Adolf Hitler

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Adolf Hitler was leader of Germany during the Third Reich (1933 – 1945) and the primary instigator of both the Second World War in Europe and the mass execution of millions of people deemed to be "enemies" or inferior to the Aryan ideal. Born: April 20, 1889, died: April 30, 1945.
Adolf Hitler’s Childhood:

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on April 20th 1889 to Alois Hitler (who, as an illegitimate child, had previously used his mother’s name of Schickelgruber) and Klara Poelzl. A moody child, he grew hostile towards his father, especially once the latter had retired and the family had moved to Linz. Alois died in 1903 but left money to take care of the family. Hitler was close to his mother, who was highly indulgent of Hitler, and he was deeply affected when she died in 1908. He left school at 16 in 1905, intending to become a painter.
Adolf Hitler in Vienna:

Hitler moved to Vienna in 1907 where he applied to the Viennese Academy of Fine arts, but was twice turned down. This experience further embittered the increasingly angry Hitler, and he remained in Vienna living off his small family inheritance and what he could make from selling his art, moving from hostel to hostel, a lonely, vagabond figure. During this period Hitler appears to have developed the world view that would characterise his whole life: a hatred for Jews and Marxists. Hitler was well placed to be influenced by the demagogy of Karl Lueger, Vienna’s deeply anti-Semitic mayor.
Adolf Hitler and the First World War:

Hitler moved to Munich in 1913 and avoided Austrian military service in early 1914 by virtue of being unfit. However, when the First World War broke out in 1914 he joined the 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, serving throughout the war. He proved to be an able and brave soldier as a dispatch runner, winning the Iron Cross (First Class) on two occasions. He was also wounded twice, and four weeks before the war ended suffered a gas attack which temporarily blinded and hospitalised him. It was here he learnt of Germany’s surrender, which he took as a betrayal. He especially hated the Treaty of Versailles.
Adolf Hitler Enters Politics:

After WW1 Hitler became convinced he was destined to save Germany. In 1919, working for an army unit, he was assigned to spy on a political party of roughly 40 idealists called the German Workers Party. Instead he joined it, swiftly rose to a position of dominance (he was chairman by 1921) and renamed it the Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). He gave the party the Swastika as a symbol and organised a personal army of ‘storm troopers’ (the SA or Brownshirts) and a bodyguard of black shirted men, the SS, to attack opponents. He also discovered, and used, his powerful ability for public speaking.
The Beer Hall Putsch:

In November 1923 Hitler organised Bavarian nationalists under a figurehead of General Ludendorff into a coup (or 'putsch'). They declared their new government in a beer hall in Munich and then 3000 marched through the streets, but they were met by police, who opened fire, killing 16. Hitler was arrested and tried in 1924, but was sentenced to only five years in prison, a sentence often taken as a sign of tacit agreement with his views. Hitler served only nine months in prison, during which he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle), a book outlining his theories on race, Germany and Jews. It sold five million copies by 1939.
Adolf Hitler as Politician:

After the Beer-Hall Putsch Hitler resolved to seek power through subverting the Weimar government system, and he carefully rebuilt the NSDAP, or Nazi, party, allying with future key figures like Goering and propaganda mastermind Goebbels. Over time he expanded the party’s support, partly by exploiting fears of socialists and partly by appealing to everyone who felt their economic livelihood threatened by the depression of the 1930s, until he had the ears of big business, the press and the middle classes. Nazi votes jumped to 107 seats in the Reichstag in 1930.
Adolf Hitler as President and Führer:

In 1932 Hitler acquired German citizenship and ran for president, coming second to von Hindenburg. Later that year the Nazi party acquired 230 seats in the Reichstag, making them the largest party in Germany. Helped by support from conservative politicians believing they could control Hitler, he was appointed Chancellor of Germany on January 30th 1933. Hitler moved with great speed to isolate and expel opponents from power, shutting trade unions, removing communists, conservatives and Jews.
Later that year Hitler perfectly exploited an act of arson on the Reichstag (which some believe the Nazis helped cause) to begin the creation of a totalitarian state, dominating the March 5th elections thanks to support from nationalist groups. Hitler soon took over the role of president when Hindenburg died and merged the role with that of Chancellor to become Führer (‘Leader’) of Germany.
Adolf Hitler in Power:

