NELSON MANDELA

NELSON MANDELA

        A towering figure in 20th century history, Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela showed how wisdom and patience can triumph over bigotry and brute force. Truly the Father of a Nation.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the son of one of South Africa's leading dignitaries, Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe, and it was as a young law student that he became involved in political opposition to the white minority regime. Joining the African National Congress (ANC) in 1942, he co-founded its more dynamic Youth League two years later.

The 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party led to the apartheid system of racial segregation becoming law. Mandela rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People, whose adoption of the Freedom Charter provided the fundamental programme of the anti-apartheid cause.

Initially committed to non-violent mass struggle and acquitted in the marathon Treason Trial of 1956-1961, Mandela and his colleagues accepted the case for armed action after the shooting of unarmed protesters at Sharpeville in March 1960 and the banning of anti-apartheid groups.

In 1961, he became the commander of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. In August of the following year, he was arrested and jailed for five years. In June 1964, he was sentenced again, this time to life imprisonment, for his involvement in planning armed action.

He started his prison years in the infamous Robben Island Prison, a maximum security facility on a small island off the coast of Cape Town. In April 1984, he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and in December 1988 he was moved to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl from where he was eventually released.

During his incarceration Mandela taught himself to speak Afrikaans and learned about Afrikaner history. He was able to converse with his guards in their own language, using his charm and intelligence to reason with them and try to understand the way they thought. This caused the authorities to replace the guards around regularly Mandela as it was felt that they could were becoming too lenient in their treatment of their famous prisoner.

While in prison, Mandela rejected offers made by his jailers for remission of sentence in exchange for accepting the Bantustan policy by recognising the independence of the Transkei region and agreeing to settle there. Amongst opponents of apartheid in South Africa and internationally, he became a cultural symbol of freedom and equality.

Mandela remained in prison until February 1990, when sustained ANC campaigning and international pressure led to his release. On 2 February 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations. Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison on 11 February 1990.

He and President de Klerk - who did much to dismantle the institutions of apartheid - shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In Mandela's 1994 autobiography, 'Long Walk to Freedom', he did not reveal anything about the alleged complicity of de Klerk in the violence of the 1980s and 90s, or the role of his ex-wife Winnie Mandela in that bloodshed. However, he later discussed those issues in 'Mandela: The Authorised Biography'.

After his release, Mandela returned to the leadership of the ANC and, between 1990 and 1994, led the party in the multi-party negotiations that resulted in the country's first multi-racial elections. As the first black president of South Africa (1994 - 1999) he presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid. He won praise for his leadership during this time, even from his former white opponents in South Africa.

Following his retirement as president in 1999, Mandela went on to become an advocate for a variety of social and human-rights organisations. He used his status as a respected elder statesman to give weight to pertinent issues, declaring the United States "a threat to world peace" in 2002 while calling on then president George W Bush not to launch attacks on Iraq.

Because his health was declining, Mandela chose to retire from public life in 2004 and went on to reduce his number of appearances, although he was too prominent a figure to disappear completely. His name has been used to promote charitable ventures close to his heart such as the Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament, which has raised millions of rand for children's charities since its establishment in 2000.

The fight against Aids is one of Mandela's primary concerns and he used his gravitas to raise awareness about the issue on the global stage. Having backed the 46664 Aids fundraising campaign, which was named after his prison number, he went on to call for more openness in discussing the condition. His son Makgatho Mandela died of Aids in 2005 and the statesman used the occasion to tell people that not hiding the condition, but talking about it, is the only way to break the stigma.

In 2007, he brought together elder statesmen, peace activists and human rights advocates including Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Li Zhaoxing under a non-governmental organisation dubbed The Elders. The aim of the organisation was to combine the elders' collective wisdom and use it to solve some of the world's problems.

Although he spoke out less about issues affecting neighbouring country Zimbabwe in his retirement, Mandela attempted to persuade President Robert Mugabe to vacate office with some dignity in 2007. However, Mr Mugabe ignored him and hung on to power, leading Mandela to slam the "tragic failure of leadership" in June 2008 when Zimbabwe was in crisis following disputed presidential elections.

In November 2009, Mandela's contributions to world freedom were rewarded with a unique gesture by the United Nations General Assembly. The body announced that his birthday, 18 July, would be known as Mandela Day. The recipient of hundreds of awards and honorary recognitions, including the Nobel Peace Prize, Mandela continues to exert influence on the world even without being actively involved in issues.

His last public outing was during the closing ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg. In January 2011, Mandela was hospitalised, prompting concerns about the health of the 92-year-old statesman. The Nelson Mandela Foundation revealed that he was in Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, although it said his life was not in jeopardy. He was allowed home after a couple of days and was transported home, where he leads a quiet retirement.

On 18 July 2012, Mandela's 94th birthday, 12 million schoolchildren across South Africa honoured him with a specially composed song to mark the day. Meanwhile, Mandela celebrated quietly at home with his family.

Mandela has been married three times, including a 38-year marriage to politician Winnie Madikizela, who was his second wife. They wed in 1958 and had daughter Zenani the same year. Their second daughter Zindzi was born in 1960. His youngest daughter was just 18 months old when he was sent to prison.

Nelson and Winnie separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. His first marriage to Evelyn Mase had also ended in divorce in 1957 due to his devotion to revolutionary agitation.

They had been together for 13 years and had four children together including Thembi, who was born in 1946. He died in a car crash in 1969 at the age of 23 and Mandela was not allowed to go to the funeral as he was in jail. Their first daughter Maki, who was born in 1947, died at just nine months old and the couple named their second daughter in 1953 in her honour. Makgatho was born in 1950.

On his 80th birthday he married Graca Machel, widow of the late Mozambican president Samora Machel. The couple now live at his home in Qunu.

