The Hitler Myth

1
The Hitler Myth

• nature and effects of the myth
• Hitlers personal popularity

2
What was the myth?A carefully cultivated image
evidence to suggest that this image was believed.
Gobbels said the creation of the Hitler myth was
his finest achievement as Minister for Propaganda

• Hitler personified the nation and stood above
  selfish or private interests.
• Hardworking, dynamic, energetic a political
  genius
• Utterly devoted to the good of the German nation
• Understood and represented the German people
• The Peoples Chancellor and a man of the people
• Gave Germany back its pride and defended it
  against its enemies
• Architect of the German economic miracle

3
The Reality

• Lazy rose late (after mid day) and frequently
  spent the day watching films
• Got bored with detail ignored official papers
• Reliant on officials around him
• Indecisivie frequently delayed making decisions
• Had a long term relationship with his mistress
  Eva Braun

4
Bases of Personal Popularity

• Fuhrerprinzip exploited the German peoples
  desire for strong leadership

• Hitler sustained the regime and brought most
  people together through strong leadership
• By late 1930s c. 90 of Germans admired Hitler

• the adulation of Hitler by millions of Germans
  who might otherwise have marginally committed to
  Nazism meant that the person of the Fuhrer as a
  focal point of consensus formed a crucial
  integral force in the Nazi system of rule
• (Ian Kershaw, Hubris 1933-39)

5
What was Hitlers appeal?

• Offered what people wanted maintained
  traditional values
• Capitalised on disillusionment with Weimar
• Political changes were technically constitutional
• Promised to restore hope and create a strong
  national community Volkesgemeinschaft
• Hitler was seen as moderate subordinates blamed
  for the regimes failings

6
Downfall

• Myth eventually contributed to the decline of the
  Third Reich- power struggles made the regime
  unstable
• Hitler began to believe in the myth, that he was
  infallible.
• Kershaw The day that Hitler began to believe in
  his own myth, marked in a sense the beginning of
  the end of the Third Reich.