Adolf Hitler
A failed artist turned demagogue, he plunged the world into history's deadliest war and orchestrated the systematic murder of six million Jews.
1889–1945 (age 56)·Dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945·Birthday: April 20·The Lost Generation
Biography
Adolf Hitler's path from a rootless youth in Austria to the absolute ruler of Germany is a dark study in the power of resentment and propaganda. After a directionless early adulthood and embitterment by Germany's defeat in World War I, he found his calling in extremist politics, channeling popular anger into the virulent ideology of the Nazi Party. His ascent through democratic means ended democracy itself, as he dismantled institutions and established a totalitarian state built on terror, racial purity, and expansionist ambition. His invasion of Poland in 1939 ignited World War II, a conflict that would claim tens of millions of lives. His most monstrous legacy, the Holocaust, was an industrialized campaign of genocide targeting Jews, Roma, and others he deemed 'undesirable.' Cornered in his Berlin bunker as the war turned decisively against him, he took his own life in April 1945, leaving behind a continent in ruins and a permanent scar on human history.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Adolf was born in 1889, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Adolf Was Born
The biggest hits of 1889
Adolf's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1889Born
Eiffel Tower opens in Paris
President: Benjamin Harrison
1894Started school
President: Grover Cleveland
1902Became a teenager
The eruption of Mount Pelee kills 30,000 in Martinique
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1905Could drive
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1907Could vote
Financial panic grips Wall Street
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1910Turned 21
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach
President: William Howard Taft
1919Turned 30
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1929Turned 40
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1939Turned 50
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1945Died at 56
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
Key Achievements
- Became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, using legal and extralegal means to establish a one-party dictatorship within months.
- Authored 'Mein Kampf,' a manifesto outlining his antisemitic worldview and expansionist goals that became a foundational Nazi text.
- Ordered the invasion of Poland in September 1939, directly triggering the outbreak of the Second World War.
- Was the central architect and driving force behind the Holocaust, the systematic genocide of European Jewry.
Did You Know?
He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in his youth, a failure that deeply embittered him.
During World War I, he served as a dispatch runner and was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class, a rare honor for a corporal.
He was a strict vegetarian in his later years and had a great fondness for his German Shepherd, Blondi.
His distinctive mustache was reportedly trimmed that way to fit under a gas mask during his wartime service.
“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”
