Episode list

First of a two-part documentary following the Fuehrer's ascent to power. Hitler saw military service throughout the First World War, but Germany's defeat turned him into a nationalist who soon became the mouthpiece of a small far-right group. When the country experienced hyperinflation in the early 1920s, he attempted a coup with his paramilitary storm troopers, but it was a terrible failure. Lucky to survive, Hitler was imprisoned, and resumed his quest for power following his release.

The concluding part of the documentary begins with the German economic crisis of 1929, which provided an unexpected opportunity for Hitler. He and Joseph Goebbels orchestrated an ingenious election campaign, while his storm troopers created violent disorder and bloody confrontations with communists. Germany's political elite, eager for the demise of the Republic, allowed the Fuehrer's rapid rise to continue, thinking they could control him, but he obtained a vote giving him full powers. The country's first concentration camps were established soon after Hitler's appointment as chancellor in January 1933.