Adolf Hitler

Un article de Vev.

Version du 24 décembre 2007 à 08:33 Lilyu (Discuter) (LiveRC : Révocation des modifications de 82.67.177.59; retour à la version de Mmenal) ← Différence précédente		Version actuelle Bytwerk (Discuter) (Hitler did, in fact, claim that some forms of socialism were Jewish movements.)
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-	{{Redirect|Hitler}}	+	<!--
-	{{Infobox biographie	+	ATTENTION! PLEASE READ BEFORE EDITING.
-	| nom =Adolf Hitler	+
-	| image =Adolf Hitler.png	+
-	| tailleimage(en px)=160	+
-	| nomofficiel =	+
-	| datedenaissance ={{Date|20|avril|1889}}	+
-	| lieudenaissance =[[Braunau am Inn]], [[Autriche-Hongrie]]	+
-	| datededeces ={{Date|30|avril|1945}}	+
-	| ageaudecès =56	+
-	| lieudedeces =[[Berlin]], [[Allemagne]]	+
-	| nationalite =Autrichienne jusqu'au [[7 avril]] [[1925]]<ref>{{de}} [http://www.ns-archiv.de/personen/hitler/oesterreich/staatsbuergerschaft.php Demande de Adolf Hitler pour termine son nationalité Autrichienne] (7 avril 1925)</ref>, Allemande depuis [[1932]]	+
-	| metier =	+
-	| occupation =Chancelier d'Allemagne ([[1933]]-[[1934]]) <br> ''Reichskanzler'', <br>	+
-	puis ''Führer'' ([[1934]]-[[1945]])	+
-	| hommage =	+
-	| autresfonctions =	+
-	| famille =	+
-	| legende =Adolf Hitler	+
-	}}	+
-	'''Adolf Hitler''', né le {{Date|20|avril|1889}} à [[Braunau am Inn]], en [[Autriche]], décédé le {{Date|30|avril|1945}} à [[Berlin]], est un homme politique [[Allemagne|allemand]] qui instaure la dictature du [[Troisième Reich]]. Il est [[Liste des chanceliers allemands|chancelier]] du [[Reich]], puis est élu [[Liste des présidents d'Allemagne|président]] (titre qu'il délaissa pour celui de ''[[Führer]]''). Porté par le parti qu'il reprit en [[1921]], le [[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]] (''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei''), en tête du [[Troisième Reich]], il fut à l'origine de la [[Seconde Guerre mondiale]].	+
-	Convaincu, ainsi qu'il l'écrira dans ''[[Mein Kampf]]'', d'être désigné par le [[destin]], il s’engage en politique. Fin [[1919]], il adhère au [[Parti ouvrier allemand|DAP]], futur [[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]] (ou parti nazi). Brillant [[orateur]] et [[propagande|propagandiste]] hors pair, il mobilise rapidement de nombreux partisans. S’appuyant sur les revendications allemandes à l’issue de la [[Première Guerre mondiale]] (en dénonçant le [[Traité de Versailles (1919)|traité de Versailles]]), puis sur les conséquences de la [[Grande dépression|crise économique]] des [[années trente]], il accède à la chancellerie du Reich le [[30 janvier]] [[1933]].	+	Hi, and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized, and vandalism is reverted immediately. You will not accomplish anything by vandalizing Wikipedia. If you wish to try test editing, you may do so in our sandbox located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sandbox
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-	En quelques mois, de janvier à juillet [[1933]], la [[République de Weimar]] bascule dans la [[dictature]] et la terreur. À la fois ''[[Liste des présidents d'Allemagne|Reichspräsident]]'' et ''[[Liste des chanceliers allemands|Reichskanzler]]'' (président et chancelier du Reich) après le plébiscite du [[19 août]] [[1934]], il devient ''[[Führer]]'' (guide). Il viole le [[traité de Versailles]] en réarmant l’[[Allemagne]], en occupant et en annexant des territoires, profitant de la passivité des puissances européennes qui redoutent une nouvelle guerre.	+	This page is frequently scrutinized and debated.
-	Le {{1er septembre}} [[1939]], l'attaque délibérée de la [[Pologne]] provoquera la [[Seconde Guerre mondiale]].	+
-	Parallèlement à sa politique d’agression nationaliste, il met en œuvre l’un des plus grands [[génocide]]s de l’Histoire. Il ordonne ainsi l’élimination des handicapés, des [[Rroms|Tzigane]]s, des [[Homosexualité|homosexuels]], des [[franc-maçon]]s, des [[communisme|communistes]], des [[résistance (politique)|résistants]], des [[Témoins de Jéhovah]], des « asociaux », et, conformément à ce qu’il laisse entrevoir dans ''Mein Kampf'', l’extermination systématique des [[Juif]]s. Principal instigateur de la « [[Shoah|Solution finale]] », il est responsable de la mort d’environ 6 millions d’êtres humains dans les [[camps de concentration]] et les [[camps d'extermination]], ainsi que lors des tueries de masse sur le front de l’Est par les ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]''.	+	If you wish to edit this article with factual, neutral information, scroll down.
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		+	{{redirect|Hitler}}{{sprotected2}}
		+	{{Infobox President
		+	| name = Adolf Hitler
		+	| nationality = Austrian until 1925;<ref> [http://www.ns-archiv.de/personen/hitler/oesterreich/staatsbuergerschaft.php Hitler's official application to end his Austrian citizenship] ([[7 April]] [[1925]]) </ref> after 1932 German
		+	| citizenship = [[Austria]]n (1889-1932)</br>[[Germany|German]] (1932-1945)
		+	| image = Adolf Hitler cph 3a48970.jpg
		+	| birth_date = {{birth date|1889|4|20|}}
		+	| birth_place = [[Braunau am Inn]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
		+	| death_date = {{death date and age|1945|4|30|1889|4|20|}}
		+	| death_place = [[Berlin]], [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]
		+	| party = [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] (NSDAP)
		+	| spouse = [[Eva Braun]]<br />''(married on [[April 29]], [[1945]])''
		+	| occupation = [[Agitator]], [[Activism|Activist]], [[Writer]], [[Politican]]
		+	| religion = see [[#Religious Beliefs|section(s) below]]
		+	| order = Leader of Germany<br /> [[Führer]]
		+	| term_start = [[August 2]], [[1934]]
		+	| term_end = [[April 30]], [[1945]]
		+	| predecessor = [[Paul von Hindenburg]]<br />''(as President)''
		+	| successor = [[Karl Dönitz]]<br />''(as President)''
		+	| order2 = [[Chancellor of Germany]]<br /> [[Chancellor of Germany#Reichskanzler (1871–1945)|Reichskanzler]]
		+	| term_start2 = [[January 30]], [[1933]]
		+	| term_end2 = [[April 30]], [[1945]]
		+	| predecessor2 = [[Kurt von Schleicher]]
		+	| successor2 = [[Joseph Goebbels]]
		+	}}
		+	'''Adolf Hitler''' ([[April 20]], [[1889]] &ndash; [[April 30]], [[1945]]) was a [[Germany|German]] [[politician]], who became the Leader of the [[Nazi Party|National Socialist German Workers Party]] and was appointed as the [[Chancellor of Germany]] in [[1933]]. After the death of [[President of Germany|President]] [[Paul von Hindenburg]] in [[1934]], Hitler declared himself [[Führer]], combining the offices of President and Chancellor into one using the power vested in him by the [[Enabling Act of 1933|Enabling Act]], and remained in the position of Führer until his eventual [[suicide]] in 1945.
-	Encerclé par l'[[Armée rouge]], il se suicide dans son bunker à [[Berlin]] le [[30 avril]] [[1945]]. En pleine débâcle militaire, le [[Troisième Reich]] ne lui survit que quelques jours. Les principaux responsables du régime seront jugés lors du [[procès de Nuremberg]].	+	The [[Nazism|Nazi Party]] gained power during Germany's [[Weimar Republic|period of crisis]] after [[World War I]], exploiting [[Nazi propaganda|effective propaganda]] and Hitler's [[charismatic authority|charismatic]] [[oratory]] to gain popularity. The Party emphasised [[nationalism]] and [[antisemitism]] as its primary political expressions, eventually resorting to murdering its opponents to ensure success.
-	== Jeunes années ==	+	After the restructuring of the [[Economy of Germany|state economy]] and the rearmament of the [[Wehrmacht]], a [[dictatorship]] (commonly characterized as either [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] or [[fascism|fascist]]) was established by Hitler, who then pursued an aggressive [[foreign policy]], with the goal of seizing ''[[Lebensraum]]''. This resulted in the [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|German Invasion]] of [[Poland]] in [[1939]], drawing the [[British Empire|British]] and [[French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire|French Empires]] into [[World War II]].
-	[[Image:Stammbaum Adolf Hitler 3.png|thumb|left|400px|Arbre généalogique d’Adolf Hitler]]	+	The Wehrmacht enjoyed great success in the early stages of the war, and the [[Axis Powers]] managed to occupy most of [[Europe|Mainland Europe]] and parts of [[Asia]] at the height of their power. Eventually however, the occupation was rolled back by the combined efforts of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] after a long struggle, and the Wehrmacht was ultimately defeated. By 1945, both Hitler's policy and the Nazi Party lay in ruins; his bid for territorial conquest and [[racism|racial subjugation]] had caused the deaths of tens of millions of people, including the deliberate [[genocide]] of an estimated six million [[Jew]]s in what is now known as the [[Holocaust]].
-	Adolf Hitler naît le [[20 avril]] [[1889]] dans l’auberge ''Gasthof zum Pommer'', ''Vorstadt Nr. 219'', à [[Braunau am Inn]], une petite ville de [[Haute-Autriche]] près de la frontière [[Autriche|austro]]-[[Allemagne|allemande]]. Il est le quatrième des six enfants d’[[Alois Hitler]] et de [[Klara Pölzl]]. La plupart des enfants meurent en bas âge ; seule sa sœur cadette Paula († [[1960]]) lui survivra.	+	During the final days of the war in 1945, as the German capital of [[Berlin]] was being invaded and destroyed by the [[Red Army]] of the [[Soviet Union]], Hitler married [[Eva Braun]] and less than 24 hours later, the two [[Death of Adolf Hitler|committed suicide]] in the [[Führerbunker]].
		+	{{TOCnestright|maxwidth=200px}}
		+	== Early Years ==
		+	=== Childhood and Heritage ===
		+	[[Image:Baby-hitler.jpg|thumb|right|Adolf Hitler as an infant.]]
		+	Adolf Hitler was born in [[Braunau am Inn]], [[Austria]], the fourth child of six.<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'' (Penguin Books 1962), 23.</ref> His father, [[Alois Hitler]], (1837&ndash;1903), was a customs official. His mother, [[Klara Pölzl]], (1860&ndash;1907), was Alois' third wife. She was also his half-niece, so a [[papal dispensation]] had to be obtained for the marriage. Of Alois and Klara's six children, only Adolf and his sister [[Paula Hitler|Paula]] reached adulthood.<ref name="bull25">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 25.</ref> Hitler's father also had a son, [[Alois Hitler, Jr.|Alois Jr]], and a daughter, [[Angela Hitler|Angela]], by his second wife.<ref name="bull25"/>
-	[[Alois Hitler]], le père d’Adolf, est douanier. Né hors mariage le [[7 juin]] [[1837]], Alois porte d’abord le nom de famille de sa mère, [[Maria Anna Schicklgruber]], mais le [[6 juin]] [[1876]], il est légitimé et obtient un an plus tard le droit de porter le nom « Hitler ». Adolf n’utilisera jamais d’autre patronyme, et « Schicklgruber » ne resurgira que plus tard chez ses opposants politiques.	+	Alois Hitler was born [[illegitimacy|illegitimate]]. For the first 39 years of his life he bore his mother's surname, Schicklgruber. In 1876, he took the surname of his stepfather, [[Johann Georg Hiedler]]. The name was spelled Hiedler, Huetler, Huettler and Hitler and probably changed to "Hitler" by a clerk. The origin of the name is either from the [[German language|German]] word ''Hittler'' and similar, "one who lives in a hut", "shepherd", or from the [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] word ''Hidlar'' and ''Hidlarcek''.
-	L’[[arbre généalogique]] d’Adolf Hitler laisse cependant planer de fortes suspicions de consanguinité. L’incertitude relative à ses origines n’est pas sans conséquence. Ainsi après l’[[Anschluss]] en [[1938]], il fera détruire [[Döllersheim]], le village natal de son père, en le transformant en champ de tir.	+	Allied [[propaganda]] exploited Hitler's original family name during World War II. [[Pamphlet]]s bearing the phrase "Heil Schicklgruber" were [[airdrop]]ped over German cities. But he was legally born a Hitler and was also related to Hiedler via his maternal grandmother, [[Johanna Hiedler]].
-	L’enfance d’Adolf se passe sous la stricte discipline d’un père âgé, fonctionnaire retraité dès [[1895]]. Le [[3 janvier]] [[1903]], son père meurt, suivi le [[21 décembre]] [[1907]] par sa mère qui succombe à un [[cancer|cancer du sein]].	+	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>Walter C. Langer, <cite>The Mind of Adolf Hitler</cite>, p. 246 ([[Basic Books]]: New York, 1972)</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".
-	Élève médiocre à partir de son entrée à la Realschule de [[Linz (Autriche)|Linz]] (lycée), Hitler refuse de suivre la voie paternelle. Devenu orphelin, vivant d’une petite bourse, il échoue par deux fois à l’examen d’entrée de l’Académie des Beaux-Arts de [[Vienne (Autriche)|Vienne]] en [[1907]] et le [[8 octobre]] [[1908]]. Autodidacte, grand lecteur et admirateur de la musique de [[Richard Wagner]], tout comme son ami [[August Kubizek]], il développe un intérêt profond pour l’[[architecture]]. Il enchaîne les petits boulots, vivant dans une misère constante durant cinq ans. Plus tard, dans ''[[Mein Kampf]]'', il écrira :	+	As a boy, Hitler said he was often whipped 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 (philosophy)|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>[[John Toland]], ''Adolph Hitler'', pp. 12-13.</ref>
-	{{citation_bloc|Cinq années pendant lesquelles je dus, comme manœuvre d’abord, ensuite comme petit peintre, gagner ma subsistance, maigre subsistance, qui ne pouvait même pas apaiser ma faim chronique. Car la faim était alors le gardien fidèle qui ne m’abandonna jamais, la compagne qui partagea tout avec moi. Chaque livre que j’achetai eut sa participation ; une représentation à l’opéra me valait sa compagnie le jour suivant ; c’était une bataille continuelle avec mon amie impitoyable. J’ai appris cependant alors comme jamais avant. Hors mon architecture, hors les rares visites à l’Opéra, fruit de mes jeûnes, je n’avais d’autre joie que des livres toujours plus nombreux.}}	+	[[Alois Hitler#Hitler.27s biological father|Hitler's paternal grandfather]] was most likely one of the brothers Johann Georg Hiedler or [[Johann Nepomuk Hiedler]]. There were rumours that Hitler was one-quarter [[Jewish]] and that his grandmother, [[Maria Schicklgruber]], became [[pregnant]] while working as a servant in a Jewish household. The implications of these rumours were politically explosive for the proponent of a [[racism|racist]] [[ideology]]. Opponents tried to prove that Hitler had Jewish or [[Czech people|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.
-	Adolf Hitler assiste aux séances du Parlement autrichien, il écrira plus tard son mépris pour la [[démocratie]] et le [[parlementarisme]]. Il étudie les thèses [[pangermanisme|pangermanistes]] et observe l’influence de la politique sur les masses.	+	[[Image:WittRealschuleCrop.jpg|right|thumb|[[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] and Hitler in school in a 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>''The Jew of Linz: Hitler, Wittgenstein and their secret battle for the mind'' (1999)</ref>
-	Au printemps [[1913]], pour éviter son enrôlement dans l’armée de l’[[Autriche-Hongrie|Empire austro-hongrois]], État multiethnique qu’il exècre, il s’enfuit à [[Munich]] et vit en vendant ses peintures de paysages. Sa tentative d’échapper à la conscription est remarquée, mais, après avoir été refusé lors d’un examen médical à son retour en [[Autriche]] (pour constitution « trop faible »), il retourne à [[Munich]].	+	Hitler claimed his educational slump was a [[rebellion]] against his father, who wanted the boy to follow him in a career as a customs official; Hitler wanted to become a [[painter]] instead. This explanation is further supported by Hitler's later description of himself as a misunderstood artist. However, after Alois died on [[January 3]], [[1903]], Hitler's schoolwork did not improve. At age 16, Hitler dropped out of high school without a degree.
-	=== La Première Guerre mondiale ===	+	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.[http://www.hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/mkv1ch01.html]
-	En [[1914]], exalté par l’entrée en [[Première Guerre mondiale|guerre]] de l’[[Allemagne]]<ref>Un cliché pris sur Odeonplatz à Munich le 2 août 1914 le montre dans la foule assemblée voir {{en}} [http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blhitler14.htm Pictures of Hitler - Hitler Celebrating the Declaration of WWI]</ref>, Hitler s’engage comme volontaire. Il se bat sur le front ouest dans le [[16e régiment d'infanterie bavarois]]. Soldat enthousiaste, il est apprécié de ses pairs et supérieurs, qui lui refusent toutefois un avancement, jugeant qu’il ne possède pas les qualités d’un chef. Il remplit pendant presque toute la durée de la guerre la mission d’[[estafette]] entre les officiers. Fin septembre [[1916]], sa division part pour la [[bataille de la Somme]]. Hitler est blessé une première fois à la cuisse, le 7 octobre. Il rentre se faire soigner en Allemagne, à l’hôpital de Beelitz, près de [[Berlin]]. Après une affectation à [[Munich]], il revient sur le front des Flandres. Dans la nuit du 13 au 14 octobre [[1918]], sur une colline du sud de Werwick, près d’[[Ypres]] ([[Belgique]]), son unité subit un bombardement britannique au [[gaz moutarde]]. Touché aux yeux, il est évacué vers l’hôpital de [[Pasewalk]], en [[Poméranie]]. Hitler est décoré de la [[Croix de fer]] 1{{re}} classe (distinction rarement accordée à un soldat engagé mais facilement octroyée à une [[estafette]], du fait de ses contacts avec les officiers) pour avoir accompli le dangereux transport d’une dépêche. Ironiquement, cette décoration lui est remise sur recommandation d’un officier juif.<ref>Lionel Richard (dir.), D’où vient Adolf Hitler ?</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>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 30-31.</ref> His [[memoirs]] reflect a fascination with the subject:
-	Alors que l’Allemagne est sur le point de capituler, la [[Révolution allemande|révolution]] gagne [[Berlin]] et la Kaiserliche Marine se mutine. Le [[Kaiser]] [[Guillaume II d'Allemagne|Guillaume II]] [[abdication|abdique]] et part pour les [[Pays-Bas]] avec sa famille. Le socialiste [[Philipp Scheidemann]] proclame la [[République de Weimar|République]]. Deux jours plus tard, le nouveau pouvoir signe l’[[armistice de 1918]]. De son lit d’hôpital, Hitler est anéanti par cette annonce. <!--note : compte tenu des débats entre fonctionnalistes et intentionalistes, il est important pour ce qui suit d’indiquer la date de la citation… Il accusera les juifs d’avoir manigancé l’abdication du Kaiser.<ref>Mémorandum de Walter Hevel, fonctionnaire du ministère des affaires étrangères du Reich, 21 janvier 1940. Akten zur deutschen auswärtigen Politik, vol. 158, p. 170., cité par Gerald Fleming, Hitler and the Final Solution, University of California Press, 1994, p. 14.</ref> -->Il affirme dans ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' y avoir eu une vision patriotique. À sa sortie d’hôpital en novembre [[1918]], il retourne dans son régiment de [[Munich]]. Plus tard, il écrira que la guerre avait été « le temps le plus inoubliable et le plus sublime ».	+	{{cquote|The purpose of my trip was to study the picture gallery in the Court Museum, but I had eyes for scarcely anything but the Museum itself. From morning until late at night, I ran from one object of interest to another, but it was always the buildings which held my primary interest."<ref>Mein Kampf, Chapter II, paragraph 3)</ref>}}
-	==Le combat politique==	+	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:
-	{{Article détaillé|Chronologie de la République de Weimar}}	+	{{cquote|In a few days I myself knew that I should some day become an architect. To be sure, it was an incredibly hard road; for the studies I had neglected out of spite at the Realschule were sorely needed. One could not attend the Academy's architectural school without having attended the building school at the Technic, and the latter required a high-school degree. I had none of all this. The fulfillment of my artistic dream seemed physically impossible.<ref>''Mein Kampf'', Chapter II, paragraph 5 & 6.</ref>}}
-	La [[Bavière]] est alors entre les mains d’un gouvernement révolutionnaire, la ''[[Räterepublik]]'' (" République des conseils ") ; sa caserne est dirigée par un Soviet (" conseil "). Dégoûté, Hitler quitte [[Munich]] pour [[Traunstein]]. Cependant, en [[1919]], alors que le pouvoir est hésitant entre communistes du [[Parti communiste d'Allemagne|KPD]] et sociaux-démocrates du [[Parti social-démocrate d'Allemagne|SPD]], Hitler se fait élire délégué de sa caserne, une première fois lorsque le pouvoir en Bavière est aux mains du SPD, puis une seconde fois en tant que délégué adjoint sous l’éphémère régime communiste (avril-mai 1919), juste avant la prise de contrôle de Munich par les troupes. Hitler n’a pas pour autant adhéré à ces partis, et il est probable que les soldats connaissaient ses opinions politiques nationalistes.<ref>Cf. ''Hitler'', tome 1 de [[Ian Kershaw]], et '''Hitler'' de Heiden</ref>	+	On [[December 21]], [[1907]], Hitler's mother died of [[breast cancer]] at age 47. Ordered by a court in Linz, Hitler gave his share of the [[orphan]]s' 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.
-	Dans ''[[Mein Kampf]]'', Hitler donne de cet épisode un récit plutôt elliptique, mais assez clair quant à sa vision du monde :	+	After being rejected a second time by the Academy of Arts, Hitler ran out of money. In 1909, he sought refuge in a [[homeless]] shelter. By 1910, he had settled into a house for poor working men.
-	<blockquote>	+
-	« En mars [[1919]], nous étions de retour à [[Munich]]. La situation était intenable et poussait à la continuation de la révolution. La mort d’[[Kurt Eisner|Eisner]] ne fit qu’accélérer l’évolution et conduisit finalement à la dictature des [[soviet]]s, pour mieux dire, à une souveraineté passagère des Juifs, ce qui avait été originairement le but des promoteurs de la révolution et l’idéal dont ils se berçaient. <br />	+
-	[…]<br />	+
-	Au cours de cette nouvelle révolution de soviets, je me démasquai pour la première fois de telle façon que je m’attirai le mauvais œil du soviet central.<br />	+
-	Le [[27 avril]] [[1919]], je devais être arrêté, mais les trois gaillards n’eurent point le courage nécessaire en présence du fusil braqué sur eux et s’en retournèrent comme ils étaient venus.<br />	+
-	Quelques jours après la délivrance de [[Munich]], je fus désigné pour faire partie de la Commission chargée de l’enquête sur les événements révolutionnaires dans le 2{{e}} régiment d’infanterie.<br />	+
-	Ce fut ma première fonction active à caractère politique. »	+
-	</blockquote>	+
-	[[Image:Parti Nazi aux élections législatives.svg|thumb|right|350px|La montée du NSDAP au Reichstag]]	+
-	Hitler reste dans l’armée jusqu’au [[31 mars]] [[1921]] et est chargé de surveiller un groupuscule politique, le [[Parti ouvrier allemand]] (''Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'', DAP).	+
-	Remarqué lors de l’une de ses interventions, il finit par y adhérer, et le transforme en [[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]] ''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (« Parti national socialiste des travailleurs allemands »). En avril [[1921]], il devient le chef du parti. Du fait de ses talents d’orateur et d'agitateur politique, le parti gagne rapidement en popularité.	+	Hitler says he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna,<ref>(''Mein Kampf'', vol. 1, chap. 2: "Years of study and suffering in Vienna")</ref> which had a large Jewish community, including [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jews]] who had fled from [[pogrom]]s in [[Russia]]. But according to a childhood friend, [[August Kubizek]], Hitler was a "confirmed anti-Semite" before he left Linz, Austria.<ref>(''Mein Kampf'', vol. 1, chap. 2: "Years of study and suffering in Vienna")</ref> Vienna at that time was a hotbed of traditional religious prejudice and 19th century racism. Hitler may have been influenced by the writings of the ideologist and anti-Semite [[Lanz von Liebenfels]] and [[polemic]]s from [[politician]]s such as [[Karl Lueger]], founder of the [[Christian Social Party]] and [[List of mayors of Vienna|Mayor of Vienna]], the composer [[Richard Wagner]], and [[Georg Ritter von Schönerer]], leader of the [[pan-Germanism|pan-Germanic]] ''Away from Rome!'' movement. Hitler claims in ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' that his transition from opposing anti-Semitism on [[religion|religious]] grounds to supporting it on racial grounds came from having seen an Orthodox Jew, but actually it seems Hitler was not very anti-Semitic in these years. He often was a guest for dinner in a noble Jewish house, and Jewish merchants tried to sell his paintings.<ref>''Hitler's Vienna. A dictator's apprenticeship'' by Brigitte Hamann and Thomas Thornton, Oxford University Press, USA (1 July 1999)</ref>
-	En janvier [[1922]], Hitler est condamné à trois mois de prison (dont deux avec sursis) pour « troubles à l'ordre public ». Il purgera cette peine entre juin et juillet [[1922]] à [[Munich]]. Hitler est menacé d'être expulsé de [[Bavière]].	+	Hitler may also have been influenced by [[Martin Luther]]'s ''[[On the Jews and their Lies]]''. [[Kristallnacht]] took place on [[November 10]]—Luther's birthday.
-	Les [[8 novembre|8]] et [[9 novembre]] [[1923]], il conduit le [[coup d'État]] avorté connu comme le [[Putsch de la brasserie]]. Le [[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]] est aussitôt interdit. Arrêté, Hitler est accusé de conspiration contre l’État et condamné le {{1er avril}} [[1924]] à cinq ans de réclusion criminelle pour « haute trahison », qu’il purge à la prison de [[Landsberg am Lech]]. Pendant sa détention, il écrit ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' (''Mon combat''), autobiographie et manifeste politique. Après seulement 13 mois de détention et malgré l’opposition déterminée du [[procureur]] [[Stenglein]], il bénéfice d’une libération anticipée le [[20 décembre]] [[1924]].	+	{{cquote|There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become [[Europeanization|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.
-	[[Image:Evolution du chômage en Allemagne (1928-1940).svg|thumb|right|200px|Le chômage, terreau fertile pour le NSDAP]]	+
-	Craignant d’être expulsé vers l’[[Autriche]], Hitler renonce à la [[nationalité]] autrichienne le [[30 avril]] [[1925]]. Devenu [[apatride]], et bien qu’il soit interdit de parole en public jusqu’au [[5 mars]] [[1927]], il reconstruit son parti et retrouve une certaine popularité. C’est de cette époque que date l’entrée en scène de [[Joseph Goebbels]], l’un de ses plus fidèles soutiens. En [[1928]], le [[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]] semble pourtant marquer le pas et peine à remonter la pente : seuls 2,6% des votants lui accordent leur confiance aux élections législatives du [[28 mai]].	+
-	Mais l’instabilité politique (décès de [[Gustav Stresemann]], chute du chancelier [[Hermann Müller]], remplacé par le gouvernement conservateur et autoritaire de [[Heinrich Brüning]] du [[Zentrum]]) et surtout les conséquences catastrophiques de la [[crise de 1929]] sur l’économie allemande très dépendante des [[États-Unis]], apportent au [[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]] un succès foudroyant et imprévu aux élections du [[14 septembre]] [[1930]] : avec 18,3% des voix et 107 sièges, le parti nazi devient le second du [[Reichstag (Allemagne)|Reichstag]]).	+	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>(''Mein Kampf'', vol. 1, chap. 2: "Years of study and suffering in Vienna")</ref>}}
-	Le [[septennat]] du président [[Paul von Hindenburg|Hindenburg]] se terminant le [[5 mai]] [[1932]], la droite et le [[Zentrum]], afin d’éviter de nouvelles élections, proposent de renouveler tacitement le mandat présidentiel. L’accord des [[nazisme|nazis]] étant nécessaire, Hitler exige la démission du chancelier [[Heinrich Brüning]] et de nouvelles élections parlementaires. [[Paul von Hindenburg|Hindenburg]] refuse. Le [[22 février]] [[1932]], [[Joseph Goebbels]] annonce la candidature d’Adolf Hitler à la Présidence de la République. Le [[26 février]], Hitler est opportunément nommé ''Regierungsrat'', fonctionnaire d’État, ce qui lui confère automatiquement la nationalité allemande.	+	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>Hitler, Adolf, ''Mein Kampf'', Volume 1, Chapter VII<br /><small>Among them must be counted the great warriors in this world who, though not understood by the present, are nevertheless prepared to carry the fight for their ideas and ideals to their end. They are the men who some day will be closest to the heart of the people; it almost seems as though every individual feels the duty of compensating in the past for the sins which the present once committed against the great. Their life and work are followed with admiring gratitude and emotion, and especially in days of gloom they have the power to raise up broken hearts and despairing souls. To them belong, not only the truly great statesmen, but all other great reformers as well. Beside Frederick the Great stands Martin Luther as well as Richard Wagner. </small></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>{{cite book |title=The Solution to the German Problem|author=[[Wilhelm Röpke]]|year=1946|pages=pp.117|publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons}}, as cited in Waite, Robert G. L. ''The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler'', pp.251, Da Capo Press, 1993, ISBN 0-306-80514-6</ref>
-	Après une campagne électorale sans précédent sur le plan de la [[propagande]], Hitler obtient 30,1% des voix au premier tour le [[13 mars]] [[1932]] et 36,8% au second tour en avril. Hindenburg est réélu. Lors des scrutins régionaux qui suivent l’élection présidentielle le [[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]] renforce ses positions.	+	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]]. 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.
-	En [[1932]], la situation se dégrade sur les plans économique et social (plus de 6 millions de chômeurs à la fin de l’année). L’agitation et l’insécurité politique sont à leur comble. Le gouvernement est incapable de réunir une majorité. Engagé dans un bras de fer avec Hitler, le président [[Paul von Hindenburg|Hindenburg]] refuse toujours de le nommer [[chancelier]]. Toutes les tentatives de conciliations échouent. Même la baisse de popularité du [[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]] aux élections de novembre n’entame en rien sa détermination.	+	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 [[opera]]s than in his politics.
-	== L’accession au pouvoir ==	+	Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to [[Munich]]. He wrote in ''Mein Kampf'' that he had always longed to live in a "real" German city. In Munich, he became more interested in architecture and, he says, the writings of [[Houston Stewart Chamberlain]]. Moving to Munich also helped him escape [[Conscription|military service]] in Austria for a time, but the Austrian army arrested him finally. After a physical exam (during which his height was measured at 173&nbsp;cm, or 5&nbsp;ft 8&nbsp;in) 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>Shirer, William L., ''The Rise And Fall of Adolf Hitler'' c 1961, Random House</ref>
-	{{Article détaillé|Chronologie du Troisième Reich}}	+	=== World War I ===
		+	[[Image:Hitler with other German soldiers.jpg|thumb|A young Hitler (left) posed with other German soldiers]]
		+	Hitler served in [[France]] and [[Belgium]] as a runner for the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment (called ''Regiment List'' after its first commander), which exposed him to enemy fire.<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 50-51.</ref> He drew [[cartoon]]s and instructional drawings for the army newspaper.
-	Hitler est nommé à la Chancellerie de la [[République de Weimar]] le [[30 janvier]] [[1933]], avec le soutien de la droite organisé par l’ancien Chancelier [[Franz von Papen]] et l’implication du [[Parti national du peuple allemand|DNVP]], le ''Deutschnationale Volkspartei'', (Parti populaire national allemand). Le DNVP est dirigé par le magnat nationaliste de la presse [[Alfred Hugenberg]], qui espère être ainsi avec von Papen en mesure de contrôler le nouveau chancelier. Cependant le DNVP ne représente que 8% des voix alors que les nazis en ont 33,1%.	+	Hitler was twice decorated for bravery. He received the [[Iron Cross]], Second Class, in 1914 and the Iron Cross, First Class, in 1918, an honour rarely given to a [[Gefreiter]].<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 52.</ref> However, because the regimental staff thought Hitler lacked leadership skills, he was never promoted to [[Unteroffizier]]. 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. In 1916, Hitler was wounded in the leg 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.
