by Martin Luther's ''On the Jews and their Lies''. In ''Mein Kampf'', Hitler refers to Martin Luther as a great warrior, a true statesmen, and a great reformer, alongside Wagner and Frederick the Great.<ref></ref> Wilhelm Röpke, writing after the Holocaust, concluded that "without any question, Lutheranism influenced the political, spiritual and social history of Germany in a way that, after careful consideration of everything, can be described only as fateful."<ref></ref><ref></ref>

Hitler claimed that Jews were enemies of the Aryan race. He held them responsible for Austria's crisis. He also identified certain forms of Socialism and Bolshevism, which had many Jewish leaders, as Jewish movements, merging his anti-Semitism with anti-Marxism. Later, blaming Germany's military defeat on the 1918 revolutions, he considered Jews the culprit of Imperial Germany's downfall and subsequent economic problems as well.

Generalising from tumultuous scenes in the parliament of the multi-national Austrian monarchy, he decided that the democratic parliamentary system was unworkable. However, according to August Kubizek, his one-time roommate, he was more interested in Wagner's operas than in his politics.

Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to military service in Austria for a time, but the Austrian army eventually arrested him. After a physical exam and a contrite plea, he was deemed unfit for service and allowed to return to Munich. However, when Germany entered World War I in August 1914, he petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to serve in a Bavarian regiment. This request was granted, and Adolf Hitler enlisted in the Bavarian army.<ref></ref>

left|thumb|A young Hitler (left) posed with other German soldiers

=== World War I ===
Hitler served in Western Front, including the Battle of Arras and the Battle of Passchendaele.<ref></ref>

Hitler was twice decorated for bravery. He received the Iron Cross, Second Class, in 1914 and Iron Cross, First Class, in 1918, an honour rarely given to a Gefreiter.<ref></ref> However, because the regimental staff thought Hitler lacked leadership skills, he was never promoted to Unteroffizier (equivalent to a British corporal). Other historians say that the reason he was not promoted is that he was not a German citizen. His duties at regimental headquarters, while often dangerous, gave Hitler time to pursue his artwork. He drew cartoons and instructional drawings for an army newspaper. In 1916, he was wounded in the leg during the Battle of the Somme, but returned to the front in March 1917. He received the Wound Badge later that year. Sebastian Haffner, referring to Hitler's experience at the front, suggests he did have at least some understanding of the military.

On David Lewis<ref></ref> and Bernhard Horstmann indicate the blindness may have been the result of a conversion disorder (then known as hysteria). Hitler said it was during this experience that he became convinced the purpose of his life was to "save Germany." Some scholars, notably Lucy Dawidowicz,<ref></ref> argue that an intention to exterminate Europe's Jews was fully formed in Hitler's mind at this time, though he probably had not thought through how it could be done. Most historians think the decision was made in 1941, and some think it came as late as 1942.

Two passages in ''Mein Kampf'' mention the use of poison gas:

</ref>}}

</ref>}}

Hitler had long admired Germany, and during the war he had become a passionate German patriot, although he did not become a German citizen until 1932. He was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918 even while the German army still held enemy territory.<ref></ref> Like many other German nationalists, Hitler believed in the ''Dolchstoßlegende'' ("dagger-stab legend") which claimed that the army, "undefeated in the field", had been "stabbed in the back" by civilian leaders and Marxists back on the home front. These politicians were later dubbed the ''November Criminals''.

The demilitarised the militarised and were eager to fight. The culpability of Germany was used as a basis to impose Paris peace conference, these politicians had had very little choice in the matter.

== Entry into politics ==

thumb|A copy of Adolf Hitler's forged [[German Workers' Party (DAP) membership card. His actual membership number was 555 (the 55th member of the party - the 500 was added to make the group appear larger) but later the number was reduced to create the impression that Hitler was one of the founding members (Ian Kershaw ''Hubris''). Hitler had wanted to create his own party, but was ordered by his superiors in the Reichswehr to infiltrate an existing one instead.]]

After World War I, Hitler remained in the army and returned to Munich, where he - in contrast to his later declarations - participated in the funeral march for the murdered Bavarian prime minister Kurt Eisner.<ref></ref> After the suppression of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, he took part in "national thinking" courses organized by the ''Education and Propaganda Department'' (Dept Ib/P) of the Bavarian ''Reichswehr'' Group, Headquarters 4 under Captain Karl Mayr. Scapegoats were found in "international Jewry", communists, and politicians across the party spectrum, especially the parties of the Weimar Coalition.

In July 1919, Hitler was appointed a ''Verbindungsmann'' (police spy) of an ''Aufklärungskommando'' (Intelligence Commando) of the infiltrate a small party, the anti-capitalist and anti-Marxist ideas, which favoured a strong active government, a "non-Jewish" version of socialism and mutual solidarity of all members of society.  Drexler was impressed with Hitler's oratory skills and invited him to join as the party's 55th member.  He was also made the seventh member of the executive committee.  Years later, he claimed to be the party's seventh overall member, but it has been established that this claim is false.

Here Hitler also met Dietrich Eckart, one of the early founders of the party and member of the occult Thule Society.<ref></ref> Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him, teaching him how to dress and speak, and introducing him to a wide range of people. Hitler thanked Eckart by paying tribute to him in the second volume of ''Mein Kampf''.  To increase the party's appeal, the party changed its name to the ''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' or National Socialist German Workers Party.

Hitler was discharged from the army in March 1920 and with his former superiors' continued encouragement began participating full time in the party's activities. By early 1921, Hitler was becoming highly effective at speaking in front of large crowds. In February, Hitler spoke before a crowd of nearly six thousand in Munich. To publicize the meeting, he sent out two truckloads of party supporters to drive around with swastikas, cause a commotion and throw out leaflets, their first use of this tactic. Hitler gained notoriety outside of the party for his rowdy, polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians (including monarchists, nationalists and other non-internationalist socialists) and especially against Marxists and Jews.

