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If none of this is seeming familiar, you simply aren't paying enough attention to what's happening all around you today. Adolf Hitler was in power for 12 years and 3 months, ruling Germany from January 30, 1933, until his suicide on April 30, 1945. His regime, known as Nazi Germany or the Third Reich, transformed a democratic republic into a totalitarian dictatorship. The timeline of his rule is divided into three major phases:

Consolidation of Power (1933–1934) Hitler dismantled Germany's democratic institutions using a strategy of legal manipulation and violent intimidation. January 30, 1933: Appointed Chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg. February 27, 1933: The Reichstag Fire occurs. Hitler uses it to suspend civil liberties and arrest political opponents. March 23, 1933: Parliament passes the Enabling Act, granting Hitler the power to enact laws without parliamentary consent. June–July 1934: The Night of the Long Knives purges rivals within his own party and military leadership. August 2, 1934: President Hindenburg dies. Hitler merges the offices of Chancellor and President, officially declaring himself Führer (Leader).

Peacetime Dictatorship (1934–1939)During this period, the Nazi regime established complete control over public life and prepared for territorial expansion. Gleichschaltung: A policy of "coordination" that banned all other political parties, dissolved trade unions, and placed the judiciary, press and schools under Nazi control. The 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped German Jews of citizenship, escalating to widespread violence during Kristallnacht in 1938. Hitler ignored the Treaty of Versailles restrictions, rapidly expanding the army and reoccupying the Rhineland.