A strong personality
Hitler is moved by the consciousness that he has a mission. He dreams of building and ruling an empire. He believes he has been chosen by destiny to unify the German people, to purify (cleanse) the race, to make it strong and give it
the empire of the Earth. The illuminated mystical doctrine that drives Hitler must be very strong indeed for this former homeless beggar, not even a German citizen, to become absolute master and savior of Germany. The young man who failed at school and was considered to be incapable of perseverance has come a long way! But more than a mystic, he is above all a fanatic. The mixture of fanaticism and cunning that can be found in him make him superior to Roehm who is only violent, and Papen who is only deceitful. He knows how to wait to outwit the vigilance of his adversaries.
When he sees the opportunity, he acts swiftly, forcibly. He uses frenzy and temper tantrums as a weapon. However, this does not prevent him from thinking, pondering, estimating chances. His political instinct is very real and will inspire him and bring him success more than once in the management of the war. Hitler is possessed. He could fool his political opponents for so long precisely because he actually lived the roles he was playing, with intensity, sincerity. His cleverness is the cunning and astuteness of a fanatic, who finds at all times the spot where to attack and that nothing can hold back once he has decided to take action. Since he is a visionary and a prophet, he must be convincing and he is. The foundation of his psychological power lies in the charismatic side of his personality. If what he imagines has sometimes nothing in common with reality, he is nevertheless capable of convincing others that there lies the truth. He often succeeded during his political career to make competent, lucid men believe they were wrong.
A talented Speaker
His voice had a unique tone, where the expressions of anxiety, faith, the spirit of resolve, the confidence of a clairvoyant, the madness and the logic harmonized themselves so perfectly, that he could use this magic charm to subdue a great country and a great people. He was able to talk to this people with an unmatched skill and talent, because he was himself the most radical expression of their own nostalgia, he shared their hopes and fears. One can talk of the mediumnic/visionary side of the nature of Hitler. He was the prophet who revealed to the masses a spirit or vision that was nothing else but theirs (their vision), even though they were not aware of it. At rest, he looks like a normal man: very common, very plain. But when he begins to speak (publicly), the metamorphosis is impressive. A mediocre man transforms itself into an important one. This splitting of the personality gives him a real power of fascination.
His well-known talent as a public-speaker consists in a magnetic power that attracts ever bigger crowds. His suggestive power (almost erotic) manifests itself through the property of his eyes,
the virtue of his gaze. Very few men can resist the power of those eyes and the fascination they produce. Furthermore, his hoarse and thundering voice and his argumentative logic do not fail to produce results when he starts his fiery monologues. Those who approached him near the end of his life noticed that his charisma was about to disappear. The gaze that we talked about earlier troubles the minds of his listeners, annihilates their judgment, destroys any sense of opposition or criticism. Hitler is a better than average psychologist who masters the art of conquering not only the masses (the crowd), but individual minds as well. With him it is not only a natural talent. He studied patiently the means that bring fame and command respect: words, gestures (movements of the hands), stance, posture, attitude. His speeches are lively, spirited, easy to understand. He has the gift to find formulas that establish a kind of mystic communication between him and the masses. Of all the popular speakers and simplificators of his time, he was the simplest and the most natural.
An Actor
Hitler is an actor, during all his life he plays various roles. He got a vast repertoire and goes with apparent ease from one role to the next (from comedy to tragedy). The outer layer of his nature, in its plasticity, allows him to assume many personalities (take on many identities). He could be a statesman among statesmen, a commander-in-chief for army generals, a charmer (seducer) for women, a father for the nation. He knows how to give his words an air of truth. He makes a clever use of numerous but superficial bits of knowledge and is served by a prodigious memory. He can delude the best of judges. He gives to superficial notions the aspect of detailed knowledge. He can fool even experts. Very experienced statesmen who have met him in several occasions would believe him to be a real statesman, and a trustworthy one. Top-rank military advisers would estimate that he is a man with whom they could talk, and refined and cultured national-socialists saw in him the social leader of the nation. For years, he didn't stop to
con the other representatives at the negotiation table by a calculated, very strict statesman demeanor. He would put on a neat look, almost elegant. He was friendly and showed self-control. He knew well the topics of discussion. He was remarkably convincing as an interlocutor; especially during private meetings, where he would show dignity and frankness. He knew how to leave a strong impression. He answered questions very rapidly and gave the impression of the utmost sincerity. One could never emphasize enough his admirable talent as an actor. He plays all kinds of roles to perfection, so much so that experienced political leaders renowned for their astuteness and clearmindedness were fooled like the rest. Further, his talents as tragedian allowed him to create an impression of historical greatness; he knew how to give to unimportant words (platitudes, really) a pretense of importance and solemnity.