The DAP was centered in Munich, a hotbed of German nationalists who included Army officers determined to crush Marxism and undermine the Weimar republic. Gradually they noticed Hitler and his growing movement as a vehicle to hitch themselves to. Hitler traveled to Berlin to visit nationalist groups during the summer of 1921, and in his absence there was a revolt among the DAP leadership in Munich.

The party was run by an executive committee whose original members considered Hitler to be overbearing. They formed an alliance with a group of socialists from libel and later won a small settlement.

The executive committee of the DAP eventually backed down and Hitler's demands were put to a vote of party members. Hitler received 543 votes for and only one against. At the next gathering on 29 July 1921, Adolf Hitler was introduced as Führer of the National Socialist Party, marking the first time this title was publicly used.  

Hitler's beer hall oratory, attacking Jews, social democrats, liberals, reactionary monarchists, capitalists and communists, began attracting adherents. Early followers included paramilitary organization, the SA (''Sturmabteilung'', or "Storm Division"), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. Hitler also assimilated independent groups, such as the Nuremberg-based ''Deutsche Werkgemeinschaft'', led by Julius Streicher, who became Gauleiter of Franconia. Hitler also attracted the attention of local business interests, was accepted into influential circles of Munich society, and became associated with wartime General Erich Ludendorff during this time.

thumb|left|Drawing of Hitler, 1923.

=== Beer Hall Putsch ===

Encouraged by this early support, Hitler decided to use Ludendorff as a front in an attempted coup later known as the ''fascists in appearance and also had adopted some programmatical points, and in 1923, Hitler wanted to emulate Mussolini's "March on Rome" by staging his own "Campaign in Berlin". Hitler and Ludendorff obtained the clandestine support of Gustav von Kahr, Bavaria's de facto ruler, along with leading figures in the Reichswehr and the police. As political posters show, Ludendorff, Hitler and the heads of the Bavarian police and military planned on forming a new government.

On Sixteen NSDAP members were killed.<ref></ref>

Hitler fled to the home of admirers.<ref name="bull121"></ref> He was pardoned and released from jail in December 1924, as part of a general amnesty for political prisoners. Including time on remand, he had served little more than one year of his sentence.<ref name="bull121"/>

=== Mein Kampf ===

While at Landsberg he dictated ''Mein Kampf'' (''My Struggle'', originally entitled "Four Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice") to his deputy Rudolf Hess.<ref name="bull121"/> The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart, was an autobiography and an exposition of his ideology. It was published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, selling about 240,000 copies between 1925 and 1934. By the end of the war, about 10 million copies had been sold or distributed (newly-weds and soldiers received free copies).

Hitler spent years dodging taxes on the royalties of his book and had accumulated a tax debt of about 405,500 Reichsmarks (€6 million in today's money) by the time he became chancellor (at which time his debt was waived).<ref name="taxes">{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-22|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4105683.stm|title=
Hitler dodged taxes, expert finds
|publisher=BBC|date=2004-12-17}}</ref><ref></ref>

The ''Bild am Sonntag'' has stated that Peter Raubal, son of Hitler's nephew, Leo Raubal, would have a strong legal case for winning the copyright from Bavaria if he pursued it. Raubal has stated he wants no part of the rights to the book, which could be worth millions of euros.<ref></ref> The uncertain status has led to contested trials in Poland and Sweden. ''Mein Kampf'', however, is published in the U.S., as well as in other countries such as Turkey and Israel, by publishers with various political positions.

=== Rebuilding of the party ===
thumb|Adolf Hitler, behind [[Hermann Göring, at a Nazi rally in Nuremberg in 1928.]]

At the time of Hitler's release, the political situation in Germany had calmed and the economy had improved, which hampered Hitler's opportunities for agitation. Though the ''Hitler Putsch'' had given Hitler some national prominence, his party's mainstay was still Munich.

Since Hitler was still banned from public speeches, he appointed Reichstag, as ''Reichsorganisationsleiter'', authorizing him to organize the party in northern Germany. Strasser, joined by his younger brother Otto and Joseph Goebbels, steered an increasingly independent course, emphasizing the socialist element in the party's programme. The ''Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Gauleiter Nord-West'' became an internal opposition, threatening Hitler's authority, but this faction was defeated at the Bamberg Conference in 1926, during which Goebbels joined Hitler.

After this encounter, Hitler centralized the party even more and asserted the ''Führerprinzip'' ("Leader principle") as the basic principle of party organization. Leaders were not elected by their group but were rather appointed by their superior and were answerable to them while demanding unquestioning obedience from their inferiors. Consistent with Hitler's disdain for democracy, all power and authority devolved from the top down.

A key element of Hitler's appeal was his ability to evoke a sense of offended national pride caused by the Treaty of Versailles imposed on the defeated German Empire by the Western Allies. Germany had lost economically important territory in Europe along with its colonies and in admitting to sole responsibility for the war had agreed to pay a huge reparations bill totaling 132 billion marks. Most Germans bitterly resented these terms, but early Nazi attempts to gain support by blaming these humiliations on "international Jewry" were not particularly successful with the electorate. The party learned quickly, and soon a more subtle propaganda emerged, combining anti-Semitism with an attack on the failures of the "Weimar system" and the parties supporting it.

Having failed in overthrowing the Republic by a coup, Hitler pursued a "strategy of legality": this meant formally adhering to the rules of the Weimar Republic until he had legally gained power.  He would then use the institutions of the Weimar Republic to destroy it and establish himself as dictator.  Some party members, especially in the paramilitary SA, opposed this strategy; Röhm ridiculed Hitler as "Adolphe Legalité".

