Study Guide 5: Adolf Hitler and the Fuhrer Myth

Fuhrer Myth + Propaganda and Accepted by German People (desire for heroic leader)

FUHRER MYTH CREATED BY PROPAGANDA

• Fuhrer Myth = term used by Joseph Goebbels, minister for propaganda and enlightenment

  • describes the 'heroic' leader image he created which he claimed in 1941 to be his greatest propaganda achievement

IMAGE ACCEPTED BY GERMAN PEOPLE - prior events and why myth was accepted

• the desire for

heroic leadership grows out of

1. disruption caused by unification and the creation of the nation-state, establishment of a strongly authoritarian constitutional system and rapid industrialisation

2. political splintering that resulted due to social divisions

3. spread of imperialistic ideology based on feelings of national superiority = demands for territorial expansion at the expense of “primitive”, “inferior” peoples

SEARCH FOR A 'LEADER' (desire for heroic leader)

• war, defeat, revolution —> social democrats

  • they were hated and feared by the right wing

  • desire on the “Volkisch right” for a heroic leader grew

• disinterest in the monarchy = idea for a leader that will be “a man of the people”

  • qualities = resolute, ruthless and radical

    • could bring a new beginning for Germany and could create an ethnically pure Volksgemeinschaft

local hero (Development of Fuhrer Cult)

• 1923, Hitler has is arrested and put on trial due to the Munich Putsch where he becomes both a local and national celebrity

• his abilities as an orator were put on display

• hitler outshone other prisoners and delivered heartfelt, patriotic speeches

• Germany at this time was already biased towards the right wing of politics and many aligned their beliefs with those that Hitler held

opportunity of Great Depression (Development of Fuhrer Cult)

• The Great Depression provided a huge opportunity for the Nazi's and other extremist parties as they provided a beacon of hope for the people who were facing appalling conditions under the poor leadership of the moderates

• This is exemplified in the growing electoral success in 1932

• lost hope in the Weimar Republic and a growing fear of communism

as chancellor 1933+ (Development of the Fuhrer Cult)

• became chancellor in January, 1933 - other believed that he would be a “chancellor in chains”

• use of apparatus of state - eg. media, education system, police, youth movement

  • Gleichschaltung and Hitler's consolidation of power rapidly spread within Germany along with Nazification

  • media = all media was heavily censored by the Nazi's and headed by Joseph Goebbel's the minister for propaganda and enlightenment

  • Education system = mandatory Nazification

  • Police = the SS formed their own secret police system, the Gestapo, which heavily enforced Nazification and adherence to new policies brutally

  • Youth movement = Youth headed the book burnings on May 10, 1933 and the Hitler Youth rapidly grew in numbers

elimination of opposition + Fuhrer position created (Development of the Fuhrer Cult)

• elimination of opposition

  • initially, communists were banned from the Reichstag and sent to Concentration camps such as Dachau

  • Those who opposed Hitler were sent to the concentration camps

  • 14th of July = no other opposition allowed in Germany = one party state

• position of president, chancellor fused

  • August, 1934 President Hindenburg dies and Hitler is appointed president with backing from the army

  • he combines the role of the chancellor and president and becomes the “Fuhrer”

• image of all powerful statesman and military genius = improved economy and successful foreign policy

  • positioned to be the saviour of a nation

Pathos of Human Qualities of the Fuhrer

• the Fuhrer's virtues = CONTEMPORARY BOURGEOIS VIRTUES

  • education system, bourgeois, press and youth movements SYMPATHISED with the manufactured image of Hitler

• “Hitler embodied a well-established ideological consensus”

  • ie. Hitler was portrayed to the public as the leader who embraced “respectable” well established ideas and policies with which the middle class generally agreed

Kershaw - 1. Anti-marxism

• Hitler = embodiment of a strong, ruthless leader, endorsing law and order by smashing socialists at the Night of the Long Knives (SA)

