Adolf Hitler, German Nazi leader, 1923. Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) became leader of the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) party in 1921. After an unsuccessful coup attempt in Munich in 1923, and briefly imprisoned, Hitler sought power by democratic means. His nationalistic and anti-semitic message quickly gained support in Germany which was humiliated by defeat in World War I and the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles. From the late 1920s, Germany suffered from economic collapse. Hitler came to power in 1933, and persuaded the Reichstag (parliament) to grant him dictatorial powers. He crushed the opposition within his own party and throughout German society, and set about re-arming the country. Hitler's aggressive policy of territorial expansion to secure 'lebensraum' (living space) for the German people eventually plunged the world into the Second World War. The photographer is unknown.