== Rise to power ==

{| border="2" class="prettytable"
| align="center" colspan="5" | <strong>Nazi Party Election Results<br /></strong>
|-
| align="center" | <strong>Date</strong>
| align="center" | <strong>Votes</strong>
| align="center" | <strong>Percentage </strong>
| align="center" | <strong>Seats in&nbsp;Reichstag</strong>
| align="center" | <strong>Background</strong>
|-
| align="left" | May 1924
| align="right" | 1,918,300
| align="right" | 6.5
| align="right" | 32
| align="left" | Hitler in prison
|-
| align="left" | December 1924
| align="right" | 907,300
| align="right" | 3.0
| align="right" | 14
| align="left" | Hitler is released from prison
|-
| align="left" | May 1928
| align="right" | 810,100
| align="right" | 2.6
| align="right" | 12
| align="left" | &nbsp;
|-
| align="left" | September 1930
| align="right" | 6,409,600
| align="right" | 18.3
| align="right" | 107
| align="left" | After the financial crisis
|-
| align="left" | July 1932
| align="right" | 13,745,800
| align="right" | 37.4
| align="right" | 230
| align="left" | After Hitler was candidate for presidency
|-
| align="left" | November 1932
| align="right" | 11,737,000
| align="right" | 33.1
| align="right" | 196
| align="left" | &nbsp;
|-
| align="left" | March 1933
| align="right" | 17,277,000
| align="right" | 43.9
| align="right" | 288
| align="left" | During Hitler's term as Chancellor of Germany
|}

=== Brüning Administration ===
The political turning point for Hitler came when the conservatives (including monarchists), Communists and the Nazis. As the parties loyal to the democratic, Centre Party, lacking a majority in parliament, had to implement his measures through the president's emergency decrees. Tolerated by the majority of parties, this rule by decree would become the norm over a series of unworkable parliaments and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government.

The Reichstag's initial opposition to Brüning's measures led to premature elections in September 1930. The republican parties lost their majority and their ability to resume the Grand Coalition, while the Nazis suddenly rose from relative obscurity to win 18.3% of the vote along with 107 seats.  In the process, they jumped from the sixth-smallest party in the chamber to the second largest. 

Brüning's measures of budget consolidation and financial austerity brought little economic improvement and were extremely unpopular. Under these circumstances, Hitler appealed to the bulk of German farmers, war veterans and the middle class, who had been hard-hit by both the inflation of the 1920s and the unemployment of the Depression. Hitler received little response from the urban working classes and traditionally Catholic regions.

Hitler's niece Angela and her daughter Geli had been with him in Munich since 1929), an apparent suicide. Geli, who was believed to be in some sort of romantic relationship with Hitler, was 19 years younger than he was and had used his gun. His niece's death is viewed as a source of deep, lasting pain for him.<ref></ref>

In 1932, Hitler intended to run against the aging President presidential elections. Though Hitler had left Austria in 1913, he still had not acquired German citizenship and hence could not run for public office. In February, however, the state government of Brunswick, in which the Nazi Party participated, appointed Hitler to a minor administrative post and also made him a citizen of Brunswick on 25 February 1932.<ref></ref>  In those days, the states conferred citizenship, so this automatically made Hitler a citizen of Germany and thus eligible to run for president.

The new German citizen ran against Hindenburg, who was supported by a broad range of reactionary nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, republican and even social democratic parties.  Also in the field was a Communist candidate and a member of a fringe right-wing party.   Hitler's campaign was called "Hitler über Deutschland" (Hitler over Germany).<ref name="bull201"></ref> The name had a double meaning; besides a reference to his dictatorial ambitions, it also referred to the fact that he campaigned by aircraft.<ref name="bull201"/> This was a brand new political tactic that allowed Hitler to speak in two cities in one day, which was practically unheard of at the time. Hitler came in second on both rounds, attaining more than 35% of the vote during the second one in April. Although he lost to Hindenburg, the election established Hitler as a realistic alternative in German politics.

=== Cabinets of Papen and Schleicher ===
Hindenburg, influenced by the Camarilla, became increasingly estranged from Brüning and pushed his Chancellor to move the government in a decidedly authoritarian and right-wing direction. This culminated, in May 1932, with the resignation of the Brüning cabinet.

Hindenburg appointed the nobleman Franz von Papen as chancellor, heading a "Cabinet of Barons". Papen was bent on authoritarian rule and, since in the Reichstag only the conservative German National People's Party (DNVP) supported his administration, he immediately called for new elections in July. In these elections, the Nazis achieved their biggest success yet and won 230 seats, becoming the largest party in the Reichstag.

Knowing that it was not possible to form a stable government without Nazi support, Papen tried to persuade Hitler to become vice chancellor and enter a new government with a parliamentary basis. Hitler, however, would settle for nothing less than the chancellorship.  He put further pressure on Papen by entertaining parallel negotiations with the Centre Party, Papen's former party, which was bent on bringing down the renegade Papen. In both negotiations, Hitler demanded that he, as leader of the strongest party, must be chancellor, but Hindenburg consistently refused to appoint the "Bohemian lance corporal" to the chancellorship.

After a vote of no-confidence in the Papen government, supported by 84% of the deputies, the new Reichstag was dissolved, and new elections were called in November. This time, the Nazis lost some seats but still remained the largest party in the Reichstag.

After Papen failed to secure a majority, he proposed to dissolve the parliament again along with an indefinite postponement of elections. Hindenburg at first accepted this, but after General Kurt von Schleicher and the military withdrew their support, Hindenburg instead dismissed Papen and appointed Schleicher, who promised he could secure a majority government by negotiations with both the Social Democrats, the trade unions, and dissidents from the Nazi Party under Gregor Strasser. In January 1933, however, Schleicher had to admit failure in these efforts and asked Hindenburg for emergency powers along with the same postponement of elections that he had opposed earlier, to which the president reacted by dismissing Schleicher.