Hitler continued to move with speed in radically changing Germany, consolidating power, locking up “enemies” in camps, bending culture to his will, rebuilding the army and breaking the constraints of the Treaty of Versailles. He tried to change the social fabric of Germany by encouraging women to breed more and bringing in laws to secure racial purity; Jews were particularly targeted. Employment, high elsewhere in a time of depression, fell to zero in Germany. Hitler also made himself head of the army.
World War Two and the Failure of the Third Reich

Hitler engineered territorial expansion, uniting with Austria in an anschluss, and dismembering Czechoslovakia. It was in September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland, that other nations took a stand, declaring war. This was not unappealing to Hitler who believed Germany should make itself great through war, and invasions in 1940 went well. However, arguably his fatal mistake occurred in 1941 with the invasion of Russia, through which he wished to create lebensraum, or ‘living room’. After initial success, German forces were pushed back by Russia, and defeats in Africa and West Europe followed as Germany was slowly beaten. During this time Hitler became gradually more paranoid and divorced from the world, retreating to a bunker. As armies approached Berlin from two directions, Hitler married his mistress, Eva Braun, and on April 30th 1945 killed himself.
Hitler and History

Hitler will forever be remembered for starting the Second World War, the most costly conflict in world history, thanks to his desire to expand Germany’s borders through force. He will equally be remembered for his dreams of racial purity, which prompted him to order the execution of millions of people, perhaps as high as eleven million. Although every arm of German bureaucracy was turned to pursuing the executions, Hitler was the chief driving force.
Adolf Hitler: Mentally Ill?

In the decades since Hitler’s death many commentators have concluded that he must have been mentally ill, and that if he wasn’t when he started his rule the pressures of his failed wars must have driven him mad. Given that he ordered genocide and ranted and raved it is easy to see why people have come to this conclusion, but it’s important to state that there is no consensus among historians that he was insane, or what psychological problems he may have had.

Indira Gandhi

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Indira Gandhi was the first woman ever elected to lead a democracy. She was the Prime Minister from 1966-77 and then again between 1980-84 till her death at the hands of her own bodyguards. A paradox she may seem for during the time that she served India as a Prime Minister, she was known as a dictator as well as one of the most charismatic leaders of India.

Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 and was the only child of Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru. The active participation of both her parents in India's independence struggle of India from the British, Indira Gandhi was drawn to politics at an early age. It was as if politics and politicians always surrounded her.

By the time she was about twelve years old, she headed what came to be known as the Monkey Brigade. The monkey brigade consisted of children who warned the independence movement leaders of their arrest. Being its leader, she delivered speeches while other children actually warned the people who were going to be arrested. The Congress figured that the British would not suspect children of participating in such involvement.

She was soon sent to England for her studies where she joined the Somerville college, Oxford. She also spent time in Switzerland primarily because her mother needed to be there due to her ill health. But her mother passed away in 1936.

In 1938, Indira returned to India and joined the Indian National Congress Party. Soon afterwards in 1942, she married journalist Feroze Gandhi with whom she eventually had two sons-Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi. Soon after the couple was married, they were sent to prison on charges of subversion by the British. Her one and only imprisonment lasted from September 11, 1942 until May 13, 1943 at the Naini Central Jail in Allahabad.

India won its independence from Britain in 1947. In that same year, Indira's father Jawaharlal Nehru became India's first Prime Minister. Since her mother's death, Indira acted as her father's hostess and confidante and traveled with Nehru. Simultaneously, she was steadily making her way presence felt in the political arena. She began to associate herself with numerous organizations. From 1953-57 she was Chairman of the Central Social Welfare Board. In 1955, she became a member of the Working Committee and Central Election Committee, the Central Parliamentary Board from 1956, and was the President of the All India Youth Congress from 1956 to 1960.