Mandela spent more time in hospital towards the end of 2012, suffering from a lung infection and gallstones. He was discharged a few days before New Year and started 2013 at home surrounded by his family. 

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

         Martin Luther King, Jr’s father was a minister. He attended Booker T. Washington High School, and went to Morehouse College at fifteen to study Sociology.

In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, and graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951. King also received a PhD in systematic theology at Boston University.

In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted the pastorale of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a supporter for civil rights for members of his race, Dr. King was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement and became leader of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People - the organisation responsible for the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott.

The boycott came about in 1955 after Rosa Parks, a middle-aged tailor's assistant, who was tired after a hard day's work, refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus in the southern town. She was promptly arrested for her actions.

As a result King and his friends helped to organise protests against bus segregation. It was decided that black people in Montgomery would refuse to use the buses until passengers were completely integrated. King was arrested and his house was fire-bombed for his actions. For the next thirteen months the black people in Montgomery walked to work or obtained lifts from the small car-owning black population of the city. Eventually, the loss of revenue and a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court forced the Montgomery Bus Company to accept integration. The boycott came to an end on 20th December, 1956.

Dr. King was also a founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, formed co-ordinate protests against discrimination.

His numerous lectures and remarks, and the movements and marches he led, brought significant changes in the direction of thirteen years of civil rights activities; his charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and old, within the nation and abroad.

His philosophy was non-violent direct action; although this stance was controversial within the Civil Rights movement, it was often successful. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, for example, went to Congress as a result of the Selma to Montgomery march. Dr. King always stressed the importance of the ballot. He argued that once all African Americans had the vote they would become an important political force.

In 1963, King led mass protests against discriminatory practices in Birmingham, Alabama where the white population were violently resisting desegregation. The city was dubbed 'Bombingham' as attacks against civil rights protesters increased, and King was arrested and jailed for his part in the protests.

After his release, King participated in the enormous civil rights march on Washington in August 1963, and delivered his famous 'I have a dream' speech, predicting a day when the promise of freedom and equality for all would become a reality in America.

Dr. King's speech at the Washington march, his acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize (he was the youngest ever recipient), his last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, and his final speech in Memphis ("I've Been to the Mountaintop...") are among his most famous utterances. His letter from Birmingham Jail ranks among the most important American documents.

The FBI had actually started wiretapping King in 1961, fearing that Communists spies were trying to infiltrate the Civil Rights Movement, but when no such evidence emerged, the bureau used the incidental details caught on tape over six years in attempts to force King out of the preeminent leadership position.

Dr. King was shot in April 1968, at a motel where he was trying to mediate a garbage workers' strike. James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder, but he has always declared his innocence, suggesting a conspiracy and government cover-up.

Source: http://www.history.co.uk

MAHATMA GANDHI

MAHATMA GANDHI

      Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more commonly known as ‘Mahatma’ (meaning ‘Great Soul’) was born in Porbandar, Gujarat, in North West India, on 2nd October 1869, into a Hindu Modh family. His father was the Chief Minister of Porbandar, and his mother’s religious devotion meant that his upbringing was infused with the Jain pacifist teachings of mutual tolerance, non-injury to living beings and vegetarianism.

Born into a privileged caste, Gandhi was fortunate to receive a comprehensive education, but proved a mediocre student. In May 1883, aged 13, Gandhi was married to Kasturba Makhanji, a girl also aged 13, through the arrangement of their respective parents, as is customary in India. Following his entry into Samaldas College, at the University of Bombay, she bore him the first of four sons, in 1888. Gandhi was unhappy at college, following his parent’s wishes to take the bar, and when he was offered the opportunity of furthering his studies overseas, at University College London, aged 18, he accepted with alacrity, starting there in September 1888.

Determined to adhere to Hindu principles, which included vegetarianism as well as alcohol and sexual abstinence, he found London restrictive initially, but once he had found kindred spirits he flourished, and pursued the philosophical study of religions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and others, having professed no particular interest in religion up until then. Following admission to the English Bar, and his return to India, he found work difficult to come by and, in 1893, accepted a year’s contract to work for an Indian firm in Natal, South Africa.

Although not yet enshrined in law, the system of ‘apartheid’ was very much in evidence in South Africa at the turn of the 20th century. Despite arriving on a year’s contract, Gandhi spent the next 21 years living in South Africa, and railed against the injustice of racial segregation. On one occasion he was thrown from a first class train carriage, despite being in possession of a valid ticket. Witnessing the racial bias experienced by his countrymen served as a catalyst for his later activism, and he attempted to fight segregation at all levels. He founded a political movement, known as the Natal Indian Congress, and developed his theoretical belief in non-violent civil protest into a tangible political stance, when he opposed the introduction of registration for all Indians, within South Africa, via non-cooperation with the relevant civic authorities.

On his return to India in 1916, Gandhi developed his practice of non-violent civic disobedience still further, raising awareness of oppressive practices in Bihar, in 1918, which saw the local populace oppressed by their largely British masters. He also encouraged oppressed villagers to improve their own circumstances, leading peaceful strikes and protests. His fame spread, and he became widely referred to as ‘Mahatma’ or ‘Great Soul’.

As his fame spread, so his political influence increased: by 1921 he was leading the Indian National Congress, and reorganising the party’s constitution around the principle of ‘Swaraj’, or complete political independence from the British. He also instigated a boycott of British goods and institutions, and his encouragement of mass civil disobedience led to his arrest, on 10th March 1922, and trial on sedition charges, for which he served 2 years, of a 6-year prison sentence.

The Indian National Congress began to splinter during his incarceration, and he remained largely out of the public eye following his release from prison in February 1924, returning four years later, in 1928, to campaign for the granting of ‘dominion status’ to India by the British. When the British introduced a tax on salt in 1930, he famously led a 250-mile march to the sea to collect his own salt. Recognising his political influence nationally, the British authorities were forced to negotiate various settlements with Gandhi over the following years, which resulted in the alleviation of poverty, granted status to the ‘untouchables’, enshrined rights for women, and led inexorably to Gandhi’s goal of ‘Swaraj’: political independence from Britain.

