Germany in the early 1930s is falling apart. The population is disillusioned, poverty is spreading, and unemployment is everywhere. Many Germans see Adolf Hitler as the only man who can pull the country out of crisis. The Nazi leader's promise of bread and work for the people makes him popular, and his demands for revenge for the humiliating peace terms after World War I find a sympathetic audience. Soon after the Nazis first seize power, Hitler begins an unprecedented transformation of society: the unemployed are sent to build roads, young folk are forced into the Hitler Youth and women are rewarded for giving birth to many purebred children. The young German democracy that brought the Nazi party to the fore will be swept aside. Hitler establishes himself as dictator and commander of the German army, which quickly steps up to become a modern war machine.