=== Appointment as Chancellor ===
Meanwhile, Papen tried to get his revenge on Schleicher by working toward the General's downfall, through forming an intrigue with the camarilla and Alfred Hugenberg, media mogul and chairman of the DNVP. Also involved were Hjalmar Schacht, Fritz Thyssen and other leading German businessmen. They financially supported the Nazi Party, which had been brought to the brink of bankruptcy by the cost of heavy campaigning. The businessmen also wrote letters to Hindenburg, urging him to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties" which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people."<ref></ref>

Finally, the president reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler Chancellor of a coalition government formed by the NSDAP and DNVP.  However, the Nazis were to be contained by a framework of conservative cabinet ministers, most notably by Papen as Vice-Chancellor and by Hugenberg as Minister of the Economy.  The only other Nazi besides Hitler to get a portfolio was Wilhelm Frick, who was given the relatively powerless interior ministry (in Germany at the time, most powers wielded by the interior minister in other countries were held by the interior ministers of the states).  As a concession to the Nazis, Göring was named minister without portfolio.  While Papen intended to use Hitler as a figurehead, the Nazis gained key positions.  For instance, as part of the deal in which Hitler became chancellor, Göring was named interior minister of Prussia—giving him command of the largest police force in Germany.

On the morning of 30 January 1933, in Hindenburg's office, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor during what some observers later described as a brief and simple ceremony. The Nazis' seizure of power subsequently became known as the ''Machtergreifung''. Hitler established the Reichssicherheitsdienst as his personal bodyguards.

=== Reichstag fire and the March elections ===

Having become Chancellor, Hitler foiled all attempts by his opponents to gain a majority in parliament. Because no single party could gain a majority, Hitler persuaded President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag again. Elections were scheduled for early March, but on Reichstag building was set on fire.<ref name="bull262"></ref> Since a Dutch independent communist was found in the building, the fire was blamed on a Communist plot to which the government reacted with the German Communist Party (KPD) and other groups were suppressed, and communist functionaries and deputies were arrested, put to flight, or murdered.

Campaigning continued, with the Nazis making use of paramilitary violence, anti-Communist hysteria, and the government's resources for propaganda. On election day, 6 March, the NSDAP increased its result to 43.9% of the vote, remaining the largest party, but its victory was marred by its failure to secure an absolute majority, necessitating maintaining a coalition with the DNVP.<ref name="bull265"></ref>

left|thumb|Parade of SA troops past Hitler. Nuremberg, November 1935.

=== "Day of Potsdam" and the Enabling Act ===

On 21 March the new Reichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony held at Potsdam's garrison church. This "Day of Potsdam" was staged to demonstrate reconciliation and union between the revolutionary Nazi movement and "Old Prussia" with its elites and virtues. Hitler appeared in a tail coat and humbly greeted the aged President Hindenburg.

Because of the Nazis' failure to obtain a majority on their own, Hitler's government confronted the newly elected Reichstag with the Enabling Act that would have vested the cabinet with Church's liberty, the concordats signed by German states and the continued existence of the Centre Party.

On 23 March the Reichstag assembled in a replacement building under extremely turbulent circumstances. Some SA men served as guards within while large groups outside the building shouted slogans and threats toward the arriving deputies. Kaas announced that the Centre Party would support the bill with "concerns put aside," while Social Democrat Otto Wels denounced the act in his speech. At the end of the day, all parties except the Social Democrats voted in favour of the bill. Deputies of the Communist Party were unable to vote, having already been arrested by the Nazis. The Enabling Act was dutifully renewed by the Reichstag every four years, even through World War II.

=== Removal of remaining limits ===
With this combination of legislative and executive power, Hitler's government further suppressed the remaining political opposition. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) were banned, while all other political parties dissolved themselves. Labour unions were merged with employers' federations into an organisation under Nazi control, and the autonomy of German state governments was abolished.

Hitler also used the SA paramilitary to push Hugenberg into resigning and proceeded to politically isolate Vice Chancellor Papen. Because the SA's demands for political and military power caused much anxiety among military leaders, Hitler used allegations of a plot by the SA leader Ernst Röhm to purge the SA's leadership during the Night of the Long Knives. Opponents unconnected with the SA were also murdered, notably Gregor Strasser and former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher.<ref></ref>

President Paul von Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934. Rather than holding new presidential elections, Hitler's cabinet passed a law proclaiming the presidency dormant and transferred the role and powers of the head of state to Hitler as ''Führer und Reichskanzler'' (leader and chancellor).<ref name="bull309"></ref> Thereby Hitler also became supreme commander of the military, whose officers then swore an oath not to the state or the constitution but to Hitler personally.<ref name="bull309"/> In a mid-August plebiscite, these acts found the approval of 84.6%<ref></ref> of the electorate. Combining the highest offices in state, military and party in his hand, Hitler had attained supreme rule that could no longer be legally challenged.

In 1938, Hitler forced the resignation of his War Minister (formerly Defense Minister), Werner von Blomberg, after evidence surfaced that Blomberg's new wife had a criminal past.  Hitler replaced the Ministry of War with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces, or OKW), headed by General Wilhelm Keitel.  More importantly, Hitler announced he was assuming personal command of the armed forces.  He took over Blomberg's other old post, that of Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, for himself.  He was already Supreme Commander by virtue of holding the powers of the President.  The next day, the newspapers announced, "Strongest concentration of powers in Führer's hands!"  Many experts believe that it was at this point that Hitler became absolute dictator of Germany.

== Third Reich ==

Having secured supreme political power, Hitler went on to gain their support by convincing most Germans he was their savior from the economic Depression, communism, the "Judeo-Bolsheviks," and the Versailles Treaty, along with other "undesirable" minorities. The Nazis eliminated opposition through a process known as Gleichschaltung.

