A frustrated artist, Adolf Hitler once had hopes of becoming a famous painter. He did become famous, but not for his paintings.

He ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945. He had previously been decorated during World War l, then joining the Nazi Party in 1920, and becoming its leader in 1921. After a failed coup in 1923, he wrote Mein Kampf (My struggle), an autobiography and a demonstration of his ideology, with antisemitism at its base alongside anti-communism.

Starting in 1933, he quickly established a totalitarian and fascist dictatorship, reneging basic democratic ideals. The invasion of Poland in 1939 announced the beginning of World War ll in Europe.