Ian Kershaw - Hitler

[kfz]

Originally Posted by Gage

Thanks GH. So, did Hitler get to lead a nation as big as Germany because he was a fantastic orator, the situation the German people felt post WW1 and very lucky? Or is that too simple?
Don't want to turn this into a big debate, just really interested.

Too simple I think.

He wasnt a fantastic orator, in the sense of great logical debater. His speaches are theatical performances, he was manupilative, he would engineer the meeting right down to details. Its whats called spin now. It was the whole package.

The climate had to be right I think. When things started looking a bit up in the early thirties he wasnt doing that well, not untill umployment went nuts that he started getting a bigger following.

Quite an amazing story that basically a loner down and out gets to kill 50 million people.

Kev

[Gotthard Heinrici]

What was ironic was that the Nazis gained power just as they had peaked in popularity. another year and they might have been sidelined. But they werent uinfortunately. Hitler managed to take advantage of a number of different scenarios, Bitterness of Versailles, unemployment, other countries using appeasement as a form of diplomacy etc. All ensured that Hitler would rise to power and would use it evilly.