A Tactician
Hitler is very skillful at manoeuvering and a cunning tactician. For instance, he excels at getting rid of his rivals, especially the first among them: the journalist Karl Harrer, president of the first version of the National-Socialist party. He secures for himself a dominating place in the party. He is not afraid to resort to questionable means to get ahead. After having eliminated or pushed aside the former members of the ruling committee, he becomes the movement's undisputed leader. The time-period 1925-1929 was one of lean years and meager results for Hitler and the Nazi movement, but he persisted without ever losing hope or confidence. In spite of his particular temper and his fits of hysteria, he had enough patience to wait and was smart enough to understand that the climate of material prosperity did not serve his purpose. In 1925, there is not much left of the party. The Führer goes back to work. He stops the feuds, summons the followers and rebuilds the movement on more stable foundations. He gathers around him a team of young and dynamic people, who worship him and learn to follow orders. His influence grows, there is almost no resistance to his will anymore. In case of personal conflict or clashes between party members, he has always the last word. He is certain of victory (sooner or later) and make those around him share his belief. He learns to tame his own impulsive and excessive nature. The lessons of sad experiences and unfortunate mishaps are not lost to him. Granted, his biased views did not disappear, but he learned to use them. The prejudiced views even make up the basis of a whole ideology that makes him more popular than ever. Cold reckoner, he holds a fair amount of lucidity and astuteness. He does not waver from- or let go of the main lines of his policy and his racist dogmas. No doubt that he sometimes forgets several points of his political program and many solemnly made promises. But these are more a matter of demagogy than part of his basic political project. Thereupon, he never wavers. He gets out of desperate situations. When he feels supported, his self-confidence and belief in his destiny give him a dynamism and an
all the way attitude that help him reach his goal. He needs to feel that things turn out his way, and be proven right by current events. He needs further the cheer of the crowd, powerful friendships or the devotion of the faithful to excel and go beyond his own mediocrity. He then displays all the energy, violence, cunning and cruelty that are in him.
If his own interest requires it, all his declarations of indestructible friendship and undying gratitude are forgotten. He takes implacable revenge on those responsible for just about anything: a disappointment, an outrage, an insult or a defeat. Unscrupulous, he calculates coldly and moves his chess pieces systematically to eliminate all obstacles in his path. His willpower is boundless and to gain, keep or increase that power, he could do anything. Several times, he agrees to take enormous risks. He gambles and win. His many success in foreign politics would not have been possible if real statesmen would have opposed him vigorously. He knows how to find the vulnerable spot in his enemy's armour and to push his advantage right to the limit. He deludes the other side at the negotiating table with false hopes, chloroforming them so to say, before he operates on them and their countries deadly amputations. Just after his coming to power, he acts with a rare skill and swiftness. He reassures his suspecting allies by spectacular achievements, but at the same time he builds his dictatorship. All necessary decrees are taken in the six first months of power. His goal was to concentrate all power in his hand until the anticipated death of President Hindenburg. He used a genuine assault dynamics that shook the positions of his enemy blow by blow. The opposition forces being on a defensive stance had no chance to unite against him. They gave him all the opportunities to neutralize and destroy them. As a tactician, Hitler has always been afraid of the irrevocability of so-called final decisions. He never had at any moment a goal that he could state precisely or a real and clear strategy revealing what his intentions were. He had only visions and the power allowing him to grasp the possibilities offered by all kinds of situations, of which he would take advantage swiftly and forcibly. His sphere of activity would range from phantasmagories to carefully staged theatricals. In him can be found a mixture of tactician and visionary that does not care much about political programs.
He encouraged rivalries among his collaborators (divide as a mean to rule) this would allow him to play the role of mediator. He separates the Party and the State. One had its head-office in Münich, the other in Berlin. Even inside the Party, there were rival organizations competing with one another. The unity of the whole lay in the person of Adolf Hitler. But the principle of scattering the authority shows a system and a leader that are much less sure of themselves than was apparent. Genghis Khan was strong enough not to resort to such tactics. Hitler's tactical virtuosity though is demonstrated in the way he breaks the army through the S.A. and the S.A. with the help of the army. He usually deceived his adversaries by playing a double game: he made them rise against -- and fight one another and weakened both sides by these clashes. Hitler refuses to be one of those who, by lack of energy, focus or persistence, go straight to failure. Rarely does he let himself be driven into a defensive position, he rather overwhelms the other side with a flood of aggressive and passionate words that leaves them nonplused and intimidated. He is gifted with an indisputable psychological 6th sense, he knows how to win over his listeners to his cause, in flattering their prejudgements and their pride, in appealing to their instincts, in suppressing their sense of criticism. His willpower is far above average. All that can be obtained through force of the will and fanaticism, he will get. Even his vices will help him a lot for a time. He believed that, with enough willpower and cunning, he could change even stop the course of history. For a long time, his success has been stunning, making him believe in his genius and infallibility. He even encourages the worship of his person. All is put in place to bring about this genuine idolatry. He builds one of the most powerful political party in history, rigorously structured, starting from the most mediocre and humble of the post-war period. He understood that the disappearing of revolutions on their insurrectional aspect was irrevocable. The revolution must be made legally, with the winning of elections. He had an interest in technical developments and his thought was resolutely modern. People showed him respect because he had succeeded in reestablishing law and order and reducing unemployment. Let's mention finally one of his most remarkable inventions: the discovery that the use of methods of war in politics could be applied to war itself, and that, in this sphere also, an absolute will of destruction and the concentration of all available forces on one spot will always bring success.
HITLER