Organizer of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). After World War I, he was not successful in his November 1923 attempt to forcibly bring Germany under Nationalist control, in the "Beer Hall Putsch." Arrested and jailed for a five-year term, he wrote "Mein Kampf," describing his plan to create a greater Germany. Released after eight months, he reentered politics and, by intimidating his enemies, eventually was allotted the chancellorship. He set up a dictatorship, brutally eliminating all his rivals, enemies and opposition. In September 1939, after annexing Austria, the Sudentenland and finally Czechoslovakia, he invaded Poland. By the time the Allies realized he wasn't to be trusted, Hitler had overtaken much of Europe. Once the U.S. joined the war in December 1941, the Germans began suffering defeats. Although the war was obviously lost, he encouraged Germans to fight to their deaths - but he committed suicide on April 20, 1945 rather than be captured alive.