HISTORY 255.

600 : ESSAY
Q. The great dictators: Evaluate Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo or Stalin. What were the
means by which these figures gained such widespread control over both the civil
and military leadership of their nations?

"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe in it" -
Adolf Hitler. An Austrian-born German politician who had the vision of having one race and
conquering the world. Adolf Hitler rises to power from a young soldier to a great leader who
invaded many European countries in World War II and rose Germany to a status where many
feared to face or fight against it. It took series of events for Hitler to ascent as a prominent
politician across the country, starting from his idea of having one Aryan race to eventually
becoming the Führer (leader). Apart from his vision, Hitler's characteristics played a vital role in
successfully gaining civil and military support from Germans. Therefore, this essay will focus on
the means Hitler earned by controlling Germany through his charismatic characteristics, events
such as the Great depression period for Germany after World War I. Furthermore, it will also
highlight his life from democracy to dictatorship, his views on killing the German Jews, and his
early success in World War II, which helped him to gain more support from the civil and
military.

To begin, Adolf Hitler was one of a kind who could think far beyond the walls. Hitler's
charismatic character, especially his speeches, made him a leader that ruled over the hearts of
millions of Germans. His life from a young soldier to a Führer itself explains how Hitler had
confidence in himself that helped him to become a leader of the Nazi party. Bruce Loeb, a
professor at Idaho State University, who taught history for more than 46 years, said that Hitler
never trusted anyone to write his speeches as they were most important to him for public
speaking, and the majority of the time, his voice was considered as 'mesmeric' (Macias). The fact
that Hitler did not trust anyone regarding his speeches shows how private he could be and
wanted to make sure that his oration is what the audience wants to hear. As a result, it shows that
Hitler knew his audience very well, and the speeches had a powerful impact on them since it was
mesmeric. Thus, we could say that Hitler was speaking what the audience wanted to hear and
made them attracted to his words by gesture and emotional approach as he believed that the
masses, will not understand a reasoned argument compared to emotions. Therefore, his speaking
qualities made him a leader of the Nazi party.

Furthermore, most of the time, Hitler talked about the ideology of having one race, the
Aryan race. Hitler believed that the loss of Germany in World War I was mainly due to the
German-Jewish of the time as they belong to a different bloodline. Hitler saw Jewish as inferior
compared to Germans and believed that executing Jewish will 'purify' Germany (Berenbaum).
Hitler portrayed his anti-Semitic beliefs through his mesmeric voice that influenced many
Germans to be part of the Nazi party. His faith in purifying Germany from Jewish and other
races became part of his oratory and, in a way, was 'brainwashing' the Germans to believe in one
race and was controlling the minds of the audience by showing them an image of the Great
German Empire. Hitler painted a beautiful picture in front of them where there will be only one
race with abundant supplies and ruling the world. As per the University of Minnesota (UOM),
the Nazis used religion and the economy of previous centuries' anti-Semitism to justify their
hatred towards the Jews. Hitler saw the opportunity of how people are angry after their defeat in
WW1 and took it as a way to gain their trust and support to rise Germany again by having one
race. Many historians are unable to understand how Hitler ended up being anti-Semitic, they
argued it could be due to his Jewish family, it could also be said that may be it his patriotism
towards Germany that he could not accept their defeat and the racist mindset that led him to
conclude that Jewish are the enemies of Germany. In simple words, we could say Hitler was
arrogant, and he could not digest the fact that there could be someone superior to Germans. As a
result, killing the Jews and non-Jews fed his arrogancy. Meanwhile, Germany was already in a
colossal economic crisis, and the Nazis took advantage of it to expand their party.