-	Hitler obtient le soutien de l’armée, déborde ses partenaires, et met en route la ''[[Gleichschaltung]]'' (la « Mise au pas ») de l’[[Allemagne]]. L’[[incendie du Reichstag]], le [[27 février]], lui permet de limiter les libertés civiles et d’éliminer ses opposants politiques, notamment les députés communistes du KPD, malgré l’illégalité de leur arrestation. [[Image:Man-of-the-year-1938.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Hitler pose à Berchtesgaden pour le ''Time Magazine'' qui l’élit Homme de l’année 1938.]]Le [[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]] remporte les élections du 5 mars [[1933]] avec 43,9% des suffrages. Le [[23 mars]], le [[Reichstag (Allemagne)|Reichstag]] vote la [[Loi des pleins pouvoirs]] (''Ermächtigungsgesetz'') accordant à Hitler les pouvoirs spéciaux pour quatre ans. C’est le début du durcissement du régime : les [[Syndicat professionnel|syndicats]] et [[parti politique|partis politiques]] sont progressivement dissous à partir du mois de mai. Le [[14 juillet]], le NSDAP devient parti unique.	+	On [[October 15]], [[1918]], Hitler was admitted to a [[field hospital]], temporarily [[Blindness|blinded]] by a [[mustard gas]] attack. The English psychologist [[David Lewis (psychologist)|David Lewis]]<ref>[[David Lewis (psychologist)|David Lewis]], ''The Man who invented Hitler'', [[Headline Book Publishing]], 2003. ISBN 0-7553-1148-5.</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>''The War Against the Jews''. Bantam. 1986</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.
-	Le [[30 juin]] [[1934]], durant la [[Nuit des Longs Couteaux]], fort du soutien bienveillant de l’armée, le Chancelier fait assassiner plusieurs de ses partisans et de ses anciens ennemis politiques. Parmi eux, [[Gregor Strasser]] et [[Ernst Röhm]], chef de la [[Sturmabteilung|SA]].	+	Two passages in ''Mein Kampf'' mention the use of [[poison gas]]:
-	La mort du président [[Paul von Hindenburg|Hindenburg]] le [[2 août]] marque la fin de la [[République de Weimar]]. En vertu de la Constitution, le chancelier exerce temporairement les pouvoirs du président défunt. Le même jour, le ''[[Reichstag (Allemagne)|Reichstag]]'' vote une loi de fusion des deux fonctions en une seule : Hitler devient ''Führer und Reichskanzler''.	+	{{cquote|At the beginning of the Great War, or even during the War, if twelve or fifteen thousand of these Jews who were corrupting the nation had been forced to submit to poison-gas…then the millions of sacrifices made at the front would not have been in vain.<ref>''Mein Kampf'', Volume 2, Chapter 15 "The Right to Self-Defence."</ref>}}
-	La popularité du [[Führer]] provient notamment de son opposition au [[Traité de Versailles|« Diktat » de Versailles]], des succès diplomatiques et économiques obtenus (notamment une importante réduction du chômage) et de sa politique de [[Réarmement de l'Allemagne nazie|réarmement]]. Encore qu’il ne faille pas oublier ni les conditions sociales et politiques dans lesquelles les améliorations économiques ont été obtenues, ni les pénibles situations de pénurie alimentaire et le manque de devises dès [[1935]]. L’adhésion des Allemands à sa politique (et plus encore à sa personne) fut importante, surtout au début.	+	{{cquote|These tactics are based on an accurate estimation of human weakness and must lead to success, with almost mathematical certainty, unless the other side also learns how to fight poison gas with poison gas. The weaker natures must be told that here it is a case of to be or not to be.<ref>''Mein Kampf'', Volume 1, Chapter 2 "Years of Study and Suffering in Vienna."</ref>}}
-	Le [[2 janvier]] [[1939]], il est élu [[Personnalité de l'année selon Time Magazine|Homme de l’année]] [[1938]] par le ''[[Time Magazine]]''.	+	Hitler had long admired Germany, and during the war he had become a passionate German [[patriotism|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>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 60.</ref> Like many other German [[Nationalism|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]]''.
-	== La diplomatie hitlérienne ==	+	The [[Treaty of Versailles]] deprived Germany of various territories, [[demilitarization|demilitarized]] the [[Rhineland]] and imposed other economically damaging sanctions. The treaty re-created Poland, which even moderate Germans regarded as an outrage. The treaty also blamed Germany for all the horrors of the war, something which major historians like [[John Keegan]] now consider at least in part to be [[victor's justice]]: most European nations in the run-up to World War I had become increasingly [[militarisation|militarised]] and were eager to fight. The culpability of Germany was used as a basis to impose [[reparation]]s on Germany (the amount was repeatedly revised under the [[Dawes Plan]], the [[Young Plan]], and the [[Hoover Moratorium]]). Germany in turn perceived the treaty and especially the paragraph on the German responsibility for the war as a humiliation. For example, there was a nearly total [[demilitarisation]] of the armed forces, allowing Germany only six [[battleship]]s, no [[submarine]]s, no [[air force]], an army of 100,000 without conscription and no armoured vehicles. The treaty was an important factor in both the social and political conditions encountered by Hitler and his Nazis as they sought power. Hitler and his party used the signing of the treaty by the "November Criminals" as a reason to build up Germany so that it could never happen again. He also used the "November Criminals" as scapegoats, although at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris peace conference]], these politicians had had very little choice in the matter.
-	La diplomatie du [[Troisième Reich]] est essentiellement conçue et dirigée par Hitler en personne. Ses ministres des Affaires étrangères successifs ([[Konstantin von Neurath]] puis [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]]) relayent ses directives sans faire preuve d’initiatives personnelles. La diplomatie hitlérienne, par son jeu d’alliances, d’audaces, de menaces et de duperies, est un rouage essentiel des buts stratégiques que poursuit le ''Führer''.	+	== Entry into Politics ==
		+	{{main|Hitler's political beliefs}}
		+	[[Image:Hitlermember.png|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.]]
-	===L’opposition au Traité de Versailles===	+	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>{{cite web|url=http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/document/artikel_44676_bilder_value_6_beisetzung-eisners3.jpg|title=1919 Picture of Hitler}}</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]].
-	Le 14 octobre [[1933]], Hitler retire l’Allemagne de la [[Société des Nations]] et de la [[Conférence de Genève]] sur le [[désarmement]], tout en prononçant des discours pacifistes. Le [[13 janvier]] [[1935]], la [[Sarre (Land)|Sarre]] plébiscite massivement (90,8% de ''Oui'') son rattachement à l’Allemagne.	+	In July 1919, Hitler was appointed a ''Verbindungsmann'' (police spy) of an ''Aufklärungskommando'' (Intelligence Commando) of the [[Reichswehr]], both to influence other soldiers and to [[Infiltration|infiltrate]] a small party, the [[German Workers' Party]] (DAP). During his [[Adolf Hitler's inspection of the German Workers' Party|inspection of the party]], Hitler was impressed with founder [[Anton Drexler]]'s anti-Semitic, nationalist, [[Anti-capitalism|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.
-	Le [[16 mars]] [[1935]], Hitler annonce le rétablissement du service militaire obligatoire et décide de porter les effectifs de la [[Wehrmacht]] de {{formatnum:100000}} à {{formatnum:500000}} hommes, par la création de 36 divisions supplémentaires. Il s’agit de la première violation flagrante du [[Traité de Versailles]].	+	Here Hitler also met [[Dietrich Eckart]], one of the early founders of the party and member of the occult [[Thule Society]].<ref>Joachim C. Fest, [http://ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/festjc/chap2.htm The Drummer] in ''The Face Of The Third Reich'' (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1970; URL accessed [[June 11]] [[2005]]).</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''.
-	En juin de la même année, Londres et Berlin signent un accord naval, qui autorise le Reich à devenir une puissance maritime. Hitler lance alors un programme de réarmement massif, créant notamment des forces navales (''[[Kriegsmarine]]'') et aériennes (''[[Luftwaffe]]'').	+	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 [[swastika]]s, cause a commotion and throw out [[leaflet]]s, 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 [[monarchist]]s, nationalists and other non-[[internationalist]] socialists) and especially against Marxists and Jews.
-	====« Voyons! Réfléchissez! Rendez-vous compte de ce qui est logique! »====	+	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.
-	[[Image:Titrejournal Paris-Midi.jpg|270px|left|thumb|A. Hitler dans le journal du 28/02/1936]]	+	The party was run by an executive [[committee]] whose original members considered Hitler to be overbearing. They formed an [[Wiktionary:alliance|alliance]] with a group of socialists from [[Augsburg]]. Hitler rushed back to Munich and countered them by tendering his [[resignation]] from the party on [[July 11]], [[1921]]. When they realized the loss of Hitler would effectively mean the end of the party, he seized the moment and announced he would return on the condition that he would be given dictatorial powers. Infuriated committee members (including Drexler) held out at first. Meanwhile an anonymous [[pamphlet]] appeared entitled ''Adolf Hitler: Is he a [[traitor]]?'', attacking Hitler's lust for power and criticizing the violent men around him. Hitler responded to its publication in a Munich newspaper by [[Lawsuit|suing]] for [[slander and libel|libel]] and later won a small settlement.
-	Les [[Jeux Olympiques d'hiver de 1936]] de [[Garmisch-Partenkirchen]] ont constitué une formidable vitrine pour la propagande mais surtout pour faire oublier sa politique du fait accompli et mettre au pied du mur la [[Grande-Bretagne|Grande Bretagne]] et la France dans ce qu'Hitler projetait de faire . En janvier [[1936]], [[Bertrand de Jouvenel]], jeune journaliste se trouvant aux jeux d'hiver prit l'initiative de contacter [[Otto Abetz]], qui est un représentant itinérant du Reich, pour lui demander une interview d'Hitler. Abetz y verra une bonne opportunité de communication pour contrecarrer la ratification du pacte Franco-Soviétique par un vote de la [[Assemblée nationale (France)|Chambre des députés]] devant avoir lieu le [[27 février]].	+
-	La veille de la publication, le propriétaire de [[Paris-Soir]], [[Jean Prouvost]] interdit la diffusion de l'article, qui sera en fait demandée par le président du conseil [[Albert Sarraut]]. Finalement, l'article sera publié, le lendemain du vote dans le journal Paris-Midi du vendredi [[28 février]]<ref>Barbara Lambauer, ''Otto Abetz et les Français'', Fayard 2001, page 96</ref>.	+
-	Quel était le but des Allemands? Faire retarder la publication pour ensuite dire que les bonnes intentions d'Hitler avaient été cachées aux Français et ainsi adopter des contres-mesures. Pour cette fois- ci, il s'agira de la violation du [[Traité de Versailles (1919)]] et des [[Accords de Locarno]] par la [[Réarmement sous le Troisième Reich|remilitarisation de la Rhénanie]] le [[7 mars]] [[1936]]<ref>Bertrand de Jouvenel, ''Un voyageur dans le siècle'', Robert Laffont 1979, page 256</ref>.<br />	+
-	Voilà ce que dira Hitler dans son interview dans ''Paris-Midi'', calibré pour le public français :	+
-	{{début citation}}...Vous vous dites: "Hitler nous fait des déclarations pacifiques, mais est-il de bonne foi ? Est-il sincère ?" N'est-ce pas un point de vue puéril que le vôtre ? Est-ce qu'au lieu de vous livrer à des devinettes psychologiques, vous ne feriez pas mieux de raisonner en usant de cette fameuse logique à laquelle les Français se déclarent si attachés ? N'est-il pas évidemment à l'avantage de nos deux pays d'entretenir de bons rapports ? Ne serait-il pas ruineux pour eux de s'entre-choquer sur de nouveaux champs de bataille ? N'est-il pas logique que je veuille ce qui est le plus avantageux à mon pays, et, ce qui est le plus avantageux, n'est-ce pas évidemment la paix ?<br />...C'est bien étrange que vous jugiez encore possible une agression allemande ! Est-ce que vous ne lisez pas notre presse ? Est-ce que vous ne voyez pas qu'elle s'abstient systématiquement de toute attaque contre la France, qu'elle ne parle de la France qu'avec sympathie ?<br />...Jamais un dirigeant allemand ne vous a fait de telles ouvertures si répétées. Et ces offres émanent de qui donc ? D'un charlatan pacifiste qui s'est fait une spécialité des relations internationales ? Non pas, mais du plus grand nationaliste que l'Allemagne ait jamais eu à sa tête ! Moi, je vous apporte ce que nul autre n'aurait jamais pu vous apporter : une entente qui sera approuvée par 90% de la nation allemande, les 90% qui me suivent ! Je vous prie de prendre garde à ceci :<br />Il y a dans la vie des peuples des occasions décisives. Aujourd'hui la France peut, si elle le veut, mettre fin à tout jamais à ce "péril allemand" que vos enfants de génération en génération, apprennent à redouter. Vous pouvez lever l'hypothèque redoutable qui pèse sur l'histoire de France. La chance vous est donnée à vous. Si vous ne la saisissez point, songez à votre responsabilité vis-à-vis de vos enfants ! Vous avez devant vous une Allemagne dont les neuf dixièmes font pleine confiance à leur chef, et ce chef vous dit : "Soyons amis!"<ref>Extrait de l'interview de [[Bertrand de Jouvenel]] paru dans le journal ''Paris-Midi'' du vendredi 28 février 1936 Page 1 et 3/ Ref. BNF MICR D-uc80</ref>.	+
-	{{fin citation}}	+
-	Les réactions à cette interview sont toutes convergentes à travers l'Europe, de Londres à Rome en passant par Berlin. Tous les commentateurs saluent les paroles de paix d'Hitler et chacun y voit le début d'un rapprochement à quatre. Toutefois, du fait que cette interview intervienne après la ratification du pacte franco-soviétique, certains commentateurs allemands auront des paroles dures à l'égard d'[[Édouard Herriot]], d' [[Albert Sarraut]] et [[Flandrin]], leur reprochant d'avoir signé avec les soviétiques<ref>Ibid. samedi 29 février 1936 p.3</ref>.	+
-	Dès le [[7 mars]] [[1936]], Hitler revient sur ses paroles de paix en [[Réarmement sous le Troisième Reich|remilitarisant la Rhénanie]], violant une nouvelle fois une clause du [[Traité de Versailles]] ainsi que les [[Accords de Locarno]]. C’est un coup de bluff : Hitler a donné comme consignes à ses troupes de se retirer en cas de riposte de l’armée française{{référence souhaitée}}. Cependant, bien que l’armée allemande, à ce moment-là soit bien plus faible que ses adversaires, ni les Français, ni les Anglais ne jugent utile de s’opposer à la remilitarisation. Le succès est éclatant pour Hitler.	+	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 changed the name of the party to the ''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' or [[National Socialist German Workers Party]].
-	===Les alliances===	+	Hitler's beer hall [[oratory]], attacking Jews, [[Social democracy|social democrats]], [[Liberalism|liberals]], reactionary monarchists, [[Capitalism|capitalists]] and communists, began attracting adherents. Early followers included [[Rudolf Hess]], the former air force pilot [[Hermann Göring]], and the army [[captain]] [[Ernst Röhm]], who became head of the Nazis' [[Paramilitary organizations|paramilitary organization]], the [[Sturmabteilung|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.
-	[[Image:Hitler in wien 1939 gross.jpg|left|205px|thumb|Hitler et Mussolini ,Vienne 1939]]	+
-	En juillet [[1936]], Hitler apporte son soutien aux insurgés nationalistes du [[Francisco Franco|général Franco]] lors de la [[Guerre civile espagnole|Guerre d’Espagne]]. Il fait parvenir des avions de transports pour permettre aux troupes coloniales du Maroc espagnol de franchir le détroit de Gibraltar lors des premiers jours cruciaux de l’insurrection. Tout comme Mussolini, il envoie ensuite du matériel militaire ainsi qu’un corps expéditionnaire, la [[Légion Condor]], qui permettra de tester les nouvelles techniques guerrières, notamment les bombardements aériens sur les populations civiles à [[Guernica]] en [[1937]].	+
-	L’Allemagne nazie et l’[[Italie]] [[fascisme|fasciste]] (initialement hostile sur un sujet comme l’[[Anschluss]]) se rapprochent, une relation décrite par [[Benito Mussolini]] comme l’[[Axe Rome-Berlin]], lors de la signature du traité d’amitié d’octobre [[1936]]. Ce rapprochement a été accéléré par l’éviction de l’Italie de la [[Société des Nations]], suite à son [[Guerre d'Éthiopie|agression contre l’Éthiopie]]. En mai [[1939]], les deux pays signent un traité d’alliance militaire, le [[Pacte d'Acier]].	+	=== Beer Hall Putsch ===
		+	{{main|Beer Hall Putsch}}
-	[[Image:Chichibunomiya Yasuhito.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Le prince [[Yasuhito Chichibu]]]]	+	[[Image:Hicler.jpg|thumb|left|Drawing of Hitler, 1923.]]
-	En novembre [[1936]], l’Allemagne et le [[Japon]] signent le [[Pacte anti-Komintern]], traité d’assistance mutuelle contre une éventuelle agression de l’URSS, auquel se joint l’Italie en [[1937]]. Cette même année Hitler rencontre à [[Nuremberg]] le prince [[Yasuhito Chichibu]], frère cadet de l'empereur [[Hirohito]], afin de raffermir les liens entre les deux états. En septembre [[1940]], la signature du [[Axe Rome-Berlin|Pacte tripartite]] entre le Troisième Reich, l’Italie et l’Empire du Japon, formalise la coopération entre les puissances de l’Axe pour établir un « nouvel ordre ». Ce pacte obligera l’Allemagne à déclarer la guerre aux États-Unis après l’[[Attaque sur Pearl Harbor|attaque japonaise sur Pearl Harbor]].	+
-	===L’Anschluss===	+	Encouraged by this early support, Hitler decided to use Ludendorff as a front in an attempted [[coup]] later known as the ''Beer Hall Putsch'' (sometimes as the ''Hitler Putsch'' or ''Munich Putsch''). The Nazi Party had copied [[Italy]]'s [[Fascism|fascists]] in appearance and also had adopted some programmatical points, and in 1923, Hitler wanted to emulate [[Benito Mussolini|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.
-	{{Article détaillé|Anschluss}}	+
-	Afin de réaliser l’[[Anschluss]], rattachement de l’[[Autriche]] au Troisième Reich interdit par le traité de Versailles, Hitler s’appuie sur l’organisation nazie locale. Celle-ci tente de déstabiliser le pouvoir autrichien, notamment par des actes terroristes. Un coup d’État échoue en juin [[1934]], malgré l’assassinat du chancelier [[Engelbert Dollfuss]]. L’Italie a avancé ses troupes dans les Alpes pour contrer les velléités expansionnistes allemandes, et les nazis autrichiens sont sévèrement réprimés par un régime autrichien de type fasciste.	+	On [[November 8]], [[1923]], Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting headed by Kahr in the Bürgerbräukeller, a large beer hall outside of Munich. He declared that he had set up a new government with Ludendorff and demanded, at gunpoint, the support of Kahr and the local military establishment for the destruction of the Berlin government.<ref>Shirer, William. ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'' (Crest Book, 1960), 104-106.</ref> Kahr withdrew his support and fled to join the opposition to Hitler at the first opportunity.<ref>Shirer, William. ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', 109.</ref> The next day, when Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government as a start to their "March on Berlin", the police dispersed them. [[Beer Hall Putsch#Nazi supporters who died in the putsch|Sixteen NSDAP members]] were killed.<ref>Shirer, William. ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', 111-113.</ref>
-	Début [[1938]], l’Allemagne est davantage en position de force et est alliée avec l’Italie. Hitler exerce alors des pressions sur le chancelier autrichien [[Kurt von Schuschnigg]], lui sommant, lors d’une entrevue à [[Berchtesgaden]] en février, de faire entrer des nazis dans son gouvernement, dont [[Arthur Seyss-Inquart]] au ministère de l’Intérieur. Devant la menace croissante des nazis, Schuschnigg annonce en mars l’organisation d’un référendum pour confirmer l’indépendance de l’Autriche. Hitler lance alors un ultimatum exigeant la remise complète du pouvoir aux nazis autrichiens. Le 12 mars, Seyss-Inquart est nommé chancelier, et la [[Wehrmacht]] entre en Autriche. Le lendemain, l’Autriche est officiellement rattachée au Reich, ce qui est approuvé par référendum (99% de oui) en avril [[1938]]. Le ''[[Grossdeutschland]]'' (« Grande Allemagne ») était ainsi créé, avec la réunion des deux États à population germanophone.	+	Hitler fled to the home of [[Ernst Hanfstaengl]] and contemplated [[suicide]]. He was soon arrested for [[high treason]]. [[Alfred Rosenberg]] became temporary leader of the party. During Hitler's trial, he was given almost unlimited time to speak, and his popularity soared as he voiced nationalistic sentiments. A Munich personality became a nationally known figure. On [[April 1]], [[1924]], Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at [[Landsberg Prison]]. Hitler received favoured treatment from the guards and had much fan mail from [[Fan (aficionado)|admirers]].<ref name="bull121">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 121.</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"/>
-	===La crise des Sudètes===	+	=== ''Mein Kampf'' ===
-	{{Article détaillé|Crise des Sudètes}}	+	{{main|Mein Kampf}}
-	Poursuivant ses objectifs [[pangermanisme|pangermanistes]], Hitler menace ensuite la [[Tchécoslovaquie]]. Les régions de la [[Bohême]] et de la [[Moravie]] situées le long des frontières du ''Grossdeutschland'', appelé [[Sudètes]], sont majoritairement peuplées par la minorité allemande de [[Tchécoslovaquie]]. Comme pour l’Autriche, Hitler affirme ses revendications en s’appuyant sur les agitations de l’organisation nazie locale, menée par [[Konrad Henlein]]. Le ''Führer'' évoque le « droit des peuples » pour exiger de Prague l’annexion au Reich des Sudètes.	+	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).
-	Bien qu’alliée à la France (et à l’[[Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques|Union soviétique]]), la Tchécoslovaquie ne peut compter sur son soutien. Paris veut absolument éviter le conflit militaire, incitée en cela par le refus britannique de participer à une éventuelle intervention. Le souvenir de la [[Première Guerre mondiale|Grande Guerre]] influence également cette attitude : si les Allemands ont développé le désir de revanche, les Français entretiennent quant à eux une ambiance générale résolument pacifiste.	+	Hitler spent years dodging [[tax]]es on the [[royalties]] of his book and had accumulated a tax debt of about 405,500 [[German reichsmark|Reichsmarks]] (€6 million in today's money) by the time he became chancellor (at which time his debt was waived).<ref name="taxes">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4105683.stm Hitler dodged taxes, expert finds.] BBC News, 2004-12-17. Retrieved on 2007-1-22.</ref><ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,druck-433526,00.html Mythos Ladenhüter] Spiegel Online</ref>
-	Le [[29 septembre]] [[1938]], réunis dans la capitale bavaroise, Adolf Hitler, le président du Conseil français [[Édouard Daladier]], le Premier ministre britannique [[Neville Chamberlain]] et le ''Duce'' italien [[Benito Mussolini]], signent les [[accords de Munich]]. La France et le Royaume-Uni acceptent que l’Allemagne [[annexion|annexe]] les [[Sudètes]], pour éviter la guerre. En échange, Hitler, manipulateur, assure que les revendications territoriales du Troisième Reich cesseront. Le lendemain, la [[Tchécoslovaquie]], qui avait commencé à mobiliser ses troupes, est obligée de s’incliner. Parallèlement, le Troisième Reich autorise la [[Pologne]] et la [[Hongrie]] à s’emparer respectivement de la ville de [[Český Těšín|Teschen]] et du sud de la [[Slovaquie]]. Alors que les opinions publiques françaises et britanniques sont enthousiastes, [[Winston Churchill]] commente : « Entre le déshonneur et la guerre, vous avez choisi le déshonneur. Et vous allez avoir la guerre. » De fait, Hitler rompt sa promesse quelques mois plus tard.	+	The [[copyright]] of ''Mein Kampf'' in Europe is claimed by the Free State of Bavaria and scheduled to end on [[December 31]], [[2015]]. Reproductions in Germany are authorized only for scholarly purposes and in heavily commented form. The situation is however unclear. Historian Werner Maser, in an interview with [[Bild-Zeitung|''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>
		+	[http://www.fpp.co.uk/Hitler/MeinKampf/Raubal.html "Hitler Relative Eschews Royalties],"
		+	[[Reuters]], May 25, 2004.
		+	</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.
-	En mars [[1939]], Hitler, lors d’une entrevue à Berlin avec le président tchécoslovaque [[Emil Hácha]] (remplaçant le président démissionnaire [[Edvard Beneš]]), menace de bombarder [[Prague]] si la [[Bohême]] et la [[Moravie]] ne sont pas incorporées au Reich. Le 15 mars, Hácha cède, et l’armée allemande entre à Prague le lendemain. La Bohême et la Moravie deviennent un [[protectorat]] du Reich, dirigé par [[Konstantin von Neurath]] à partir de novembre 1939. La [[Slovaquie]] proclame son indépendance ; son leader, [[Jozef Tiso]] place son pays sous l’orbite allemande. En mettant la main sur la [[Bohême-Moravie]], le Reich dispose par la même occasion d’une importante industrie sidérurgique et notamment des usines [[Škoda Auto|Škoda]], qui permettent de construire des chars d’assaut.	+	=== Rebuilding of the Party ===
		+	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.
-	===L’agression de la Pologne et le Pacte germano-soviétique===	+	Since Hitler was still banned from public speeches, he appointed [[Gregor Strasser]], who in 1924 had been elected to the [[Reichstag (institution)|Reichstag]], as ''Reichsorganisationsleiter'', authorizing him to organize the party in northern Germany. Strasser, joined by his younger brother [[Otto Strasser|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.
-	Après l’[[Autriche]] et la [[Tchécoslovaquie]], vient le tour de la [[Pologne]]. Coincée entre deux nations hostiles, la Pologne de [[Józef Piłsudski]] a signé avec le Reich un traité de non-agression en janvier [[1934]], pensant ainsi se prémunir contre l’[[Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques|Union soviétique]]. L’influence de la France, allié traditionnel de la Pologne, en Europe centrale a ainsi considérablement diminué, tendance qui s’est confirmée ensuite avec le démembrement de la [[Tchécoslovaquie]] et la désagrégation de la [[Petite Entente]] (Prague, [[Roumanie|Bucarest]], [[Yougoslavie|Belgrade]]), alliance placée sous le patronage de Paris.	+	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.
-	Au printemps [[1939]], Hitler revendique l’annexion de la [[Ville libre de Dantzig]].	+	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 [[Second Reich|German Empire]] by the Western Allies. Germany had lost economically important territory in Europe along with its [[Colony|colonies]] and in admitting to sole responsibility for the war had agreed to pay a huge [[World War I reparations|reparations]] bill totaling 132 billion [[German gold mark|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.
-	En mars, l’Allemagne a déjà annexé la ville de [[Memel]], possession de la [[Lituanie]]. Ensuite, Hitler revendique directement le [[corridor de Dantzig]], territoire polonais perdu par l’Allemagne avec le [[traité de Versailles]] en [[1919]]. Cette région donne à la [[Pologne]] un accès à la [[mer Baltique]] et sépare la [[Prusse orientale]] du reste du Reich.	+	[[Image:Hitler1928.jpg|thumb|Adolf Hitler, behind [[Hermann Göring]], at a Nazi rally in Nuremberg in 1928.]]
		+	Having failed in overthrowing the Republic by a coup, Hitler pursued the "strategy of legality": this meant formally adhering to the rules of the Weimar Republic until he had legally gained power and then transforming liberal democracy into a Nazi dictatorship. Some party members, especially in the paramilitary [[Sturmabteilung|SA]], opposed this strategy; Röhm ridiculed Hitler as "Adolphe Legalité".
-	Le [[23 août]] [[1939]], [[Joachim von Ribbentrop|Ribbentrop]] et [[Viatcheslav Mikhaïlovitch Molotov|Molotov]], ministres des Affaires Étrangères de l’Allemagne et l’[[Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques|Union soviétique]] signent un [[Pacte Molotov-Ribbentrop|pacte de non-agression]]. Ce pacte est un nouveau revers pour la [[diplomatie française]]. En mai [[1935]], le gouvernement de [[Pierre Laval]] avait signé avec l’URSS un [[Traité franco-soviétique d'assistance mutuelle (2 mai 1935)|traité d’assistance mutuelle]], ce qui eut pour conséquence de refroidir les relations de la France avec la Pologne, mais aussi avec les [[Parti conservateur (Royaume-Uni)|Tories]] au pouvoir à Londres. Avec le pacte de non-agression germano-soviétique, la France ne peut plus compter sur l’URSS pour menacer une Allemagne expansionniste. En outre, la Pologne est prise en tenaille. L’Allemagne et l’URSS ont convenu d’un partage de leurs zones d’influence : Pologne occidentale pour la première, Pologne orientale ([[Polésie]], [[Volhynie]], [[Galicie]] orientale) et [[Pays baltes]] pour la seconde.	+	== Rise to Power ==
		+	{{main|Hitler's 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" | [[German election, May 1924|May 1924]]
		+	| align="right" | 1,918,300
		+	| align="right" | 6.5
		+	| align="right" | 32
		+	| align="left" | Hitler in prison
		+	|-
		+	| align="left" | [[German election, December 1924|December 1924]]
		+	| align="right" | 907,300
		+	| align="right" | 3.0
		+	| align="right" | 14
		+	| align="left" | Hitler is released from prison
		+	|-
		+	| align="left" | [[German election, 1928|May 1928]]
		+	| align="right" | 810,100
		+	| align="right" | 2.6
		+	| align="right" | 12
		+	| align="left" | &nbsp;
		+	|-
		+	| align="left" | [[German election, 1930|September 1930]]
		+	| align="right" | 6,409,600
		+	| align="right" | 18.3
		+	| align="right" | 107
		+	| align="left" | After the financial crisis
		+	|-
		+	| align="left" | [[German election, July 1932|July 1932]]
		+	| align="right" | 13,745,800
		+	| align="right" | 37.4
		+	| align="right" | 230
		+	| align="left" | After Hitler was candidate for presidency
		+	|-
		+	| align="left" | [[German election, November 1932|November 1932]]
		+	| align="right" | 11,737,000
		+	| align="right" | 33.1
		+	| align="right" | 196
		+	| align="left" | &nbsp;
		+	|-
		+	| align="left" | [[German election, 1933|March 1933]]
		+	| align="right" | 17,277,000
		+	| align="right" | 43.9
		+	| align="right" | 288
		+	| align="left" | During Hitler's term as Chancellor of Germany
		+	|}
-	Le 30 août [[1939]], Hitler lance un ultimatum pour la restitution du [[corridor de Dantzig]]. La Pologne refuse. Cette fois-ci, la France et le Royaume-Uni sont décidés à soutenir le pays agressé. C’est le début de la [[Seconde Guerre mondiale]].	+	=== Brüning Administration ===
		+	The political turning point for Hitler came when the [[Great Depression]] hit Germany in 1930. The Weimar Republic had never been firmly rooted and was openly opposed by [[right-wing]] [[conservative]]s (including monarchists), Communists and the Nazis. As the parties loyal to the democratic, [[parliamentary republic]] found themselves unable to agree on counter-measures, their [[Grand Coalition]] broke up and was replaced by a minority cabinet. The new Chancellor, [[Heinrich Brüning]] of the Roman Catholic [[Centre Party]], lacking a majority in parliament, had to implement his measures through the president's [[emergency powers|emergency decrees]]. Tolerated by the majority of parties, the exception soon became the rule and paved the way for [[authoritarian]] forms of government.
-	===La diplomatie hitlérienne pendant la guerre===	+	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 [[Reichstag (institution)|Reichstag]], becoming the second largest party in Germany.
-	Une fois la France vaincue en [[1940]], Hitler satellise les pays d’Europe centrale : [[Slovaquie]], [[Hongrie]], [[Roumanie]], [[Bulgarie]]. Hitler obtient l’adhésion de la Hongrie et de la Bulgarie, anciens vaincus de la [[Première Guerre mondiale]], en leur offrant respectivement la moitié de la [[Transylvanie (région)|Transylvanie]] et la [[Dobroudja]], cédées par la Roumanie, où le général pro-hitlérien [[Ion Antonescu]] prend le pouvoir en septembre 1940. À partir de juin 1941, Hitler entraîne la Slovaquie, la Hongrie, et la Roumanie dans la guerre contre l’URSS, ainsi que la [[Finlande]], qui y voit une occasion de réparer les torts de la [[guerre russo-finlandaise]].	+	Brüning's measure of budget consolidation and financial [[austerity]] brought little economic improvement and was extremely unpopular. Under these circumstances, Hitler appealed to the bulk of German [[farmer]]s, [[war veteran]]s 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 area|urban]] [[working class]]es and traditionally Catholic regions.