=== Economy and culture ===
Hitler oversaw one of the greatest expansions of industrial production and civil improvement Germany had ever seen, mostly based on debt flotation and expansion of the military. Nazi policies toward women strongly encouraged them to stay at home to bear children and keep house. In a September 1934 speech to the National Socialist Women's Organization, Adolf Hitler argued that for the German woman her "world is her husband, her family, her children, and her home." This policy was reinforced by bestowing the Cross of Honor of the German Mother on women bearing four or more babies. The unemployment rate was cut substantially, mostly through arms production and sending women home so that men could take their jobs. Given this, claims that the German economy achieved near full employment are at least partly artifacts of propaganda from the era. Much of the financing for Hitler's reconstruction and rearmament came from currency manipulation by Hjalmar Schacht, including the clouded credits through the Mefo bills. The negative effects of this inflation were offset in later years by the acquisition of foreign gold from the treasuries of conquered nations.

Hitler also oversaw one of the largest infrastructure-improvement campaigns in German history, with the construction of dozens of dams, autobahns, railroads, and other civil works. Hitler's policies emphasised the importance of family life: men were the "breadwinners", while women's priorities were to lie in bringing up children and in household work. This revitalising of industry and infrastructure came at the expense of the overall standard of living, at least for those not affected by the chronic unemployment of the later Weimar Republic, since wages were slightly reduced in pre–World War II years, despite a 25% increase in the cost of living.<ref></ref> Laborers and farmers, the traditional voters of the NSDAP, however, saw an increase in their standard of living.

Hitler's government sponsored architecture on an immense scale, with summer Olympic games, which were opened by Hitler and choreographed to demonstrate Aryan superiority over all other races, achieving mixed results. ''Olympia'', the movie about the games and other documentary propaganda films for the German Nazi Party were directed by Hitler's personal filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.

Although Hitler made plans for a ''Breitspurbahn'' (broad gauge railroad network), they were preempted by World War II. Had the railroad been built, its gauge would have been three metres, even wider than the old Great Western Railway of Britain.

Hitler contributed slightly to the design of the car that later became the Volkswagen Beetle and charged Ferdinand Porsche with its design and construction.<ref></ref> Production was also deferred because of the war.

Hitler considered Sparta to be the first National Socialist state, and praised its early eugenics treatment of deformed children.<ref></ref>

He awarded the Order of the German Eagle, the Third Reich's highest distinction, to the industrialist Emil Kirdorf in April 1937, in reward for his financial support during his rise to power. The next year, he organized state funerals for him.

=== Rearmament and new alliances ===

thumb|Adolf Hitler and [[Benito Mussolini during Hitler's visit to Venice from 14–16 June 1934.]]

In a meeting with his leading generals and admirals on February 3, 1933, Hitler spoke of "conquest of ''Lebensraum'' in the East and its ruthless Germanization" as his ultimate foreign policy objectives.<ref>Weinberg, Gerhard ''The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Diplomatic Revolution in Europe 1933-1936''University of Chicago Press: Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 1970 pages 26-27</ref> In March 1933, the first major statement of German foreign policy aims appeared with the memo submitted to the German Cabinet by the State Secretary at the ''Auswärtiges Amt'' (Foreign Office), Prince Bernhard von Bülow (not to be confused with his more famous uncle, the former Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow), which advocated ''Anschluss'' with Austria, the restoration of the frontiers of 1914, the rejection of the Part V of Versailles, the return of the former German colonies in Africa, and German zone of influence in Eastern Europe as goals for the future.<ref>Kershaw, Ian ''Hitler Hubris'', New York: Norton, 1999 pages 490-491</ref> Hitler found the goals in Bülow's memo to be too modest.<ref>Kershaw, Ian ''Hitler Hubris'', New York: Norton, 1999 pages 490-491</ref> In March 1933, to resolve the deadlock between the French demand for ''sécurité'' (“security”) and the German demand for ''gleichberechtigung'' (“equality of armaments”) at the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald presented the compromise “MacDonald Plan”. Hitler endorsed the “MacDonald Plan”, correctly guessing that nothing would come of it, and he in the interval he could win some goodwill in London by making his government appear moderate, and the French obstinate.<ref> Leitz, Christian ''Nazi Foreign Policy'', Routledge: London, United Kingdom, 2004 page 50</ref>

In June 1933, Hitler was forced to disallow London World Economic Conference put forth an programme of colonial expansion in both Kershaw, Ian ''Hitler Hubris'' New York: Norton 1999 pages 492 & 555-556 & 586-587</ref> In private, Hiter's plans were something less than pacific. At the first meeting of his Cabinet in 1933, Hitler placed placed military spending ahead of unemployment relief, indeed was only prepared to spent money on the latter if the former was satisfied first.<ref>Carr, William'' Arms, Autarky and Aggression'', Edward Arnold: London 1972 page 23</ref> When the president of the ''Reichsbank'', the former Chancellor, Dr. Hans Luther offered the new government the legal limit of 100 million ''Reichmarks'' to finance rearmament, Hitler found the sum too low, and sacked Luther in March 1933 to replace him with Hjalmar Schacht, who during the next five years was to advance 12 billion ''Reichmarks'' worth of "Mefo-bills" to pay for rearmament.<ref>Weinberg, Gerhard ''The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Diplomatic Revolution in Europe'' page 31</ref> 