Gandhi suffered six known assassination attempts during the course of his life. The first attempt came on 25th June 1934, when he was in Pune delivering a speech, together with his wife, Kasturba. Travelling in a motorcade of two cars, they were in the second car, which was delayed by the appearance of a train at a railway level crossing, causing the two vehicles to separate. When the first vehicle arrived at the speech venue, a bomb was thrown at the car, which exploded and injured several people. No investigations were carried out at the time, and no arrests were made, although many attribute the attack to Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fundamentalist implacably opposed to Gandhi’s non-violent acceptance and tolerance of all religions, which he felt compromised the supremacy of the Hindu religion. Godse was the person responsible for the eventual assassination of Gandhi in January 1948, 14 years later.

During the first years of the Second World War, Gandhi’s mission to achieve independence from Britain reached its zenith: he saw no reason why Indians should fight for British sovereignty, in other parts of the world, when they were subjugated at home, which led to the worst instances of civil uprising under his direction, through his ‘Quit India’ movement. As a result, he was arrested on 9th August 1942, and held for two years at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. In February 1944, 3 months before his release, his wife Kasturbai died in the same prison.

May 1944, the time of his release from prison, saw the second attempt made on his life, this time certainly led by Nathuram Godse, although the attempt was fairly half-hearted. When word reached Godse that Gandhi was staying in a hill station near Pune, recovering from his prison ordeal, he organised a group of like-minded individuals who descended on the area, and mounted a vocal anti-Gandhi protest. When invited to speak to Gandhi, Godse declined, but he attended a prayer meeting later that day, where he rushed towards Gandhi, brandishing a dagger and shouting anti-Gandhi slogans. He was overpowered swiftly by fellow worshippers, and came nowhere near achieving his goal. Godse was not prosecuted at the time.

Four months later, in September 1944, Godse led a group of Hindu activist demonstrators who accosted Gandhi at a train station, on his return from political talks. Godse was again found to be in possession of a dagger that, although not drawn, was assumed to be the means by which he would again seek to assassinate Gandhi. It was officially regarded as the third assassination attempt, by the commission set up to investigate Gandhi’s death in 1948.

The British plan to partition what had been British-ruled India, into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India, was vehemently opposed by Gandhi, who foresaw the problems that would result from the split. Nevertheless, the Congress Party ignored his concerns, and accepted the partition proposals put forward by the British.

The fourth attempt on Gandhi’s life took the form of a planned train derailment. On 29th June 1946, a train called the ‘Gandhi Special’, carrying him and his entourage, was derailed near Bombay, by means of boulders, which had been piled up on the tracks. Since the train was the only one scheduled at that time, it seems likely that the intended target of derailment was Gandhi himself. He was not injured in the accident. At a prayer meeting after the event Gandhi is quoted as saying:

“I have not hurt anybody nor do I consider anybody to be my enemy, I can’t understand why there are so many attempts on my life. Yesterday’s attempt on my life has failed. I will not die just yet; I aim to live till the age of 125.”

Sadly, he had only eighteen months to live.

Placed under increasing pressure, by his political contemporaries, to accept Partition as the only way to avoid civil war in India, Gandhi reluctantly concurred with its political necessity, and India celebrated its Independence Day on 15th August 1947. Keenly recognising the need for political unity, Gandhi spent the next few months working tirelessly for Hindu-Muslim peace, fearing the build-up of animosity between the two fledgling states, showing remarkable prescience, given the turbulence of their relationship over the following half-century.

Unfortunately, his efforts to unite the opposing forces proved his undoing. He championed the paying of restitution to Pakistan for lost territories, as outlined in the Partition agreement, which parties in India, fearing that Pakistan would use the payment as a means to build a war arsenal, had opposed. He began a fast in support of the payment, which Hindu radicals, Nathuram Godse among them, viewed as traitorous. When the political effect of his fast secured the payment to Pakistan, it secured with it the fifth attempt on his life.

On 20th January a gang of seven Hindu radicals, which included Nathuram Godse, gained access to Birla House, in Delhi, a venue at which Gandhi was due to give an address. One of the men, Madanla Pahwa, managed to gain access to the speaker’s podium, and planted a bomb, encased in a cotton ball, on the wall behind the podium. The plan was to explode the bomb during the speech, causing pandemonium, which would give two other gang members, Digambar Bagde and Shankar Kishtaiyya, an opportunity to shoot Gandhi, and escape in the ensuing chaos. The bomb exploded prematurely, before the conference was underway, and Madanla Pahwa was captured, while the others, including Godse, managed to escape.

Pahwa admitted the plot under interrogation, but Delhi police were unable to confirm the participation and whereabouts of Godse, although they did try to ascertain his whereabouts through the Bombay police.

After the failed attempt at Birla House, Nathuram Godse and another of the seven, Narayan Apte, returned to Pune, via Bombay, where they purchased a Beretta automatic pistol, before returning once more to Delhi.

On 30th January 1948, whilst Gandhi was on his way to a prayer meeting at Birla House in Delhi, Nathuram Godse managed to get close enough to him in the crowd to be able to shoot him three times in the chest, at point-blank range. Gandhi’s dying words were claimed to be “Hé Rām”, which translates as “Oh God”, although some witnesses claim he spoke no words at all.

