Denazification was the process of removing Nazi ideology and influence from all forms of public life in defeated Germany. The occupying allies carried this process out in a number of ways: The Nazi Party was banned and advocating National Socialist ideas was made punishable by death.

How effective was the process of denazification?

The denazification process lost a great deal of credibility, and there was often local hostility against Germans who helped administer the tribunals. By early 1947, the Allies held 90,000 Nazis in detention; another 1,900,000 were forbidden to work as anything but manual laborers.

What were Hitler's actions?

Upon achieving power, Hitler smashed the nation's democratic institutions and transformed Germany into a war state intent on conquering Europe for the benefit of the so-called Aryan race. His invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, triggered the European phase of World War II.