Adolf hitler early life biography

After serving with the German military in World War I , Hitler capitalized on economic woes, popular discontent and political infighting during the Weimar Republic to rise through the ranks of the Nazi Party.

Adolf hitler family

In a series of ruthless and violent actions—including the Reichstag Fire and the Night of Long Knives—Hitler took absolute power in Germany by After the tide of war turned against him, Hitler committed suicide in a Berlin bunker in April After his father, Alois, retired as a state customs official, young Adolf spent most of his childhood in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria.

After his mother, Klara, died in , Hitler moved to Vienna, where he pieced together a living painting scenery and monuments and selling the images. Lonely, isolated and a voracious reader, Hitler became interested in politics during his years in Vienna, and developed many of the ideas that would shape Nazi ideology. In , Hitler moved to Munich, in the German state of Bavaria.

Why did hitler start ww2

When World War I broke out the following summer, he successfully petitioned the Bavarian king to be allowed to volunteer in a reserve infantry regiment. Deployed in October to Belgium, Hitler served throughout the Great War and won two decorations for bravery, including the rare Iron Cross First Class, which he wore to the end of his life. Hitler was wounded twice during the conflict: He was hit in the leg during the Battle of the Somme in , and temporarily blinded by a British gas attack near Ypres in By the end of , Hitler led the growing Nazi Party, capitalizing on widespread discontent with the Weimar Republic and the punishing terms of the Versailles Treaty.

On the evening of November 8, , members of the SA and others forced their way into a large beer hall where another right-wing leader was addressing the crowd. Wielding a revolver, Hitler proclaimed the beginning of a national revolution and led marchers to the center of Munich, where they got into a gun battle with police. Hitler fled quickly, but he and other rebel leaders were later arrested.

Even though it failed spectacularly, the Beer Hall Putsch established Hitler as a national figure , and in the eyes of many a hero of right-wing nationalism. Tried for treason, Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison, but would serve only nine months in the relative comfort of Landsberg Castle.