• anti-bolshevik speeches = well received by anti-marxist majority

Kershaw - 2. National Interest

• Hitler = portrayed as putting nation first —> creating harmonious volksgemeinschaft rather than a narrow “party” interest

• Propaganda distanced him from the unpopular actions of the Nazi's

• some thought Hitler was unaware of the misdeeds of party members

Kershaw - 3. Employment

• believed to be responsible for fall in unemployment

• economic miracle

• workers were less impressed than middle class who still suffered from 1933-36

Kershaw - 3. Employment

• believed to be responsible for fall in unemployment

• economic miracle

• workers were less impressed than middle class who still suffered from 1933-36

Kershaw - 4. Moderate

• believed to be opposed to “radical men” of the party

• radicals held responsible for church struggle where crucifixes were tried to be removed from classrooms

• many believed hitler was God-fearing and religious

Kershaw - 5. Ruthless against enemies of the people

• anti-semetic but not in labour of gutter violence = legality

• believed to have opposed Crystal Night

• Removal of Jews from everyday life = approved by many

Kershaw - 6. Foreign Policy

• upholder of nations rights

• attacks on Treaty of Versailles and successful coups = popular

• man of peace, not war-monger

Kershaw - 7. Military Genius

• blitzkrieg success

• defeat of France in just 4 weeks = personal triumph

QUOTES by IAN KERSHAW

“the Fuhrer would certainly right all wrongs”

“The 'Hitler Myth' secured the loyalty to the regime”

“brilliant, indeed infallible statesman” - what germans were convinced

“cunning triumph of Goebbels' propaganda machine”

“the Fuhrer was already the prisoner of his own propaganda image”

1. “personification of the nation and the unity of the Volksgemeinschaft”

2. “single-handed architect and creator of Germany's economic miracle”

“offering a new basis of lasting prosperity”

1. “representative of popular justice”

“healthy sentiment of the strong people, the upholder of public morality, embodiment of a strong, if necessary ruthless action”

1. “regarded as personally sincere”

2. “upholder and fanatical defender of Germany's just right, a rebuilder of the nation's strength, a statesman of genius”

3. “in the first half of the war, Hitler appeared to be the incomparable military leader”

4. “bulwark against the nation's perceived powerful ideological enemies - Marxism/Bolshevism and above all, the Jews”

Weber = charismatic Personality of Hitler

• “charismatic” authority derives from the “heroic character” of the leader based on the subjective beliefs of the followers

• such a leader gains his or her power from personal loyalty, not abstract rules, and must have repeated successes to provide proof of exceptional powers

• failure is fatal

HITLER BECOMES DETACHED FROM REALITY

• charismatic leadership allowed Nazi leader to ignore the conservative elites

• Hitler became unable and unwilling to separate himself from the myth of his own omnipotence and became detached from reality, cut off from criticism

  • “counter the strong centrifugal forces within the Nazi Movement…establishing a massive basis of consensus among the German people for those aims and policies identifiable with the Fuhrer”

Fuhrer Myth = summary

1. Fuhrer Myth based on an image of a heroic leader created by Goebbels

2. based on established social and political values

3. it provided with its massive consensus

4. served to integrate Nazi factions and allowed development of other radicals

5. charismatic leadership and the myth destroyed by failures

6. fuhrer myth's destruction caused collapse of regime

catholic + socialist resisters

• Catholics

  • did not approve of the myth as their religious beliefs juxtaposed it greatly

  • the treatment of Hitler's opposers completely contrasted the values so crucial to the Catholics

  • Hitler's stance as an idolised figure also contradicted the fact that no one should place any person above God.

• Socialists

  • the moderates had been despised by Hitler as he believed that they should be held accountable for the punitive terms agreed to by the Treaty of Versailles and their lack of assistance for the people after the Wall Street Crash and onset of the Great Depression

  • Hitler was also the root cause for the killing of the Weimar constitution which was set up the socialist as an aim for a stronger more fair and equal Germany