Adolf Hitler was a success up until 1945 when the allied armies entered Germany. His own history was a complete success and he was eagerly followed by his people, those he didn't hate.
He successfully murdered untold numbers of Jews, Gypsies, crippled or weak individuals as well as any political opponent known to him. He enforced this hatred with the secret police even while WWII was in full swing.
When Hitler became Chancellor of
Germany in 1933, well before the attack on Poland, he tossed out all
evidence of the previous German government and brought the Nazis to
power.
When the Nazis began it was the German Workers' Party. They attempted to overthrow the German government 10 years earlier (than the beginning of WWII) and failed. Hitler was sent to prison for this activity.
While in prison he wrote Mein Kampf and when he emerged from prison he was able to gain the support of the German poor. This led to the Nazis coming to power.
Volumes can and have been written about Hitler but I think the important thing to remember were his lies to the German poor thought brought him to power.
This one small quote from Mein Kampf can probably serve as an example of why Hitler did what he did. "Blood mixture and the resultant drop in the racial level is the sole cause of the dying out of old cultures; for men do not perish as a result of lost wars, but by the loss of that force of resistance which is contained only in pure blood."
As Americans we know the man was doomed; he had to be doomed long before he gained the support of the easily swayed German poor and took control of the German government. He did however create more damage to his own nation than any other known leader in history before his fate was realized.
As time passed and WWII progressed Hitler survived an assassination attempt in 1944 only to commit suicide in early 1945 after the Allied Forces invaded Germany.
Adolf Hitler has secured his position as one of the worlds greatest villains.