-	Cependant, Hitler échoue en ce qui concerne l’[[Espagne]] [[franquisme|franquiste]]. Comptant sur la reconnaissance du ''[[Francisco Franco|Caudillo]]'' qui a gagné la [[guerre civile espagnole]] en grande partie grâce à son soutien, il le rencontre à [[Hendaye]] le 23 octobre [[1940]]. Hitler espère notamment pouvoir obtenir l’autorisation de [[Francisco Franco|Franco]] pour conquérir [[Gibraltar]] et couper les voies de communications anglaises en Méditerranée. Les contreparties exigées par Franco (notamment des compensations territoriales en Afrique du Nord française), dont le pays est par ailleurs ruiné, sont irréalisables pour Hitler, qui souhaite ménager quelque peu le [[régime de Vichy]] pour l’amener sur la voie de la [[collaboration]]. Celle-ci sera d’ailleurs officialisée le lendemain par [[Pétain]] lors de son entrevue avec le ''Führer'' à [[Montoire]].	+	Hitler's [[niece]] [[Geli Raubal]] was found dead in her bedroom in his Munich apartment (his half-sister [[Angela Hitler|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>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 393-394.</ref>
-	En novembre [[1941]], le Grand Mufti de Jérusalem, [[Amin al-Husseini]], rencontre Adolf Hitler et [[Heinrich Himmler]], souhaitant les amener à soutenir la cause nationaliste arabe. Il obtient d’Hitler la promesse « qu’une fois que la guerre contre la Russie et l’Angleterre sera gagnée, l’Allemagne pourra se concentrer sur l’objectif de détruire l’élément juif demeurant dans la sphère arabe sous la protection britannique»<ref>Cité par K. Timmerman, op. cit., p. 109</ref>. [[Amin al-Husseini]] relaie la propagande nazie en [[Palestine]] et dans le [[monde arabe]] et participe au recrutement de combattants musulmans, concrétisé par la création des divisions de [[Waffen-SS]] [[13e division SS de montagne Handschar|Handschar]], [[23e division SS de montagne Kama|Kama]] et [[21e Division SS de montagne Skanderbeg (1re Albanaise)|Skanderberg]], majoritairement formées de musulmans des Balkans.	+	In 1932, Hitler intended to run against the aging [[President of Germany|President]] [[Paul von Hindenburg]] in the scheduled [[German presidential election, 1932|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-Lüneburg|Brunswick]], in which the Nazi Party participated, appointed Hitler to a minor administrative post and also gave him [[Naturalization|citizenship]] on [[February 25]], [[1932]].<ref>{{cite web | title=[[Der Spiegel]] | work=Des Führers Pass, Hitlers Einbürgerung | url=http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/zeitgeschichte/0,1518,470844,00.html | accessdate=March 10 | accessyear=2007}}</ref>
		+	The new German citizen ran against Hindenburg, who was supported by a broad range of [[reactionary]] nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, [[republican]] and even [[Social Democracy|social democratic]] parties, and against the Communist presidential candidate. His campaign was called "Hitler über Deutschland" (Hitler over Germany).<ref name="bull201">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 201.</ref> The name had a double meaning; besides an obvious reference to Hitler's dictatorial intentions, it also referred to the fact that Hitler was campaigning 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.
-	Ce soutien des nazis au Grand Mufti de Jérusalem est contradictoire avec la politique antisémite dans les années 1930, qui a pour conséquence l’émigration d’une grande partie des juifs allemands vers la [[Palestine]]. Quant au Grand Mufti, sa stratégie est guidée par le principe selon lequel l’ennemi de ses ennemis (en l’occurrence les Anglais et les juifs) doit être son allié<ref>Compte rendu de l’entretien entre le Führer et le grand Mufti de Jérusalem le 30 novembre 1941, ''Documents on German Foreign Policy'', 1918-1945, cité dans [[Walter Laqueur]], ''The Israel-Arab Reader'', Penguin Books, 1970, pp. 106-107.</ref>. Du point de vue hitlérien, il s’agit essentiellement d’ébranler les positions de l’empire britannique au Moyen-Orient devant l’avancée de l’[[Afrikakorps]] et de permettre le recrutement d’auxiliaires, notamment pour lutter contre les partisans, alors que l’hémorragie de l’armée allemande devient problématique.	+	=== Cabinets of Papen and Schleicher ===
		+	Hindenburg, influenced by the [[Camarilla (history)|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.
-	===Adolf Hitler en visite à Paris===	+	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.
-	Le [[18 juin]] [[1940]], Hitler visite [[Paris]] pour la première fois, mais de façon rapide. Il passe en revue les troupes des détachements de la [[Wehrmacht]] qui défilent devant [[von Brauchitsch]] et le général [[Fedor von Bock]], commandant en chef du groupe d'armées B. Le soir, il rentre à [[Munich]] pour rencontrer [[Benito Mussolini]] et examiner la demande de cessation d'hostilités adressée par [[Philippe Pétain]].	+	The Nazis had become the largest party in the Reichstag without which no stable government could be formed. Papen tried to persuade Hitler to become vice chancellor and enter a new government with a parliamentary basis. Hitler, however, rejected this offer and put further pressure on Papen by entertaining parallel negotiations with the [[Centre Party (Germany)|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 private" to the chancellorship.
-	Le dimanche [[23 juin]], il visite une deuxième fois la capitale, toujours de façon brève et discrète. Dès 6 heures du matin, il entre à l'[[Opéra Garnier|Opéra]], qu'il visite minutieusement. Il prend le [[boulevard de la Madeleine]] et la [[rue Royale]] pour aller aux [[Invalides]] et médite longuement devant le tombeau de [[Napoléon Ier|Napoléon]]. Hitler pose pour les photographes sur l'esplanade du [[Place du Trocadéro et du onze novembre|Trocadéro]], dos tourné à la [[Tour Eiffel]]. Ensuite, il visite le [[jardin du Luxembourg]]. Pour finir, il descend le [[boulevard Saint-Michel]] à pied, ses deux gardes du corps à distance. À la [[place Saint-Michel]], il remonte en voiture. Il ne reviendra plus jamais à Paris<ref>''Historia'' Hors série N°13, juin 1969 ; Paris ville ouverte par Pierre Bourget / Charles Lacretelle</ref>.	+	After a [[motion of no confidence|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.
-	==La Seconde Guerre mondiale==	+	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 union]]s, 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.
-	{{Article détaillé|Seconde Guerre mondiale}}	+
-	===Les succès et la domination de l’Europe===	+
-	Hitler a eu de « brillantes » intuitions, lors de la première phase de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. La [[Wehrmacht]] applique la ''[[Blitzkrieg]]'' (guerre éclair, impliquant un emploi massif et concentré des bombardiers et des blindés), qui lui permet d’occuper successivement la [[Pologne]] ([[Seconde Guerre mondiale : septembre 1939|septembre 1939]]), le [[Danemark]] ([[Seconde Guerre mondiale : avril 1940|avril 1940]]), la [[Norvège]] (avril-[[Seconde Guerre mondiale : mai 1940|mai 1940]]), les [[Pays-Bas]], le [[Luxembourg (pays)|Luxembourg]] et la [[Belgique]] (mai 1940), la [[France]] (mai-[[Seconde Guerre mondiale : juin 1940|juin 1940]]), la [[Yougoslavie]] ([[Seconde Guerre mondiale : avril 1941|avril 1941]]) et la [[Grèce]] (avril-[[Seconde Guerre mondiale : mai 1941|mai 1941]]). Six de ces pays (Danemark, Norvège, Pays-Bas, Luxembourg, Belgique, Yougoslavie), neutres, sont attaqués par surprise. Hitler a souvent exprimé à ses proches collaborateurs son sentiment selon lequel les traités diplomatiques ou de non-agression qu’il signait au nom de l’Allemagne n’était, pour lui, que des papiers sans réelle valeur, uniquement destinés à endormir la méfiance adverse.	+
-	Autodidacte en matière de culture militaire, Hitler juge que les généraux de la vieille école dominant la [[Wehrmacht]], souvent issus de l’aristocratie prussienne (généralement méprisée par les nazis qui se considèrent révolutionnaires), sont dépassés par les conceptions de la guerre moderne (''Blitzkrieg'', guerre psychologique) et sont d’un tempérament trop prudent. Les succès militaires sont avant tout ceux de jeunes généraux talentueux tels que [[Heinz Guderian]] ou [[Erwin Rommel]], qui savent faire preuve d’audace, d’initiatives et ont une conception de la guerre plus novatrice que leurs adversaires. Toutefois, Hitler lui-même démontre une certaine habileté et audace stratégique. Il est ainsi persuadé que la France ne bougera pas pendant que la Pologne sera envahie, évitant à l’Allemagne de combattre sur deux fronts, ce qui est effectivement le scénario de la [[drôle de guerre]]. Il est également en grande partie à l’origine du plan dit « [[Erich von Manstein|von Manstein]] », qui permet, en envahissant la Belgique et la Hollande, de piéger les forces franco-britanniques projetées trop en avant et de les prendre à revers par une percée dans les [[Bataille des Ardennes|Ardennes]] dégarnies, pour isoler le meilleur des troupes adverses [[Bataille de Dunkerque|acculées à Dunkerque]] en [[Seconde Guerre mondiale : mai 1940|mai]]-[[Seconde Guerre mondiale : juin 1940|juin 1940]]. Cependant, Hitler ordonne à ses troupes de marquer un arrêt devant le port d’où rembarquent les troupes anglaises, ordre qualifié plus tard de « [[Opération Dynamo|miracle de Dunkerque]] ».	+	=== 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 [[German National People's Party|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>"<cite>Die Übertragung der verantwortlichen Leitung eines mit den besten sachlichen und persönlichen Kräften ausgestatteten Präsidialkabinetts an den Führer der grössten nationalen Gruppe wird die Schlacken und Fehler, die jeder Massenbewegung notgedrungen anhaften, ausmerzen und Millionen Menschen, die heute abseits stehen, zu bejahender Kraft mitreissen.</cite>" [http://www.glasnost.de/hist/ns/eingabe.html Glasnost archives]</ref>
-	L’[[bataille de France|invasion de la France]] en juin 1940 est un véritable triomphe pour Hitler qui est acclamé par une foule massive à son retour à Berlin. Avant l’invasion de la Russie un an plus tard, l’Allemagne hitlérienne domine l’Europe, occupant la [[Bohême-Moravie]], la [[Pologne]], le [[Danemark]], la [[Norvège]], les [[Pays-Bas]], la [[Belgique]], le [[Luxembourg (pays)|Luxembourg]], la [[France]], la [[Yougoslavie]] et la [[Grèce]]. Avec ses succès militaires et la disparition de l’influence française en Europe centrale, la [[Slovaquie]], la [[Hongrie]], la [[Roumanie]] (dont les champs de pétrole sont une obsession continuelle pour Hitler durant la guerre) et la [[Bulgarie]], en adhérant au [[Axe Rome-Berlin|Pacte tripartite]] au cours de l’année [[1940]], tombent dans l’orbite de l’Allemagne, mettant à sa disposition des bases pour de futures actions.	+	Finally, the president reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler Chancellor of a coalition government formed by the NSDAP and DNVP. Hitler and two other Nazi ministers ([[Wilhelm Frick|Frick]], Göring) were to be contained by a framework of conservative cabinet ministers, most notably by Papen as [[Vice-Chancellor of Germany|Vice-Chancellor]] and by Hugenberg as Minister of the Economy. Papen wanted to use Hitler as a figure-head, but the Nazis had gained key positions, most notably the Ministry of the Interior. 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.
-	Entre [[juin 1940]] et [[juin 1941]], le seul adversaire de l’Allemagne nazie est le [[Royaume-Uni]] appuyé par le [[Commonwealth]]. Hitler, plutôt enclin à des relations cordiales avec les Anglais, espère que le gouvernement britannique finira par négocier la paix et ne plus intervenir sur le continent. Hitler compte sur l’action de la [[Luftwaffe]], puis les attaques des sous-marins contre les convois de marchandises ([[bataille de l'Atlantique (1939-1945)|bataille de l'Atlantique]]), pour faire plier le Royaume-Uni. Mais sur ce point, la détermination de [[Winston Churchill]], qui contraste avec les atermoiements de ses prédécesseurs, contrarie les plans du ''Führer''. Par ailleurs, la guerre sous-marine à outrance rapproche le Royaume-Uni des États-Unis, soucieux de la liberté de commerce et de navigation.	+	=== Reichstag fire and the March Elections ===
-	===Erreurs et échecs===	+	[[Image:011531 Screenshot Triumph of the will.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Screenshot from ''[[Triumph of the Will]]'', 1935.]]
-	Hitler s’avère aussi et surtout être un commandant en chef brouillon et imprévisible, dédaigneux de l’opinion de son état-major. Il peut compter sur la très grande servilité de celui-ci, et en premier lieu du chef de l’[[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht]] (OKW, haut commandement des forces armées), [[Wilhelm Keitel]]. Chez Hitler, un manque fréquent de réalisme se double souvent d’impairs stratégiques. Sa première grosse erreur a sans doute été d’ouvrir un deuxième front, en envahissant l’immense [[Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques|Union soviétique]] sans avoir terminé la guerre contre le [[Royaume-Uni]]. Persuadé d’avoir une tâche monumentale qu’il aura du mal à réaliser en une seule vie, il souhaite attaquer l’URSS, adversaire principal et doctrinal, dans des délais rapides. En outre, le ''Führer'' est inconscient de bien des problèmes du front. Accueillant très mal les mauvaises nouvelles et tout ce qui ne correspond pas à ses plans, ses subordonnés hésitent à lui transmettre certaines informations.	+	Having become Chancellor, Hitler foiled all attempts to gain a majority in parliament and on that basis persuaded President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag again. Elections were scheduled for early March, but on [[27 February]] [[1933]], the [[Reichstag fire|Reichstag building was set on fire]].<ref name="bull262">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 262.</ref> Since a [[Marinus van der Lubbe|Dutch independent communist]] was found in the building, the fire was blamed on a Communist plot to which the government reacted with the [[Reichstag Fire Decree]] of [[28 February]] which suspended basic rights, including ''[[habeas corpus]]''. Under the provisions of this decree, the [[Communist Party of Germany|German Communist Party]] and other groups were suppressed, and communist functionaries and deputies were arrested, put to flight, or murdered.
-	Au lancement de l’[[opération Barbarossa]] contre l’[[Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques|Union soviétique]] en juin 1941, Hitler, considérant que l’[[Armée rouge]] s’écroulera rapidement, envisage d’atteindre avant la fin de l’année une ligne [[Arkhangelsk]]-[[Astrakhan]]. Il divise son armée en trois groupes : le Groupe d’armée Nord (GAN) ayant pour objectif [[Leningrad]], le Groupe d’armée Centre (GAC) ayant pour objectif [[Moscou]], et le Groupe d’armée Sud (GAS) ayant pour objectif l’[[Ukraine]]. À ce dispositif s’ajoutent les alliés finlandais au Nord, hongrois, roumains et italiens au Sud, ces derniers étant considérés comme peu fiables par Hitler et son état-major.	+	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">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 265.</ref>
-	En août 1941, Hitler donne la priorité à la conquête de l’Ukraine, objectif économique avec ses terres céréalières et ses mines, par le GAS. Ce faisant, il oblige le GAC à stopper, alors qu’il était parvenu à 300 kilomètres de Moscou et qu’il avait déjà parcouru plus du double en un mois. L’offensive sur ce secteur reprend en octobre, mais ce contretemps fait intervenir un adversaire redoutable : l’hiver russe. Hitler a négligé ce facteur autant qu’il a sous-estimé, du fait de sa haine des Slaves et du communisme, la qualité des troupes soviétiques. L’arrivée de troupes fraîches de Sibérie leur permet de dégager Moscou et de faire reculer des Allemands mal préparés aux dures conditions climatiques. La [[Wehrmacht]] a alors perdu {{formatnum:700000}} hommes (tués, blessés, prisonniers), soit un quart de son effectif sur ce front.	+
-	En décembre 1941, après l’échec des Allemands devant [[Moscou]], Hitler prend directement le commandement de la [[Wehrmacht]] sur le front russe, évinçant le général [[Walther von Brauchitsch|von Brauchitsch]]. Pendant l’offensive d’été en Russie du Sud en [[1942]], il répète l’erreur de l’année précédente en divisant un groupe d’armée en deux, le rendant ainsi plus vulnérable. Le groupe A se dirige vers le [[Caucase]] et ses champs de [[pétrole]], le groupe B se dirige vers [[Volgograd|Stalingrad]].	+	=== "Day of Potsdam" and the Enabling Act ===
-	Jusqu’à la débâcle de 1945, Hitler ordonne continuellement à ses troupes, sur quelque front que ce soit, de ne pas reculer, en dépit des rapports de force largement en faveur des Soviétiques ou des Alliés, ou des conditions du terrain, qu’il ne constate jamais sur place. Cette attitude est particulièrement flagrante lors de la [[bataille de Stalingrad]], quand il refuse à l’armée encerclée de [[Friedrich Paulus]] la permission d’opérer une retraite. De nouveau, il refuse d’évacuer l’Afrique du Nord, prise en tenaille par les Américains et les Anglais, malgré les conseils de [[Erwin Rommel]] lors de la [[campagne de Tunisie]] en [[Seconde Guerre mondiale : février 1943|février]]-[[Seconde Guerre mondiale : mai 1943|mai 1943]]. Ces deux refus de retraite coûtent à chaque fois environ {{formatnum:250000}} tués ou prisonniers à l’armée allemande.	+	[[Image:Reichsparteitagnov1935.jpg|thumb|Parade of SA troops past Hitler. Nuremberg, November 1935.]]
-	Lors de la [[bataille de Normandie]], Hitler retarde l’envoi de ''[[Panzerdivision]]en'' pour rejeter les forces alliées, pensant que l’[[opération Overlord]] est une diversion et que le vrai débarquement doit avoir lieu dans le [[Pas-de-Calais]], ce qui était d’ailleurs l’objectif de l’[[opération Fortitude]], intoxication des services secrets alliés. En [[Seconde Guerre mondiale : août 1944|août 1944]], il ordonne au général [[Hans Günther von Kluge|von Kluge]] d’effectuer une contre-attaque à [[Mortain]] pour sectionner la percée des troupes américaines à [[Avranches]]. Cependant, les troupes allemandes engagées dans cette opération ne peuvent avancer jusqu’à leurs objectifs en raison des bombardements alliés massifs, et elles sont prises dans une nasse refermée par [[George Patton]] et [[Bernard Montgomery|Montgomery]], dans la [[poche de Falaise]] où {{formatnum:50000}} Allemands sont fait prisonniers. [[Paris]] est libérée quelques jours plus tard, intacte, bien que le ''Führer'' eut ordonné sa destruction (voir [[Dietrich von Choltitz]]). La capitale de la Pologne n’a pas la même chance, car après l’[[insurrection de Varsovie]], en août-[[Seconde Guerre mondiale : septembre 1944|septembre 1944]], plus du tiers de la ville est rasé sur ordre personnel d’Hitler.	+	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.
-	===L’attentat du 20 juillet 1944===	+	Because of the Nazis' failure to obtain a majority on their own, Hitler's government confronted the newly elected Reichstag with the [[Enabling Act of 1933|Enabling Act]] that would have vested the cabinet with [[legislative]] powers for a period of four years. Though such a bill was not unprecedented, this act was different since it allowed for deviations from the constitution. Since the bill required a two-thirds majority in order to pass, the government needed the support of other parties. The position of the Catholic [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]], the third largest party in the Reichstag, turned out to be decisive: under the leadership of [[Ludwig Kaas]], the party decided to vote for the Enabling Act. It did so in return for the government's oral guarantees regarding the [[Roman Catholic Church|Church's]] liberty, the concordats signed by German states and the continued existence of the Centre Party.
-	{{Article détaillé|Complot du 20 juillet 1944 contre Adolf Hitler}}	+
-	Hitler a échappé à [[Attentats contre Adolf Hitler|plusieurs tentatives d’assassinat]]. Le 8 [[novembre 1939]], lors de la commémoration annuelle de son [[putsch de la brasserie|putsh manqué à la brasserie Bürgerbräukeller]], Hitler échappe à un attentat orchestré par [[Johann Georg Elser]]. La bombe explose 20 minutes après le départ d’Hitler qui avait dû écourter son discours à cause des mauvaises conditions climatiques l’obligeant à prendre le train plutôt que l’avion. Au fur et à mesure que l’issue de la guerre se précisait dans le sens d’une défaite, plusieurs gradés militaires ont comploté avec des civils pour éliminer Hitler. Bien que les Alliés aient exprimé le choix d’une reddition sans conditions lors de la [[conférence d'Anfa]], en [[Seconde Guerre mondiale : janvier 1943|janvier 1943]], les conjurés espèrent renverser le régime afin de négocier un règlement politique du conflit. Parmi eux, l’amiral [[Wilhelm Canaris]], chef de l’[[Abwehr]] (services secrets), [[Carl Friedrich Goerdeler]], l’ancien maire de [[Leipzig]], ou encore le général [[Ludwig Beck]]. Ce dernier, après la [[Bataille de Stalingrad|défaite de Stalingrad]], met en marche le complot sous le nom d’[[opération Flash]], mais la bombe placée le 13 [[Seconde Guerre mondiale : mars 1943|mars 1943]] dans l’avion de Hitler, en visite sur le [[front de l'Est (Seconde Guerre mondiale)|front de l'Est]], n’explose pas.	+
-	Le [[20 juillet]] [[1944]], à la ''[[Wolfsschanze]]'', Hitler est blessé dans un [[attentats contre Hitler|attentat]] lors d’une tentative de [[coup d'État]] d’officiers organisée par [[Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg]], qui est durement réprimée. Compromis, les maréchaux [[Erwin Rommel]] et [[Günther von Kluge]] sont obligés de se [[suicide]]r, tandis que l’amiral Canaris est envoyé dans un [[camp de concentration]].	+	On [[23 March]] the Reichstag assembled in a replacement building under extremely turbulent circumstances. Some [[Sturmabteilung|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. Members 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.
-	===La défaite finale et la mort===	+	=== Removal of Remaining Limits ===
		+	With this combination of legislative and [[executive (government)|executive]] power, Hitler's government further suppressed the remaining political [[Opposition (politics)|opposition]]. The [[Communist Party of Germany|KPD]] and the SPD were banned, while all other political parties dissolved themselves. [[Trade Union|Labour unions]] were merged with employers' federations into an organisation under Nazi control, and the autonomy of German state governments was abolished.
-	Les ordres de Hitler à ses troupes deviennent de plus en plus irréalistes compte tenu de l’écrasante supériorité de l’[[Armée rouge]] et des [[Alliés]]. Les réunions entre Hitler et son chef d’état-major (depuis juillet 1944) [[Heinz Guderian]] sont de plus en plus houleuses et ce dernier finit par être renvoyé le 28 mars. Devant ses proches, Hitler déclare que les « armes miracles » (dont les [[V1]], [[V2 (missile)|V2]] et les premiers chasseurs à réaction [[Messerschmitt Me 262]]) vont renverser la situation, ou que les Alliés arrêteront de combattre le [[Troisième Reich]] pour s’attaquer à l’[[Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques|Union soviétique]].	+	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 [[murder]]ed, notably [[Gregor Strasser]] and former Chancellor [[Kurt von Schleicher]].<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 305.</ref>
-	Dans les derniers mois du conflit, Hitler, dont la santé décline rapidement, n’apparaît plus en public et reste la plupart du temps à Berlin. C’est [[Joseph Goebbels]], le chef de la [[propagande]], par ailleurs commissaire à la défense de [[Berlin]] et responsable de la ''[[Volksturm]]'', qui se charge d’exhorter les troupes et les foules.	+	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">Bullock, A. ''Hitler, A Study in Tyranny'', 309.</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>Fest, Joachim, ''Hitler'' (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974), pp. 476.</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.
-	Convaincu que l’Allemagne ne pourra survivre à une défaite devenue inéluctable, Hitler ordonne le [[19 mars]] [[1945]] la destruction des industries, des installations militaires, des magasins et des moyens de transport et de communications. Cet ordre ne sera pas respecté. [[Albert Speer (senior)|Albert Speer]], ministre de l’armement et architecte du Reich, a prétendu devant le [[procès de Nuremberg|tribunal de Nuremberg]] qu’il avait pris les mesures nécessaires pour que les directives de Hitler ne soient pas accomplies par les [[gauleiter]]s.	+	== Third Reich ==
		+	{{main|Nazi Germany}}
		+	Having secured supreme political power, Hitler went on to gain their support by [[Persuasion|convincing]] most Germans he was their savior from the economic Depression, communism, the "[[Judeo-Bolshevism|Judeo-Bolsheviks]]," and the Versailles Treaty, along with other "undesirable" [[minority group|minorities]]. The Nazis eliminated opposition through a process known as [[Gleichschaltung]].
-	Le [[30 avril]] [[1945]], alors que l’[[Armée rouge]] encercle Berlin, Adolf Hitler se [[suicide]] en compagnie d’[[Eva Braun]] qu’il venait d’épouser, dans le ''[[Führerbunker]]''. On suppose généralement que le poison utilisé par Eva Braun était du [[cyanure]] de [[potassium]], mais l'historien [[Ian Kershaw]] soutient que le poison fourni à tous les occupants du bunker était de l'[[acide prussique]]. En ce qui concerne Hitler, on a retrouvé le corps avec son arme de service. On trouve souvent l'affirmation selon laquelle il aurait mordu la capsule juste avant ou presque en même temps qu'il se tira une balle dans la tempe<ref>[http://www.histoire.presse.fr/content/recherche/article?id=282 Les derniers jours de Hitler, par Édouard Husson]; c'est également ce que présente le film '''''[[La Chute (film, 2004)|La Chute]]''''' </ref>, mais Kershaw affirme qu'il est impossible de tirer juste après avoir mordu un tel poison, et conclue à la mort par balle seule; de nombreuses autres thèses circulent, impliquant parfois qu'un autre ait tiré la balle, mais elles sont classées comme fantaisistes. Dans son testament politique, il écarte [[Hermann Göring]] et [[Heinrich Himmler]], qu’il accuse de trahison. Le premier est accusé d’avoir tenté de le renverser et le second d’avoir négocié en secret avec les Alliés. Pour [[Himmler]] cependant, de récentes recherches amènent à penser qu’il aurait négocié avec les alliés sur ordre de Hitler lui-même<ref>Charles de Gaulle, ''Mémoires de guerre'', tome 3, p. 205. et les travaux de [[François Delpla]].</ref>. Il désigne l’amiral [[Karl Dönitz]] comme successeur. Son corps est incinéré par son chauffeur [[Erich Kempka]] et son aide de camp [[Otto Günsche]], dans un cratère de bombe près du bunker.	+	=== 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 [[Economy of Germany|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.
-	== Doctrines raciales ==	+	Hitler also oversaw one of the largest infrastructure-improvement campaigns in German history, with the construction of dozens of [[dam]]s, [[autobahn]]s, [[railroad]]s, and other civil works. Hitler's [[Policy|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>[[The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich]]</ref> [[Laborer]]s and farmers, the traditional voters of the NSDAP, however, saw an increase in their standard of living.
-	===Théories raciales===	+
-	Hitler avait présenté ses thèses [[racisme|raciales]] et [[antisémitisme|antisémites]] dans son livre ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' (''Mon combat''), rédigé en [[1924]], lors de son incarcération dans la forteresse de [[Landsberg (Bavière)|Landsberg]], après son [[putsch de la brasserie|putsch raté de Munich]]. Si son succès fut modeste dans un premier temps, il fut tiré à plus de dix millions d’exemplaires et traduit en seize langues jusqu’en [[1945]] ; il constitue la référence de l’orthodoxie nazie du [[Troisième Reich]].	+	Hitler's government [[Sponsorship|sponsored]] architecture on an immense scale, with [[Albert Speer]] becoming famous as the first architect of the Reich. While important as an architect in implementing Hitler's classicist reinterpretation of German culture, Speer proved much more effective as armaments minister during the last years of World War II. In 1936, Berlin hosted the [[1936 Summer Olympics|summer Olympic games]], which were opened by Hitler and [[Choreography|choreographed]] to demonstrate Aryan superiority over all other races, achieving mixed results. [[Olympia (1938 film)|''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]].
-	Dans ce livre, Hitler expose ses théories racistes, impliquant une inégalité et une hiérarchie des races, et son aversion particulière pour les [[Slaves]], les [[Tsigane]]s, et surtout les [[Juif]]s. Présentés comme des races inférieures, ils sont qualifiés d’''[[Untermensch]]en'' (« sous-hommes »). Selon Hitler, les juifs sont une race de « parasites » ou de « vermine » dont il faut débarrasser l’Allemagne. Il les rend responsables des évènements du [[9 novembre]] [[1918]]<ref>Mémorandum de Walter Hevel, fonctionnaire du ministère des affaires étrangères du Reich, 21 janvier [[1940]]. Akten zur deutschen auswärtigen Politik, vol. 158, p. 170., cité par Gerald Fleming, Hitler and the Final Solution, University of California Press, 1994, p. 14.</ref> (abdication de l'empereur et proclamation de la [[République de Weimar]], préludes à l'éphémère révolution [[spartakiste]]). Responsables, donc, selon lui, de la défaite allemande, ainsi que de ce qu’il considère la décadence culturelle, physique et sociale de la prétendue civilisation aryenne. ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' recycle la [[théorie du complot juif]] déjà développée dans les ''[[Protocoles des Sages de Sion]]''. Hitler nourrit son [[antisémitisme]] et ses théories raciales en se référant à des [[idéologie]]s en vogue en son temps. À [[Vienne (Autriche)|Vienne]], durant sa jeunesse, les juifs, bien intégrés dans l’élite, sont souvent accusés de la décomposition de l’empire d’[[Autriche-Hongrie]]. La haine des juifs est exacerbée par la défaite de la [[Première Guerre mondiale]]. Quant à ses idées sur les races humaines, Hitler les tient essentiellement de ''Die Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts'' (« Genèse du dix-neuvième siècle », [[1899]]) du Britannique d’expression allemande [[Houston Stewart Chamberlain]], dont les thèses reprenaient elles-mêmes celles de l’''[[Essai sur l'inégalité des races humaines]]'' (1853) du [[racialisme|racialiste]] français [[Gobineau]] ; il s’inspire également du [[darwinisme social]] de [[Herbert Spencer]] tel que le prônait la [[Deutsche Monistbund]] (« Ligue moniste allemande ») fondée par [[Ernst Haeckel]].	+	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 reprend aussi dans ''Mein Kampf'' les vieilles doctrines [[pangermanisme|pangermanistes]] de création d’un « espace vital » allemand (''[[Lebensraum]]'') en Europe de l’Est. Selon cette doctrine, les territoires habités par des Allemands doivent être unifiés. Ils doivent ensuite être élargis, car jugés trop étroits au regard des besoins matériels de leurs populations et dans une position stratégique inconfortable entre des puissances hostiles à l’ouest et à l’est. Hitler cible également deux adversaires fondamentaux : les [[communisme|communistes]] et la France, considérée comme dégénérescente (car dirigée par les Juifs et créant un Empire colonial multiethnique), et contre qui l’Allemagne doit se venger de l’humiliant [[Traité de Versailles]].	+	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>[[Robert S. Wistrich]],<cite>Who's Who in Nazi Germany </cite>(New York: Routledge, 2002), p. 193</ref> Production was also deferred because of the war.
-	Adolf Hitler est obsédé par l’idée de pureté d’une prétendue race aryenne, la « race supérieure » dont les Allemands sont censés être les dignes représentants, au même titre que les autres peuples nordiques (Norvégiens, Danois, Suédois). Dans le but d’asseoir scientifiquement cette notion de race aryenne, des recherches pseudo-anthropologiques sont entreprises et des cours d’université dispensés. ([[Himmler]] crée un institut scientifique, l’''[[Ahnenerbe]]''). En fait, les [[Aryens]] étaient un groupe de peuplades nomades vivant en Asie centrale au {{-m-|III|e}} et'' ''sans liens avec les Allemands. Toujours est-il que la notion d’« aryen » devient avec Hitler un ensemble de valeurs fantasmagoriques que les scientifiques nazis ont tenté de justifier par de prétendues données objectives. La « race aryenne » est assimilée aux canons esthétiques de l’homme germanique: grand, blond et athlétique, tel que le représente [[Arno Breker]], le sculpteur favori d’Hitler. Parallèlement, Hitler développe un intérêt particulier pour le [[paganisme]] nordique pré-chrétien, plus conforme à ses théories raciales qu’un [[christianisme]] trop humaniste. La religion des dieux [[Wotan]] et [[Thor]] avait notamment été glorifiée par les opéras de [[Richard Wagner]], dont Hitler était un fervent admirateur. [[Heinrich Himmler]] fut le fidèle hitlérien qui poussa le plus loin cette passion, et on retrouve ce symbolisme mythologique dans l’uniforme et les rituels des [[Schutzstaffel|SS]], « chevaliers noirs » du [[Troisième Reich]].	+	Hitler considered [[Sparta]] to be the first [[Nazi|National Socialist]] state, and praised its early [[eugenics]] treatment of deformed children.<ref>{{cite web |first=Adolf |last=Hitler |authorlink= |author= |coauthors= |title=Hitler's Secret Book |url=http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Germany/Radical%20Ecology.htm#EUGENICS%20JUSTIFIED%20BY%20NATURE |format=HTML |work= |publisher=New York: Grove Press |id= |pages= |page=18 |date=1961 |accessdate= |language=English |quote=Sparta must be regarded as the first völkisch state. The exposure of the sick, weak, deformed children, in short, their destruction, was more decent and in truth a thousand times more human than the wretched insanity of our day which preserves the most pathological subject. }}</ref>
