The head of the Nazi Party in Germany, Adolf Hitler, was one of the most infamous and powerful tyrants of the 20th century. Hitler used the Weimar Republic's economic hardships societal unrest, and political struggles to his advantage, after serving in the German military during World War I in order to climb the Nazi Party's ranks.
Hitler seized total control of Germany in 1933 through a string of brutal and violent events, such as the Reichstag Fire and Night of Long Knives in particular. World War II began in 1939 as a result of Germany's invasion of Poland, and by 1941, Nazi forces had taken control of most of Europe using "blitzkrieg" tactics. Along with other Holocaust victims, Hitler's ferocious anti-Semitism and obsession with achieving Aryan supremacy led to the death of almost 6 million Jews. Hitler took his own life in April 1945 in a Berlin bunker as the war began to turn against him.