Louis XIV and Adolf Hitler are two leaders that had the greatest impacts on France and Germany, respectively. Both men came into power in opposite ways, when Louis XIII and his minister Cardinal Richelieu died in 1642 they were replaced by an Italian adventurer by the name of Mazarin who was also a prince of the Church, and Louis XIII's son Louis XIV who was only five years old at the time. The office of the regency fell on the queen mother Anne of Austria. During Mazarin's reign "France was victorious abroad, and apparently tranquil at home, she was in truth on the verge of bankruptcy. The expedients of Mazarin to avert the inevitable crisis only tended to alienate every class." When Mazarin died in 1661, he left the power of the state to Louis XIV who was only 22 at the time, and left with an incredible task. Adolf Hitler on the other hand came into power the more traditional way, through the ranks. "Adolf Hitler was born at half past six on the evening of April 20, 1889, in the Gasthof zum Pommer, an inn in the small town of Braunau on the River Inn which forms the frontier between Austria and Bavaria." Both of his parents were dead before he was 18 years old. He went on to fight in World War One for Germany, after the war ended he joined the German Workers" Party in 1919. In 1920 the German Workers" Party emerged as the National Socialist German Workers" Party (Nazi for short), and named Adolf Hitler their leader in 1921.After the collapse of the Republic Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. On March 23, 1933 after the Nazi party became the largest party in Germany Hitler became the Dictator of Germany. Both Adolf Hitler and Louis XIV went on to impact their respective countries and the rest of the world in a way that is unimaginable by most leaders in modern society. The means of these two leaders were different because their societies were different however the effects were largely the same.