When news of Gandhi’s death reached the various strongholds of Hindu radicalism, in Pune and other areas throughout India, there was reputedly celebration in the streets. Sweets were distributed publicly, as at a festival. The rest of the world was horrified by the death of a man nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Godse, who had made no attempt to flee following the assassination, and his co-conspirator, Narayan Apte, were both imprisoned until their trial on 8th November 1949. They were convicted of Gandhi’s killing, and both were executed, a week later, at Ambala Jail, on 15th November 1949. The supposed architect of the plot, a Hindu extremist named Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Gandhi was cremated as per Hindu custom, and his ashes are interred at the Aga Khan’s palace in Pune, the site of his incarceration in 1942, and the place his wife had also died.

Gandhi's memorial bears the epigraph “Hé Rām” (“Oh God”) although there is no conclusive proof that he uttered these words before death.

Although Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times, he never received it. In the year of his death, 1948, the Prize was not awarded, the stated reason being that “there was no suitable living candidate” that year.

Gandhi's life and teachings have inspired many liberationists of the 20th Century, including Dr. Martin Luther King in the United States, Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko in South Africa, and Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar.

His birthday, 2nd October, is celebrated as a National Holiday in India every year.

THE QUEEN MOTHER

THE QUEEN MOTHER

      Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s parents moved in royal circles and, as a girl, Elizabeth played with the children of British king George V. Eventually Elizabeth's father became the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, bringing the family an official title.

The Honourable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born on 4 August 1900. She was the fourth daughter of Lord Glamis, later the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Clyde. She was educated at home and by the age of ten was fluent in French.

During WWI, her family home became a hospital for war wounded and while Elizabeth was too young to be a nurse, she assisted with welfare work. In 1915, her brother Fergus was killed at the Battle of Loos.

As a child, she played with the children of King George V and Queen Mary, with Elizabeth being the bridesmaid at Princess Mary's wedding in 1922.

When she was 21, George V's second son, Prince Albert, asked her to marry him, but she turned him down. Elizabeth refused the prince on three further occasions, but in January 1923 she consented. The marriage took place in Westminster Abbey on 23 April that year.

Elizabeth was now the Duchess of York. She and Albert had two daughters, Elizabeth, who was born on 21 April 1926, and Margaret Rose born on 21 August 1930.

George V died in January 1936 and his eldest son ascended the throne as Edward VIII, but shocked the world by abdicating to be with American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

Suddenly, Elizabeth's husband was thrust into the role of king. He accepted the crown, taking the name George VI, and worked hard to live up to his new responsibilities, but it was never easy for him, and his wife never forgave his brother Edward and Wallis. Their coronation took place on 12 May 1937 and Elizabeth became the first British-born Queen-Consort since Tudor times.

Before WWII broke out, the royal couple made a visit to France in July 1938 and to Canada and the US in May and June 1939.

The king and queen stayed on in London during the Blitz, whilst the girls spent the war years at Windsor Castle, where they were relatively safe. Buckingham Palace was hit by bombs and rockets on nine occasions. "I'm glad we've been bombed," Queen Elizabeth said. "It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face." She and the king often visited bomb sites, as well as hospitals, factories and troops.

The king and queen celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in 1948, but the king's health began to deteriorate. Their last public appearance together was at the opening of the Festival of Britain in 1951.

He died of lung cancer in 1952. His eldest daughter became Queen Elizabeth II, and his widow was now known as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. She continued with her royal duties, which included over 40 official visits abroad including a trip to Canada in 1989 to mark the 50th anniversary of her first visit there.

She was also the patron of over 350 organisations and worked as the president of the British Red Cross for many years, as well as the commandant-in-chief of the nursing division of the St John's Ambulance Brigade.

The Queen Mother also received honourary degrees from a number of universities and was chancellor of the University of London for 25 years until 1980.

In the summer of 2000, she attended a number of events to mark her 100th birthday, including a service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral on 11 July. She also received a birthday telegraph from the queen.

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother died in March 2002 at the age of 101.

OSAMA BIN LADEN

OSAMA BIN LADEN

    Born in 1957, into a wealthy family, at school and university he joined the Muslim Brotherhood.

When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, he collected money and supplies for the Afghan resistance, the mujahideen.

He made further trips, and joined the fighting. As a wealthy Saudi, he stood out and acquired a following, and other Arabs joined the Afghan Muslims. He organised a guesthouse and camps, naming them al-Qaeda.

The Afghan jihad against the Soviet army was backed with American dollars, and supported by the governments of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. But after the Soviet withdrawal, bin Laden became disillusioned by the lack of recognition for his achievements. Half a million US soldiers were invited onto Saudi soil, a historic betrayal in bin Laden's eyes.

bin Laden began to direct his efforts against the US and its allies in the Middle East. In 1991 he was expelled because of his anti-government activities. His bank accounts were frozen and his movements limited. As he felt himself under increasing pressure bin Laden became more radical.

By the mid-1990s, he was calling for a global war against all Americans and Jews and, in 1998, he issued his famous fatwa (religious ruling), amounting to a declaration of war against the US.

Experts say bin Laden is part of an international Islamic front, bringing together Saudi, Egyptian and other groups.

He has been accused of masterminding the bombing of US embassies, the World Trade Centre destruction, and other attacks. He was thought to be in Afghanistan after 11th September 2001.

Al-Qaeda,or groups linked to it, have continued to carry out attacks, even after it lost its bases in Afghanistan with the removal of the Taleban in 2001.

Bin Laden was tracked down to a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan and on 2 May 2011 he was killed by US Navy SEALs. His body was buried at sea within 24 hours of her death.

SADDAM HUSSEIN

SADDAM HUSSEIN

       His portrait covered buildings all over Iraq as a reminder of his powerful grip. But Saddam Hussein was eventually made to pay for his crimes against humanity.

Saddam Hussein has the dubious distinction of being the best-known Middle Eastern dictator. He ruled Iraq from 1979 until his overthrow and capture by a US-led coalition, in 2003.

Born to a peasant family near Tikrit, the teenage Saddam immersed himself in the anti-British, Arab nationalist ideology of the day. Failing to complete high school, Saddam joined the Ba'ath Party in Baghdad, who were plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Abdel-Karim Qassem. The plan failed and Saddam fled across the desert on a donkey to Egypt.