-	===Répression antisémite===	+	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.
-	Dans l’Allemagne [[nazie]], les [[juif]]s étaient exclus de la communauté du peuple allemand (''Volksgemeinschaft''). Le {{1er avril}} [[1933]], les docteurs, avocats et commerçants juifs sont l’objet d’une vaste campagne de boycott, mise en œuvre notamment par les [[Sturmabteilung|SA]]. Ces milices créées par Hitler avaient déjà perpétré, dès le début des [[années 1920]], des actes de violences contre les juifs. Le [[7 avril]], deux mois après l’arrivée d’Hitler au pouvoir, la Loi « pour le rétablissement d’une fonction publique professionnelle » exclut les juifs de tout emploi dans les gouvernements (sauf les anciens combattants et ceux qui étaient en service depuis plus de dix ans).	+	=== Rearmament and New Alliances ===
		+	{{main|Axis Powers|Tripartite Treaty|}}
		+	[[Image:Hitler Mannerheim Ryti.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Hitler, [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim|Mannerheim]] and [[Risto Ryti|Ryti]] in [[Finland]]]]
		+	Although a secret German armaments program had been on-going since 1919, it was only in March 1934 when Hitler publicly announced that the [[Wehrmacht|German army]] would be expanded to 600 000 men (six times the number stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles), as well as introducing an Air Force (''[[Luftwaffe]]'') and increasing the size of the Navy (''[[Kriegsmarine]]''). Britain, France and Italy, as well as the [[League of Nations]] quickly condemned these actions. However, after re-assurances from Hitler that Germany was only interested in peace, no country took any action to stop this development and German re-armament was allowed to continue. Furthermore, Britain did not share France's pessimistic view of Germany, and in 1935 it signed a naval agreement with Germany which allowed for increasing the German tonnage up to 35% of the British navy. This agreement was made without consulting either France or Italy, and directly undermined the League of Nations and put the Treaty of Versailles on the path towards irrelevance.<ref>Roberts, Martin: The New Barbarism - A Portrait of Europe 1900-1973 (ISBN 0199132259 - Oxford University Press)</ref>
-	Le 15 septembre [[1935]], Hitler, officialisant un [[antisémitisme]] d’État jusque là modéré, proclame les [[lois de Nuremberg]], comprenant les lois « pour la protection du sang et de l’honneur allemand » et « sur la citoyenneté du Reich ». Celles-ci interdisent aux juifs l’accès aux emplois de la fonction publique et aux postes dans les universités, l’enrôlement dans l’armée ou la pratique de professions libérales. Ils ne peuvent plus avoir de permis de conduire. Les juifs sont déchus de leur nationalité allemande et les mariages mixtes ou les relations sexuelles entre juifs et Allemands sont également interdits. L’objectif est la ségrégation complète entre le peuple allemand et les juifs, ce qui est valable également pour les écoles, le logement ou les transports en commun. En [[1937]], une « loi d’aryanisation » vise à déposséder les juifs des entreprises qu’ils possèdent. Lourdement frappés par ces mesures discriminatoires, les juifs allemands émigrent massivement : environ {{formatnum:400000}} départs en [[1933]]-[[1939]] en comptant les Autrichiens (sur environ {{formatnum:660000}}), vers les Amériques, la [[Palestine]] ou l’Europe de l’Ouest.	+	In March 1936, Hitler again violated the treaty by [[Remilitarization of the Rhineland|reoccupying]] the [[demilitarized zone]] in the [[Rhineland]]. When [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and France did nothing, he grew bolder. In July 1936, the [[Spanish Civil War]] began when the military, led by General [[Francisco Franco]], rebelled against the elected [[Popular Front (Spain)|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 [[eponym]]ous [[Guernica painting]].
-	Dans la nuit du 9 au 10 novembre [[1938]], c’est un véritable [[pogrom]], la [[Nuit de cristal]], qu’organise [[Joseph Goebbels]] à la demande d’Hitler, le prétexte étant l’assassinat à Paris d’un diplomate du Reich par un juif allemand. Les magasins juifs sont saccagés et la plupart des [[synagogue]]s sont incendiées. Près de {{formatnum:30000}} juifs sont internés dans des [[camp de concentration|camps de concentration]] ([[Dachau]], [[Buchenwald]], [[Sachsenhausen]]). À la suite de ces évènements, la communauté juive, tenue pour responsable des violences, est sommée de payer une amende d'un (1) milliard de [[Deutsche Mark|mark]]s. Les biens des juifs sont massivement spoliés.	+	An Axis was declared between Germany and Italy by Count [[Galeazzo Ciano]], [[foreign minister]] of Fascist [[dictator]] [[Benito Mussolini]] on [[25 October]] [[1936]]. On 25 November of the same year, Germany concluded the [[Anti-Comintern Pact]] with Japan. To strengthen relationship with this nation, Hitler met in 1937 in [[Nuremberg]] [[prince Chichibu]], a brother of emperor [[Hirohito]].
		+	[[Image:Chichibunomiya Yasuhito.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Prince Chichibu]]]]
-	À noter que parmi les Allemands entrés en résistance, très peu l’ont fait en raison de ces mesures antisémites. La population allemande, embrigadée en cela par la propagande de [[Joseph Goebbels|Goebbels]] ou [[Streicher]], était convaincue de l’existence d’une « question juive ». Ce conditionnement favorisera la participation de nombre d’entre-eux à l’extermination des juifs.	+	The [[Tripartite Treaty]] was then signed by [[Saburo Kurusu]] of [[Imperial Japan]], Hitler, and Ciano on [[27 September]] [[1940]]. It was later expanded to include [[Hungary]], [[Romania]] and [[Bulgaria]]. They were collectively known as the [[Axis Powers]]. Then 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 plans for acquiring "living space" ([[Lebensraum]]) for the German people.
-	===La solution finale===	+	=== The Holocaust ===
		+	{{main|The Holocaust}}
		+	One of the foundations of Hitler's and the NSDAP's social policies was the concept of [[racial hygiene]]. It was based on the ideas of [[Arthur de Gobineau]], [[eugenics]], and [[social Darwinism]]. 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 crippled and retarded children in a program dubbed [[Action T4]].<ref name="overy252">Overy, Richard. ''The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia'' (Penguin Books 2005), 252.</ref> After a public outcry, Hitler made a show of ending this program, but the killings in fact continued.
-	L’allusion à l’extermination physique des juifs dans ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' fait encore l’objet d’un débat d’historiens. Pour une partie d’entre-eux, ce projet n’a pas été explicitement décrit dans ce livre, tandis que l’autre partie estime que l’antisémitisme qui s’y exprime est non seulement alarmant, mais s’appuie sur une terminologie (''Ausrotung'') significative. Le projet d’extermination totale des juifs a pu germer dans l’esprit d’Hitler et de ses séides assez tôt, mais il ne semble pas qu’il ait établi de plan précis ou de méthodologie pour passer à l’acte avant la guerre. Rien ne semble indiquer, qu’initialement, il était prévu par les dirigeants nazis ce que devait être la finalité des premières mesures antisémites. Cependant, d’après les mots du procureur général américain [[Robert Jackson]] lors du [[procès de Nuremberg]], « la détermination à détruire les juifs a été une force qui, à chaque moment, a cimenté les éléments de la conspiration (nazie) ». De fait, les déclarations d’Adolf Hitler sur les Juifs montrent que, dès le début, il nourrissait le projet de destruction physique des Juifs et que la guerre fut pour lui l’occasion d’annoncer cette destruction, puis d’en commenter la mise en œuvre<ref>Voir la longue liste des propos d’Hitler rapportés par PHDN : [http://www.phdn.org/histgen/hitler/declarations.html L’antisémitisme mortifère d’Hitler. Paroles et documents]</ref>.	+	Between 1939 and 1945, the [[SS]], assisted by [[collaborationism|collaborationist]] governments and recruits from [[Military occupation|occupied]] countries, systematically killed somewhere between 11 and 14 million people, including about 6 million Jews,<ref>"<cite>There is no precise figure for the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. The figure commonly used is the six million quoted by Adolf Eichmann, a senior SS official. Most research confirms that the number of victims was between five to six million.</cite>" [http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_holocaust/faqs/answers/faq_3.html How many Jews were murdered in the Holocaust? How do we know? Do we have their names?]; FAQs About The Holocaust, Yad Vashem (URL accessed on [[January 3]], [[2006]])<br />"<cite>Between 1942 and 1944, Nazi Germany deported millions more Jews from the occupied territories to extermination camps, where they murdered them in specially developed killing facilities</cite>" [http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005143 The Holocaust]; ''Holocaust Encyclopedia'', [[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]] (URL accessed on [[January 3]], [[2006]]).</ref> in [[concentration camp]]s, [[ghetto]]s and mass [[execution]]s, or through less systematic methods elsewhere. Besides being gassed to death, many also died as a result of [[starvation]] and [[disease]] while working as [[slave labour]]ers (sometimes benefiting private German companies in the process, because of the low cost of such labour). Along with Jews, non-Jewish [[Poland|Poles]] (over 3 million casualties), alleged communists or political opposition, members of resistance groups, Catholic and [[Protestantism|Protestant]] opponents, [[homosexuality|homosexuals]], [[Roma (people)|Roma]], the physically [[Disability|handicapped]] and mentally [[retarded]], [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] (possibly as many as 3 million), [[Jehovah's Witnesses and the Holocaust|Jehovah's Witnesses]], anti-Nazi [[clergy]], trade unionists, and [[psychiatric]] patients were killed. One of the biggest centres of mass-killing was the [[extermination camp]] complex of [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz-Birkenau]]. Hitler never visited the concentration camps and did not speak publicly about the killing in precise terms.
-	Les dirigeants nazis ont longtemps envisagé, parmi d’autres « solutions » comme la création de zones de relégation, d’expulser l’ensemble de la communauté juive allemande sans l’exterminer, mais aucune phase de réalisation concrète n’a été enclenchée. Des projets d’installation des juifs en Afrique ([[Plan Madagascar]]) ont notamment été envisagés. Le déclenchement de la guerre radicalise les persécutions antisémites au sein du Troisième Reich. La prolongation de la guerre contre le [[Royaume-Uni]] ne permet plus d’envisager ces déportations, de même que l’idée d’un déplacement des juifs d’Europe en [[Sibérie]] est abandonnée. L’occupation de la [[Pologne]] en septembre [[1939]] a placé sous contrôle allemand plus de {{formatnum:3000000}} de juifs. Ceux-ci sont rapidement parqués dans des [[ghetto]]s, dans les principales villes polonaises. L’attaque contre l’[[Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques|Union soviétique]], à partir du 21 juin [[1941]], place sur un même plan la conquête du ''[[Lebensraum]]'' et l’éradication du « judéo-[[Bolchevik|bolchévisme]] ». Des unités de la [[Schutzstaffel|SS]], les ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'', souvent secondées par des unités de la [[Wehrmacht]], {{référence_nécessaire|fusilleront sommairement prés de deux millions de juifs}} sur le [[Front de l'Est (Seconde Guerre mondiale)|front de l’Est]].	+	The massacres that led to the coining of the word "[[genocide]]" (the ''[[Final Solution|Endlösung der jüdischen Frage]]'' or "Final Solution of the Jewish Question") were planned and ordered by leading Nazis, with [[Heinrich Himmler|Himmler]] playing a key role. While no specific order from Hitler authorizing the mass killing of the Jews has surfaced, there is documentation showing that he approved the ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'', killing squads that followed the German army through Poland and Russia, and that he was kept well informed about their activities. The evidence also suggests that in the fall of 1941 Himmler and Hitler decided upon mass extermination by gassing. During [[interrogation]]s by Soviet [[intelligence officer]]s declassified over fifty years later, Hitler's [[valet]] [[Heinz Linge]] and his military [[aide]] Otto Gunsche said Hitler had "pored over the first [[blueprint]]s of [[gas chamber]]s."
-	Le [[20 janvier]] [[1942]], lors de la [[conférence de Wannsee]], quinze responsables du Troisième Reich, sous la présidence du chef du [[Reichssicherheitshauptamt|RSHA]] [[Reinhard Heydrich]], élaborent la « [[solution finale|solution finale au problème juif]] » (''Endlösung der Judenfrage''), soit l’extermination totale des juifs en Europe. Hitler n’a jamais formellement écrit un ordre, mais ces décisions respectaient l’orientation générale de ses objectifs. [[Himmler]], [[Heydrich]] et [[Göring]] ont pris la part la plus importante dans la mise en place administrative de la [[Shoah]] au sommet de l’État. Sur le terrain, l’extermination des juifs a été souvent le fait d’initiatives locales, d’officiers de la [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]. Deux proches collaborateurs d’Hitler, [[Hans Frank]], gouverneur général de la [[Pologne]], et [[Alfred Rosenberg]], ministre des Territoires de l’Est, y ont également pris une part active. Lors de l’été 1942, Himmler retient le procédé d’exécution massive par les [[chambre à gaz|chambres à gaz]] testé à [[Auschwitz]]. Au total, près de {{formatnum:1700000}} juifs, surtout d’Europe centrale et orientale, ont été gazés à [[Sobibor]], [[Treblinka]], [[Belzec]], [[Chełmno (camp d'extermination)|Chelmno]] et [[Maïdanek]]. Dans le [[camp de concentration]] et d’[[camp d'extermination|extermination]] d’[[Auschwitz-Birkenau]], {{formatnum:1000000}} de juifs ont péri.	+	To make for smoother [[cooperation]] in the implementation of this "Final Solution", the [[Wannsee conference]] was held near Berlin on [[20 January]] [[1942]], with fifteen senior officials participating, led by [[Reinhard Heydrich]] and [[Adolf Eichmann]]. The records of this meeting provide the clearest evidence of planning for the Holocaust. On [[22 February]], Hitler was recorded saying to his associates, "we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews".
-	===Les Tsiganes===	+	== World War II ==
		+	{{main|World War II}}
		+	=== Opening Moves ===
		+	[[Image:Hitler and Mussolini June 1940.jpg|thumb|left|Hitler and [[Mussolini]] in Munich, 1940]]
		+	On [[12 March]] [[1938]], Hitler pressured Austria into unification with Germany ([[Anschluss|the Anschluss]]) and made a triumphal entry into [[Vienna]] on [[14 March]].
		+	.<ref>Butler, Ewan and Young, Gordon. ''The Life and Death of Hermann Goering'' (David and Charles Publishers 1989), 159.</ref><ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 434.</ref> Next, he intensified a crisis over the German-speaking [[Sudetenland]] districts of [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref>Overy, 425.</ref> This led to the [[Munich Agreement]] of September 1938, which authorized the annexation and immediate military occupation of these districts by Germany.<ref name="bull469">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 469.</ref> As a result of the summit, Hitler was ''[[Time Magazine|TIME]]'' magazine's [[Person of the Year|Man of the Year]] for 1938.<ref>''TIME'' magazine ([[2 January]] [[1939]]), [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760539-1,00.html "Man of the Year"], ''time.com</ref> [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Prime Minister]] [[Neville Chamberlain]] hailed this agreement as "peace in our time", but by giving way to Hitler's military demands, Britain and France also left Czechoslovakia to Hitler's mercy.<ref name="bull469"/> Hitler ordered Germany's army to enter [[Prague]] on [[15 March]] [[1939]], and from [[Prague Castle]] proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|protectorate]].
-	Le génocide des [[Tsigane]]s ou ''[[Porajmos]]'' est une autre conséquence des théories raciales nazies. Le Troisième Reich mit sur pied l’Office central pour la lutte contre le péril tsigane. Considérés à la fois comme « asociaux » et racialement inférieurs, les Tsiganes d’Europe furent déportés vers les camps de concentration et d’extermination de la Pologne. Seule la tribu des [[Sinti]] échappa à ce sort, étant censée n’être point « abâtardie » (paradoxalement, les Tsiganes sont originaires du nord de l’[[Inde]], berceau de la race [[aryen]]ne pour les nazis). Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, {{formatnum:240000}} Tsiganes (sur {{formatnum:700000}}) furent exterminés en Europe (essentiellement à l’Est et dans les [[Balkans]]), en grande partie avec le concours des [[collaborateur]]s des territoires occupés.	+	After that, Hitler claimed German grievances relating to the [[Free City of Danzig]] and the [[Polish Corridor]], that Germany had ceded under the Versailles Treaty. Britain had not been able to reach an agreement with the [[Soviet Union]] for an alliance against Germany, and, on [[23 August]] [[1939]], Hitler concluded a secret [[non-aggression pact]] (the [[Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]]) with [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] on which it was likely agreed that the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany would partition Poland. On [[1 September]] Germany invaded the western portion of Poland. Having guaranteed assistance to Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany on [[3 September]] but did not immediately act. Not long after this, on [[17 September]], Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland.
-	===Les « sous-hommes » slaves===	+	During this ''[[Phoney War]]'', Hitler built up his forces. In April 1940, he ordered German forces to march into [[Denmark]] and [[Norway]]. In May 1940, Hitler ordered his forces to attack France, conquering the [[Netherlands]], [[Luxembourg]] and [[Belgium]] in the process. France [[Surrender (military)|surrendered]] on [[22 June]], [[1940]]. This series of victories persuaded his main ally, Benito Mussolini of Italy, to join the war on Hitler's side in May 1940.
		+	[[Image:AHitlerinParis1940.jpg|thumb|Adolf Hitler in Paris, 1940.]]
		+	Britain, whose defeated forces had evacuated France from the coastal town of [[Dunkirk, France|Dunkirk]], continued to fight alongside Canadian forces in the [[Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945)|Battle of the Atlantic]]. After having his overtures for peace systematically rejected by the British Government, now led by [[Winston Churchill]], Hitler ordered [[bombing raid]]s on the British Isles, leading to the [[Battle of Britain]], a prelude of the planned German invasion. The attacks began by pounding the [[Royal Air Force]] airbases and the [[radar]] stations protecting South-East England. However, the [[Luftwaffe]] failed to defeat the Royal Air Force by the end of October 1940. Air superiority for the invasion, code-named [[Operation Sealion]], could not be assured, and Hitler ordered bombing raids to be carried out on British cities, including [[London]] and [[Coventry]], mostly at night.
-	L’extension du ''[[Lebensraum]]'' allemand devait fatalement se réaliser aux dépens des populations [[slaves]] repoussées vers l’Est. Pour Hitler, la [[Pologne]], les [[Pays baltes]], la [[Biélorussie]] et l’[[Ukraine]] devaient être traités comme des colonies. À ce sujet, Hitler aurait dit, selon [[Hermann Rauschning]], en 1934 : « Ainsi s’impose à nous le devoir de dépeupler, comme nous avons celui de cultiver méthodiquement l’accroissement de la population allemande. Vous allez me demander ce que signifie « dépeuplement », et si j’ai l’intention de supprimer des nations entières ? Eh bien, oui, c’est à peu près cela. La nature est cruelle, nous avons donc le droit de l’être aussi ».	+	=== Path to Defeat ===
		+	On [[22 June]] [[1941]], three million German troops attacked the Soviet Union, breaking the non-aggression pact Hitler had concluded with Stalin two years earlier. This invasion, [[Operation Barbarossa]], seized huge amounts of territory, including the [[Baltic region|Baltic]] states, [[Belarus]], and [[Ukraine]]. It also encircled and destroyed many Soviet forces. But the Germans were stopped short of [[Moscow]] in December 1941 by the Russian [[General Winter|winter]] and [[Battle of Moscow|fierce Soviet resistance]]. The invasion failed to achieve the quick triumph Hitler wanted.
-	Les populations non germaniques sont expulsées des territoires annexés par le Troisième Reich après la défaite de Varsovie en [[1939]], et sont dirigées vers le [[Gouvernement général de la Pologne]], entité totalement vassalisée. Dès octobre 1939, l’Office central de sécurité du Reich ([[RSHA]]), programme la « liquidation physique de tous les éléments polonais qui ont occupé une quelconque responsabilité en Pologne (ou) qui pourront prendre la tête d’une résistance polonaise ». Sont visés les prêtres, les enseignants, les médecins, les officiers, les fonctionnaires et les commerçants importants, les grands propriétaires fonciers, les écrivains, les journalistes, et de manière générale, toute personne ayant effectué des études supérieures. Des commandos [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] sont chargés de cette besogne. Ce traitement extrêmement dur aura causé la mort de près de {{formatnum:2200000}} Polonais. En comptant les {{formatnum:3000000}} de [[juif]]s polonais, c’est environ 15% de la population civile polonaise qui a disparu pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.	+	Hitler's declaration of war against the [[United States]] on [[11 December]] [[1941]], four days after the [[Empire of Japan]]'s [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], set him against a coalition that included the world's largest empire (the [[British Empire]]), the world's greatest industrial and financial power (the United States), and the world's largest army (the Soviet Union).
-	Avec l’invasion de l’URSS, la répression contre les slaves prend une tournure plus massive, bien que certaines populations, notamment les nationalistes [[Ukraine|ukrainiens]] aient été initialement disposées à collaborer contre le régime [[stalinisme|stalinien]]. Le traitement des prisonniers soviétiques capturés par les Allemands a été particulièrement inhumain : {{formatnum:3700000}} d’entre eux sur {{formatnum:5500000}} meurent de faim, d’épuisement ou de maladie. Les commissaires politiques sont systématiquement abattus. Les actions des partisans sont l’occasion de représailles impitoyables, aussi bien en URSS qu’en Yougoslavie. Environ {{formatnum:11500000}} civils soviétiques meurent ainsi pendant la [[Seconde Guerre mondiale]].	+	In late 1942, German forces were defeated in the [[Second Battle of El Alamein|second battle of El Alamein]], thwarting Hitler's plans to seize the [[Suez Canal]] and the [[Middle East]]. In February 1943, the titanic [[Battle of Stalingrad]] ended with the encirclement and destruction of the German [[German Sixth Army|6th Army]]. Shortly thereafter came the gigantic Battle of Kursk (1,300,000 Russians, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,400 aircraft, versus 900,000 Germans, 2,700 tanks, and 2,000 aircraft). From Stalingrad on, Hitler's military judgment became increasingly erratic, and Germany's military and economic position deteriorated. Hitler's health was also deteriorating. His left hand trembled. The biographer [[Ian Kershaw]] and others believe that he may have suffered from [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/406713.stm Parkinson's Part in Hitler's Downfall]," BBC News, July 29, 1999. Retrieved August 15, 2007.</ref> [[Syphilis]] has also been suspected as a cause of at least some of his symptoms, although the evidence is slight.<ref name="bull717">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 717.</ref>
-	===Les victimes de l’euthanasie===	+	Following the allied invasion of Italy ([[Operation Husky]]) in 1943 Hitler's ally, [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]], was deposed by [[Pietro Badoglio]] who surrendered to the Allies. Throughout 1943 and 1944, the Soviet Union steadily forced Hitler's armies into retreat along the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]. On [[6 June]] [[1944]], the Western Allied armies landed in northern France in what was the largest [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] operation ever conducted, [[Operation Overlord]]. Realists in the German army knew defeat was inevitable, and some officers plotted to remove Hitler from power. In July 1944, one of them, [[Claus von Stauffenberg]], [[20 July Plot|planted a bomb]] in one of Hitler's [[Führer Headquarters]], the [[Wolfsschanze]] (Wolf's Lair) at [[Rastenburg]], but Hitler narrowly escaped death. He ordered savage reprisals, resulting in the executions of more than 4,900 people,<ref>Shirer, William L., ''Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', ch. 29, ''The Allied Invasion of Western Europe and the Attempt to Kill Hitler'' lists 4,980.</ref> sometimes by [[starvation]] in [[solitary confinement]] followed by slow [[strangulation]]. The main resistance movement was destroyed, although smaller isolated groups continued to operate.
-	Les doctrines raciales nazies impliquaient également d’« améliorer le sang allemand ». Des [[Stérilisation (chirurgie)|stérilisation]]s massives, appliquées avec le concours des médecins, furent ainsi entreprises dès [[1934]], portant sur près de {{formatnum:400000}} « asociaux » et malades héréditaires. Par ailleurs, {{formatnum:5000}} enfants [[trisomie|trisomiques]], [[Hydrocéphalie|hydrocéphales]] ou [[Handicap#Les différents types de handicap|handicapés moteurs]] disparaissent.	+	=== Defeat and Death ===
		+	{{main|Death of Adolf Hitler}}
		+	By late 1944, the Red Army had driven the Germans from Soviet territory and entered Central Europe. The [[Western Allies]] were also advancing into Germany. Germany had lost the war, but Hitler allowed no retreat or regrouping for his forces while hoping to negotiate a separate peace with America and Britain, hopes buoyed by the death of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] on [[12 April]] [[1945]].<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 753, 763, 778.</ref><ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 780-781.</ref> Hitler's stubbornness and defiance of military realities also allowed the Holocaust to continue. He also ordered the complete destruction of all German industrial infrastructure before it could fall into the hands of the Allies, saying that Germany's failure to win the war forfeited its right to survive.<ref name="bull774-775">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 774-775.</ref> Execution of the plan was entrusted to arms minister [[Albert Speer]], who disobeyed the order.<ref name="bull774-775"/>
-	Avec la guerre, un vaste programme d’[[euthanasie]] des malades mentaux est lancé sous le nom de code « [[Programme Aktion T4|Action T4]] », sous la responsabilité directe de la chancellerie du Reich et de [[Karl Brandt]], médecin personnel d’Hitler. Hitler assure en 1939 l’impunité aux médecins sélectionnant les personnes envoyées à la mort, libérant ainsi des places dans les hôpitaux pour les blessés de guerre. Comme pour les juifs, les victimes sont gazées dans de fausses salles de douche. Malgré le secret entourant ces opérations, l’euthanasie est condamnée publiquement par l’évêque de [[Münster]] en août [[1941]]. Elle cesse officiellement mais continue dans les [[camp de concentration|camps de concentration]]. Environ {{formatnum:200000}} [[schizophrénie|schizophrènes]], [[épilepsie|épileptiques]], [[sénilité|séniles]], [[paralysie|paralytiques]] ont ainsi été exécutés.	+	In April 1945, Soviet forces were attacking the outskirts of Berlin. Hitler's followers urged him to flee to the mountains of [[Bavaria]] to make a last stand in the [[National Redoubt]]. But Hitler was determined to either live or die in the capital.
-	== Hitler, l’économie et la société allemande ==	+	[[Image:19450420 Hitler 65bd awards HJ Iron Cross.jpg|thumb|April 20, 1945. On his 56th birthday, Hitler awards the [[Iron Cross]] to Hitler Youth outside his bunker.]]
-	=== Hitler et le socialisme ===	+	On [[20 April]] Hitler celebrated his 56th birthday in the "Führer's shelter" (''[[Führerbunker]]'') below the [[Reich Chancellery]] (''Reichskanzlei''). The garrison commander of the besieged "fortress Breslau" (''[[Festung Breslau]]''), General [[Hermann Niehoff]], had chocolates distributed to his troops, where possible, in honor of Hitler's birthday.<ref>Dollinger, Hans. ''The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan'', {{LCCN|67|0|27047}}, 112.</ref>
-	Hitler rejetait dans un même mépris [[capitalisme]] et [[marxisme]]. Son [[nationalisme]] raciste transcendait le clivage traditionnel capital/social : il rêvait d’un peuple uni par une [[race]] et une [[culture]] communes. La [[propagande]] hitlérienne est essentiellement guidée par des considérations d’opportunité politique, mais comporte des points de fixation : le [[nationalisme]] et l’anti-marxisme, suivis de près par une obsession de la « pureté » raciale.	+	By [[21 April]], [[Georgi Zhukov]]'s [[1st Belorussian Front]] had broken through the defenses of German General [[Gotthard Heinrici]]'s [[Army Group Vistula]] during the [[Battle of the Seelow Heights]]. The Soviets were now advancing towards Hitler's bunker with little to stop them. Ignoring the facts, Hitler saw salvation in the ragtag units commanded by one of his favorite generals, [[Felix Steiner]]. For Hitler's purposes, Steiner's command became known as "[[Army Detachment Steiner]]" (''Armeeabteilung Steiner''). However, the "Army Detachment Steiner" existed primarily on paper. It was something more than a corps but less than an army. Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of the huge [[salient]] created by the breakthrough of Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front. Meanwhile, the German [[Ninth Army (Germany)|Ninth Army]], which had just been pushed south of the salient, was ordered to attack north in a [[pincer attack]].
-	Il est clairement préoccupé par le problème de cohésion nationale et parle d’« espace vital » pour le développement des Allemands en général. Ayant lui-même enduré des privations à l’époque où il vagabondait à [[Vienne (Autriche)|Vienne]] dans sa jeunesse, il constate amèrement puis avec rage l’impéritie d’une [[démocratie]] affaiblie et méprisable.	+	Late on [[21 April]], Heinrici called [[Hans Krebs]] Chief German General Staff of the Supreme Army Command (''[[Oberkommando des Heeres]]'' or [[OKH]]) and told him that Hitler's plan could not be implemented. Heinrici asked to speak to Hitler but was told by Krebs that Hitler was too busy to take his call.
-	Pendant les [[années 1920]], il dut louvoyer entre les tendances « droitistes » (de l’armée et de la droite traditionnelle, du patronat qui finançait son parti) et « gauchistes » (de certains de ses partisans, comme [[Ernst Röhm]] ou [[Gregor Strasser]] qui exigeaient une révolution sociale autant que nationaliste). Après le lamentable échec du [[Putsch de la brasserie|putsch]] de [[1923]], son problème consiste à capter et conserver un maximum de voix en vue de conquérir électoralement le pouvoir.	+	On [[22 April]], during one of his last military conferences, Hitler interrupted the report to ask what had happened to General Steiner's offensive. There was a long silence. Then Hitler was told that the attack had never been launched, and that the withdrawal from Berlin of several units for Steiner's army, on Hitler's orders, had so weakened the front that the Russians had broken through into Berlin. This was too much for Hitler. He asked everyone except [[Wilhelm Keitel]], [[Hans Krebs]], [[Alfred Jodl]], [[Wilhelm Burgdorf]], and [[Martin Bormann]] to leave the room,<ref>Dollinger, ''The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan'', 231.</ref> and launched a tirade against the perceived treachery and incompetence of his commanders. This culminated in an oath to stay in Berlin, head up the defense of the city, and shoot himself at the end.<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 783-784.</ref>