A major initiative in Hitler's foreign policy in his early years was to create an alliance with Britain. In the 1920s, Hitler wrote that a future National Socialist foreign policy goal as being "the destruction of Russia with the help of England".<ref>Overy, Richard & Wheatcroft, Andrew ''The Road To War'', London: Macmillan, 1989 page 39.</ref> In May 1933, Alfred Rosenberg in his capacity as head of the Nazi Party's ''Aussenpolitisches Amt'' (Foreign Political Office) visited London as part of a disastrous effort to win a alliance with Britain.<ref>Weinberg, Gerhard ''The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Diplomatic Revolution in Europe 1933-36'' 1936''University of Chicago Press: Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 1970 page 35</ref> In October 1933, Hitler pulled Germany out both the League of Nations and World Disarmament Conference afther his Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath made it appear to world public opinion that it was the French demand for ''sécurité'' that it was the principle stumbling block.<ref>Kershaw, Ian ''The Nazi Dictatorship'', London: Arnold 2000 pages 145-147.</ref>

In line with the views he advocated in ''Mein Kampf'' and ''Zweites Buch'' about the necessity of building an Anglo-German alliance led to Hitler in a meeting in November 1933 with the British Ambassador, Sir Eric Phipps offering a scheme in which Britain would support a 300,000 strong German Army in exchange for a German “guarantee” of the British Empire.<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990 pages 596-597.</ref> In response, the British stated a 10-year waiting period would be necessary before Britain would support an increase in the size of the German Army.<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' pages 596-597.</ref> A more successful initiative in foreign policy occured with relations with Poland. In spite of intense opposition from the military and the ''Auswärtiges Amt'' who preferred closer ties with the Soviet Union, Hitler in fall of 1933 opened secret talks with Poland that were to lead to the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact of January 1934.<ref>Kershaw, Ian ''The Nazi Dictatorship'', London: Arnold 2000 pages 145-147.</ref> 

In February 1934, Hitler met with the British Lord Privy Seal, Sir German army would be expanded to 600,000 men (six times the number stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles), introducing an Air Force (''John Simon and Eden, during which he successfully evaded British offers for German participation in a regional security pact meant to serve as an Eastern European equivalent of the Locarno pact while the two British ministers avoided taking up Hitler's offers of alliance.<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990 pages 601-602.</ref> During his talks with Simon and Eden, Hitler first used what he regarded as the brilliant colonial negotiating tactic, when Hitler parlayed an offer from Simon to return to the League of Nations by demanding the return of the former German colonies in Africa.<ref>Hildebrand, Klaus ''The Foreign Policy of the Third Reich'', London: Batsford 1973 pages 36-37</ref>

On June 18, 1935, the Hildebrand, Klaus ''The Foreign Policy of the Third Reich'' London: Batsford, 1973 page 39</ref> This agreement was made without consulting either France or Italy, directly undermined the League of Nations and put the Treaty of Versailles on the path towards irrelevance.<ref></ref> After the signing of the A.G.N.A., in June 1935 Hitler ordered the next step in the creation of an Anglo-German alliance: taking all the societies demanding the restoration of the former German African colonies and coordinating (''Imperial German government for pursuing colonial expansion in Africa prior to 1914 under the grounds that the natural area for ''Lebensraum'' was Eastern Europe, not Africa.<ref>Hitler, Adolf ''Mein Kampf''; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971 page 138</ref> It was Hitler’s intention to use colonial demands as a negotiating tactic that would see a German “renunciation” of colonial claims in exchange for Britain making an alliance with the ''Reich'' on German terms.<ref>Hildebrand, Klaus ''The Foreign Policy of the Third Reich'' London: Batsford 1973 page 42</ref>

In March 1936, Hitler again violated the treaty by reoccupying the Britain and France did nothing, he grew bolder. In July 1936, the Popular Front government. After receiving an appeal for help from General Franco in July 1936, Hitler sent troops to support Franco, and Spain served as a testing ground for Germany's new forces and their methods, including the bombing of undefended towns such as Guernica in April 1937, prompting Pablo Picasso's famous eponymous Guernica painting. At the same time, Hitler continued with his efforts to create an Anglo-German alliance. In July 1936, he offered to Phipps a promise that if Britain would to sign a alliance with the ''Reich'', then Germany would committ to sending twelve divisions to the Far East to protect British colonial possessions there from a Japanese attack.<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990 pages 630-631.</ref> Hitler's offer was refused.

