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| Hitler himself |
Adolf Hitler managed to form a connection with millions of German people through generating a level of charismatic attraction that was efficient in attracting support.
Adolf Hitler
Charisma exists only in a connection between the individual who is perceived as charismatic and their audience. Due to the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in the First World War, Hitler was able to gain support in a dramatic way.
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’.
Beer Hall Putsch
Charismatic leaders hate detailed policies. There is an element of personal conviction, 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 an idea based on race and hatred in which ‘racially pure’ Germans were a superior people – a broad-brush vision that many citizens found inspiring.
Hitler’s ability to connect with a large audience of supporters, often by reinforcing and then heightening their existing beliefs, combined with him not able to interact in a normal 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 quarreled 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 unbeatable in his judgment. ‘The Führer is always right’ almost became the motto of the whole Nazi state.
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of enemies to a charismatic leader. 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 list of other problems. It was all lies, the Jews were a small but defined and innocent group in Germany, but the remaining millions of others were content to kill 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, - could recover their honour after the defeat of the First World War and in which its economy would be able to flourish. After hearing him speak in the early 1930s, Albert Speer, for example, concluded that there was hope if Hitler would become leader.
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 similar to Weber’s theory. Whilst belief in Hitler’s charisma grew as a result of his foreign policy successes in the 1930s, and increased even further after the German defeat of France in 1940, it decreased drastically after the German loss at Stalingrad (USSR) 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:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20237437
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurence-rees/7-secrets-of-hitlers-charisma_b_3104664.html
Oratorical Skills
Hitler, despite his unheroic appearance, did not lack in charisma. There was an intensity about him that suprised many people who met with him, and repelled others. When Hitler spoke publically, he was able of transmitting this charisma through whatever medium he was using, whether it was movie footage, radio, or in person. While this was special, it was not one that Hitler left to change. He did practice his speeches, and his movements, 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 of controlling the spread of communism, and to the average worker about the need of a strong German economy. He appealed to both the powerful 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. But Goebbels bought wholeheartedly into Hitler's message and image, and worked non-stop to publicise 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 made up on the spot.
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. Through this methods was he able to gain the support of the citizens
Sources:
https://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090122125658AAj34li
Pictures: http://all-about-biz.blogspot.sg/2011/10/adolf-hitler.html
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