Nazism, or National Socialism, is the totalitarian ideology and political movement associated with the National Socialist German Workers' Party, led by Adolf Hitler in Germany from the 1920s to 1945. It is characterized by extreme nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism, and the belief in the superiority of the so-called Aryan race. Nazism promoted aggressive expansionism and militarism, leading to World War II and the Holocaust, where millions of Jews and other marginalized groups were systematically exterminated. The regime sought to create a totalitarian state that controlled all aspects of life, suppressing dissent and promoting a cult of personality around Hitler.