Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was born 1889 in Austria on April 20, 1889. Hitler dropped out of school at age 15. In his early life, he pursued a career as an artist, but was not able to succeed. During the first world war, he enlisted in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. He was later seriously wounded in battle. After this incident, Hitler joined the German Workers Party, which became the Nazionalsozialistiche, or Nazi, Party. In July of 1921, he was elected president of the party. In November 1923 he unsuccessfully tried to overthrow the Bavarian government, resulting in him spending 9 months in prison for treason. During this time he wrote his infamous book Mein Kamph. In this book he declared his hatred for Jews, communists, and other groups he deemed as enemies to the German people. After these 9 months Hitler returned to Germany and resumed his position as president of the Nazis. During this time, Germany was impoverished due to the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler promised to bring a new era of prosperity, and Germans believed him. During the early 1930s the Nazis began to gain power in the German government. In 1932 Hitler ran for president and lost, but was appointed Prime MInister.
1933 he created a law that gave him the power of dictator. When President Hindenburg passed away, Hitler became Supreme Leader of Germany. Hitler was greedy. Ruling Germany wasn't enough for him, he needed to take over more land. He invaded countries neighboring Germany including Poland and France. In 1936 Hitler allied with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Hitler built up his army and created concentration camps. These camps were where he imprisioned people he considered enemies of the state, such as Jews and Communists. In 1941 the United States declared war on Germany. Because of this, the Allies began to win the war. Hitler began to make reckless decisions with his army, despite his officers advising him against them. In 1944, his officers unsuccessfully attempted to assasinate him with a bomb hidden in a briefcase. Hitler couldn't take the thought of losing the war, so on April 30, 1945, as his troops retreated, he and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide.
Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini was born on June 29, 1883. Mussolini was an avid reader from a young age and had strong anti-church, socialist beliefs. As he got older however, his views changed drastically. He became a radical right wing nationalist and editor of Italian newspaper 'Avanti'. Mussolini got involved in politics and gained the support of Italy's rich and powerful upper class. He created a squad of thugs who beat and killed his opponents. One man, Matteotti, who often made speeches criticizing him and exposing his crimes, was murdered. At this time, many Italians were poor, and the country was in shambles. They would support anyone who told them he would make them rich, which is exactly what Mussolini did. Mussolini gained power and became a dictator. He created a single party government where he controlled all aspects of life in the country. He formed an alliance with German leader Adolf Hitler. In 1935, he invaded Ethiopia. After the war ended in 1943, Mussolini was arrested and tried for war crimes. On April 28, 1945 he was executed by firing squad.
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin was born on December 18, 1879. Stalin was forced to become a priest at a young age, but was kicked out of the seminary as a teen for reading books on Marxism. He was a supporter of Communism and the Bolskeviks, which at that time was taboo. He joined the Communist Party later in life and began to gain power. Eventually he became the General Secretary of the party. After being expelled, Stalin became an underground political activist, and participated in demonstrations and strikes. He went by the name Koba and joined the Bolsheviks. With the bolsheviks, he committed many crimes such as robbing banks in order to fund the party. He was arrested many times between 1902 and 1913, and was eventually exiled to Siberia. In 1906 he married Ekaterina "Kato" Svaidze, who passed away a year later. In 1917 the Bosheviks overthrew the Russian government, and appointed Vladimir Lenin as its leader. In 1918 Stalin married Nadezhda Alliluyeva. In 1924 Lenin died and he took control of the country. He was able to gain the support of poor Russians, as the country was impoverished and Stalin promised to make them rich again. At the beginning of World War II, Russia and Germany had a nonaggression pact, but Germany broke this later on. Russia became part of the Allied forces, attempting to take over parts of countries in Europe such as Poland and Finland. In 1943, the Russian Red Army drove German troops out of the country. Although Stalin made Russia wealthy, he was a terrible dictator. He murdered thousand of Russians and killed anyone who disagreed with him. He industrialized the country through slave labor and created a Communist government. 1950 Stalin allowed North Korea to invade South Korea, starting the Korean War. He tested an atomic bomb, bringing Russia into a nuclear era. It is estimated that throughout his lifetime Stalin was responsible for over 20,000,000 deaths. On March 5, 1953 Joseph Stalin suffered a stroke and passed away, ending an era of terror in Russia.
Cailyn M