-	Le [[pragmatisme]] économique brutal de Hitler est mis en œuvre grâce au pouvoir dictatorial qu’il s’est arrogé par la dissolution de fait de la [[République de Weimar]] en [[1933]]-[[1934]].	+	Before the day ended, Hitler again found salvation in a new plan that included General [[Walther Wenck]]'s [[Twelfth Army (Germany)|Twelfth Army]].<ref name="bull784">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 784.</ref> This new plan had Wenck turn his army&mdash;currently facing the Americans to the west&mdash;and attack towards the east to relieve Berlin.<ref name="bull784"/> Twelfth Army was to link up with Ninth Army and break through to the city. Wenck did attack and, in the confusion, managed to make temporary contact with the Potsdam garrison. But the link with the Ninth Army, like the plan in general, was ultimately unsuccessful.<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 790.</ref>
-	En quelques années, l’économie allemande est remise sur pied entre autres grâce à des emplois publics créés par l’État national-socialiste ([[autoroute]]s, travaux d’intérêt général, etc.).	+
-	Le réarmement n’interviendra que plus tard, après relance de l’économie.	+
-	D’après [[William L. Shirer]], dans son livre sur le [[Troisième Reich]], il diminue également de 5% tous les [[salaire]]s dans le pays, permettant de dégager des ressources pour relancer l’[[Croissance économique|économie]]. Ce qui semble confirmer, toujours selon Shirer, la nature interventionniste, voire [[keynésianisme|keynésienne]] de ses directives.	+	On [[23 April]], after committing to stay in Berlin with Hitler, [[Joseph Goebbels]] made the following proclamation to the people of Berlin:
-	Après la purge de Röhm et la [[liquidation]] des SA, Hitler refuse l’idée d’une révolution sociale. Il tient à garder de bons rapports avec ceux qui lui ont permis de prendre le pouvoir, c’est-à-dire les grands industriels, certains financiers et l’[[armée]]. On voit là également sa haine de toute idée [[marxiste]]. Ainsi, une de ses premières mesures à son arrivée au pouvoir sera la suppression de tous les [[syndicat]]s.	+	{{cquote|I call on you to fight for your city. Fight with everything you have got, for the sake of your wives and your children, your mothers and your parents. Your arms are defending everything we have ever held dear, and all the generations that will come after us. Be proud and courageous! Be inventive and cunning! Your ''[[Gauleiter]]'' is amongst you. He and his colleagues will remain in your midst. His wife and children are here as well. He, who once captured the city with 200 men, will now use every means to galvanize the defense of the capital. The [[battle for Berlin]] must become the signal for the whole nation to rise up in battle…<ref>Dollinger, ''The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan'', 231.</ref>}}
-	L'économiste libéral autrichien [[Ludwig von Mises]] observait en 1944 que le nazisme avait appliqué la plupart des mesures préconisées par le Manifeste du Parti Communiste de Karl Marx et Friedrich Engels : Huit des dix points (du Manifeste du Parti communiste de Marx et Engels) ont été exécutés par les nazis . Seuls deux points n'ont pas encore été complètement adoptés par les nazis, à savoir l'expropriation de la propriété foncière et l'affectation de la rente foncière aux dépenses de l'État (point n°1 du Manifeste) et l'abolition de l'héritage (point n°3). Cependant, leurs méthodes de taxation, leur planisme agricole et leur politique concernant la limitation des fermages vont chaque jour dans le sens du marxisme<ref>''(Ludwig von Mises, Omnipotent Government, The Rise of the Total State and Total War)''</ref>.	+	Also on [[23 April]], second in command of the Third Reich and commander of the Luftwaffe [[Hermann Göring]] sent a telegram from [[Berchtesgaden]] in Bavaria. In his telegram, Göring argued that, since Hitler was cut off in Berlin, he should assume leadership of Germany as Hitler's designated successor. Göring' telegram mentioned a time limit after which he would consider Hitler incapacitated.<ref name="bull787">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 787.</ref> Hitler responded, in anger, by having Göring arrested, and when he wrote his will on [[April 29]], Göring was removed from all his positions in the government.<ref name="bull787"/><ref name="bull795">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 795.</ref><ref>Butler, Ewan and Young, Gordon. ''The Life and Death of Hermann Goering'', 227-228.</ref>
-	=== La politique sociale et économique hitlérienne ===	+	By the end of the day on [[27 April]], the commander of the Berlin Defence Area, found the city to be completely cut off from the rest of Germany.
-	Dès mai [[1933]], Hitler fait dissoudre les [[syndicat]]s, pour laisser la place au [[Deutsche Arbeitsfront]] (DAF), Front allemand du travail, organisation unitaire [[nazi]]e, dirigée par [[Robert Ley]]. Le DAF permit aux patrons d’exiger davantage de leurs salariés, tout en garantissant à ceux-ci une sécurité de l'emploi et une [[sécurité sociale]]. Officiellement volontaire, l’adhésion au DAF est de fait obligatoire pour tout Allemand désirant travailler dans l’[[industrie]] et le [[commerce]]. Plusieurs sous-organisations dépendaient du DAF, dont [[Kraft durch Freude]] (la Force par la joie), chargée des loisirs des travailleurs.	+	On [[28 April]], Hitler discovered that SS leader [[Heinrich Himmler]] was trying to inform the Allies (through the [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[diplomat]] Count [[Folke Bernadotte]]) that Germany was prepared to discuss surrender terms.<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 791.</ref> Hitler responded as he did with Göring, ordering his arrest and removing him from office, while having his representative in Berlin [[Hermann Fegelein]] shot.<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 792.</ref><ref name="bull795"/>
-	En [[1934]] est ouverte près de [[Berlin]] une nouvelle usine de la [[Dehomag]], en présence d’une sommité du parti [[nazi]], [[Arthur Görlitzer]], membre de l’administration [[Sturmabteilung]]. Cette usine procurera de nouveaux moyens à l’industrie allemande grâce à la [[technologie]] de la [[mécanographie]] et des [[cartes perforées]].	+	During the night of [[28 April]], General Wenck reported to the German Supreme Army Command (''[[Oberkommando des Heeres]]'' or OKH) in Fuerstenberg that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front. Wenck noted that no further attacks towards Berlin were possible. General Alfred Jodl (Supreme Army Command) did not provide this information to Hans Krebs in Berlin until early in the morning of [[30 April]].
-	Entre [[1934]] et [[1937]], le ministre de l’économie de Hitler, [[Hjalmar Schacht]], ancien directeur de la Reichsbank, a pour mission de soutenir l’intense effort de réarmement du [[Troisième Reich]]. Pour atteindre cet objectif, il met en place des montages financiers hasardeux, creusant le déficit de l’État. Par ailleurs une politique de grands travaux, portant notamment sur des [[autoroute]]s (déjà planifiées par les précédents gouvernements), est poursuivie, développant ainsi une politique [[keynésianisme|keynésienne]] d’[[investissement]]s de l’[[État]].	+	On [[29 April]], Hans Krebs, Wilhelm Burgdorf, Joseph Goebbels, and [[Martin Bormann]] witnessed and signed the [[last will and testament of Adolf Hitler]].<ref name="bull795"/> Hitler dictated the document to his private secretary, [[Traudl Junge]].<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 793.</ref> Hitler was also that day informed of the violent death of Italian dictator [[Benito Mussolini]] on [[28 April]], which is presumed to have increased his determination to avoid capture.<ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 798.</ref>
-	Le [[chômage]] baisse nettement, passant de 3,5 millions de chômeurs en [[1930]] à {{formatnum:200000}} en [[1938]]. Cependant, Schacht considère que les [[investissement]]s dans l’industrie militaire menacent à terme l’économie allemande et souhaite infléchir cette politique. Devant le refus de Hitler qui considère le réarmement comme une priorité absolue, Schacht quitte son poste.	+	[[Image:Stars & Stripes & Hitler Dead2.jpg|left|thumb|Cover of U.S. newspaper ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|The Stars and Stripes]]'', May 1945]]
		+	On [[30 April]] [[1945]], after intense [[Urban warfare|street-to-street combat]], when Soviet troops were spotted within a block or two of the Reich Chancellory, Hitler committed suicide, shooting himself while simultaneously biting into a [[cyanide]] capsule.<ref name="bull799-800">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 799-800.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1800287.stm Hitler's final witness.] BBC News, [[2002-02-04]]. Retrieved on [[2007-04-23]].</ref> Hitler's body and that of [[Eva Braun]] (his mistress whom he had married the day before) were put in a bomb crater,<ref>Trevor-Roper, H., ''The Last Days of Hitler'', 1947, University Of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (1992); Ian Kershaw, ''Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis''. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 2000.</ref> doused in [[gasoline]] by [[Otto Günsche]] and other Führerbunker aides, and set alight as the Red Army advanced and shelling continued.<ref name="bull799-800"/> Hitler also had his dog [[Blondi]] poisoned before his suicide to test the poison he and Eva Braun were going to take.
-	===Les rêves d’architecte===	+	On [[2 May]], [[Helmuth Weidling|General Weidling]] surrendered Berlin unconditionally to the Russians. When Russian forces reached the Chancellory, they found his body and an autopsy was performed using dental records to confirm the identification. The remains of Hitler and Braun were secretly buried by [[SMERSH]] at their headquarters in [[Magdeburg]].<ref name="BBCskull">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/725537.stm Russia displays 'Hitler skull fragment'.] BBC News, [[2000-08-26]]. Retrieved on [[2007-04-23]].</ref> In 1970, when the facility was about to be turned over to the [[East Germany|East German]] government, the remains were reportedly exhumed and thoroughly [[Cremation|cremated]].<ref name="BBCskull"/> According to the Russian Federal Security Service, a fragment of human skull stored in its archives and displayed to the public in a 2000 exhibition came from the remains of Hitler's body and is all that remains of Hitler. However, the authenticity of the skull has been challenged by many historians and researchers.<ref name="BBCskull"/>
-	L’une des obsessions d'Hitler était la transformation complète de Berlin. Dès son accession au pouvoir, il travaille sur des plans d’urbanisme avec son architecte [[Albert Speer (senior)|Albert Speer]]. Il était ainsi prévu une série de grands travaux monumentaux, d’inspiration [[Néoclassicisme|néo-classique]], en vue de réaliser le « nouveau Berlin » ou [[Welthauptstadt Germania]]. La guerre contrariera ces projets, et seule la [[Neue Reichskanzlei|nouvelle chancellerie]], inaugurée en 1939, fut achevée. L’[[architecture]] était probablement la plus grande passion de Hitler.	+	== Legacy ==
		+	{{further|[[Consequences of German Nazism]] and [[Neo-Nazism]]}}
-	== Legs historique ==	+	[[Image:Mahnstein.JPG|thumb|Outside the building in [[Braunau am Inn]], [[Austria]] where Adolf Hitler was born is a [[Hitler birthplace memorial stone|memorial stone]] warning of the horrors of World War II]]
-	=== Anecdotes et rumeurs ===	+
-	* Adolf Hitler serait aux origines de [[Volkswagen]] (« La voiture du peuple » en Allemand) et notamment de la [[Volkswagen Coccinelle|Coccinelle]]. Adolf Hitler aurait rencontré [[Ferdinand Porsche]] à ce propos et lui aurait parlé d’une voiture populaire pouvant transporter 5 personnes, atteindre une vitesse de croisière de 100 km/h, consommer environ 7 litres pour 100 km et ne coûtant pas plus de {{formatnum:1000}} Reich Marks dans le but que chacun puisse s'offrir une voiture. Le prototype fut appelé ''KdF-Wagen'' (''Kraft durch Freude'').	+	Hitler, the Nazi Party and the results of Nazism are typically and culturally regarded as [[immoral]]. Historical and [[Hitler in popular culture|cultural portrayals of Hitler]] in the west are, almost by consensus, condemnatory. The display of [[swastika]]s or other [[Nazi symbolism|Nazi symbols]] is prohibited in Germany and Austria. [[Holocaust denial]] is prohibited in both countries.
-	* La propagande alliée répandit l’assertion que Hitler n’aurait eu qu’un seul [[testicule]]. À ce propos, les [[Alliés]] chantaient « ''Hitler has only one ball'' » (« Hitler n’a qu’une couille »), sur l’air de la ''[[Hello le soleil brille|Marche du Colonel Bogey]]''.	+	However some people have referred to Hitler's legacy in neutral or favourable terms. Former [[Egypt]]ian President [[Anwar Sadat]] spoke of his 'admiration' of Hitler in 1953, when he was a young man, though it is possible he was speaking in the context of a rebellion against the British Empire.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=PoW4pO4q9VwC&pg=PA16&dq=sadat+hitler&sig=xMPc2506hgitYGGS9x-lSigZkD4 Joseph Finklestone]. "Anwar Sadat: Visionary Who Dared", [[Routledge]] 1996. ISBN 0714634875</ref> [[Louis Farrakhan]] has referred to him as a "very great man".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9510/megamarch/10-17/notebook/index.html|title=CNN News, October 7, 1995}}</ref> [[Bal Thackeray]], leader of the right-wing Hindu [[Shiv Sena]] party in the [[India]]n state of the [[Maharashtra]], declared in 1995 that he was an admirer of Hitler.<ref>[http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/95/0922/nat5.html Portrait of a Demagogue] AsiaWeek's interview with Bal Thackeray</ref>
-	* Une rumeur récurrente prétend que Hitler était seulement peintre en bâtiment ; une caricature féroce de [[Sennep]] a peut-être contribué à ancrer la légende. Il a en fait laissé des [[peintures d'Hilter|aquarelles]], estimées au nombre de {{formatnum:2000}}, certes sans génie particulier, mais qui témoignent, au moins, du fait qu’il était capable d’en peindre et qu’il possédait en tout cas de très bonnes bases dans cette technique. En revanche, pendant ses années de galère, après avoir échoué à l’examen d’entrée aux Beaux-Arts, Hitler occupa un emploi de manœuvre, comme il l’a mentionné dans ''Mein Kampf''.	+	Outside of Hitler's birthplace in Braunau am Inn, Austria is a stone marker engraved with the following message:
-	* Cinquante faux ''[[Carnets d'Hitler]]'' furent publiés en [[Allemagne]] par le magazine ''[[Stern (presse)|Stern]]'' en [[1983]], alors qu’ils avaient été réalisés par un faussaire nommé [[Konrad Kujau]]. ''[[Paris Match]]'' acheta à prix d’or l’exclusivité pour la France…	+	:'''FÜR FRIEDEN FREIHEIT'''
-	=== Rumeurs ''post mortem'' ===	+	:'''UND DEMOKRATIE'''
-	[[Image:Stars & Stripes & Hitler Dead2.jpg|thumb|right|Annonce de la mort d’Hitler dans la presse alliée]]	+	:'''NIE WIEDER FASCHISMUS'''
-	Nombre de rumeurs circulèrent sur la possibilité que Hitler aurait survécu la fin de la guerre. Le [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] mena des enquêtes jusqu’en 1956 sur des centaines de pistes plus ou moins sérieuses. Mais dès la chute de Berlin, les services secrets soviétiques avaient récupéré une grande partie du corps.	+	:'''MILLIONEN TOTE MAHNEN'''
-	En juin [[1946]], les témoins, prisonniers du [[NKVD]] dirigé par [[Lavrenti Beria]], sont transportés à Berlin, dans le parc du bunker. Ils indiquent l’endroit où ils ont enflammé, puis enterré le corps de Hitler et celui de sa femme.	+	Loosely translated, it reads: "For Peace, Freedom and Democracy - Never Again Fascism&mdash;Remember the Millions Dead."
-	L’emplacement correspond à l’exhumation réalisée par le [[SMERSH]] un an plus tôt. On en profite pour procéder à de nouvelles fouilles et on déterre quatre fragments de crâne. Le plus grand est transpercé par une balle.	+	As with many historical figures, legends abound about Adolf Hitler. In 1975, Irving Wallace and David Wallechinsky wrote in the first edition of ''The People's Almanac'' that Hitler had once been the owner of land near the town of Kit Carson, Colorado.<ref>Wallace and Wallechinsky, ''The People's Almanac'', p. ? </ref> Following up on the story, ''Los Angeles Times'' investigative reporter Steve Harvey concluded that there was no truth to it.<ref>"Debate Rages -- Was Hitler Colorado Landowner in '40s?", reprinted in the ''Anderson Times'', [[March 11]], [[1976]], p. 40. Kit Carson Mayor Ernest Jones was quoted by Harvey as saying, "Haven't seen anyone who looked like him around here."</ref>
-	L’autopsie réalisée fin 1945 se trouve en partie confirmée : les médecins y notaient en effet l’absence d’une pièce maîtresse du crâne, celle qui justement permet de conclure que Hitler s’est suicidé par arme à feu. Le puzzle est désormais complet.	+	== Religious Beliefs ==
		+	{{main|Adolf Hitler's religious beliefs|Nazi Mysticism}}
		+	Hitler was raised by [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] parents, but as a boy he rejected some aspects of Catholicism. After Hitler left home, he never attended [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] or received the [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacraments]].<ref>Michael Rissmann, Hitlers Gott. Vorsehungsglaube und Sendungsbewußtsein des deutschen Diktators, Zürich München: Pendo, 2001, p. 94-96. ISBN 3-85842-421-8.</ref>
-	Ces éléments ne sont toutefois pas diffusés par Beria. [[Staline]] lui-même n’en est pas tenu informé {{référence nécessaire}}, ce qui explique peut-être qu’il ait soupçonné les Occidentaux d’avoir recueilli le dictateur déchu. Quant aux restes des époux Hitler, ils sont pudiquement oubliés. Il faut attendre 1970, et l’ère [[Brejnev]], pour que le chef du [[KGB]] [[Youri Andropov]] les fasse détruire par le feu {{référence souhaitée}}.	+	Throughout his life, Hitler often praised [[Christianity|Christian]] heritage, German Christian culture, and a belief in [[Christ]].<ref>The Holy Reich, Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919–1945, Richard Steigmann-Gall, Kent State University, Ohio, Cambridge University Press, (ISBN-13: 9780521823715 | ISBN-10: 0521823714) DOI: 10.2277/0521823714.</ref> In his speeches and publications Hitler even spoke of Christianity as a central motivation for his [[antisemitism]], stating that "As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice".<ref>Baynes, N. (ed.) (1942).</blockquote>''The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939''. London, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-598-75893-3</ref><ref>Roussy, R. (ed.) (1973). ''My New Order''. Octagon Books. ISBN 0-374-93918-7</ref> His private statements, as reported by his intimates, are more mixed, showing Hitler as a religious man but critical of traditional Christianity.<ref name="bull389">Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 389.</ref> However, in contrast to other Nazi leaders, Hitler did not adhere to [[esoteric]] ideas, [[occultism]], or [[neo-paganism]],<ref name="bull389"/> and ridiculed such beliefs in ''Mein Kampf''.<ref>Overy, 282.</ref> Rather, Hitler advocated a "[[Positive Christianity]]",<ref>Overy, 278.</ref> a belief system purged from what he objected to in traditional Christianity, and which reinvented Jesus as a fighter against the Jews.
-	Mais le crâne et les dents de Hitler, conservés dans les archives, échappent à la crémation. On n’en apprend l’existence qu’après la chute de l’URSS. En [[2000]], la partie supérieure du crâne du dictateur devient même l’une des curiosités d’une exposition moscovite organisée par le Service fédéral des archives russes pour marquer le cinquante-cinquième anniversaire de la fin de la guerre.	+	Hitler believed in [[Arthur de Gobineau]]'s ideas of struggle for survival between the different races, among which the "Aryan race"—guided by "Providence"—was supposed to be the torchbearers of civilization. In Hitler's conception Jews were enemies of all civilization.
-	=== Aspects énigmatiques du personnage ===	+	Among Christian denominations, Hitler favoured [[Protestantism]], which was more open to such reinterpretations. At the same time, he adopted some elements of the Catholic Church's hierarchical organization, liturgy and phraseology in his politics.<ref>Michael Rissmann, p. 96.</ref><ref>Bullock, A. ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', 388.</ref>
-	* Il est établi que Hitler donna des ordres spécifiques pour que [[Johann Georg Elser]], l’auteur de l’attentat de Munich qui aurait pu le tuer ne fût ni exécuté, ni même mis dans une situation où ses jours seraient en danger. Pourquoi ? Peut-être pour organiser un grand procès à la fin de la guerre. Elser fut tout de même interné dans un camp et assassiné peu avant la défaite allemande.	+
-	* Il donna également des ordres pour qu’un certain nombre d’Allemands d’origine juive s’étant distingués pendant la Première Guerre mondiale ne soient pas inquiétés. Ce point était à l’origine une demande de Hindenburg. Ce point de vue est à rapprocher de la phrase de [[Hermann Göring|Göring]], {{citation|Je suis celui qui décide qui est Juif et qui ne l’est pas.}}	+	Hitler expressed admiration for the Muslim military tradition. According to one confidant, Hitler stated in private "The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness...".<ref>Speer, A. (2003). ''Inside the Third Reich''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson History, ISBN 1-842-127357,pp 96ff</ref> Several of Hitler's private statements contradict his public statements regarding Christianity, and indicate his difficulty in reconciling Christian and Nazi philosophy.
-	* Hitler a pris comme symbole pour son mouvement le [[svastika]] ([[croix gammée]]), déjà symbole de diverses organisations racistes (en allemand, « Volkisch ») comme la Société de Thullé. Le svastika est à la base indien, et est un signe de vie. Le symbole nationaliste utilisé dès la fin du {{s-|XIX|e}} l’a repris à l’identique, mais en sens inverse, comme pour en retourner aussi la signification (le « Viva la muerte » des [[Phalange espagnole|phalange]]s espagnoles n’était pas loin)&nbsp;; on remarquera aussi que le salut que Mussolini, repris par la suite par Hitler à partir de [[1926]], demandait de ses troupes était exactement celui des légionnaires de l’[[empire romain]] saluant l’Empereur, mais aussi des [[gladiateur]]s qui l’exécutaient avant de mourir (le fameux rite du {{citation|Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant}}).	+	''"I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so"''
		+	[Adolph Hitler, to Gen. Gerhard Engel, 1941.]
-	* Point que certains jugent négligé par la plupart des historiens : les doctrines mystiques dans lesquelles Hitler et d’autres responsables du nazisme auraient puisé leur inspiration pour l’élaboration de la politique national-socialiste, et les rapports que le Führer aurait entretenus avec l’univers des sciences occultes (source : [[Louis Pauwels]] et [[Jacques Bergier]], ''[[Le Matin des Magiciens]]'', introduction au [[réalisme fantastique]], Folio, 1960).	+	== Health and Sexuality ==
		+	=== Health ===
		+	{{main|Adolf Hitler's medical health|Vegetarianism of Adolf Hitler}}
		+	Hitler's health has long been the subject of debate. He has variously been said to have suffered from [[irritable bowel syndrome]], [[skin lesion]]s, [[irregular heartbeat]], [[Parkinson's disease]],<ref name="bull717"/> [[syphilis]],<ref name="bull717"/> and a strongly suggested addiction to [[methamphetamine]]. One film exists that shows his left hand trembling, which might suggest Parkinson's.<ref>[http://www.the-kingdom.ie/news/story.asp?j=16753 The last 12 days of Hitler recalled.] The Kingdom, [[2005-04-06]]. Retrieved on [[2007-05-21]].</ref> Beyond that, the evidence is sparse.
-	* Il est souvent fait référence au fait que Hitler était [[végétarien]]. Cela serait dû à une prescription d’ordre médicale (qu’il ne respectait pas à la lettre). [[Albert Speer (senior)|Albert Speer]] et [[Robert Payne]], deux des plus importants biographes d’Hitler démontrent dans leurs livres que Hitler n’était pas végétarien. S’il l’était il n’aurait pas fait bannir les organisations végétariennes d’Allemagne quand il est arrivé au pouvoir. Il arrêta leurs responsables et fit cesser la parution de la principale revue végétarienne publiée à Francfort. La persécution nazie força les végétariens allemands soit à quitter le pays, soit à vivre dans la clandestinité. Dione Lucas, qui a travaillé à l’hôtel ''Hamburg'' avant la guerre se souvient comment elle devait préparer pour Hitler son plat favori : {{citation|Je ne voudrais pas vous couper l’appétit pour le pigeon rôti}}, écrit-elle dans son livre de cuisine, {{citation|mais vous serez intéressé de savoir que c’était le plat favori de monsieur Hitler, qui dînait à l’hôtel très souvent}}.	+	After the early 1930s, Hitler generally followed a [[vegetarian]] diet, although he ate meat on occasion. There are reports of him disgusting his guests by giving them graphic accounts of the slaughter of animals in an effort to make them shun meat.<ref>Wilson, Bee (October 9, 1998). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20050321091219/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_n4406_v127/ai_21238666 Mein Diat - Adolf Hitler's diet]". New Statesman. (Archived version)</ref> A fear of [[cancer]] (from which his mother died) is the most widely cited reason, though many authors also assert Hitler had a profound and deep love of animals. He did eat dairy products and eggs, however. [[Martin Bormann]] had a greenhouse constructed for him near the [[Berghof (Hitler)|Berghof]] (near [[Berchtesgaden]]) to ensure a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables for Hitler throughout the war. Photographs of Bormann's children tending the greenhouse survive and, by 2005, its foundations were among the only ruins visible in the area which were associated with Nazi leaders.
-	* Adolf Hitler a choisi le 22 juin 1941 pour débuter l'[[Opération Barbarossa]], le jour qui suit le solstice d'été, où le Soleil est à son apogée. Féru d'astrologie, ayant adopté la [[svastika]] pour représenter son idéologie, (qui symbolise dans la [[mythologie nordique]] le marteau de Thor tournoyant dans le ciel comme étant le Soleil); difficile d'y trouver une simple coïncidence, quand on sait que même durant les derniers jours Adolf Hitler lisait des prévisions astrologiques à [[Eva Braun]] dans le ''Führerbunker''.<ref>voir le film ''[[Der Untergang]]''</ref>	+	Hitler was a non-smoker and promoted aggressive anti-smoking campaigns throughout Germany. He reportedly promised a gold watch to any of his close associates who quit (and gave a few away). Several witness accounts relate that, immediately after his suicide was confirmed, many officers, aides, and secretaries in the Führerbunker lit cigarettes.<ref>[[John Toland (author)|John Toland]], <cite>Adolf Hitler</cite>, p. 741</ref>
-	== Hitler et le droit des animaux ==	+	=== Sexuality ===
-	« Dans le nouveau Reich, il ne devra plus y avoir de place pour la cruauté envers les bêtes. » (Extrait d’un discours d’Adolf Hitler<ref>Discours radiodiffusé de Hitler, le 1{{er}} février 1933</ref>, ces propos inspirant la loi du 24 novembre 1933 sur la protection des animaux : « Tierschutzgesetz »). Selon ses auteurs, Giese et Kahler, cette loi se veut en rupture avec les thèses [[anthropocentrisme|anthropocentristes]] de la civilisation chrétienne : l’animal est maintenant protégé en tant qu’être naturel, pour ce qu’il est, et non par rapport aux hommes. Toute une tradition humaniste, voire humanitariste, défendait l’idée qu’il fallait, certes, interdire la cruauté envers les animaux, mais davantage parce qu’elle traduisait une mauvaise disposition de la nature humaine, voire parce qu’elle risquait d’inciter les êtres humains à la violence, que parce qu’elle portait préjudice aux bêtes en tant que telles.<ref>Texte officiel dans le Reichsgesetzblatt, Journal Officiel du Reich, n°132, du 25 novembre 1933, pp. 987-988, une colonne p. 989. Traduction du Bulletin juridique du Comité International, BJCI, 1933, pp. 33-37.</ref> Cette loi de protection animale se trouve depuis quelques années au centre d’un débat d’historiens : la paternité nazie de l’écologie profonde a du mal à faire l’unanimité, bien que le IIIe Reich ait promulgué les plus importantes législations qui soient à l’époque touchant la protection de la nature et des animaux<ref>« Le Point » du 6 avril 2001</ref>. La volonté propagandiste de cette législation ne fait cependant aucun doute, le régime nazi souhaitant soigner son image chez les déjà puissantes associations écologistes allemandes et selon Elisabeth Hardoin-Fugier, qui a écrit l'essai "la protection législative de l'animal sous le nazisme", celle-ci n'était pas vraiment suivie dans la pratique et ne servait qu'à des fins de propagande<ref>voir "la protection législative de l'animal sous le nazisme" [http://tahin-party.org/textes/ferry127-151.pdf par Elisabeth Hardoin-Fugier]</ref>.	+	{{main|Adolf Hitler's sexuality}}
		+	Hitler presented himself publicly as a man without an intimate domestic life, dedicated to his political mission, and to help in winning support from the women of Germany. He had a fiancée, [[Mimi Reiter]] in the 1920s, and later had a mistress, [[Eva Braun]]. He had a close bond with his half-niece [[Geli Raubal]], which many commentators have claimed was sexual, although there is no evidence that proves this.<ref>Rosenbaum, R., "Was Hitler 'unnatural'", ''Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of his Evil'', Macmillan, 1998, pp.99-117.</ref> All three women attempted suicide during their relationship with him, a fact which has led to speculation that Hitler may have had unusual sexual fetishes, such as [[urolagnia]], as was claimed by [[Otto Strasser]]. Reiter, the only one to survive the Nazi regime, denies this.<ref>Rosenbaum, op. cit., p.116</ref> During the war and afterwards [[psychoanalysis|psychoanalysts]] offered numerous inconsistent psycho-sexual explanations of his pathology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abidingtruth.com/pfrc/books/pinkswastika/html/the_pinkswastika_4th_edition_-_final.htm|title=''The Pink Swastika'' - Homosexuality in the Nazi Party - 4th edition}}</ref> Some theorists have claimed that Hitler had a relationship with British fascist [[Unity Mitford]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://http://www.newstatesman.com/200712130027|title=''Hitler's Child'' - The New Statesman}}</ref> . More recently [[Lothar Machtan]] has argued in his book ''[[The Hidden Hitler]]'' that Hitler was [[homosexual]], while others argue that he was largely [[asexuality|asexual]].
		+	== Family ==
		+	{{main|Hitler (disambiguation)}}
		+	Paula Hitler, the last living member of Adolf Hitler's immediate family, died in 1960.
		+	The most prominent and longest-living direct descendants of Adolf Hitler's father, Alois, was Adolf's nephew [[William Patrick Hitler]]. With his wife Phyllis, he eventually moved to [[Long Island, New York]], and had four sons. None of William Hitler's children have yet had any children of their own.
-	== Regards des contemporains ==	+	Over the years various investigative reporters have attempted to track down other distant relatives of the Führer; many are now alleged to be living inconspicuous lives and have long since changed their last name.
-	*[[Benito Mussolini]] déclara à [[Ostie]], en août 1934 au cours d'un entretien avec la presse et des amis autrichiens :	+	[[Image:Hitlerfamilytree.png|thumb|Adolf Hitler's [[genealogy]]]]
-	<blockquote>« Hitler est un affreux dégénéré sexuel et un fou dangereux. Le national-socialisme en Allemagne représente la [[barbarie]] sauvage et ce serait la fin de notre [[civilisation]] européenne si ce pays d'assassins et de pédérastes devait submerger le continent. Toutefois, je ne puis être toujours le seul à marcher sur le Brenner ».<ref>''Chroniques de l'histoire'', {{ISBN|290596992X}}</ref>.</blockquote>	+	* [[Eva Braun]], mistress and then wife
		+	* [[Alois Hitler]], father
		+	* [[Klara Hitler]], mother
		+	* [[Paula Hitler]], sister
		+	* [[Alois Hitler, Jr.]], half-brother
		+	* [[Bridget Dowling]], sister-in-law
		+	* [[William Patrick Hitler]], nephew
		+	* [[Heinz Hitler]], nephew
		+	* [[Angela Hitler|Angela Hitler Raubal]], half-sister
		+	* [[Maria Schicklgruber]], grandmother
		+	* [[Johann Georg Hiedler]], presumed grandfather
		+	* [[Johann Nepomuk Hiedler]], maternal great-grandfather, presumed great uncle and possibly Hitler's true paternal grandfather
		+	* [[Geli Raubal]], niece
		+	* [[Hermann Fegelein]], brother-in-law through Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun
-	*[[Erwin Rommel]] en [[octobre 1938]] après avoir accompagné et assuré la sécurité du Führer durant l’annexion des [[Sudètes]]:	+	== Hitler in Various Media ==
