Adolf Hitler is born in Braunau am Inn, in Austria, the son of Alois and Klara

Alois Hitler, violent, feared and greatly disliked by his son Adolf, dies

Hitler moves to Vienna, hoping to be a painter, but is twice rejected as a student by the Academy of Fine Arts

Hitler's mother Klara, to whom he was devoted, dies at the age of forty-seven

Without financial support from his mother, Hitler ekes out a meagre living painting postcards and advertisements

Hitler moves to Munich to begin a new life, and in an attempt to avoid Austrian military service

Summoned to Austria for military service, Hitler is rejected as being physically unfit

On the outbreak of war, Hitler applies to join the German army and is enlisted in the Sixteenth Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment

In action as a front-line HQ runner Hitler is awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class, for bravery

Hitler is wounded in the leg at the Battle of the Somme

Returning to the front after being wounded in the leg, Hitler is promoted to the rank of lance-corporal

Adolf Hitler is awarded the Iron Cross, First Class, a decoration rarely given to a corporal

Hitler returns to Munich and in the prevailing mood of post-defeat resentment begins to take an interest in extremist politics

Adolf Hitler joins the tiny German Workers' party, the members of which share his own virulent anti-semitism

The German Workers' Party, with Adolf Hitler as one of its leading members, changes its name to the Nazi party

Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi party, which now has about 3000 members

Adolf Hitler, launching a putsch in a Munich beer cellar, announces the birth of a new national government

Adolf Hitler's beer-cellar putsch ends in ignominious failure, as he turns and flees under fire

Hermann Goering is wounded in the aftermath of the Munich beer hall putsch, but unlike Hitler manages to escape

Adolf Hitler dictates Mein Kampf to Rudolf Hess in their shared prison cell after the failed Munich putsch

Rudolf Hess suggests to Hitler the policy of Lebensraum or 'living space' for the German people

The first volume of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf is published

The Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) is established by the Nazi party for teenage boys

The SS, which has evolved from Hitler's personal bodyguard, is put under the command of Heinrich Himmler

Adolf Hitler puts Joseph Goebbels at the head of the Nazi party's propaganda campaign