Charisma
Adolf Hitler was an unlikely
leader but he still formed a connection with millions of German people,
generating a level of charismatic attraction that was almost without parallel.
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| Adolf Hitler |
Charisma exists only in a
connection between the individual who is perceived as charismatic and their
audience. Only because, in the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in the First World
War, Hitler was able to articulate in a dramatic way many of the fears and
prejudices already felt by his audience was he able to be successful.
In the words of Hans Frank, who
heard Hitler speak in a Beer Hall in 1920, ‘he uttered what was in the
consciousness of all those present’.
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| Beer Hall Putsch |
Charismatic leaders despise
detailed policy. There is an element of personal conviction, bordering on the
magical, associated with the decision making process of a person with charisma
– a magic the committee room destroys. And Hitler took this idea to extremes,
outlining a wild fantasy of a world based on race and hatred in which ‘racially
pure’ Germans were a superior people – a broad-brush vision that many found
inspiring.
Hitler’s ability to connect
with a large audience of supporters, often by reinforcing and then heightening
their existing beliefs, combined with his inability to interact in a normal
everyday way with individuals, helped create Hitler’s ‘charisma’ as a leader.
Hitler, almost incredibly, could be both intimate with an audience and distant
with an individual.
Hitler was always certain in
his views – he debated with nobody. During the 1920s and early 1930s he
insisted that he would be made Chancellor – even though some doubted it would
ever happen. But events proved Hitler right, and after he was made Chancellor
in January 1933 many people subsequently believed he was infallible in his
judgment. ‘The Führer is always right’ almost became the motto of the whole
Nazi state.
It is virtually impossible to
overestimate the importance of enemies to a charismatic leader. As Hitler
discovered, it is much easier for charismatic leaders to define themselves by
who they hate rather than by what they believe in. And Hitler was never in
doubt about the single category of people he hated above all others – the Jews.
In his fantasy world the Jews
were to blame for Communism, the excesses of Capitalism, liberalism, Germany’s
economic woes and a whole catalogue of other problems. It was all a lie, of
course, but because anti-Semitic prejudice already existed, and the Jews were a
small but defined group in Germany, then millions of others were content to
persecute them.
Strange as it might seem to us
today, Hitler was perceived by many as an optimistic figure during the 1920s
and 1930s. He promised a world where Germans – other than German Jews, of
course - could recover their honour after the defeat of the First World War and
in which the economy would flourish. After hearing him speak in the early
1930s, Albert Speer, for example, concluded that ‘here, it seemed to me, was
hope’.
Max Weber, the German social
theorist who first analyzed ‘charismatic leadership’, wrote that leaders can
only retain their charismatic appeal in the long term if they preside over a
series of successes. And Hitler’s career is proof of Weber’s theory. Whilst
belief in Hitler’s charisma grew as a result of his foreign policy successes in
the 1930s, and peaked after the German defeat of France in 1940, it waned after
the German loss at Stalingrad in February 1943.
At the end, the general view of
Hitler was summed up by one anonymous German civilian, whose views were
recorded in a Nazi intelligence report in 1944: ‘It’s always claimed that the
Führer was sent to us from God. I don’t doubt it. The Führer was sent to us
from God - though not in order to save Germany but to ruin it.’
Sources:
Oratorical Skills
Hitler, despite his unheroic
appearance, did not lack in charisma. There was an intensity about him that
mesmerized many people who came into contact with him, and repelled others.
When Hitler spoke publically, he had the knack of transmitting this charisma
through whatever medium he was using, whether it was movie footage, radio, or
in person. While this was an innate talent, it was not one that Hitler left to
chance. He did practice his speeches, and his movements, consciously working to
find a style that would capture the imagination and hearts of the listeners.
And yes, Hitler used propaganda
very effectively. He could speak to his people about the Jews and how they
betrayed the Volk (people), to businessmen about the need to control the spread
of communism, and to the average worker about the need for a strong German
economy. He appealed to both the patriotic and to the selfish. In short, Hitler
told people what they wanted to hear. And he offered the only realistic
alternative to the extremism of the Communist party at the time.
And finally, yes, Goebbels did
indeed help Hitler, though for a time Goebbels actually worked for a Nazi who
would become a foe of Hitler. But Goebbels bought wholeheartedly into Hitler's
message and image, and worked tirelessly to "sell" Hitler to the
German people. They both did such a good job, that Hitler was able to gain the
position of Chancellor, allowing him to legally take over the government and
complete his revolution.
Hitler wrote all his own
speeches, in fact he only ever had pointers written on the paper in front of
him, the rest was strictly off the cuff, exciting, exhilarating and
extemporaneous.
He would begin by speaking very
calmly and very thoughtfully, then he would gather momentum and begin to put
emphasis in his voice and use gestures. This would build up to him shouting and
raising the crowd’s enthusiasm and working himself into a frenzy, ending with
the phrase "Sieg Heil" (Hail Victory). The crowd would then shout it
back several times over as Hitler stood there saluting them.
Sources:
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