Four years later in 1963, the Ba'ath Party did overthrow Qassem, Saddam returned home and started to push for power, but within months there was a counter-coup.

Jailed until the Ba'athists siezed power again in 1968, Saddam worked as a henchman for his distant relative, Hassan Al-Bakr, the new Iraqi president and chairman of the Revolutionary Council. Saddam rose to Vice-President and began "purifying" the government: all dissidents were imprisoned, tortured or executed.

Saddam forced the ailing President to retire a decade later, and had himself sworn in as leader of the republic. To ensure his control, Saddam ordered the execution of dozens of top ranking soldiers.

In an attempt to wrest the Shatt-al-Arab waterway from Iran, Saddam, armed by the West, declared war on Tehran in 1980. The battle ended in a stalemate, eight years later, with an estimated one million declared dead.

Thwarted in expanding Iraq’s influence to the east, Saddam claimed Kuwait as the 19th province of Iraq, citing historical justification,

His soldiers crossed the Kuwaiti border in August 1990, only to be bombed into retreat by a huge US-led coalition four months later. The campaign was known as Desert Storm.

With the tacit encouragement of Washington, the Iraqi Shia and the Kurds rebelled against Saddam. The dissenters were massacred by Saddam’s military, and the US reneged on its pledge to support the uprising.

Since the international coalition did not attempt to topple Saddam, his regime continued to brutally suppress Kurds and Shiites. Although Saddam survived attempted coups in 1992 and 1993, and a major defection in 1995, UN sanctions hurt Iraq and prevented its resurgence as a power in the Gulf.

However, the United Nations failed to compel Saddam to comply with a string of special resolutions obliging Iraq to destroy its nuclear, chemical and biological stockpiles and research facilities under supervision.

During the 1990s, Saddam repeatedly challenged the Security Council over the implementation of these resolutions, never giving an inch strategically but always leaving enough wriggle room for last-minute tactical concessions when confronted with the threat of force.

Things came to a head after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Though the US administration refrained from linking Saddam directly to the atrocity, it made the Iraqi leader, who applauded the attacks as a heroic act, a central target of President Bush's “war on terrorism.”

In November 2002, the UN passed Resolution 1441 which charged Iraq of violating Security Council resolutions regarding non-conventional disarmament and warned that Iraq “will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violation of its obligations.”

As Saddam continued to defy the warnings, the United States - together with a number of key allies - launched an attack which quickly toppled Iraq's Ba'athist regime. Saddam himself managed to escape and to remain in hiding for some time, but was eventually captured and put in prison pending a war crimes trial by the first democratically elected government in Iraq's history.

On November 5, 2006, Saddam Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. Saddam's half brother, Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court in 1982, were convicted of similar charges as well.

The verdict and sentencing were both appealed but subsequently affirmed by Iraq's Supreme Court of Appeals. On 30 December 2006, Saddam was hanged.

JOSEF STALIN

JOSEF STALIN

A look at the 20th century's most evil dictators, whose monstrous personalities and single party rule ranparallel and affected millions of lives in the first half of last century.

Born Josif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, Stalin was a nickname.

Born to illiterate peasant parents, he became involved with Socialism, Lenin's ideas about the importance of centralism and a strong revolutionary party. His practical experience made him useful in Lenin's Bolshevik party before the 1917 Revolution.

Stalin spent the years after the revolution secretly increasing his power as general secretary. After Lenin's death in 1924, underhand machinations and alliances meant that, by 1928, his supremacy was complete.

Stalin replaced Lenin's market socialist New Economic Policy with a series of Five Year Plans of state guided crash industrialization, and forced the collectivisation of agriculture. The process was brutal but soon successful, resulting in increasing production and efficiency.

When faced with resistance, the regime assembled shock brigades to force peasants into collective farms; however, they often destroyed their farms.

Stalin blamed this drop in food production on Kulaks (rich peasants), ordering them to be transported to Gulag prison camps. Millions of people lost their lives during this campaign and the famines that followed.

Stalin consolidated his near-absolute power with the Great Purges against his suspected opponents in the Bolshevik Party. This period is often called the Great Terror, and thousands of people were killed or imprisoned. Show trials were also held as examples.

In 1939, Stalin agreed to a Pact with Nazi Germany, which divided Eastern Europe between the powers. However, Adolf Hitler broke the pact and invaded the Soviet Union. Approximately 21 million people were killed. However the feared German military machine was ultimately destroyed by fierce resistance and the harsh Russian winter.

Following World War II, Stalin's regime installed friendly Communist governments in the countries that the Soviet army had occupied. This, and mistrust in the West, led to the long, tense "Cold War".

In March 1953, Stalin died. His death was attributed to cerebral haemorrhage, but he may have been poisoned.

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

     Franklin D Roosevelt was the US President famous for his New Deal who hid his disability from the world and didn't live to see the Allies' victory over Germany in WWII.

Roosevelt was born into a moderately wealthy family. He did not excel at school but did well and attended Harvard University.

It was at Harvard that Roosevelt met his cousin, Eleanor, whom he fell in love with and they were married in 1905, against his mother’s wishes.

After Harvard, Roosevelt attended Columbia University Law School. He practiced law for some years but nurtured a desire to enter politics. In 1910, Roosevelt stood as a democrat for the New York Senate and was elected.

Roosevelt was re-elected in 1912 and, in that same year, had put much effort into the election of Woodrow Wilson as president. This had caught the attention of those in the party, and Roosevelt became assistant secretary in Wilson’s cabinet.

When World War I broke out, Roosevelt openly favoured intervention, against Wilson and the official line, which created distrust between them.

Soon, however, America did intervene, and Roosevelt threw himself into a cause he believed deeply in.

