10 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About World War 2

Any list centered around the most destructive war in human history would be incomplete without an entry on Adolf Hitler. The Austrian-born German chancellor was one of history's most despicable figures and a strong contributing force to the war's brutality and its longevity due to his disturbing beliefs on racial superiority and nationalism.

He and his wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide on 30 April 1945 following the virtual defeat of Nazi Germany following aggressive military maneuvers from Allied forces to the west and south and Soviets from the east of their country. The Nazi regime knew that defeat was inevitable and Hitler realized that a public execution was a possibility, seeing that Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was killed in this way.

After consulting with his physician, Hitler ingested a cyanide pill and shot himself in the head, while Braun ingested a pill as well. The aftermath of his death saw the rapid spread of propaganda surrounding his fate such as the famous story about Hitler fleeing to Argentina or Soviet misinformation that Allied forces had offered him refuge. American intelligence even investigated ultimately false leads on Hitler's whereabouts following the end of the war and conspiracies have raged about his fate to the present day.