-	<blockquote> « Hitler possède un pouvoir magnétique sur les foules ; qui découle de la foi en une mission qui lui aurait été confiée par Dieu. Il se met à parler sur le ton de la prophétie. Il agit sur l’impulsion et rarement sous l’empire de la raison. Il a l’étonnante faculté de rassembler les points essentiels d’une discussion et de lui donner une solution. Une forte intuition lui permet de deviner la pensée des autres. Il sait manier avec habileté la flatterie. Sa mémoire infaillible m’a beaucoup frappé. Il connaît par cœur des livres qu’il a lus. Des pages entières et des chapitres sont photographiés dans son esprit. Son goût des statistiques est étonnamment développé : il peut aligner des chiffres très précis sur les troupes de l’ennemi, les diverses réserves de munitions, avec une réelle maestria qui impressionne l’état-major de l’Armée. »</blockquote>	+	{{seealso|Hitler in popular culture}}
-	*[[Léon Degrelle]] interviewé en [[1981]]<ref>Interview recueillie par Jean Kapel, ''Histoire magazine'', n° 19, septembre 1981.</ref>, décrit Hitler qu'il rencontra à l'été [[1933]] :	+	=== Movie clip ===
-	<blockquote> « Hitler n'était pas un homme comme les autres, il ne ressemblait en rien aux politiciens que j'avais eu l'occasion de rencontrer jusque-là. C'était un homme extrêmement simple, vêtu simplement, parlant simplement, très calme, contrairement à tout ce qu'on a pu raconter. Il était plein d'humour et très drôle dans sa conversation. Sur toutes les questions, politiques, économiques, sociales ou culturelles, il était porteur de vues absolument neuves, qu'il exprimait avec une clarté et une conviction qui entraînaient l'adhésion de ses auditeurs. Il savait conquérir les individus et les foules par le rayonnement étrange de sa personnalité. »	+	{{multi-video start}}
-	</blockquote>	+	{{multi-video item|filename=Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden.ogg|title=Hitler at Berchtesgaden |description= Video clips of Hitler at his mountain retreat in [[Berchtesgaden]], [[Germany]].|format=[[Theora]]}}
		+	{{multi-video end}}
-	== Descriptions et représentation culturelles ==	+	=== Oratory and Rallies ===
-	=== Interprétation psychanalytique ===	+	{{main|List of Adolf Hitler speeches}}
		+	Hitler was a gifted [[orator]] who captivated many with his beating of the lectern and growling, emotional speech. He honed his skills by giving speeches to soldiers during 1919 and 1920. He had an ability to tell people what they wanted to hear (the stab-in-the-back, the Jewish-Marxists, Versailles). Over time Hitler perfected his delivery by rehearsing in front of mirrors and carefully choreographing his display of emotions with the message he was trying to convey. Munitions minister and architect Albert Speer, who may have known Hitler as well as anyone, said that Hitler was above all else an actor.<ref> Hitler also spoke extensively in Munich's beer halls. [http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/machtrede.htm The Power of Speech] by A. E. Frauenfeld. Calvin College</ref><ref>[http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/ahspeak.htm The Führer as a Speaker] by Dr. Joseph Goebbels. Calvin College</ref>
-	Principal responsable de la partie européenne de la seconde guerre mondiale ayant fait entre quarante et soixante millions de morts<ref>Marc Nouschi, ''Bilan de la Seconde Guerre mondiale'', Le Seuil, 1996</ref>, le personnage d’Hitler a cristallisé une telle animosité qu’il est prudent de considérer les interprétations de son comportement avec beaucoup de recul.	+	Massive Nazi rallies were carefully staged by Albert Speer, which were designed to spark a process of self-persuasion for the participants. This process can be appreciated by watching [[Leni Riefenstahl]]'s ''Triumph of the Will'', which chillingly presents the 1934 [[Nuremberg Rallies|Nuremberg Rally]].
-	Dans son livre de [[1983]] ''Am Anfang war Erziehung'' (traduit en français sous le titre ''C'est pour ton bien''), [[Alice Miller]] analyse les liens entre son éducation "répressive" et la suite de sa biographie et avance l'explication que les comportements violents de Hitler trouveraient leur origine dans ses traumatismes infantiles.	+	Hitler and Goebbels toned down their racism as Hitler gained electoral strength. In areas where anti-Semitism was strong, they used code words (railing against "Bolshevists" with most people understanding that he meant "Jews"), and they ignored anti-Semitism in areas where it was not already strong. Many Germans were, as they said, "Nazi, but. . ." meaning that they thought Hitler had abandoned his shrill racism.
-	Sa mère avait épousé un homme plus âgé qu’elle de 23 ans, et qu’elle appelait « oncle Aloïs » ; ses trois enfants moururent en quelques années autour de la naissance d’Adolf, amenant ce dernier à être surprotégé. Il aurait été régulièrement battu et ridiculisé par son père ; après une tentative de fugue, il aurait été presque battu à mort. Adolf haït son père durant toute sa vie et on a rapporté qu’il faisait des cauchemars à son sujet à la fin de son existence.	+	=== Recorded in Private Conversation ===
-	Lorsque l’Allemagne nazie annexa l’[[Autriche]], Hitler fit détruire le village où son père avait grandi.	+	[[Image:Hitler Mannerheim.png|thumb|Hitler and [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim]]]]
		+	Hitler visited Finnish [[Field Marshal]] [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim|Mannerheim]] on [[4 June]] [[1942]]. During the visit an engineer of the Finnish broadcasting company [[YLE]], Thor Damen, recorded Hitler and Mannerheim in conversation, something which had to be done secretly since Hitler never allowed recordings of him off-guard. [http://www.hs.fi/english/article/1076153999513] Today the recording is the only known recording of Hitler not speaking in an official tone. The recording captures 11 and a half minutes of the two leaders in private conversation. [http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/?s=s&g=1&ag=3&t=22&a=376] Hitler speaks in a slightly excited, but still intellectually detached manner during this talk (the speech has been compared to that of the working class). The majority of the recording is a monologue by Hitler. In the recording, Hitler admits to underestimating the Soviet Union's ability to conduct war (some English transcripts exist [http://www.wargamer.com/articles/bdvisit2.asp] [http://www.feldgrau.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=88528&sid=b157dd8635d95881d5da965bd53ce87a]).[http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/?s=s&g=1&ag=3&t=22&a=376 Recording on the YLE Internet Archive]
-	===Au cinéma===	+	=== Documentaries during the Third Reich ===
		+	Hitler appeared in and was involved to varying degrees with a series of films by the pioneering filmmaker [[Leni Riefenstahl]] via [[Universum Film AG]] (UFA):
		+	*''[[Der Sieg des Glaubens]]'' (''The Victory of Faith'', 1933).
		+	*''[[Triumph of the Will|Triumph des Willens]]'' (''Triumph of the Will'', 1934), co-produced by Hitler.
		+	*''[[Tag der Freiheit|Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht]]'' (''Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces'', 1935).
		+	*''[[Olympia (1938 film)|Olympia]]'' (1938).
-	* ''Triumph des Willens'' (''[[Le Triomphe de la volonté]]''), film datant de l'époque nazie (1935), tourné par [[Leni Riefenstahl]]. Film à caractère propagandiste, sans narration, filmé pour donner la meilleure image possible d'Hitler au congrès de Nuremberg, du 30 août au 3 septembre 1933. On y voit des scènes où Hitler est filmé de très bas baignant dans la lumière, lui donnant un air majestueux. Pour l'époque des innovations y ont été introduites comme les travellings circulaires lors des discours, et de très grands plans lors de parades. Il remporte un prix d'honneur en France comme meilleur documentaire de l'année. Ce film a précédé les lois de Nuremberg et le début de la politique raciale du III{{e}} Reich, ce qui explique en partie son succès à l'étranger.	+	Hitler was the central figure of the first three films; they focused on the [[Nuremberg rally|party rallies]] of the respective years and are considered propaganda films. Hitler also featured prominently in the ''Olympia'' film. Whether the latter is a propaganda film or a true documentary is still a subject of controversy, but it nonetheless perpetuated and spread the propagandistic message of the 1936 [[Olympic Games]] depicting Nazi Germany as a prosperous and peaceful country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0386944/|title=IMDb: Adolf Hitler}}</ref> As a prominent politician, Hitler was also featured in many [[newsreel]]s.
-	* Parmi les nombreuses représentations au [[cinéma]], [[Charlie Chaplin]] ridiculisa Hitler dans son film de [[1940]] ''[[Le Dictateur]]'' (''The Great Dictator'') : le dictateur en question a en effet pour sosie un petit coiffeur juif qui prendra sa place et terminera le film sur un discours humaniste émouvant. Pour la petite histoire, Hitler fit interdire le film en Allemagne, mais s’en procura une copie qu’il se fit projeter en privé à deux reprises. Aux États-Unis, suite à des pressions de la [[United Artists]], ce film ne put sortir que six mois après la fin de son tournage.	+
-	* ''[[Les Dix derniers jours d'Hitler]]'', un film de [[1973]], où le dictateur est incarné par [[Alec Guinness]].	+
-	* En [[1999]], le réalisateur russe [[Alexandre Sokourov]] place Hitler au début de sa trilogie sur le pouvoir dans le film ''[[Moloch (film)|Moloch]]'', le récit impressionniste d’un week-end au [[Berghof|Nid d’aigle]] du couple Hitler-[[Eva Braun]].	+
-	* ''Mrs Meitlemeihr'', court métrage de [[2002]] avec [[Udo Kier]] dans lequel Hitler a survécu à la guerre et se cache à Londres déguisé en femme.	+
-	* En [[2003]], ''[[Hitler - la naissance du mal]]'' (Canada / États-Unis), donne un éclairage sur la jeunesse d’Hitler et sa montée au pouvoir (jusqu’en 1934). Ce film, envers lequel les historiens seront sans doute critiques, a le mérite de montrer la genèse du dictateur, et l’[[Allemagne]] telle qu’il l’a connue au moment où il met en place son « combat », alors qu’il n’est encore qu’un « aspirant » en politique. À noter que le film a été censuré par TF1 (environ quarante minutes de scènes coupées) qui a acquis les droits pour la France.	+
-	* En [[2003]] ''Max'', réalisé par [[Menno Meyjes]], narre l’histoire entre Adolf Hitler (joué par [[Noah Taylor]]), à l’époque jeune artiste, et Max, artiste juif amputé du bras droit. Max encourage Hitler à exorciser sur la toile ses colères, ses haines et ses peurs. Petit à petit, Hitler devient haineux envers les juifs ce qui conduira à l’horreur que l’on sait.	+
-	* En [[2005]] sort ''[[La Chute (film, 2004)|La Chute]]'' (''Der Untergang''), réalisé par [[Oliver Hirschbiegel]], avec dans le rôle d’Hitler, l’acteur suisse [[Bruno Ganz]]. Ce film narre les derniers jours du Führer dans son bunker. <BR>Lors de sa sortie, ce film a attisé la polémique. On lui a notamment reproché de montrer un visage trop humain du dictateur de l’Allemagne.	+
-	* Actuellement, le film "Mein fuhrer" déchaine les passions en [[Allemagne]] du fait qu'il présente Hitler comme un sujet comique. L'histoire jugera.	+
-	===Créations diverses et uchroniques===	+	=== Television ===
		+	Hitler's attendance at various public functions, including the 1936 Olympic games and [[Nuremberg Rally|Nuremberg Rallies]], appeared in live television broadcasts made between 1935 and 1939. These events, along with other programming highlighting activity by public officials, were often repeated in public viewing rooms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ihffilm.com/telunswashis.html|title=''Television under the Swastika: The history of Nazi Television''}}</ref>
-	* Hitler a souvent été utilisé comme personnage dans des œuvres de fiction. Un exemple précoce en est la description cryptée dans la pièce écrite en 1941 par [[Bertolt Brecht]], ''[[La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui]]'', dans laquelle Hitler est transposé en la personne d’un racketteur mafioso sur le marché des choux-fleurs à Chicago.	+	=== Documentaries post Third Reich ===
-	* Dans le recueil de nouvelles de [[Dino Buzzati]] ''[[Le K]]'', la nouvelle nommée ''Pauvre petit garçon'' contient une chute assez inattendue…	+	* ''[[The World at War]]'' (1974) is a [[Thames Television]] series which contains much information about Hitler and Nazi Germany, including an interview with his secretary, [[Traudl Junge]].
-	* [[Roald Dahl]] a également écrit une petite nouvelle sur Adolf Hitler dans ''[[Kiss Kiss]]'', recueil de nouvelles à l’humour noir, elle s’intitule ''Une histoire vraie''.	+	* ''Adolf Hitler's Last Days'', from the BBC series "Secrets of World War II" tells the story about Hitler's last days during World War II.
-	* Une des plus étranges œuvres tardives de [[Salvador Dali]] fut [http://gouloufoufou.free.fr/images/stories/stockage/1973_06.jpg ''Hitler se masturbant''], le représentant au centre d’un paysage désolé.	+	* ''The Nazis: A Warning From History'' (1997), a 6-part BBC TV series on how the cultured and educated Germans accepted Hitler and the Nazis up to its downfall. Historical consultant is [[Ian Kershaw]].
-	* Dans son roman ''[[Pompes funèbres]]'', [[Jean Genet]] propose une vision homoérotisée du Führer, ainsi qu’un regard poétique sur les rapports qu’entretiennent la violence nazie et l’attirance sexuelle.	+	*''[[Im toten Winkel|Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary]]'' (2002) is an exclusive 90 minute interview with Traudl Junge, Hitler's final trusted secretary. Made by Austrian Jewish director André Heller shortly before Junge's death from lung cancer, Junge recalls the last days in the Berlin bunker. Clips used in ''Downfall''.
-	* ''[[Rêve de fer]]'' (The Iron Dream, 1972) une [[uchronie]] de [[Norman Spinrad]] : un certain Adolf Hitler, n'arrivant pas à fonder un mouvement politique, émigre aux États-Unis, écrit des romans d'heroic fantasy, dont un, ''le Seigneur du Swastika'', récit enchâssé dans le livre de Spinrad avec ses préface et postface expliquant un monde n'ayant pas connu le régime nazi.	+	* ''[[The Architecture of Doom|Undergångens arkitektur]]'' (Architecture of Doom) (1989) documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic as envisioned by Hitler.
-	* ''[[Ces garçons qui venaient du Brésil]]'', [[Franklin J. Schaffner]] (1976), raconte une tentative de clonage du dictateur défunt par le sinistre Docteur [[Mengele]].	+
-	* ''[[Fatherland]]'', de [[Robert Harris (écrivain)|Robert Harris]] est une [[uchronie]] qui met en scène un thriller dans une Europe où le Troisième Reich a triomphé des Alliés en 1944.	+
-	* ''[[La Part de l'autre]]'', d'[[Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt]], est un roman uchronique qui nous montre ce qu’aurait pu devenir le monde si, à cet instant précis du 8 octobre 1908, le jury de l’École des Beaux-Arts de Vienne avait prononcé « Adolf Hitler : admis ». Il écrit en parallèle la vie d’Hitler avec celle qu’il aurait eue s’il avait été admis.	+
-	== Les chanceliers d'Allemagne ==	+	=== Dramatizations ===
		+	* ''[[Hitler: The Last Ten Days]]'' (1973) is a movie depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitler's death, starring Sir [[Alec Guinness]].
		+	* ''[[The Bunker]]'' (1978) by James O'Donnell, describing the last days in the Führerbunker from [[17 January]] [[1945]] to [[2 March]] [[1945]]. Made into the TV movie ''[[The Bunker (1981 film)|The Bunker]]'' (1981), starring [[Anthony Hopkins]].
		+	*[[Max (film)|''Max'']] is a 2002 [[Drama movie]] that depicts a friendship between art dealer Max Rothman (who is Jewish) and a young Adolf Hitler as a failed painter in [[Vienna]].
		+	* ''[[Hitler: The Rise of Evil]]'' (2003) is a two-part TV series about the early years of Adolf Hitler and his rise to power (up to 1933). Stars [[Robert Carlyle]].
		+	* ''[[Der Untergang]]'' ''(Downfall)'' (2004) is a German movie about the last days of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, starring [[Bruno Ganz]]. This film is partly based on the autobiography of Traudl Junge, a favorite secretary of Hitler's. In 2002, Junge said she felt great guilt for "...liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived."
		+	*Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's ''Hitler - Ein Film aus Deutschland'' ''(Hitler, A Film From Germany)'', 1977, is a 7-hour work in 4 parts. The director uses documentary clips, photographic backgrounds, puppets, theatrical stages, and other elements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.german-cinema.de/archive/film_view.php?film_id=404|title=German Cinema}}</ref>
-	{{Début dynastie}}	+	== See also ==
-	{{Insérer dynastie|avant=[[Franz von Papen]]|nom=Chancelier du Troisième Reich|Chancelier du Troisième Reich|	+	* [[Führer Headquarters]]
-	|période=1933 - 1945|après=[[Joseph Goebbels]]}}	+	* [[Führermuseum]]
-	{{Fin dynastie}}	+	* [[List of Nazi Party leaders and officials]]
		+	* [[Ex-Nazis|List of former Nazis influential after 1945]]
-	==Voir aussi==	+	== References ==
-	=== Articles connexes ===	+	{{reflist|3}}
-	*[[Shoah]]	+
-	*[[Conférence de Wannsee]]	+
-	*[[Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands|NSDAP]]	+
-	*[[Nuit de cristal|La nuit de cristal]]	+
-	*[[Nuit des longs couteaux (Allemagne)|La nuit des longs couteaux]]	+
-	*[[Peintures d'Hitler]]	+
-	=== Bibliographie ===	+	== Further reading ==
-	{{Wikiquote}}	+	{{main|List of Adolf Hitler books}}
-	* [[Götz Aly]], ''Comment Hitler a acheté les Allemands'', Flammarion, 2005, {{ISBN|2082105172}}	+	Many books have been written about Adolf Hitler with his life and legacy thoroughly researched. See [[List of Adolf Hitler books|this list]] for an extensive [[annotated bibliography]] of books related to Adolf Hitler.
-	* Sir [[Alan Bullock]], ''Hitler et Staline'', Albin Michel, 1994, {{ISBN|2226064915|2226064923}}	+
-	* [[Gerhard Boldt]] ''La fin de Hitler'', Corréa, 1949	+
-	* [[François Delpla]], ''Hitler'', Grasset, 1999, {{ISBN|978-2246570417}}	+
-	* [[Henrik Eberle]] et [[Matthias Uhl]], ''Le dossier Hitler'', Presses de la Cité, 2006	+
-	* [[Joachim Fest]], ''Hitler, Tome 1 : Jeunesse et conquête du pouvoir'', Gallimard, 1973	+
-	* [[Joachim Fest]], ''Hitler, Tome 2 : Le führer'', Gallimard, 1973	+
-	* [[Joachim Fest]], ''Les derniers jours de Hitler'', Perrin, 2005, {{ISBN|978-2262023294}}	+
-	* [[Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven]] et François d' Alançon, ''Dans le bunker de Hitler : 23 juillet 1944 - 29 avril 1945'', Perrin 2005, {{ISBN|2262024782}}	+
-	* [[David Garner]], ''Le dernier des Hitler'', Patrick Robin Editions, 2006, {{ISBN |2352280044}}	+
-	* [[Ian Kershaw]], ''Hitler'', tome 1, 1157 pages, Flammarion, 1999, {{ISBN|978-2082125284}}	+
-	* [[Ian Kershaw]], ''Hitler'', tome 2, 1632 pages, Flammarion, 2000, {{ISBN|978-2082125291}}	+
-	* [[Ian Kershaw]], ''Hitler : Essai sur le charisme en politique'', Folio Histoire, 2001, {{ISBN|978-2070419081}}	+
-	* Gérard Letailleur, ''Les secrets du chancelier'' (préface de Christian de La Mazière), Éditions Dualpha, coll. « Vérités pour l’histoire », 2005, {{ISBN|2915461392}}	+
-	* Philippe Masson, ''Hitler chef de guerre'', Perrin, 2005, {{ISBN|2262015619}}	+
-	* [[Hermann Rauschning]], ''Hitler m’a dit'', Hachette, 2005, {{ISBN|978-2012792395}}	+
-	* [[Lionel Richard]], ''D’où vient Adolf Hitler ?'', Autrement, 2000, {{ISBN|978-2862609997}}	+
-	* [[Giulio Ricchezza]], ''La vie fantastique d’Adolf Hitler'', 3 t., Famot, 1974	+
-	* [[Ron Rosenbaum]], ''Pourquoi Hitler'', Lattès, 1998, {{ISBN|9782709619134}}	+
-	* [[Bénédicte Savoy]] (trad.), ''Un attentat contre Hitler, Procès verbaux des interrogatoires de [[Johann Georg Elser]]'', préface de Gilles Perrault, Solin Actes Sud, 1998, {{ISBN|9782742716548}}	+
-	* [[William L. Shirer]], ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, {{ISBN|0-671-72868-7}}	+
-	=== Liens externes ===	+	== External links ==
-	{{Commons|Adolf Hitler|Adolf Hitler}}	+	{{sisterlinks|Adolf Hitler}}
-	* {{en}} [http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blhitler14.htm Hitler à Odeonplatz Munich, août 1914]	+	* [http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/projects/hitler/hitler.htm Portrayals of Hitler Project] How Hitler has been viewed over the years.
-	* {{fr}} [http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=AFE85000178 Archives de l’INA : Entrevue entre Hitler et Franco à Hendaye en octobre 1940]	+	* [http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/hitler2.htm Photographs of Adolf Hitler]
-	* {{fr}} [http://www.armees.com/Pour-le-FBI-Hitler-etait-vivant.html Article et dossier à télécharger sur les archives US concernant Hitler, les enquêtes du FBI et les données relatives à un complot américain destiné à le supprimer en 1933]	+	* {{imdb character|id=0027857|character=Adolf Hitler}} (''The Character portrayed in film and television'')
-	* {{fr}} [http://www.diploweb.com/p7dura2.htm Le double langage dans l’hitlérisme] par Guy Durandin, professeur honoraire de psychologie sociale à l’université René-Descartes-Paris V.	+	* [http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library/donovan/hitler 1943 Psychological Profile of Hitler] written by Dr. Henry A. Murray for the wartime [[Office of Strategic Services]] [1943 OSS Archives, DD247.H5 M87 1943]
		+	* [http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/movies/hitler_color Color Footage of Hitler] - Watch color footage of Hitler during WWII
		+	* [http://www.mondopolitico.com/library/meinkampf/introduction.htm Hitler's ''Mein Kampf''] (full text)
		+	* [http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/?s=s&g=1&ag=3&t=22&a=376 Finnish Broadcasting Company recording of Adolf Hitler speaking in Mannerheim's birthday] The world's only recording of Adolf Hitler's natural speech. More of the subject: [http://www.fpp.co.uk/Hitler/docs/Mannerheim/recording_040642.html]
		+	* [http://dl01.blastpodcast.com/EVTV1History/1531_1135376820.mov Hitler Speech (February 10, 1933) with English Translation]
		+	* [http://www.archive.org/details/TheTestamentOfAdolfHitler ''The Testament of Adolf Hitler'' the Borman-Hitler documents]
-	==Notes et références==	+	{{start box}}
-	{{Références | colonnes = 2}}	+	{{s-off}}
-	{{Derniers occupants du Führerbunker}}	+	{{s-bef | before=[[Anton Drexler]]}}
-	{{Cabinet de Hitler}}	+	{{s-ttl | title=[[National Socialist German Workers Party|Leader of the NSDAP]] | years=1921&ndash;1945}}
-	{{multi bandeau|portail Seconde Guerre mondiale|portail histoire|portail nazisme}}	+	{{s-aft | rows=2 | after=None}}
		+	{{s-bef | before=[[Franz Pfeffer von Salomon]]}}
		+	{{s-ttl | title=[[Oberste SA-Führer|Leader of the SA]] | years=1930&ndash;1945}}
		+	{{succession box | before = [[Kurt von Schleicher]] | title = [[Chancellor of Germany]]<sup>(1)</sup> | years = 1933&ndash;1945 | after = [[Joseph Goebbels]]}}
		+	{{succession box | before = [[Paul von Hindenburg]] (as President) | title = [[Führer|''Führer und Reichskanzler'']]<sup>(1)</sup>| years = 1934&ndash;1945|after = [[Karl Dönitz]] (as President) }}
		+	{{s-mil}}
		+	{{succession box | before = [[Walther von Brauchitsch]]| title = [[Oberkommando des Heeres|Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres (Army Commander)]]| years = 1941&ndash;1945 | after = [[Ferdinand Schörner]]}}
		+	{{s-ach|aw}}
		+	{{s-bef | before=[[Chiang Kai-shek]] and [[Soong May-ling]]}}
		+	{{s-ttl | title=[[Person of the Year|Time's Man of the Year]] | years=1938}}
		+	{{s-aft | after=[[Joseph Stalin]]}}
		+	{{s-ref|The offices of Head of State and of Chancellor were combined 1934-1945 in the office of Führer und Reichskanzler}}
-	{{Lien BA|de}}	+	{{GermanChancellors}}
-	{{Lien AdQ|he}}	+	{{Cabinet Hitler}}
-	{{Lien AdQ|nl}}	+	{{Adolf Hitler}}
-	{{Lien AdQ|no}}	+	{{Final occupants of the Führerbunker}}
-	{{Lien AdQ|pt}}	+
-	{{Lien AdQ|sh}}	+
-	{{Lien BA|sv}}	+
-	{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitler, Adolf}}	+	<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
-	[[Catégorie:Naissance en 1889]]	+
-	[[Catégorie:Décès en 1945]]	+
-	[[Catégorie:Adolf Hitler|*]]	+
-	[[Catégorie:Chef d'État ou de gouvernement de la Seconde Guerre mondiale]]	+
-	[[Catégorie:Décès par suicide]]	+
-	[[Catégorie:Antisémitisme]]	+
-	[[Catégorie:Racisme]]	+
-	[[Catégorie:végétarien]]	+
		+	{{Persondata
		+	|NAME=Hitler, Adolf
		+	|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
		+	|SHORT DESCRIPTION=[[Führer]] of the National Socialist German Workers Party; [[Reichskanzler]] of Germany
		+	|DATE OF BIRTH=[[April 20]] [[1889]]
		+	|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Braunau am Inn]], [[Austria]]
		+	|DATE OF DEATH=[[April 30]] [[1945]]
		+	|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Berlin]], [[Germany]]
		+	}}
		+	{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitler, Adolf}}
		+	[[Category:Adolf Hitler|Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[Category:Nazi leaders]]
		+	[[Category:Chancellors of Germany]]
		+	[[Category:German military leaders]]
		+	[[Category:German people of World War II]]
		+	[[Category:World War II political leaders]]
		+	[[Category:Holocaust perpetrators]]
		+	[[Category:German anti-communists]]
		+	[[Category:German political writers]]
		+	[[Category:Austrian Nazis]]
		+	[[Category:German military personnel of World War I]]
		+	[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross]]
		+	[[Category:Hitler family]]
		+	[[Category:Time magazine Persons of the Year]]
		+	[[Category:Austrian Germans]]
		+	[[Category:Antisemitism]]
		+	[[Category:Braunau am Inn]]
		+	[[Category:German vegetarians]]
		+	[[Category:Nazis who committed suicide]]
		+	[[Category:Politicians who committed suicide]]
		+	[[Category:Suicides by firearm]]
		+	[[Category:Suicides by poison]]
		+	[[Category:1889 births]]
		+	[[Category:1945 deaths]]
		+	[[Category:Austrian painters]]
		+	{{Link FA|el}}
		+	{{Link FA|he}}
		+	{{Link FA|nl}}
		+	{{Link FA|no}}
		+	{{Link FA|pt}}
		+	{{Link FA|sh}}
	[[af:Adolf Hitler]]		[[af:Adolf Hitler]]
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-	[[an:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[ang:Adolf Hitler]]		[[ang:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[ar:أدولف هتلر]]		[[ar:أدولف هتلر]]
		+	[[an:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[roa-rup:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[ast:Adolf Hitler]]		[[ast:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[az:Adolf Hitler]]		[[az:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[bn:আডল্‌ফ হিটলার]]
		+	[[be-x-old:Адольф Гітлер]]
	[[bar:Adolf Hitler]]		[[bar:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[bat-smg:Aduolfos Hėtlerės]]	+	[[bs:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[be-x-old:Адольф Гітлер]]	+	[[br:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[bg:Адолф Хитлер]]		[[bg:Адолф Хитлер]]
-	[[bn:আডল্‌ফ হিটলার]]
-	[[br:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[bs:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[ca:Adolf Hitler]]		[[ca:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[cs:Adolf Hitler]]		[[cs:Adolf Hitler]]
Ligne 486:		Ligne 604:
	[[da:Adolf Hitler]]		[[da:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[de:Adolf Hitler]]		[[de:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[et:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[el:Αδόλφος Χίτλερ]]		[[el:Αδόλφος Χίτλερ]]
-	[[en:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[es:Adolf Hitler]]
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-	[[et:Adolf Hitler]]
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	[[fa:آدولف هیتلر]]		[[fa:آدولف هیتلر]]
-	[[fi:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[fo:Adolf Hitler]]		[[fo:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[fr:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[ga:Adolf Hitler]]		[[ga:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[gd:Adolf Hitler]]		[[gd:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[gl:Adolf Hitler]]		[[gl:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[he:אדולף היטלר]]	+	[[ko:아돌프 히틀러]]
		+	[[hy:Ադոլֆ Հիտլեր]]
	[[hi:एडोल्फ हिटलर]]		[[hi:एडोल्फ हिटलर]]
-	[[hr:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[hsb:Adolf Hitler]]		[[hsb:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[hu:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[hr:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[hy:Ադոլֆ Հիտլեր]]	+	[[io:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[id:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[ia:Adolf Hitler]]		[[ia:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[id:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[os:Гитлер, Адольф]]
-	[[io:Adolf Hitler]]	+
	[[is:Adolf Hitler]]		[[is:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[it:Adolf Hitler]]		[[it:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[ja:アドルフ・ヒトラー]]	+	[[he:אדולף היטלר]]
	[[jv:Adolf Hitler]]		[[jv:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[kn:ಅಡೋಲ್ಫ್ ಹಿಟ್ಲರ್]]
	[[ka:ადოლფ ჰიტლერი]]		[[ka:ადოლფ ჰიტლერი]]
-	[[kab:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[sw:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[kn:ಅಡೋಲ್ಫ್ ಹಿಟ್ಲರ್]]	+
-	[[ko:아돌프 히틀러]]	+
	[[ku:Adolf Hitler]]		[[ku:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[la:Adolfus Hitler]]		[[la:Adolfus Hitler]]
		+	[[lv:Ādolfs Hitlers]]
	[[lb:Adolf Hitler]]		[[lb:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[li:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[lt:Adolfas Hitleris]]		[[lt:Adolfas Hitleris]]
-	[[lv:Ādolfs Hitlers]]	+	[[li:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[hu:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[mk:Адолф Хитлер]]		[[mk:Адолф Хитлер]]
	[[ml:അഡോള്‍ഫ് ഹിറ്റ്‌ലര്‍]]		[[ml:അഡോള്‍ഫ് ഹിറ്റ്‌ലര്‍]]
		+	[[mt:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[mr:एडॉल्फ हिटलर]]		[[mr:एडॉल्फ हिटलर]]
	[[ms:Adolf Hitler]]		[[ms:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[mt:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[nah:Adolf Hitler]]		[[nah:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[nds:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[nl:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[nds-nl:Adolf Hitler]]		[[nds-nl:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[nl:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[ja:アドルフ・ヒトラー]]
		+	[[no:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[nn:Adolf Hitler]]		[[nn:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[no:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[oc:Adolf Hitler]]		[[oc:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[os:Гитлер, Адольф]]	+	[[uz:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[pl:Adolf Hitler]]	+
-	[[pms:Adolf Hitler]]	+
	[[ps:آدولف هيتلر]]		[[ps:آدولف هيتلر]]
		+	[[pms:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[nds:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[pl:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[pt:Adolf Hitler]]		[[pt:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[qu:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[rm:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[ro:Adolf Hitler]]		[[ro:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[roa-rup:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[rm:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[qu:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[ru:Гитлер, Адольф]]		[[ru:Гитлер, Адольф]]
-	[[scn:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[sco:Adolf Hitler]]		[[sco:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[sh:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[st:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[sq:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[scn:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[simple:Adolf Hitler]]		[[simple:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[sk:Adolf Hitler]]		[[sk:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[sl:Adolf Hitler]]		[[sl:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[sq:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[sr:Адолф Хитлер]]		[[sr:Адолф Хитлер]]
-	[[st:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[sh:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[fi:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[sv:Adolf Hitler]]		[[sv:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[sw:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[tl:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[ta:ஹிட்லர்]]		[[ta:ஹிட்லர்]]
		+	[[kab:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[tt:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[te:ఎడాల్ఫ్ హిట్లర్]]		[[te:ఎడాల్ఫ్ హిట్లర్]]
-	[[tg:Адолф Ҳитлер]]
	[[th:อดอล์ฟ ฮิตเลอร์]]		[[th:อดอล์ฟ ฮิตเลอร์]]
-	[[tl:Adolf Hitler]]	+	[[vi:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[tg:Адолф Ҳитлер]]
	[[tr:Adolf Hitler]]		[[tr:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[tt:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[uk:Адольф Гітлер]]		[[uk:Адольф Гітлер]]
	[[ur:ہٹلر]]		[[ur:ہٹلر]]
-	[[uz:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[vi:Adolf Hitler]]
-	[[vls:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[wa:Adolf Hitler]]		[[wa:Adolf Hitler]]
		+	[[vls:Adolf Hitler]]
	[[yi:אדאלף היטלער]]		[[yi:אדאלף היטלער]]
-	[[zh:阿道夫·希特勒]]
	[[zh-yue:希特拉]]		[[zh-yue:希特拉]]
		+	[[bat-smg:Aduolfos Hėtlerės]]
		+	[[zh:阿道夫·希特勒]]