With the war won, the American population returned a Republican president, Warren Harding, with a decisive victory. Roosevelt stood as Vice-President for the Democrats and, despite the result, his career moved forward as he created a public profile and became perhaps the leading democrat.

In 1921, disaster struck as Roosevelt contracted poliomyelitis. Due to a late diagnosis, he lost the use of his legs. It seemed to be the end of his career but Eleanor, with close friends, would not let him give up on his ambitions. In 1928, Roosevelt reluctantly stood for governor of New York. He won, but narrowly.

In 1932, Roosevelt stood for president. It was the beginning of the Depression and the population were unhappy with the Republican incumbent for his perceived inability to halt the rapid economic decline. In contrast, Roosevelt seemed bursting with ideas. He was elected.

The first 100 days of office for Roosevelt were a time of rapid activity. He set up numerous agencies to deal with various aspects of the Depression, from relief to employment. He closed all the banks and allowed them to reopen slowly once they were stable. This was Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Despite criticism and opposition for his actions and various programmes, Roosevelt was very popular and he was re-elected in 1936 with a landslide victory.

His second term was more difficult. He took on the Supreme Court and lost, in the process alienating many in his own party. However, in 1940 Roosevelt decided to run for the presidency for a third time. He won, but this time with only a narrow majority. Roosevelt’s third term was dominated by the Second World War and then war with the Japanese.

On 12 April 1945, Roosevelt suffered a massive brain haemorrhage and died.

QUEEN VICTORIA

QUEEN VICTORIA

      Queen Victoria is Britain's longest reigning monarch, on the throne for 64 years.

Alexandrina Victoria Wettin, of the Royal House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was the daughter of Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George III, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield.

Victoria was born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. She was fifth in line to the throne after her father and his three brothers at this time but they all died without legitimate children.

Her childhood was quite isolated as her mother was extremely protective until 1830, when she became the heir presumptive, and travelled the country being welcomed by the ordinary people despite Victoria not liking these journeys.

In 1837, at the age of eighteen, she ascended to the throne following the death of her uncle King William IV. In her early days, she was largely dependent for advice on the Prime Minister, William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne, with whom she forged a strong relationship.

Victoria met Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha when she was just sixteen, and found him appealing even then, and their families wanted to unite them. After their first meeting, she wrote: "[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful." They were married on 10 February 1840.

During the first few months of her first pregnancy in 1840, Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate her while she was travelling in a carriage with Prince Albert. Oxford fired at the monarch twice but missed. He was tried for high treason and found guilty before being acquitted on grounds of insanity. The attempt on Victoria's life made her more popular with the English people.

Despite there being some friction between the royal couple at first, because Albert wished to take an active role in the administration of the realm, they eventually reached a compromise, and their marriage became an outstandingly happy one.

The couple had nine children. In 1853, she became the first monarch to use an anaesthetic, in the form of chloroform, while giving birth to her eighth child Leopold. She was so impressed by the pain relief that she used it again in 1857 when delivering her final child Beatrice despite the clergy being against the chemical as it went against biblical teachings.

The eldest, Bertie (Albert), was wild in his youth, and Victoria blamed the trouble he caused for her husband's death from typhoid fever, in 1861, at the age of 42. Victoria was completely devastated by Albert’s death, withdrawing from public life.

Relying increasingly on a Scottish retainer, John Brown, Victoria developed a reputation (which she did not altogether deserve) for being stern and lacking in humour.

Her favourite Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, persuaded her to assume the title "Empress of India," reflecting the fact that she had presided over a massive expansion of the British Empire and the continued rise of Britain as an industrial power.

Later, in 1887, her golden jubilee brought her to new heights of popularity, and she went on to celebrate a diamond jubilee ten years later.

Victoria died in 1901, on the Isle of Wight. She was Queen of the United Kingdom for a record sixty-three years, seven months, and two days.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II

QUEEN ELIZABETH II 

       In 2012 Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, having spent 60 years on the throne. This makes The Queen the second longest reigning British monarch, after her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.

Her Majesty is 38th in direct line of descent from Egbert (c. 775-839), King of Wessex from 802 and of England 827 to 839.

Christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, she is the elder daughter of King George VI (then Duke of York) and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

Princess Elizabeth’s early years were spent at 145 Piccadilly, the London house taken by her parents shortly after her birth, and at White Lodge in Richmond Park. She also spent time at the country homes of her paternal grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother's parents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore.

In 1930, Princess Elizabeth gained a sister, with the birth of Princess Margaret Rose. The family of four was very close.

However her quiet family life was shattered in 1936, when her grandfather, King George V, died. His eldest son came to the throne as King Edward VIII, but, before the end of the year, the new king had decided to relinquish the throne in order to marry the woman he loved, divorcee Wallis Simpson. With her father crowned king, Princess Elizabeth became next in line to the throne.

In 1942, Princess Elizabeth was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, and on her sixteenth birthday she carried out her first public engagement, when she inspected the regiment. Her official duties would now increase as she began to accompany the King and Queen on many of their tours around Britain.

On 6 February 1952, whilst visiting Kenya, Princess Elizabeth received the news of her father's death and her own accession to the throne. Her coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953. She was 25.

Queen Elizabeth was still a Princess when she married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in November 1947.They have four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. The couple also have eight grandchildren: Peter and Zara Phillips (b.1977 and 1981); The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry (b.1982 and 1984); Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York (b.1988 and 1990); and The Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn (b.2003 and 2007). The Queen and Prince Philip are now great grandparents to Savannah Phillips, born in December 2010.

Although the Royal House is named Windsor, it was decreed that The Queen’s decedents should have the personal surname Mountbatten-Windsor.

After the Coronation, Elizabeth and Philip moved to Buckingham Palace. It is reported, however, that, as with many of her predecessors, she dislikes the Palace as a residence and considers Windsor Castle to be her home.

