The National Socialist German Workers' Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; pronounced [natsi̯oˈnaːlzoːtsialɪstɪʃə ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈʔaʁbaɪtɐˌpaʁtaɪ] (listen)), commonly known as the Nazi Party (German: Nazi-Partei), was a far-right political party in Germany that was active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party (DAP), was founded in 1919 by Anton Drexler. In 1921, Adolf Hitler joined the party and became its leader in 1921, changing its name to the Nazi Party.
The party was created from the far-right völkisch movement and initially drew its membership mainly from the German lower middle class. The Nazis sought to unite all German people into a Volksgemeinschaft ("people's community") and eliminate perceived racial and cultural threats to the German nation. The party advocated for the formation of a Greater Germany through territorial expansion and the eventual establishment of an ethnostate encompassing all Germanic people.
The Nazi Party employed propaganda and violent paramilitary tactics to gain political support. It became increasingly prominent during the economic chaos and political instability of the Weimar Republic. In the 1932 federal elections, the Nazis became the largest party in the German Reichstag, and Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933. The party quickly established a totalitarian dictatorship and suppressed all political opposition. The Nazis persecuted various groups including Jews, Romani people, homosexuals, and political dissenters.
The party's policies were based on a combination of extreme nationalism, antisemitism, and anti-communism. The Nazi regime engaged in aggressive military campaigns, leading to World War II in Europe. The Holocaust was the systematic genocide of approximately six million Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators. The Nazi Party was defeated in 1945, and its leading members were tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials. The party was subsequently banned in Germany, and any neo-Nazi activity remains illegal.