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Version actuelle

Modèle:RedirectModèle:Sprotected2 Modèle:Infobox President Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was a German politician, who became the Leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party and was appointed as the Chancellor of Germany in 1933. After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in 1934, Hitler declared himself Führer, combining the offices of President and Chancellor into one using the power vested in him by the Enabling Act, and remained in the position of Führer until his eventual suicide in 1945.

The Nazi Party gained power during Germany's period of crisis after World War I, exploiting effective propaganda and Hitler's charismatic oratory to gain popularity. The Party emphasised nationalism and antisemitism as its primary political expressions, eventually resorting to murdering its opponents to ensure success.

After the restructuring of the state economy and the rearmament of the Wehrmacht, a dictatorship (commonly characterized as either totalitarian or fascist) was established by Hitler, who then pursued an aggressive foreign policy, with the goal of seizing Lebensraum. This resulted in the German Invasion of Poland in 1939, drawing the British and French Empires into World War II.

The Wehrmacht enjoyed great success in the early stages of the war, and the Axis Powers managed to occupy most of Mainland Europe and parts of Asia at the height of their power. Eventually however, the occupation was rolled back by the combined efforts of the Allies after a long struggle, and the Wehrmacht was ultimately defeated. By 1945, both Hitler's policy and the Nazi Party lay in ruins; his bid for territorial conquest and racial subjugation had caused the deaths of tens of millions of people, including the deliberate genocide of an estimated six million Jews in what is now known as the Holocaust.

During the final days of the war in 1945, as the German capital of Berlin was being invaded and destroyed by the Red Army of the Soviet Union, Hitler married Eva Braun and less than 24 hours later, the two committed suicide in the Führerbunker. Modèle:TOCnestright

Sommaire 1 Early Years 1.1 Childhood and Heritage 1.2 Early Adulthood in Vienna and Munich 1.3 World War I 2 Entry into Politics 2.1 Beer Hall Putsch 2.2 Mein Kampf 2.3 Rebuilding of the Party 3 Rise to Power 3.1 Brüning Administration 3.2 Cabinets of Papen and Schleicher 3.3 Appointment as Chancellor 3.4 Reichstag fire and the March Elections 3.5 "Day of Potsdam" and the Enabling Act 3.6 Removal of Remaining Limits 4 Third Reich 4.1 Economy and Culture 4.2 Rearmament and New Alliances 4.3 The Holocaust 5 World War II 5.1 Opening Moves 5.2 Path to Defeat 5.3 Defeat and Death 6 Legacy 7 Religious Beliefs 8 Health and Sexuality 8.1 Health 8.2 Sexuality 9 Family 10 Hitler in Various Media 10.1 Movie clip 10.2 Oratory and Rallies 10.3 Recorded in Private Conversation 10.4 Documentaries during the Third Reich 10.5 Television 10.6 Documentaries post Third Reich 10.7 Dramatizations 11 See also 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External links

Early Years

Childhood and Heritage

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, the fourth child of six.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny (Penguin Books 1962), 23.</ref> His father, Alois Hitler, (1837–1903), was a customs official. His mother, Klara Pölzl, (1860–1907), was Alois' third wife. She was also his half-niece, so a papal dispensation had to be obtained for the marriage. Of Alois and Klara's six children, only Adolf and his sister Paula reached adulthood.<ref name="bull25">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 25.</ref> Hitler's father also had a son, Alois Jr, and a daughter, Angela, by his second wife.<ref name="bull25"/>

Alois Hitler was born illegitimate. For the first 39 years of his life he bore his mother's surname, Schicklgruber. In 1876, he took the surname of his stepfather, Johann Georg Hiedler. The name was spelled Hiedler, Huetler, Huettler and Hitler and probably changed to "Hitler" by a clerk. The origin of the name is either from the German word Hittler and similar, "one who lives in a hut", "shepherd", or from the Slavic word Hidlar and Hidlarcek.

Allied propaganda exploited Hitler's original family name during World War II. Pamphlets bearing the phrase "Heil Schicklgruber" were airdropped over German cities. But he was legally born a Hitler 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>Walter C. Langer, The Mind of Adolf Hitler, p. 246 (Basic Books: New York, 1972)</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".

As a boy, Hitler said he was often whipped 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>John Toland, Adolph Hitler, pp. 12-13.</ref>

Hitler's paternal grandfather was most likely one of the brothers Johann Georg Hiedler or Johann Nepomuk Hiedler. There were rumours that Hitler was one-quarter Jewish and that his grandmother, Maria Schicklgruber, became pregnant while working as a servant in a Jewish household. The implications of these rumours were politically explosive for the proponent of a racist ideology. Opponents tried to prove that Hitler had Jewish or 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.

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>The Jew of Linz: Hitler, Wittgenstein and their secret battle for the mind (1999)</ref>

Hitler claimed his educational slump was a rebellion against his father, who wanted the boy to follow him in a career as a customs official; Hitler wanted to become a painter instead. This explanation is further supported by Hitler's later description of himself as a misunderstood artist. However, after Alois died on January 3, 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.[1]

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>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 30-31.</ref> His memoirs reflect a fascination with the subject:

Modèle:Cquote

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:

Modèle:Cquote

On December 21, 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 sought refuge in a homeless shelter. By 1910, he had settled into a house for poor working men.

Hitler says he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna,<ref>(Mein Kampf, vol. 1, chap. 2: "Years of study and suffering in Vienna")</ref> which had a large Jewish community, including Orthodox Jews who had fled from pogroms in Russia. But according to a childhood friend, August Kubizek, Hitler was a "confirmed anti-Semite" before he left Linz, Austria.<ref>(Mein Kampf, vol. 1, chap. 2: "Years of study and suffering in Vienna")</ref> Vienna at that time was a hotbed of traditional religious prejudice and 19th century racism. Hitler may have been influenced by the writings of the ideologist and anti-Semite Lanz von Liebenfels and polemics from politicians such as Karl Lueger, founder of the Christian Social Party and Mayor of Vienna, the composer Richard Wagner, and Georg Ritter von Schönerer, leader of the 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, but actually it seems Hitler was not very anti-Semitic in these years. He often was a guest for dinner in a noble Jewish house, and Jewish merchants tried to sell his paintings.<ref>Hitler's Vienna. A dictator's apprenticeship by Brigitte Hamann and Thomas Thornton, Oxford University Press, USA (1 July 1999)</ref>

Hitler may also have been influenced by Martin Luther's On the Jews and their Lies. Kristallnacht took place on November 10—Luther's birthday.

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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>Hitler, Adolf, Mein Kampf, Volume 1, Chapter VII
Among them must be counted the great warriors in this world who, though not understood by the present, are nevertheless prepared to carry the fight for their ideas and ideals to their end. They are the men who some day will be closest to the heart of the people; it almost seems as though every individual feels the duty of compensating in the past for the sins which the present once committed against the great. Their life and work are followed with admiring gratitude and emotion, and especially in days of gloom they have the power to raise up broken hearts and despairing souls. To them belong, not only the truly great statesmen, but all other great reformers as well. Beside Frederick the Great stands Martin Luther as well as Richard Wagner. </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>Modèle:Cite book, as cited in Waite, Robert G. L. The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler, pp.251, Da Capo Press, 1993, ISBN 0-306-80514-6</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. 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 Munich. He wrote in Mein Kampf that he had always longed to live in a "real" German city. In Munich, he became more interested in architecture and, he says, the writings of Houston Stewart Chamberlain. Moving to Munich also helped him escape military service in Austria for a time, but the Austrian army arrested him finally. After a physical exam (during which his height was measured at 173 cm, or 5 ft 8 in) 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>Shirer, William L., The Rise And Fall of Adolf Hitler c 1961, Random House</ref>

World War I

Hitler served in France and Belgium as a runner for the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment (called Regiment List after its first commander), which exposed him to enemy fire.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 50-51.</ref> He drew cartoons and instructional drawings for the army newspaper.

Hitler was twice decorated for bravery. He received the Iron Cross, Second Class, in 1914 and the Iron Cross, First Class, in 1918, an honour rarely given to a Gefreiter.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 52.</ref> However, because the regimental staff thought Hitler lacked leadership skills, he was never promoted to Unteroffizier. 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. In 1916, Hitler was wounded in the leg 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 October 15, 1918, Hitler was admitted to a field hospital, temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack. The English psychologist David Lewis<ref>David Lewis, The Man who invented Hitler, Headline Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7553-1148-5.</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>The War Against the Jews. Bantam. 1986</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:

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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>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 60.</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 Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of various territories, demilitarized the Rhineland and imposed other economically damaging sanctions. The treaty re-created Poland, which even moderate Germans regarded as an outrage. The treaty also blamed Germany for all the horrors of the war, something which major historians like John Keegan now consider at least in part to be victor's justice: most European nations in the run-up to World War I had become increasingly militarised and were eager to fight. The culpability of Germany was used as a basis to impose reparations on Germany (the amount was repeatedly revised under the Dawes Plan, the Young Plan, and the Hoover Moratorium). Germany in turn perceived the treaty and especially the paragraph on the German responsibility for the war as a humiliation. For example, there was a nearly total demilitarisation of the armed forces, allowing Germany only six battleships, no submarines, no air force, an army of 100,000 without conscription and no armoured vehicles. The treaty was an important factor in both the social and political conditions encountered by Hitler and his Nazis as they sought power. Hitler and his party used the signing of the treaty by the "November Criminals" as a reason to build up Germany so that it could never happen again. He also used the "November Criminals" as scapegoats, although at the Paris peace conference, these politicians had had very little choice in the matter.

Entry into Politics

Main article: Hitler's political beliefs

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> 1919 Picture of Hitler

.</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 Reichswehr, both to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate a small party, the German Workers' Party (DAP). During his inspection of the party, Hitler was impressed with founder Anton Drexler's anti-Semitic, nationalist, 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.

Here Hitler also met Dietrich Eckart, one of the early founders of the party and member of the occult Thule Society.<ref>Joachim C. Fest, The Drummer in The Face Of The Third Reich (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1970; URL accessed June 11 2005).</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.

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 Augsburg. Hitler rushed back to Munich and countered them by tendering his resignation from the party on July 11, 1921. When they realized the loss of Hitler would effectively mean the end of the party, he seized the moment and announced he would return on the condition that he would be given dictatorial powers. Infuriated committee members (including Drexler) held out at first. Meanwhile an anonymous pamphlet appeared entitled Adolf Hitler: Is he a traitor?, attacking Hitler's lust for power and criticizing the violent men around him. Hitler responded to its publication in a Munich newspaper by suing for 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 changed the name of the party to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialist German Workers Party.

Hitler's beer hall oratory, attacking Jews, social democrats, liberals, reactionary monarchists, capitalists and communists, began attracting adherents. Early followers included Rudolf Hess, the former air force pilot Hermann Göring, and the army captain Ernst Röhm, who became head of the Nazis' 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.

Beer Hall Putsch

Main article: Beer Hall Putsch

Encouraged by this early support, Hitler decided to use Ludendorff as a front in an attempted coup later known as the Beer Hall Putsch (sometimes as the Hitler Putsch or Munich Putsch). The Nazi Party had copied Italy's 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 November 8, 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting headed by Kahr in the Bürgerbräukeller, a large beer hall outside of Munich. He declared that he had set up a new government with Ludendorff and demanded, at gunpoint, the support of Kahr and the local military establishment for the destruction of the Berlin government.<ref>Shirer, William. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (Crest Book, 1960), 104-106.</ref> Kahr withdrew his support and fled to join the opposition to Hitler at the first opportunity.<ref>Shirer, William. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 109.</ref> The next day, when Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government as a start to their "March on Berlin", the police dispersed them. Sixteen NSDAP members were killed.<ref>Shirer, William. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 111-113.</ref>

Hitler fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl and contemplated suicide. He was soon arrested for high treason. Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the party. During Hitler's trial, he was given almost unlimited time to speak, and his popularity soared as he voiced nationalistic sentiments. A Munich personality became a nationally known figure. On April 1, 1924, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison. Hitler received favoured treatment from the guards and had much fan mail from admirers.<ref name="bull121">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 121.</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

Main article: 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">Hitler dodged taxes, expert finds. BBC News, 2004-12-17. Retrieved on 2007-1-22.</ref><ref>Mythos Ladenhüter Spiegel Online</ref>

The copyright of Mein Kampf in Europe is claimed by the Free State of Bavaria and scheduled to end on December 31, 2015. Reproductions in Germany are authorized only for scholarly purposes and in heavily commented form. The situation is however unclear. Historian Werner Maser, in an interview with 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>

"Hitler Relative Eschews Royalties,"
Reuters, May 25, 2004.

</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

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 Gregor Strasser, who in 1924 had been elected to the 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 the "strategy of legality": this meant formally adhering to the rules of the Weimar Republic until he had legally gained power and then transforming liberal democracy into a Nazi dictatorship. Some party members, especially in the paramilitary SA, opposed this strategy; Röhm ridiculed Hitler as "Adolphe Legalité".

Rise to Power

Main article: Hitler's rise to power

Nazi Party Election Results
Date	Votes	Percentage	Seats in Reichstag	Background
May 1924	1,918,300	6.5	32	Hitler in prison
December 1924	907,300	3.0	14	Hitler is released from prison
May 1928	810,100	2.6	12
September 1930	6,409,600	18.3	107	After the financial crisis
July 1932	13,745,800	37.4	230	After Hitler was candidate for presidency
November 1932	11,737,000	33.1	196
March 1933	17,277,000	43.9	288	During Hitler's term as Chancellor of Germany

Brüning Administration

The political turning point for Hitler came when the Great Depression hit Germany in 1930. The Weimar Republic had never been firmly rooted and was openly opposed by right-wing conservatives (including monarchists), Communists and the Nazis. As the parties loyal to the democratic, parliamentary republic found themselves unable to agree on counter-measures, their Grand Coalition broke up and was replaced by a minority cabinet. The new Chancellor, Heinrich Brüning of the Roman Catholic Centre Party, lacking a majority in parliament, had to implement his measures through the president's emergency decrees. Tolerated by the majority of parties, the exception soon became the rule 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 Reichstag, becoming the second largest party in Germany.

Brüning's measure of budget consolidation and financial austerity brought little economic improvement and was 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 Geli Raubal was found dead in her bedroom in his Munich apartment (his half-sister 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>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 393-394.</ref>

In 1932, Hitler intended to run against the aging President Paul von Hindenburg in the scheduled 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 gave him citizenship on February 25, 1932.<ref> Der Spiegel

. Des Führers Pass, Hitlers Einbürgerung

 

. Retrieved on March 10 , 2007 . </ref> 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, and against the Communist presidential candidate. His campaign was called "Hitler über Deutschland" (Hitler over Germany).<ref name="bull201">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 201.</ref> The name had a double meaning; besides an obvious reference to Hitler's dictatorial intentions, it also referred to the fact that Hitler was campaigning 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 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.

The Nazis had become the largest party in the Reichstag without which no stable government could be formed. Papen tried to persuade Hitler to become vice chancellor and enter a new government with a parliamentary basis. Hitler, however, rejected this offer and 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 private" 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>"Die Übertragung der verantwortlichen Leitung eines mit den besten sachlichen und persönlichen Kräften ausgestatteten Präsidialkabinetts an den Führer der grössten nationalen Gruppe wird die Schlacken und Fehler, die jeder Massenbewegung notgedrungen anhaften, ausmerzen und Millionen Menschen, die heute abseits stehen, zu bejahender Kraft mitreissen." Glasnost archives</ref>

Finally, the president reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler Chancellor of a coalition government formed by the NSDAP and DNVP. Hitler and two other Nazi ministers (Frick, Göring) 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. Papen wanted to use Hitler as a figure-head, but the Nazis had gained key positions, most notably the Ministry of the Interior. 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 to gain a majority in parliament and on that basis persuaded President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag again. Elections were scheduled for early March, but on 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set on fire.<ref name="bull262">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 262.</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 Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February which suspended basic rights, including habeas corpus. Under the provisions of this decree, the German Communist Party 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">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 265.</ref>

"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 legislative powers for a period of four years. Though such a bill was not unprecedented, this act was different since it allowed for deviations from the constitution. Since the bill required a two-thirds majority in order to pass, the government needed the support of other parties. The position of the Catholic Centre Party, the third largest party in the Reichstag, turned out to be decisive: under the leadership of Ludwig Kaas, the party decided to vote for the Enabling Act. It did so in return for the government's oral guarantees regarding the 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. Members 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 KPD and the 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>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 305.</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">Bullock, A. Hitler, A Study in Tyranny, 309.</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>Fest, Joachim, Hitler (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974), pp. 476.</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.

Third Reich

Main article: Nazi Germany

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>The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich</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 Albert Speer becoming famous as the first architect of the Reich. While important as an architect in implementing Hitler's classicist reinterpretation of German culture, Speer proved much more effective as armaments minister during the last years of World War II. In 1936, Berlin hosted the 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>Robert S. Wistrich,Who's Who in Nazi Germany (New York: Routledge, 2002), p. 193</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> Hitler , Adolf

     (1961)
   
.    Hitler's Secret Book 
 (HTML)
 (English) 
. New York: Grove Press 
   

.  “Sparta must be regarded as the first völkisch state. The exposure of the sick, weak, deformed children, in short, their destruction, was more decent and in truth a thousand times more human than the wretched insanity of our day which preserves the most pathological subject.” </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

Main articles: Axis Powers and Tripartite Treaty

Although a secret German armaments program had been on-going since 1919, it was only in March 1934 when Hitler publicly announced that the German army would be expanded to 600 000 men (six times the number stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles), as well as introducing an Air Force (Luftwaffe) and increasing the size of the Navy (Kriegsmarine). Britain, France and Italy, as well as the League of Nations quickly condemned these actions. However, after re-assurances from Hitler that Germany was only interested in peace, no country took any action to stop this development and German re-armament was allowed to continue. Furthermore, Britain did not share France's pessimistic view of Germany, and in 1935 it signed a naval agreement with Germany which allowed for increasing the German tonnage up to 35% of the British navy. This agreement was made without consulting either France or Italy, and directly undermined the League of Nations and put the Treaty of Versailles on the path towards irrelevance.<ref>Roberts, Martin: The New Barbarism - A Portrait of Europe 1900-1973 (ISBN 0199132259 - Oxford University Press)</ref>

In March 1936, Hitler again violated the treaty by reoccupying the demilitarized zone in the Rhineland. When Britain and France did nothing, he grew bolder. In July 1936, the Spanish Civil War began when the military, led by General Francisco Franco, rebelled against the elected 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.

An Axis was declared between Germany and Italy by Count Galeazzo Ciano, foreign minister of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini on 25 October 1936. On 25 November of the same year, Germany concluded the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan. To strengthen relationship with this nation, Hitler met in 1937 in Nuremberg prince Chichibu, a brother of emperor Hirohito.

The Tripartite Treaty was then signed by Saburo Kurusu of Imperial Japan, Hitler, and Ciano on 27 September 1940. It was later expanded to include Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. They were collectively known as the Axis Powers. Then 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 plans for acquiring "living space" (Lebensraum) for the German people.

