I don't mean to insult you by this but how much European history do you know? Hitler had the perfect circumstance for what he did, from versailes to the weakness of the other european states, he got noticed and a series of fortunate events allowed him to seize power at which point cumulative radicalization took over - Goering, Goebbels, Himler etc. etc. Wielded as much power behind closed doors. Goebbels perhaps even had more power given his role in the nazi regime.
We got this shit rammed down our throats from the age of 10 - understanding what happened and why, when we got to 17/18 we were actually taught about the reality of what went on within the nazi party/regime and to say that Hitler was really in control of what was going on is a gross misunderstanding..