The Great Depression for Germany came after its loss in World War I as they were in deep debt,
which led to an economic crisis. The government was impotent to handle the situation as there
was an increase in unemployment, taxes, and a decline in industrial work. As a result, many
Germans were not satisfied with the government and were hoping for a miracle. On the other
hand, free elections were also on their way, where Hitler understood they need more supporters
to expand their party. Hitler decided to stand up for presidential elections and successfully
gained 30% of the votes, giving a tough time to Paul von Hindenburg, and eventually becomes
chancellor (Grobman). Hitler took advantage of the economic crisis by questioning the
government and the treaty of Versailles. Hitler's charisma attracted the Germans to vote for him
as if they saw a savior in Hitler for their nation. Hitler knew that to rise in power and fight for the
'German Empire,' he needs those patriotic Aryan races, and this happened through the oratories
that made the nation fell for him. Nazi focused on every living being that never voted before,
hence attracting them and making them feel important. Hitler focused on all types of sectors,
mainly engrossed the countryside, inviting all class of voters except the Jewish and Catholic to
support him during the elections (Simon), this shows that Hitler was truthful towards his claims.
Hitler did not ask for Jewish or any other race's vote as he blamed them for Germany's loss,
hence showing that Hitler is a man of commitment who values basic principles of leadership.
Also, we could say that people understood Hitler's point of view for going against the treaty of
Versailles, as nobody wants their nation to be a slave of the Allied forces. Therefore, the
economic crisis played a paramount role in the rise of Hitler.

Now that Hitler became the chancellor and has gained the support of the public, it was time for
him to reach his next goal, presidential position. With Hitler's political mind, he feared the loss
of power by his group, the Sturmabteilung (SA), as they needed the military under their control.
However, Hitler needed the support of the armed forces for him to become more powerful,
therefore, Hitler had no option but to kill SA leaders and blamed them for being traitors (BBC).
We could say that Hitler's ambition for dictatorship blinded him as he murdered the SA, which
played a significant role in his rise to power. Hitler's political mind became the country's political
monopolist, to justify his actions, Hitler blamed the SA for going against Germany. Hence,
portraying the people how patriotic he is. However, it only showed the world his true colors and
how tyrant a leader he is. As time passed, Hitler became the dictator after the death of President
Hindenburg, opening ways for Hitler to rise more into power and control Germany through the
Enabling Act. During his life as a dictator, Hitler started off to save Germany from the economic
crisis the only solution he could see was a deficit in spending. Hitler was scared of inflation and
feared that Germany would not rise under such a catastrophic economy (Prism). It was time for
Hitler to apply his strategies and save Germany from the Great Depression, to show the world
that Germans are superior to anyone. Hitler tried his best to reduce unemployment and the debt
by importing raw materials such as gold for more military supplies. Hitler focused on the
military for his goal, the German Empire. Hitler understood the armed forces, will play a role in
getting the economy stable by invading countries and getting supplies. Just like every other need,
a country should have an impregnable military to support and protect them. By now, there were
millions of supporters of Hitler as he made them feel superior and worthy through his oratories.
Hitler had control over the individuals and wanted to lead the military.

After the death of President Hindenburg, Hitler appointed himself as a dictator and the head of
the army. Hitler made the army swear a loyalty oath to himself, not Germany. Hitler wanted
Germany to be an impregnable state with the help of the military. As a result, Hitler started to
rearmament which helped boost the economy by creating jobs and manufacturing weapons for
the military (BBC). Hitler understood that they need to invest in the armed forces to be
indestructible during wars, which as a result, helped the thousands of Germans to get a job
leading to convenience economic growth. Thus, this helped Hitler in gaining more power and
control as the Germans were happy to be out of the economic crisis. As for military control,
Hitler wanted to create a personal bonding between him and the armed forces so that they are
loyal to him and understand his point. We could say that Hitler does not want the armed forces to
focus on anything other than the war for the German Empire, and as said before, his speeches
had a significant impact on individuals, which aid Hitler to gain the trust of armed force. Hitler
took different moves that improved his military such as the oath of services, dismissing the
Jewish and not allowing them to join any rank. After the humiliating reductions of the Versailles
Treaty, Hitler was able to restore the German military (USHMM). All these moves created a
bonding between Hitler and his generals as well as the soldiers that the military became
extremist as the soldiers were willing to support Hitler's genocide policies. Not only Hitler
carried out mass murder, but he also used the property of Jews for the benefit of the military, this
further strengthened the trust and support Hitler was gaining. We could say that Hitler was
taking an act of revenge on behalf of Germany from Jewish for their loss in World War I since
he was anti-Semitic.