After the death of her father, Jawaharlal Nehru in1964, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri appointed Indira Gandhi as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. This position was the fourth highest-ranking position in the Cabinet as radio and television were an important source to disseminate information to the largely illiterate population of India. As a minister, She encouraged the making of inexpensive radios and started a family planning program.

But Lal Bahadur Shastri suddenly died of a heart attack in 1966. The contenders for Prime Minister's post could not agree among themselves and therefore felt that Indira Gandhi would be the best for the position as a prime minister. Hence, she became the Prime Minister in 1966 till India held the next elections in 1967. She won that election--- in 1967, she became the first woman ever elected to lead a democracy. In 1971, Gandhi was re-elected by campaigning with the slogan "Garibi Hatao" (Abolish Poverty).

She rode a wave of success in 1971 with India's victory in the Indo-pak war and the launching of the India's first satellite into space. And with the testing of a nuclear device in 1974, she earned the reputation of a tough and shrewd politician among the middle class.

Simultaneously, by 1973, large-scale demonstrations were taking place across Delhi and north India. A large section of the population felt that she was not living up to her promises of "Garibi Hatao". High inflation, rampant corruption and poor standards of living were leading to social unrest.

In an attempt to control population growth, she implemented a voluntary sterilization program. But her adversaries criticized it. She began to face a strong opposition to her administration in general.

By 1975, Indira Gandhi had to face charges of corruption. In June 1975, the High Court of Allahabad found her guilty of using illegal practices during the last election campaign. She was ordered to vacate her seat. There were demands for her resignation.

She responded by declaring a state of emergency on June 25, 1975. During this emergency, the Supreme Court of India overturned the Allahabad High Court's judgment. Through the powers ensured to her through the emergency, she ordered the arrests of the main opposition leaders. In her opinion, she declared an emergency for the good of India. The constitutional rights of the citizens were limited and the press was under strict censorship overnight. Meanwhile, her eldest son, Sanjay Gandhi, ordered the removal of slum dwellings, and in an attempt to curb India's growing population, initiated a highly resented program of forced sterilization.

In early 1977, she thought she had eliminated her opposition and called for fresh elections. Her Congress party lost badly at the polls. She was voted out of power and a newly formed coalition of political parties came to power. Many declared that she was a spent force. But, three years later, she was to return as Prime Minister of India.

Indira Gandhi came to power again as the prime minister in 1980. The same year, however, her son Sanjay was killed in an airplane crash.

In the post-emergency period, as a prime minister Indira Gandhi was preoccupied by efforts to resolve the political problems in the state of Punjab. In her attempt to crush the secessionist movement of Sikh militants, led by Jarnail Singh Bindranwale, she ordered an assault upon the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, the "Golden Temple". It was from here that Bindranwale and his armed supporters waged their campaign. "Operation Bluestar", waged in June 1984, led to the death of Bindranwale, and the Golden Temple was stripped clean of Sikh terrorists. However, the Golden Temple was damaged, and Mrs. Gandhi earned the undying hatred of Sikhs who bitterly resented her action in their sacred space. In November of the same year, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated, at her residence, by two of her own Sikh bodyguards, who claimed to be avenging the insult heaped upon the Sikh nation.

Her death led to sectarian violence across India during which over a 1000 people died of which many were Sikhs.

Indira Gandhi was remarkable for her ambition for personal power, her endurance and political tenacity. Mrs. Gandhi acquired a formidable international reputation as a "statesman", and there is no doubt that she was extraordinarily skilled in politics. On the international front, she insisted on India's independence, gradually loosened ties with the former USSR that were developed in the early 1970s when China seemed menacing. She was proved to be a forceful spokeswoman for the rights of poorer nations. On the domestic front, however, her autocratic methods often clashed with her democratic principles. She had an authoritarian streak and rarely tolerated dissent. In many respects, Indian democracy was irreparably harmed during her rule. Apart from her infamous imposition of the internal emergency, the use of the army to resolve internal disputes greatly increased in her time.

After her death, her second son, Rajiv Gandhi, was sworn in as head of the Congress party and Prime Minister.