From the very start, Adolf Hitler was a staunch opponent of the Weimar Republic. From the beginning of the 1920s, he was heavily involved in völkisch, anti-Semitic groups, in which he gained more and more followers and founded the NSDAP. He then planned a march on Berlin, modelled on the march in Italy. However, his march failed miserably on 9 November 1923. He was let off easily, leaving prison after a short time. He then forced his party to stick to a strategy operating within the republic’s legal framework. Still, he worked tirelessly to dismantle the democracy completely. He managed to do so in the end thanks to his alliance with right-wing conservative groups who helped him become Reichskanzler in 1932. This plunged Germany in the darkest chapter of its history, with an unprecedented reign of terror striking anyone diverging from the Nazi norms. The party imposed Gleichschaltung, a Nazification process permeating all aspects of society. Unbridled racial fanaticism broke loose, with an unparalleled genocide committed against the Jews. In the end, the war ravaged the world, killing 50 million people. With his Reich collapsing, Hitler escaped responsibility by committing suicide in 1945.

Wikipedia entry

Joseph Goebbels originally held socialist views. This did not change until after the November Revolution. The confusing array of ideas circulating during the revolution triggered a process within the unstable young man that eventually led him to national socialism. He admired Hitler and subjected himself to his rule. The latter, in turn, recognized his talents and appointed him Gauleiter in Berlin and, in the end, the NSDAP’s head of propaganda. Using the most modern methods of the time, he managed to fill large parts of the population with enthusiasm for national socialism. After the Nazis seized power in 1933, he became Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. In this capacity, he seized complete control of the press and ensured the Gleichschaltung of the country’s cultural landscape in its entirety. In his speeches, he rallied the people to support Hitler and the war, and his 1943 “total war” speech became notorious. Goebbels committed suicide in April 1945.

Wikipedia entry

After having served in the war, Gregor Strasser joined the Epp Freikorps, which was involved in putting down the Munich councils’ republic movement. In 1921, he joined the NSDAP and helped with the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. He represented leftist, anti-capitalist views within the national socialist movement. After the NSDAP was re-founded in 1925, he quickly climbed its career ladder, all the way to becoming leader of its national organization. This made him a dangerous rival for Hitler. Yet in 1932, Gregor Strasser stepped down. But this did not keep him from being murdered on 30 June 1934 during the Night of the Long Knives purge.

Wikipedia entry