In August 1936, in response to a growing crisis in the German economy caused by the strains of rearmament, Hitler issued the "Four-Year Plan Memorandum" ordering Overy, Richard “Misjudging Hitler” pages 93-115 from ''The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered'' edited by Gordon Martel Routledge: London, United Kingdom, 1999 pages 98-99.</ref> During the 1936 economic crisis, the German government was divided into two fractions with one (the so-called "free market" fraction) centering around the ''Reichsbank'' President Dr. Hjalmar Schacht and the Price Commissioner Dr. Carl Friedrich Goerdeler calling for decreased military spending and an turn away from autarkic policies, and another fraction around Göring calling for the opposite.<ref>Kershaw, Ian ''Hitler Nemesis'', New York: Norton 2000 pages 18-20</ref> Hitler hesitated for the first half of 1936 before siding with the more radical fraction in his "Four Year Plan" memo of August.<ref>Kershaw, Ian ''Hitler Nemesis'', New York: Norton 2000 pages 18-20</ref> Historians such as Richard Overy have argued that the importance of the memo, which was written personally by Hitler, can be gauged by the fact that Hitler, who had something of a phobia about writing, hardly ever wrote anything down, which indicates that Hitler had something especially important to say.<ref>Overy, Richard “Misjudging Hitler” pages 93-115 from ''The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered'' edited by Gordon Martel Routledge: London, United Kingdom, 1999 page 98.</ref> The "Four-Year Plan Memorandum" predicated an imminent all-out, apocalyptic struggle between "Judo-Bolshevism" and German National Socialism, which necessitated an total effort at rearmament regardless of the economic costs.<ref>Carr, William ''Arms, Autarky and Aggression'', Edward Arnold: London, United Kingdom, 1972 pages 56-57.</ref> In the memo, Hitler wrote that:<blockquote> "Since the outbreak of the French Revolution, the world has been moving with ever increasing speed toward a new conflict, the most extreme solution of which is called Bolshevism, whose essence and aim, however, are solely the elimination of those strata of mankind which have hietherto provided the leadership and their replacement by worldwide Jewry. No state will be able to withdraw or even remain at a distance from this historical conflict...It is not the aim of this memorandum to prophesy the time when the untenable situation in Europe will become an open crisis. I only want, in these lines, to set down my conviction that this crisis cannot and will not fail to arrive and that it is Germany's duty to secure her own existence by every means in face of this catastrophe, and to protect herself against it, and that from this compulsion there arises a series of conclusions relating to the most important tasks that our people have ever been set. For a victory of Bolshevism over Germany would not lead to a Versailles Treaty, but to the final destruction, indeed the annihilation of the German people...I consider it necessary for the ''Reichstag'' to pass the following two laws: 1) A law providing the death penalty for economic sabotage and 2) A law making the whole of Jewry liable for all damange inflicted by individual specimens of this community of criminals upon the German economy, and thus upon the German people"<ref>Dawidowicz, Lucy ''A Holocaust Reader'', New York: Behrman House, 1976 page 32.</ref></blockquote> Hitler called for within the next four years for Germany to have the world's "first army" in terms of fighting power, that "the extent of the military development of our resources ''cannot be too large, nor its pace too swift''" (italics in the original) and the role of the economy was simply to support "Germany's self-assertion and the extension of her ''Lebensraum''".<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990 pages 623-624; Overy, Richard “Misjudging Hitler” from ''The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered'' edited by Gordon Martel Routledge: London, United Kingdom, 1999 page 103</ref> Hitler went to write that given the magnitude of the coming struggle that the concerns expressed by members of the "free market" fraction like Schacht and Goerdeler that the current level of military spending was bankrupting Germany were irrelevant.<ref>Tooze, Adam ''The Wages of Destruction'', New York: Viking Press, 2006 page 220.</ref> Hitler wrote that: "However, well balanced the general pattern of a nation's life ought to be, there must at particular times be certain disturbances of the balance at the expense of other less vital tasks. If we do not succeed in bringing the German army as rapidly as possible to the rank of premier army in the world...then Germany will be lost!".<ref>Tooze, Adam ''The Wages of Destruction'', New York: Viking Press, 2006 page 220.</ref> Hitler went to write: "The nation does not live for the economy, for economic leaders, or for economic or financial theories; on the countrary, it is finance and the economy, economic leaders and theories, which all owe unqualified service in this struggle for the self-assertion of our nation".<ref>Tooze, Adam ''The Wages of Destruction'', New York: Viking Press, 2006 page 220.</ref>

In August 1936, the freelance Nazi diplomat Joachim von Ribbentrop was appointed German Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Before leaving to take up his post in October 1936, Hitler told Ribbentrop: “Ribbentrop…get Britain to join the Anti-Comintern Pact, that is what I want most of all. I have sent you as the best man I’ve got. Do what you can… But if in future all our efforts are still in vain, fair enough, then I’m ready for war as well. I would regret it very much, but if it has to be, there it is. But I think it would be a short war and the moment it is over, I will then be ready at any time to offer the British an honorable peace acceptable to both sides. However, I would then demand that Britain join the Anti-Comintern Pact or perhaps some other pact. But get on with it, Ribbentrop, you have the trumps in your hand, play them well. I’m ready at any time for an air pact as well. Do your best. I will follow your efforts with interest”.<ref>Jeremy Noakes & Geoffrey Pridham (editors) ''Nazism 1919-1945 Volume 3 Foreign Policy, War and Racial Extermination A Documentary Reader'', University of Exeter Press, Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom, 1997 page 673.</ref> 

An Axis was declared between Germany and Italy by Count Britain, China, Italy and Poland to adhere; of the invited powers only the Italians were to sign the pact, in November 1937. To strengthen relationship with Japan, Hitler met in 1937 in Nuremberg prince Chichibu, a brother of emperor Hirohito. By later half of 1937, Hitler had abandoned his dream of an Anglo-German alliance, blaming "inadequate" British leadership for turning down his offers of an alliance.<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990 page 642.</ref> In a talk with the League of Nations High Commissioner for the Free City of Danzig, Carl Jacob Burchkhardt in September 1937, Hitler protested what he regarded as British interference in the "German sphere" in Europe, through in the same talk, Hitler made clear his view of Britain as a ideal ally, which for pure selfishness was blocking German plans.<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990 page 642.</ref>

Hitler had suffered severely from stomach pains and eczema in 1936-37, leading to his remark to the Nazi Party's propaganda leadership in October 1937 that because both parents died early in their lives, he would probably follow suit, leaving him with only a few years to obtain the necessary ''Lebensraum''.<ref>Kershaw, Ian ''Hitler Nemesis'', New York: Norton, 2000 page 37.</ref> <ref> Carr, William Arms, Autarky and Aggression London: Edward Arnold 1972. pages 76-77</ref> About the same time, Dr. Goebbels noted in his diary Hitler now wished to see "Great Germanic Reich" he envisioned in his own lifetime rather then leaving the work of building the "Great Germanic Reich" to his successors.<ref>Kershaw, Ian ''Hitler Nemesis'', New York: Norton, 2000 page 92.</ref>