The Queen is the most widely-travelled head of state in history. From 1953 to 1954 she and Philip made a six-month, around the world tour, becoming the first monarch to circumnavigate the globe. She also became the first reigning monarch of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to visit those nations.

As a constitutional monarch, Elizabeth does not express her personal political opinions publicly. She has maintained this discipline throughout her reign, doing little in public to reveal what they might be, and so her political views are not known. However, she is believed to hold centre, even slightly left of centre views. She was seen as closer to Harold Wilson than Edward Heath and was certainly closer to Tony Blair than Margaret Thatcher. She also enjoys especially close relations with Ireland, having expressed support for the Good Friday Agreement which eventually brought peace to Northern Ireland.

The Queen’s personal relationships with a host of world leaders have been particularly warm and informal, developing friendships with Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson, and George W. Bush - who was the first U.S. President in over 80 years to stay at Buckingham Palace.

Despite a succession of controversies surrounding the rest of the royal family, particularly throughout the 1980s and 1990s (including wide reporting of Prince Philip's propensity for verbal gaffes, and the marital difficulties of her children), Queen Elizabeth remains a remarkably uncontroversial and widely respected figure. However, this was tested in 1997, when she and other members of the Royal Family were perceived to be unmoved by the public outpouring of grief following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Golden Jubilee of 2002 marked the 50th anniversary of The Queen's Accession in 1952. However, it began with personal sadness for The Queen when her sister, Princess Margaret, died at the age of 71, following a stroke

Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, died only a few weeks later. She was 101. The Queen attended her funeral at Westminster Abbey before a private committal at St George's Chapel, Windsor

The Queen celebrated her 80th birthday on 21 April 2006, when she became the third-oldest reigning monarch in British and Commonwealth history. Despite being in excellent health she has started to hand over some public duties to her children, as well as to other members of the Royal Family.

However, her popularity among British people has remained extremely high, largely thanks to her dedication to charitable courses as patron of more than 600 charities and other organisations. Her reign is not without opposition from some quarters, but polls conducted in Britain in 2006 and 2007 revealed strong support for her.

In the 2006 Ipsos MORI poll conducted on behalf of the Sun newspaper, an overwhelming 72 per cent of respondents were in favour of retaining the monarchy and this may have been down to the country’s undoubted respect and affection for Queen Elizabeth. An even greater percentage (85 per cent) were satisfied with the way the Queen carries out her role as monarch. When asked about if and when the Queen should retire, 64 per cent stated that she should "never retire".

Queen Elizabeth's popularity is not just restricted to the British Isles as more recently, referendums in Tuvalu in 2008 and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009 rejected proposals to abolish the monarchy.

During her Diamond Jubilee year The Queen and other members of the Royal Family will makes visits to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland to mark Her Majesty’s sixty years on the throne. The celebrations will centre around the long weekend beginning 2 June, ending on a special bank holiday on 5 June. The festivities will include a concert at Buckingham Palace, and river pageant on the Thames, the Big Jubilee Lunch and a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Her Majesty will be 86 on her next birthday, an age at which most people would have been retired for many years. And although she and Prince Philip will be handing some of their responsibilities on to younger members of the Royal Family, 2012 is set to be packed full of visits and celebrations. 

WINSTON CHURCHILL

WINSTON CHURCHILL

Famous As: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Nationality: British

Religion: Anglican

Political Ideology: Conservative (1900–04, 1924–64), Liberal (1904–24)

Born On: 30 November 1874 AD

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius    Famous Sagitarians

Born In: Blenheim Palace

Died On: 24 January 1965 AD

Place Of Death: Hyde Park Gate

Epitaphs: I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.

Father: Lord Randolph Churchill

Mother: Lady Randolph Churchill

Siblings: John Strange Spencer-Churchill

Spouse: Clementine Churchill (1908–1965)

Children: Diana Churchill, Randolph Churchill, Sarah Tuchet-Jesson, Marigold Churchill, Mary Soames

Education: Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (1894), Harrow School, St. George's School Ascot

Works & Achievements: PM of the United Kingdom

Awards: 1953 - Nobel Prize in Literature

     Some didn't give his marriage to Clementine more than six months, yet it lasted 56 years. Her tact, support and advice soothed his temper, and helped win the war.

The son of Lord Randolph Churchill and the American heiress Jennie Jerome, Churchill graduated from Sandhurst, but resigned his cavalry commission to become a correspondent during the Boer War. He provided reports to the Daily Telegraph and published books 'The Story of the Malakland Field Force (1898) and 'The River War' (1899).

In 1900 he was elected to Parliament as a Conservative, but switched in 1904 to the Liberal Party. He became a member of the Liberal cabinet, where he worked for reform of the navy.

On 12 September 1908, he married Clementine Ogilvy Spencer, a match that would last 56 years. Following the 1910 general election, he became home secretary and introduced a number of prison reforms, including holding lectures and concerts in prisons, as well as helping prisoners after their release.

In October 1911, he became the First Lord of the Admiralty and undertook naval reforms. He set up the Royal Naval Air Service in 1912 as he recognised the military potential of aircraft. Churchill was so excited by this that he took flying lessons himself.

During WWI his support of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign forced his resignation from the admiralty. However, he joined Lloyd George's coalition cabinet, where he filled several important positions.

He served as the minister of war and air between 1919 and 1920 and Colonial secretary between 1921 and 1922 where he caused controversy by bombing Iraq, following an uprising of 100,000 tribesmen in the country.

In 1924, he became chancellor of the Exchequer in Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government, where he vigorously condemned the trade unions during the 1926 general strike. But Baldwin, and later, Chamberlain, disliked his opposition to self-government for India, and insistence on the need for rearmament, and he was excluded.

But, when Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, Churchill returned to the admiralty.