The Holocaust

Main article: The Holocaust

One of the foundations of Hitler's and the NSDAP's social policies was the concept of racial hygiene. It was based on the ideas of Arthur de Gobineau, eugenics, and social Darwinism. 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 crippled and retarded children in a program dubbed Action T4.<ref name="overy252">Overy, Richard. The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia (Penguin Books 2005), 252.</ref> After a public outcry, Hitler made a show of ending this program, but the killings in fact continued.

Between 1939 and 1945, the SS, assisted by collaborationist governments and recruits from occupied countries, systematically killed somewhere between 11 and 14 million people, including about 6 million Jews,<ref>"There is no precise figure for the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. The figure commonly used is the six million quoted by Adolf Eichmann, a senior SS official. Most research confirms that the number of victims was between five to six million." How many Jews were murdered in the Holocaust? How do we know? Do we have their names?; FAQs About The Holocaust, Yad Vashem (URL accessed on January 3, 2006)
"Between 1942 and 1944, Nazi Germany deported millions more Jews from the occupied territories to extermination camps, where they murdered them in specially developed killing facilities" The Holocaust; Holocaust Encyclopedia, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (URL accessed on January 3, 2006).</ref> in concentration camps, ghettos and mass executions, or through less systematic methods elsewhere. Besides being gassed to death, many also died as a result of starvation and disease while working as slave labourers (sometimes benefiting private German companies in the process, because of the low cost of such labour). Along with Jews, non-Jewish Poles (over 3 million casualties), alleged communists or political opposition, members of resistance groups, Catholic and Protestant opponents, homosexuals, Roma, the physically handicapped and mentally retarded, Soviet prisoners of war (possibly as many as 3 million), Jehovah's Witnesses, anti-Nazi clergy, trade unionists, and psychiatric patients were killed. One of the biggest centres of mass-killing was the extermination camp complex of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Hitler never visited the concentration camps and did not speak publicly about the killing in precise terms.

The massacres that led to the coining of the word "genocide" (the Endlösung der jüdischen Frage or "Final Solution of the Jewish Question") were planned and ordered by leading Nazis, with Himmler playing a key role. While no specific order from Hitler authorizing the mass killing of the Jews has surfaced, there is documentation showing that he approved the Einsatzgruppen, killing squads that followed the German army through Poland and Russia, and that he was kept well informed about their activities. The evidence also suggests that in the fall of 1941 Himmler and Hitler decided upon mass extermination by gassing. During interrogations by Soviet intelligence officers declassified over fifty years later, Hitler's valet Heinz Linge and his military aide Otto Gunsche said Hitler had "pored over the first blueprints of gas chambers."

To make for smoother cooperation in the implementation of this "Final Solution", the Wannsee conference was held near Berlin on 20 January 1942, with fifteen senior officials participating, led by Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann. The records of this meeting provide the clearest evidence of planning for the Holocaust. On 22 February, Hitler was recorded saying to his associates, "we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews".

World War II

Main article: World War II

Opening Moves

On 12 March 1938, Hitler pressured Austria into unification with Germany (the Anschluss) and made a triumphal entry into Vienna on 14 March. .<ref>Butler, Ewan and Young, Gordon. The Life and Death of Hermann Goering (David and Charles Publishers 1989), 159.</ref><ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 434.</ref> Next, he intensified a crisis over the German-speaking Sudetenland districts of Czechoslovakia.<ref>Overy, 425.</ref> This led to the Munich Agreement of September 1938, which authorized the annexation and immediate military occupation of these districts by Germany.<ref name="bull469">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 469.</ref> As a result of the summit, Hitler was TIME magazine's Man of the Year for 1938.<ref>TIME magazine (2 January 1939), "Man of the Year", time.com</ref> British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain hailed this agreement as "peace in our time", but by giving way to Hitler's military demands, Britain and France also left Czechoslovakia to Hitler's mercy.<ref name="bull469"/> Hitler ordered Germany's army to enter Prague on 15 March 1939, and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

After that, Hitler claimed German grievances relating to the Free City of Danzig and the Polish Corridor, that Germany had ceded under the Versailles Treaty. Britain had not been able to reach an agreement with the Soviet Union for an alliance against Germany, and, on 23 August 1939, Hitler concluded a secret non-aggression pact (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) with Stalin on which it was likely agreed that the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany would partition Poland. On 1 September Germany invaded the western portion of Poland. Having guaranteed assistance to Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September but did not immediately act. Not long after this, on 17 September, Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland.

During this Phoney War, Hitler built up his forces. In April 1940, he ordered German forces to march into Denmark and Norway. In May 1940, Hitler ordered his forces to attack France, conquering the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium in the process. France surrendered on 22 June, 1940. This series of victories persuaded his main ally, Benito Mussolini of Italy, to join the war on Hitler's side in May 1940.

Britain, whose defeated forces had evacuated France from the coastal town of Dunkirk, continued to fight alongside Canadian forces in the Battle of the Atlantic. After having his overtures for peace systematically rejected by the British Government, now led by Winston Churchill, Hitler ordered bombing raids on the British Isles, leading to the Battle of Britain, a prelude of the planned German invasion. The attacks began by pounding the Royal Air Force airbases and the radar stations protecting South-East England. However, the Luftwaffe failed to defeat the Royal Air Force by the end of October 1940. Air superiority for the invasion, code-named Operation Sealion, could not be assured, and Hitler ordered bombing raids to be carried out on British cities, including London and Coventry, mostly at night.

Path to Defeat

On 22 June 1941, three million German troops attacked the Soviet Union, breaking the non-aggression pact Hitler had concluded with Stalin two years earlier. This invasion, Operation Barbarossa, seized huge amounts of territory, including the Baltic states, Belarus, and Ukraine. It also encircled and destroyed many Soviet forces. But the Germans were stopped short of Moscow in December 1941 by the Russian winter and fierce Soviet resistance. The invasion failed to achieve the quick triumph Hitler wanted.

Hitler's declaration of war against the United States on 11 December 1941, four days after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, set him against a coalition that included the world's largest empire (the British Empire), the world's greatest industrial and financial power (the United States), and the world's largest army (the Soviet Union).

In late 1942, German forces were defeated in the second battle of El Alamein, thwarting Hitler's plans to seize the Suez Canal and the Middle East. In February 1943, the titanic Battle of Stalingrad ended with the encirclement and destruction of the German 6th Army. Shortly thereafter came the gigantic Battle of Kursk (1,300,000 Russians, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,400 aircraft, versus 900,000 Germans, 2,700 tanks, and 2,000 aircraft). From Stalingrad on, Hitler's military judgment became increasingly erratic, and Germany's military and economic position deteriorated. Hitler's health was also deteriorating. His left hand trembled. The biographer Ian Kershaw and others believe that he may have suffered from Parkinson's disease.<ref>"Parkinson's Part in Hitler's Downfall," BBC News, July 29, 1999. Retrieved August 15, 2007.</ref> Syphilis has also been suspected as a cause of at least some of his symptoms, although the evidence is slight.<ref name="bull717">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 717.</ref>

Following the allied invasion of Italy (Operation Husky) in 1943 Hitler's ally, Mussolini, was deposed by Pietro Badoglio who surrendered to the Allies. Throughout 1943 and 1944, the Soviet Union steadily forced Hitler's armies into retreat along the Eastern Front. On 6 June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed in northern France in what was the largest amphibious operation ever conducted, Operation Overlord. Realists in the German army knew defeat was inevitable, and some officers plotted to remove Hitler from power. In July 1944, one of them, Claus von Stauffenberg, planted a bomb in one of Hitler's Führer Headquarters, the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) at Rastenburg, but Hitler narrowly escaped death. He ordered savage reprisals, resulting in the executions of more than 4,900 people,<ref>Shirer, William L., Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, ch. 29, The Allied Invasion of Western Europe and the Attempt to Kill Hitler lists 4,980.</ref> sometimes by starvation in solitary confinement followed by slow strangulation. The main resistance movement was destroyed, although smaller isolated groups continued to operate.

Defeat and Death

Main article: Death of Adolf Hitler

By late 1944, the Red Army had driven the Germans from Soviet territory and entered Central Europe. The Western Allies were also advancing into Germany. Germany had lost the war, but Hitler allowed no retreat or regrouping for his forces while hoping to negotiate a separate peace with America and Britain, hopes buoyed by the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on 12 April 1945.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 753, 763, 778.</ref><ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 780-781.</ref> Hitler's stubbornness and defiance of military realities also allowed the Holocaust to continue. He also ordered the complete destruction of all German industrial infrastructure before it could fall into the hands of the Allies, saying that Germany's failure to win the war forfeited its right to survive.<ref name="bull774-775">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 774-775.</ref> Execution of the plan was entrusted to arms minister Albert Speer, who disobeyed the order.<ref name="bull774-775"/>

In April 1945, Soviet forces were attacking the outskirts of Berlin. Hitler's followers urged him to flee to the mountains of Bavaria to make a last stand in the National Redoubt. But Hitler was determined to either live or die in the capital.

On 20 April Hitler celebrated his 56th birthday in the "Führer's shelter" (Führerbunker) below the Reich Chancellery (Reichskanzlei). The garrison commander of the besieged "fortress Breslau" (Festung Breslau), General Hermann Niehoff, had chocolates distributed to his troops, where possible, in honor of Hitler's birthday.<ref>Dollinger, Hans. The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Modèle:LCCN, 112.</ref>

By 21 April, Georgi Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front had broken through the defenses of German General Gotthard Heinrici's Army Group Vistula during the Battle of the Seelow Heights. The Soviets were now advancing towards Hitler's bunker with little to stop them. Ignoring the facts, Hitler saw salvation in the ragtag units commanded by one of his favorite generals, Felix Steiner. For Hitler's purposes, Steiner's command became known as "Army Detachment Steiner" (Armeeabteilung Steiner). However, the "Army Detachment Steiner" existed primarily on paper. It was something more than a corps but less than an army. Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of the huge salient created by the breakthrough of Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front. Meanwhile, the German Ninth Army, which had just been pushed south of the salient, was ordered to attack north in a pincer attack.

Late on 21 April, Heinrici called Hans Krebs Chief German General Staff of the Supreme Army Command (Oberkommando des Heeres or OKH) and told him that Hitler's plan could not be implemented. Heinrici asked to speak to Hitler but was told by Krebs that Hitler was too busy to take his call.

On 22 April, during one of his last military conferences, Hitler interrupted the report to ask what had happened to General Steiner's offensive. There was a long silence. Then Hitler was told that the attack had never been launched, and that the withdrawal from Berlin of several units for Steiner's army, on Hitler's orders, had so weakened the front that the Russians had broken through into Berlin. This was too much for Hitler. He asked everyone except Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Krebs, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Burgdorf, and Martin Bormann to leave the room,<ref>Dollinger, The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, 231.</ref> and launched a tirade against the perceived treachery and incompetence of his commanders. This culminated in an oath to stay in Berlin, head up the defense of the city, and shoot himself at the end.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 783-784.</ref>

Before the day ended, Hitler again found salvation in a new plan that included General Walther Wenck's Twelfth Army.<ref name="bull784">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 784.</ref> This new plan had Wenck turn his army—currently facing the Americans to the west—and attack towards the east to relieve Berlin.<ref name="bull784"/> Twelfth Army was to link up with Ninth Army and break through to the city. Wenck did attack and, in the confusion, managed to make temporary contact with the Potsdam garrison. But the link with the Ninth Army, like the plan in general, was ultimately unsuccessful.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 790.</ref>

On 23 April, after committing to stay in Berlin with Hitler, Joseph Goebbels made the following proclamation to the people of Berlin:

Modèle:Cquote

Also on 23 April, second in command of the Third Reich and commander of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring sent a telegram from Berchtesgaden in Bavaria. In his telegram, Göring argued that, since Hitler was cut off in Berlin, he should assume leadership of Germany as Hitler's designated successor. Göring' telegram mentioned a time limit after which he would consider Hitler incapacitated.<ref name="bull787">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 787.</ref> Hitler responded, in anger, by having Göring arrested, and when he wrote his will on April 29, Göring was removed from all his positions in the government.<ref name="bull787"/><ref name="bull795">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 795.</ref><ref>Butler, Ewan and Young, Gordon. The Life and Death of Hermann Goering, 227-228.</ref>

By the end of the day on 27 April, the commander of the Berlin Defence Area, found the city to be completely cut off from the rest of Germany.

On 28 April, Hitler discovered that SS leader Heinrich Himmler was trying to inform the Allies (through the Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte) that Germany was prepared to discuss surrender terms.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 791.</ref> Hitler responded as he did with Göring, ordering his arrest and removing him from office, while having his representative in Berlin Hermann Fegelein shot.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 792.</ref><ref name="bull795"/>

During the night of 28 April, General Wenck reported to the German Supreme Army Command (Oberkommando des Heeres or OKH) in Fuerstenberg that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front. Wenck noted that no further attacks towards Berlin were possible. General Alfred Jodl (Supreme Army Command) did not provide this information to Hans Krebs in Berlin until early in the morning of 30 April.

On 29 April, Hans Krebs, Wilhelm Burgdorf, Joseph Goebbels, and Martin Bormann witnessed and signed the last will and testament of Adolf Hitler.<ref name="bull795"/> Hitler dictated the document to his private secretary, Traudl Junge.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 793.</ref> Hitler was also that day informed of the violent death of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on 28 April, which is presumed to have increased his determination to avoid capture.<ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 798.</ref>

On 30 April 1945, after intense street-to-street combat, when Soviet troops were spotted within a block or two of the Reich Chancellory, Hitler committed suicide, shooting himself while simultaneously biting into a cyanide capsule.<ref name="bull799-800">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 799-800.</ref><ref>Hitler's final witness. BBC News, 2002-02-04. Retrieved on 2007-04-23.</ref> Hitler's body and that of Eva Braun (his mistress whom he had married the day before) were put in a bomb crater,<ref>Trevor-Roper, H., The Last Days of Hitler, 1947, University Of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (1992); Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 2000.</ref> doused in gasoline by Otto Günsche and other Führerbunker aides, and set alight as the Red Army advanced and shelling continued.<ref name="bull799-800"/> Hitler also had his dog Blondi poisoned before his suicide to test the poison he and Eva Braun were going to take.

On 2 May, General Weidling surrendered Berlin unconditionally to the Russians. When Russian forces reached the Chancellory, they found his body and an autopsy was performed using dental records to confirm the identification. The remains of Hitler and Braun were secretly buried by SMERSH at their headquarters in Magdeburg.<ref name="BBCskull">Russia displays 'Hitler skull fragment'. BBC News, 2000-08-26. Retrieved on 2007-04-23.</ref> In 1970, when the facility was about to be turned over to the East German government, the remains were reportedly exhumed and thoroughly cremated.<ref name="BBCskull"/> According to the Russian Federal Security Service, a fragment of human skull stored in its archives and displayed to the public in a 2000 exhibition came from the remains of Hitler's body and is all that remains of Hitler. However, the authenticity of the skull has been challenged by many historians and researchers.<ref name="BBCskull"/>

Legacy

Modèle:Further

Hitler, the Nazi Party and the results of Nazism are typically and culturally regarded as immoral. Historical and cultural portrayals of Hitler in the west are, almost by consensus, condemnatory. The display of swastikas or other Nazi symbols is prohibited in Germany and Austria. Holocaust denial is prohibited in both countries.

However some people have referred to Hitler's legacy in neutral or favourable terms. Former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat spoke of his 'admiration' of Hitler in 1953, when he was a young man, though it is possible he was speaking in the context of a rebellion against the British Empire.<ref>Joseph Finklestone. "Anwar Sadat: Visionary Who Dared", Routledge 1996. ISBN 0714634875</ref> Louis Farrakhan has referred to him as a "very great man".<ref> CNN News, October 7, 1995

.</ref> Bal Thackeray, leader of the right-wing Hindu Shiv Sena party in the Indian state of the Maharashtra, declared in 1995 that he was an admirer of Hitler.<ref>Portrait of a Demagogue AsiaWeek's interview with Bal Thackeray</ref>

Outside of Hitler's birthplace in Braunau am Inn, Austria is a stone marker engraved with the following message:

FÜR FRIEDEN FREIHEIT

UND DEMOKRATIE

NIE WIEDER FASCHISMUS

MILLIONEN TOTE MAHNEN

Loosely translated, it reads: "For Peace, Freedom and Democracy - Never Again Fascism—Remember the Millions Dead."

As with many historical figures, legends abound about Adolf Hitler. In 1975, Irving Wallace and David Wallechinsky wrote in the first edition of The People's Almanac that Hitler had once been the owner of land near the town of Kit Carson, Colorado.<ref>Wallace and Wallechinsky, The People's Almanac, p. ? </ref> Following up on the story, Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Steve Harvey concluded that there was no truth to it.<ref>"Debate Rages -- Was Hitler Colorado Landowner in '40s?", reprinted in the Anderson Times, March 11, 1976, p. 40. Kit Carson Mayor Ernest Jones was quoted by Harvey as saying, "Haven't seen anyone who looked like him around here."</ref>

Religious Beliefs

Main articles: Adolf Hitler's religious beliefs and Nazi Mysticism

Hitler was raised by Roman Catholic parents, but as a boy he rejected some aspects of Catholicism. After Hitler left home, he never attended Mass or received the sacraments.<ref>Michael Rissmann, Hitlers Gott. Vorsehungsglaube und Sendungsbewußtsein des deutschen Diktators, Zürich München: Pendo, 2001, p. 94-96. ISBN 3-85842-421-8.</ref>

Throughout his life, Hitler often praised Christian heritage, German Christian culture, and a belief in Christ.<ref>The Holy Reich, Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919–1945, Richard Steigmann-Gall, Kent State University, Ohio, Cambridge University Press, (ISBN-13: 9780521823715 | ISBN-10: 0521823714) DOI: 10.2277/0521823714.</ref> In his speeches and publications Hitler even spoke of Christianity as a central motivation for his antisemitism, stating that "As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice".<ref>Baynes, N. (ed.) (1942).</blockquote>The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939. London, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-598-75893-3</ref><ref>Roussy, R. (ed.) (1973). My New Order. Octagon Books. ISBN 0-374-93918-7</ref> His private statements, as reported by his intimates, are more mixed, showing Hitler as a religious man but critical of traditional Christianity.<ref name="bull389">Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 389.</ref> However, in contrast to other Nazi leaders, Hitler did not adhere to esoteric ideas, occultism, or neo-paganism,<ref name="bull389"/> and ridiculed such beliefs in Mein Kampf.<ref>Overy, 282.</ref> Rather, Hitler advocated a "Positive Christianity",<ref>Overy, 278.</ref> a belief system purged from what he objected to in traditional Christianity, and which reinvented Jesus as a fighter against the Jews.

Hitler believed in Arthur de Gobineau's ideas of struggle for survival between the different races, among which the "Aryan race"—guided by "Providence"—was supposed to be the torchbearers of civilization. In Hitler's conception Jews were enemies of all civilization.

Among Christian denominations, Hitler favoured Protestantism, which was more open to such reinterpretations. At the same time, he adopted some elements of the Catholic Church's hierarchical organization, liturgy and phraseology in his politics.<ref>Michael Rissmann, p. 96.</ref><ref>Bullock, A. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, 388.</ref>

Hitler expressed admiration for the Muslim military tradition. According to one confidant, Hitler stated in private "The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness...".<ref>Speer, A. (2003). Inside the Third Reich. Weidenfeld & Nicolson History, ISBN 1-842-127357,pp 96ff</ref> Several of Hitler's private statements contradict his public statements regarding Christianity, and indicate his difficulty in reconciling Christian and Nazi philosophy.

"I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so" [Adolph Hitler, to Gen. Gerhard Engel, 1941.]

Health and Sexuality

Health

Main articles: Adolf Hitler's medical health and Vegetarianism of Adolf Hitler

Hitler's health has long been the subject of debate. He has variously been said to have suffered from irritable bowel syndrome, skin lesions, irregular heartbeat, Parkinson's disease,<ref name="bull717"/> syphilis,<ref name="bull717"/> and a strongly suggested addiction to methamphetamine. One film exists that shows his left hand trembling, which might suggest Parkinson's.<ref>The last 12 days of Hitler recalled. The Kingdom, 2005-04-06. Retrieved on 2007-05-21.</ref> Beyond that, the evidence is sparse.

After the early 1930s, Hitler generally followed a vegetarian diet, although he ate meat on occasion. There are reports of him disgusting his guests by giving them graphic accounts of the slaughter of animals in an effort to make them shun meat.<ref>Wilson, Bee (October 9, 1998). "Mein Diat - Adolf Hitler's diet". New Statesman. (Archived version)</ref> A fear of cancer (from which his mother died) is the most widely cited reason, though many authors also assert Hitler had a profound and deep love of animals. He did eat dairy products and eggs, however. Martin Bormann had a greenhouse constructed for him near the Berghof (near Berchtesgaden) to ensure a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables for Hitler throughout the war. Photographs of Bormann's children tending the greenhouse survive and, by 2005, its foundations were among the only ruins visible in the area which were associated with Nazi leaders.

Hitler was a non-smoker and promoted aggressive anti-smoking campaigns throughout Germany. He reportedly promised a gold watch to any of his close associates who quit (and gave a few away). Several witness accounts relate that, immediately after his suicide was confirmed, many officers, aides, and secretaries in the Führerbunker lit cigarettes.<ref>John Toland, Adolf Hitler, p. 741</ref>

Sexuality

Main article: Adolf Hitler's sexuality

Hitler presented himself publicly as a man without an intimate domestic life, dedicated to his political mission, and to help in winning support from the women of Germany. He had a fiancée, Mimi Reiter in the 1920s, and later had a mistress, Eva Braun. He had a close bond with his half-niece Geli Raubal, which many commentators have claimed was sexual, although there is no evidence that proves this.<ref>Rosenbaum, R., "Was Hitler 'unnatural'", Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of his Evil, Macmillan, 1998, pp.99-117.</ref> All three women attempted suicide during their relationship with him, a fact which has led to speculation that Hitler may have had unusual sexual fetishes, such as urolagnia, as was claimed by Otto Strasser. Reiter, the only one to survive the Nazi regime, denies this.<ref>Rosenbaum, op. cit., p.116</ref> During the war and afterwards psychoanalysts offered numerous inconsistent psycho-sexual explanations of his pathology.<ref> The Pink Swastika - Homosexuality in the Nazi Party - 4th edition

.</ref> Some theorists have claimed that Hitler had a relationship with British fascist Unity Mitford.<ref> Hitler's Child - The New Statesman

.</ref> . More recently Lothar Machtan has argued in his book The Hidden Hitler that Hitler was homosexual, while others argue that he was largely asexual.

Family

Main article: Hitler (disambiguation)

Paula Hitler, the last living member of Adolf Hitler's immediate family, died in 1960.

The most prominent and longest-living direct descendants of Adolf Hitler's father, Alois, was Adolf's nephew William Patrick Hitler. With his wife Phyllis, he eventually moved to Long Island, New York, and had four sons. None of William Hitler's children have yet had any children of their own.

Over the years various investigative reporters have attempted to track down other distant relatives of the Führer; many are now alleged to be living inconspicuous lives and have long since changed their last name.

• Eva Braun, mistress and then wife
• Alois Hitler, father
• Klara Hitler, mother
• Paula Hitler, sister
• Alois Hitler, Jr., half-brother
• Bridget Dowling, sister-in-law
• William Patrick Hitler, nephew
• Heinz Hitler, nephew
• Angela Hitler Raubal, half-sister
• Maria Schicklgruber, grandmother
• Johann Georg Hiedler, presumed grandfather
• Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, maternal great-grandfather, presumed great uncle and possibly Hitler's true paternal grandfather
• Geli Raubal, niece
• Hermann Fegelein, brother-in-law through Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun

Hitler in Various Media

Modèle:Seealso

Movie clip

Modèle:Multi-video start Modèle:Multi-video item Modèle:Multi-video end

Oratory and Rallies

Main article: List of Adolf Hitler speeches

Hitler was a gifted orator who captivated many with his beating of the lectern and growling, emotional speech. He honed his skills by giving speeches to soldiers during 1919 and 1920. He had an ability to tell people what they wanted to hear (the stab-in-the-back, the Jewish-Marxists, Versailles). Over time Hitler perfected his delivery by rehearsing in front of mirrors and carefully choreographing his display of emotions with the message he was trying to convey. Munitions minister and architect Albert Speer, who may have known Hitler as well as anyone, said that Hitler was above all else an actor.<ref> Hitler also spoke extensively in Munich's beer halls. The Power of Speech by A. E. Frauenfeld. Calvin College</ref><ref>The Führer as a Speaker by Dr. Joseph Goebbels. Calvin College</ref>

Massive Nazi rallies were carefully staged by Albert Speer, which were designed to spark a process of self-persuasion for the participants. This process can be appreciated by watching Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, which chillingly presents the 1934 Nuremberg Rally.

Hitler and Goebbels toned down their racism as Hitler gained electoral strength. In areas where anti-Semitism was strong, they used code words (railing against "Bolshevists" with most people understanding that he meant "Jews"), and they ignored anti-Semitism in areas where it was not already strong. Many Germans were, as they said, "Nazi, but. . ." meaning that they thought Hitler had abandoned his shrill racism.

Recorded in Private Conversation

Hitler visited Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim on 4 June 1942. During the visit an engineer of the Finnish broadcasting company YLE, Thor Damen, recorded Hitler and Mannerheim in conversation, something which had to be done secretly since Hitler never allowed recordings of him off-guard. [2] Today the recording is the only known recording of Hitler not speaking in an official tone. The recording captures 11 and a half minutes of the two leaders in private conversation. [3] Hitler speaks in a slightly excited, but still intellectually detached manner during this talk (the speech has been compared to that of the working class). The majority of the recording is a monologue by Hitler. In the recording, Hitler admits to underestimating the Soviet Union's ability to conduct war (some English transcripts exist [4] [5]).Recording on the YLE Internet Archive

Documentaries during the Third Reich

Hitler appeared in and was involved to varying degrees with a series of films by the pioneering filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl via Universum Film AG (UFA):

• Der Sieg des Glaubens (The Victory of Faith, 1933).
• Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will, 1934), co-produced by Hitler.
• Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht (Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces, 1935).
• Olympia (1938).

Hitler was the central figure of the first three films; they focused on the party rallies of the respective years and are considered propaganda films. Hitler also featured prominently in the Olympia film. Whether the latter is a propaganda film or a true documentary is still a subject of controversy, but it nonetheless perpetuated and spread the propagandistic message of the 1936 Olympic Games depicting Nazi Germany as a prosperous and peaceful country.<ref> IMDb: Adolf Hitler

.</ref> As a prominent politician, Hitler was also featured in many newsreels.

Television

Hitler's attendance at various public functions, including the 1936 Olympic games and Nuremberg Rallies, appeared in live television broadcasts made between 1935 and 1939. These events, along with other programming highlighting activity by public officials, were often repeated in public viewing rooms.<ref> Television under the Swastika: The history of Nazi Television

.</ref>

Documentaries post Third Reich

• The World at War (1974) is a Thames Television series which contains much information about Hitler and Nazi Germany, including an interview with his secretary, Traudl Junge.
• Adolf Hitler's Last Days, from the BBC series "Secrets of World War II" tells the story about Hitler's last days during World War II.
• The Nazis: A Warning From History (1997), a 6-part BBC TV series on how the cultured and educated Germans accepted Hitler and the Nazis up to its downfall. Historical consultant is Ian Kershaw.
• Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (2002) is an exclusive 90 minute interview with Traudl Junge, Hitler's final trusted secretary. Made by Austrian Jewish director André Heller shortly before Junge's death from lung cancer, Junge recalls the last days in the Berlin bunker. Clips used in Downfall.
• Undergångens arkitektur (Architecture of Doom) (1989) documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic as envisioned by Hitler.

Dramatizations

• Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973) is a movie depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitler's death, starring Sir Alec Guinness.
• The Bunker (1978) by James O'Donnell, describing the last days in the Führerbunker from 17 January 1945 to 2 March 1945. Made into the TV movie The Bunker (1981), starring Anthony Hopkins.
• Max is a 2002 Drama movie that depicts a friendship between art dealer Max Rothman (who is Jewish) and a young Adolf Hitler as a failed painter in Vienna.
• Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) is a two-part TV series about the early years of Adolf Hitler and his rise to power (up to 1933). Stars Robert Carlyle.
• Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004) is a German movie about the last days of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, starring Bruno Ganz. This film is partly based on the autobiography of Traudl Junge, a favorite secretary of Hitler's. In 2002, Junge said she felt great guilt for "...liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived."
• Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's Hitler - Ein Film aus Deutschland (Hitler, A Film From Germany), 1977, is a 7-hour work in 4 parts. The director uses documentary clips, photographic backgrounds, puppets, theatrical stages, and other elements.<ref> German Cinema

.</ref>

See also

• Führer Headquarters
• Führermuseum
• List of Nazi Party leaders and officials
• List of former Nazis influential after 1945

References

Further reading

Main article: List of Adolf Hitler books

Many books have been written about Adolf Hitler with his life and legacy thoroughly researched. See this list for an extensive annotated bibliography of books related to Adolf Hitler.

External links

Modèle:Sisterlinks

• Portrayals of Hitler Project How Hitler has been viewed over the years.
• Photographs of Adolf Hitler
• Modèle:Imdb character (The Character portrayed in film and television)
• 1943 Psychological Profile of Hitler written by Dr. Henry A. Murray for the wartime Office of Strategic Services [1943 OSS Archives, DD247.H5 M87 1943]
• Color Footage of Hitler - Watch color footage of Hitler during WWII
• Hitler's Mein Kampf (full text)
• Finnish Broadcasting Company recording of Adolf Hitler speaking in Mannerheim's birthday The world's only recording of Adolf Hitler's natural speech. More of the subject: [6]
• Hitler Speech (February 10, 1933) with English Translation
• The Testament of Adolf Hitler the Borman-Hitler documents

Modèle:Start box Modèle:S-off |- style="text-align:center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"|Preceded by
Anton Drexler |width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="1"|Leader of the NSDAP
1921–1945 |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="2"| Succeeded by
None |- |- style="text-align:center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"|Preceded by
Franz Pfeffer von Salomon |width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="1"|Leader of the SA
1930–1945 Modèle:Succession box Modèle:Succession box Modèle:S-mil Modèle:Succession box Modèle:S-ach |- style="text-align:center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"|Preceded by
Chiang Kai-shek and Soong May-ling |width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="1"|Time's Man of the Year
1938 |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"| Succeeded by
Joseph Stalin |- Modèle:S-ref

Modèle:GermanChancellors Modèle:Cabinet Hitler Modèle:Adolf Hitler Modèle:Final occupants of the Führerbunker

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