On 5 November 1937, at the Reich Chancellory, Adolf Hitler held a secret meeting with the War and Foreign Ministers plus the three service chiefs, recorded in the Hossbach Memorandum and stated his intentions for acquiring "living space" ''Lebensraum'' for the German people. He also ordered them to make plans for war in the east no later than 1943 in order to acquire ''Lebensraum''. Hitler stated the conference minutes were to be regarded as his "political testament" in the event of his death.<ref>Aigner, Dietrich “Hitler’s Ultimate Aims” from ''Aspects of the Third Reich'' edited by H.W. Koch, London: Macmillan, 1985 page 264</ref> In the memo, Hitler was recorded as saying that such a state of crisis had been reached in the German economy that the only way of stopping a severe decline in living standards in Germany was to embark sometime in the near-future on  a policy of aggression by seizing Austria and Czechoslovakia.<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' pages 636-637; Carr, William ''Arms, Autarky and Aggression'' pages 73-78</ref> Moreover, Hitler stated that the arms race meant that time for action had to occur before Britain and France obtained an permanent lead in the arms race.<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990 pages 636-637; Carr, William ''Arms, Autarky and Aggression'' pages 73-78</ref>  A striking change in the Hossbach Memo was Hitler’s changed view of Britain from the prospective ally of 1928 in the ''Zweites Buch'' to the "hate-inspired antagonist" of 1937 in the Hossbach memo.<ref>Robertson, E.M. ''Hitler's Pre-War Policy and Military Plans'' Longmans: London, United Kingdom, 1963 page 106</ref> The historian Klaus Hildebrand described the memo as the start of an "ambivalent course" towards Britain while the late historian Andreas Hillgruber argued that Hitler was embarking on expansion "without Britain", preferably "with Britain", but if necessary "against Britain".<ref> Hildebrand, Klaus ''The Foreign Policy of the Third Reich'' London: Batsford 1973 page 42; Hillgruber, Andreas "England's Place In Hitler's Plans for World Dominion" " pages 5-22 from ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Volume 9, 1974 pages 13-14</ref> 

Hitler's intentions outlined in the Hossbach memorandum led to strong protests from the Foreign Minister, Baron Weinberg, Gerhard ''The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Starting World War II'' University of Chicago Press: Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 1980 pages 39-40</ref> The aggression against Austria and Czechoslovakia were intended to be the first of a series of localized wars in Eastern Europe that would secure Germany’s position in Europe before the final showdown with Britain and France. Fritisch, Blomberg and Neurath all argue that Hitler was pursing a extremely high risk strategy of localized wars in Eastern Europe that was most likely to cause a general war before Germany was ready for such a conflict, and advised Hitler to wait until Germany had more time to rearm.<ref>Weinberg, Gerhard ''The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Starting World War II'' University of Chicago Press: Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 1980 pages 39-40</ref> Neurath, Blomberg and Fritsch had no moral objections to German aggression, but rather based their opposition on the question of timing for the best time for aggression.<ref>Weinberg, Gerhard ''The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Starting World War II'' University of Chicago Press: Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 1980 pages 39-40</ref> 

Later in November 1937, Hitler received as his guest, the British Lord Privy Seal, Lord Halifax who was visiting Germany ostensibly as part of a hunting trip. Speaking of changes to Germany's frontiers, Halifax told Hitler that: "All other questions fall into the category of possible alterations in the European order which might be destined to come about with the passage of time. Amongst these questions were Danzig, Austria and Czechoslovakia. England was interested to see that any alterations should come through the course of peaceful evolution and that the methods should be avoided which might cause far-reaching disturbances".<ref>Roberts, Andrew ''The Holy Fox'' Weidenfeld and Nicolson: London, 1991 page 71</ref> Significantly, Halifax made clear in his statements to Hitler, through whatever Hitler appreciated the significance of this or not is unclear, that any possible territorial changes had to accomplished peacefully, and that through Britain had no security commitments in Eastern Europe beyond the Covent of the League of Nations, that Britain would not tolerate territorial changes via war.<ref>Doerr, Paul ''British Foreign Policy'' , Manchester University Press: United Kingdom, 1998.page 216</ref> Hitler seems to misunderstood Halifax's remarks as confirming him in his conviction that Britain would just stand aside while he pursued his strategy of limited wars in Eastern Europe. 

Hitler was most unhappy with the criticism of his intentions expressed by Neurath, Blomberg, and Fritsch in the Hossbach Memo, and in early 1938 asserted his control of the military-foreign policy apparatus through the OKW, and by sacking Neurath as Foreign Minister on February 4, 1938.<ref>Overy, Richard Overy, Richard “Misjudging Hitler” pages 93-115from ''The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered'' edited by Gordon Martel Routledge: London, United Kingdom, 1999 pages 101-103</ref> The British economic historian Richard Overy commented that the establishment of the OKW in February 1938 was a clear sign of what Hitler's intentions since supreme headquarters organizations such as the OKW are normally set up during wartime, not peacetime.<ref>Overy, Richard “Misjudging Hitler” from ''The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered'' edited by Gordon Martel Routledge: London, United Kingdom, 1999 pages 101-102</ref> The Official German history of World War II has argued that from early 1938 onwards, Hitler was not carrying out a foreign policy that had carried a high risk of war, but was carrying out a foreign policy aiming at war.<ref>Messerschmidt, Manfred “Foreign Policy and Preparation for War” from ''Germany and the Second World War'' Volume I, Clarednon Press: Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, 1990 page 638.</ref>

=== The Holocaust ===

One of the foundations of Hitler's social policies was the concept of racial hygiene. It was based on the ideas of Arthur de Gobineau, a French count, eugenics, a pseudo-science that advocated racial purity, and social Darwinism, a mis-use of Charles Darwin's thought. Applied to human beings, "survival of the fittest" was interpreted as requiring racial purity and killing off "life unworthy of life." The first victims were children with physical and developmental disabilities; those killings occurred in a program dubbed Action T4.<ref name="overy252"></ref> After a public outcry, Hitler made a show of ending this program, but the killings in fact continued (see Nazi eugenics).