Churchill succeeded Chamberlain as prime minister on May 10, 1940. He urged the British to conduct themselves so that, "if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"

One of his greatest victories was inspiring the RAF to win the Battle of Britain during the summer of 1940. This was the first war battle conducted entirely in the air.

By collaboration with President Roosevelt, he secured military support from the US. After the Soviet Union and the US entered the war in 1941, Churchill established close ties with leaders of what he called the "Grand Alliance."

He also helped to shape the map of post-war Europe, his reputation disguising the fact that Britain's military role had become secondary. Refusing social reform, however, Churchill was defeated by the Labour Party in 1945.

Churchill criticised the welfare state reforms of his successor, Attlee. He also helped to define and enforce the "Iron Curtain". In 1946, he suffered the first of several strokes but this was kept hidden from the public.

He was knighted in 1953, and became prime minister again from 1951 to 1955, when he retired from politics for good.

He died in January 1965.

ADOLF HITLER

ADOLF HITLER

Famous As: Nazi Leader, German Dictator and Chancellor of Germany

Nationality: German

Political Ideology: National Socialist German Workers' Party (1921–1945)

Born On: 20 April 1889 AD

Zodiac Sign: Aries    Famous Arians

Born In: Braunau am Inn

Died On: 30 April 1945 AD

Place Of Death: Berlin

Father: Alois Hitler

Mother: Klara Hitler

Siblings: Gustav, Ida

Spouse: Eva Braun (m. 1945–1945)

Works & Achievements: Chancellor of Germany.

     Hitler did not do particularly well in school, leaving formal education in 1905. Unable to settle into a regular job, he drifted. He wished to become an artist but was rejected from the Academy in Vienna.

Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in the small Austrian town of Braunau to Alois Hitler who later became a senior customs official and his wife Klara, who was from a poor peasant family.

At primary school, Hitler showed great intellectual potential and was extremely popular with fellow pupils as well as being admired for his leadership qualities. However, competition at secondary school was tougher and Hitler stopped trying as a result.

He also lost his popularity among his fellow students and instead preferred to re-enact battles from the Boer war with younger children. At the age of 15, he failed his exams and was told to repeat the year but he left without a formal education instead.

At the age of 18, he moved to Vienna with money inherited after his father's death in 1903, in order to pursue a career in art, as this was his best subject at school. However his applications for both the Vienna Academy of Art and the School of Architecture were rejected.

It was supposedly at this time that Hitler first became interested in politics and how the masses could be made to respond to certain themes. He was particularly impressed with the anti-Semitic, nationalist Christian-Socialist party.

During the First World War he volunteered to fight for the German Army and gained the rank of corporal, earning accolades as a dispatch-runner. He won several awards for bravery, including the Iron Cross First Class.

In October 1918, he was blinded in a mustard gas attack. Germany surrendered while Hitler was in hospital and he went into a state of great depression, spending lots of time in tears. After the war ended, Hitler's future seemed uncertain.

In 1919, Hitler attended his first meeting of the German Workers' party, an anti-Semitic, nationalist group as a spy for the German Army. However, he found he agreed with Anton Drexler's German nationalism and anti-Semitism. He disagreed with how they were organised leading him to make a passionate speech. Hitler quickly cemented his reputation as an engaging orator through his passion about the injustices faced by Germany as a result of the Treaty of Versailles.

It soon became clear that people were joining the party just to see Hitler make his speeches, which would leave the audience in a state of near hysteria and willing to do whatever he suggested.

He quickly rose through the ranks and, by 1921, was the leader of the re-named National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi).

With terrible economic conditions and rapid inflation, support for Hitler's party grew. By 1923, the Nazi's had 56,000 members and many more supporters.

On 8 and 9 November 1923, Hitler staged the Nazi Beer Hall Putsch. He hoped to force the Bavarian government to work with the Nazis and march together on Berlin. The attempt failed but, although Hitler was tried for treason, the judge gave him a very light sentence.

While in prison, Hitler wrote 'Mein Kampf', which formulated his political ideas. He reorganised his party on his release from jail, but it was not until the world depression hit Germany that the Nazis were able to attract significant followers.

By 1930, the Nazis were polling around 6.5 million votes. In the presidential elections of 1932, Hitler came second. On 30 January 1933, President Hindenburg was forced to appoint Hitler as Chancellor, given his popular support.

In office, Hitler set about consolidating his power, appointing Nazis to government and gaining control of emergency powers. He eliminated all opposition, in the name of emergency control and, with the death of Hindenburg in 1934, Hitler's power was secured.

Hitler put Germany's unemployed to work on a massive rearmament programme, using propaganda and manufacturing enemies, such as the Jews, to prepare the country for war. Initially, Hitler's actions were ignored by his powerful neighbours, as they believed appeasement was the only way to avoid a war.

In 1936, Hitler invaded the Rhineland, which had been demilitarised at Versailles. He then proceeded to annex Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia. Under the Munich Agreement of 1938, the West accepted this.

In 1939, Hitler made an alliance with Russia (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) and with Italy (Pact of Steel). On 1 September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and the Second World War began as a result. In April 1940, Denmark and Norway were also taken. France quickly followed.

Hitler had conquered much of Western Europe, now he turned his sights East. In 1941, despite the alliance, Germany invaded Russia under Operation Barbarossa. It was one of his greatest mistakes. With the German advance slowed by the Russians 'scorched earth' policy, the German army found themselves in the Russian winter without an adequate supply line. In 1943, they started their long retreat.

At the same time, the Western Allies were pushing hard, and began to advance on Germany. In response, Hitler withdrew almost entirely. It was reported he was increasingly erratic and out-of-touch.

In 1944, there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt and, in response, Hitler stepped up the atmosphere of suspicion and terror.

Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945, with his long term girlfriend Eva Braun, who he is thought to have perhaps married at the last minute. Germany's surrender followed soon after.