Adolf Hitler enlisted in the Bavarian Army in August 1914. He served with distinction in World War I and won both classes of the Iron Cross. His conversion from passive to pathological anti-Semitism began while invalided in Germany in 1916-17. It is no exaggeration to say that every military decision made by Hitler between 1939 and 1945 was in some way influenced or coloured by his experiences with the List Regiment between 1914 and 1918.