Hitler went through different ideas to make the rearmament successful and faster; his actions
were going all against the treaty of Versailles. During the first year of his dictator, he esteemed
the mastery of his military advisors and accepted they understood what they are doing. German
soldiers lack experience with armed operations due to the treaty of Versailles it, would be
impossible for them to attain victory. By 1935 Hitler had declared induction and afterward the
formation of the Luftwaffe. The succeeding year Hitler decided to remilitarize the Rhineland, a
stage that was likewise prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles (Murry). Hitler decided to act from
day one of his dictatorships, all leading up to his plan for lebensraum, though the Europeans
were quiet during the progression of Germany. We could say one of the mistakes Europeans did,
is letting Hitler violate the rules of the treaty, hence allowing him to reach his goals. Once Hitler
was convinced enough that his military is powerful for war, he decided to start World War 2 by
invading Poland. Hitler's early success in World War 2 shows that his strategies were working
and fulfilling the promises he gave to Germany for a Great German Empire. By now, millions
saw Hitler as a strong leader that saved them from poverty, unemployment, and inflation. Also,
Hitler's anti-Semitic views played a vital role as he kept on talking about it and made the
Germans feel worthy of being superior.

In conclusion, Hitler rose from being unknown by the world to millions of individuals following
him. Hitler's great oration was the key to his success and power as it kept on mesmerizing the
Germans that even blaming the Jewish for their defeat made sense to the people of Germany. As
a result, his oration was the first step towards power by becoming the leader of the Nazi Party.
Furthermore, Hitler's anti-Semitic and racist ideology was the main reason many Germans were
brainwashed into thinking they are far superior to the world and deserves to be on the top level of
the hierarchy. Hence, Hitler successfully convinced them through his mesmeric oration for the
mass execution of Jewish and other races, which looked like an act of revenge for Germany's
defeat. Alongside, Hitler and his Nazi party took advantage of the economic crisis to rise more in
power and gain more votes in the election by questioning the government and the treaty of
Versailles, which he saw as a betrayal. Eventually, Hitler became the chancellor and dictator
after the death of the president, which he thought gave him the right to take over everything
including the armed forces. All these events played significant means towards his control of the
entire nation.
 References
1. Macia, Amanda. “ How Hitler’s populist rhetoric contributed to rise to
power,” Insider, 13th May 2015, https://www.businessinsider.com/why-
hitler-was-such-a-successful-orator-2015-5.

2. Berenbaum, Michael. “ Holocaust European History,” Britannica,

https://www.britannica.com/event/Holocaust.

3. UOM. “ The Holocaust,” University of Minnesota

https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/
holocaust

4. Grobman, M. Gray. “ Facts roots Hitler,” Remember.org,

https://remember.org/guide/facts-root-hitler

5. Simon, Dan. “ Who voted for Hitler?”, The Nation, 15th January 2021,
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-hitler-nazi-fascism/.

6. BBC. “Hitler takes political control 1933-1934,” BBC News,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxs2pbk/revision/5.

7. Prism. “Hitler’s economic miracle,” Prism Scholar ,

http://prism.scholarslab.org/prisms/46a049fe-b2be-11e5-85b4-
005056b3784e/visualize?locale=fr.

8. BBC. “Nazi control and dictatorship 1933-1939”, BBC News,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zsvhk7h/revision/1.

9. USHMM, “The German Military and the Holocaust,” Holocaust

Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-
german-military-and-the-holocaust.

10.Murry, Williamson. “ The Making of Hitler’s Army,” The History Net,

https://www.historynet.com/making-hitlers-army.htm.