Third reich

Nadai

Active Member
Today on the History Channel I was watching Third Reich: The Rise on the History channel about Hitler's rise to power and how he overtook Germany. It is a very interesting and informative documentary, a lot of information I didn't know or had forgotten.
What is amazing to me is how Adolf Hitler was described as being spastic with epileptic tendencies always frothing at the mouth during his speeches and having shifty eyes. It was said that he would be the last person to approach on the streets if someone needed a light. Even so he had the ability to rise to Fuhrer and make people believe that all that he did was to better Germany: public executions, the torture of those who resist Hitler with steel whips and drills, the arrest of all Communists, the total breech of privacy for the public, the burning of books and banning of newspapers.
Hitler didn't just fool Germans, he fooled the world. Many Americans who traveled to Germany for the Olympics made comments about Hitler and his hospitality. They believed Hitler to be one of the greatest leaders and his people to be the happiest in the world.
Why was it so easy for Hitler to rise to power and convince an entire country that he was a hero when he was so obviously the opposite? Could such a thing happen again... and in America?
 

Myrddin

Well-Known Member
Well, anything's possible...

That really gives an idea of how much of Hitler's reign of terror inspired George Orwell for his book 1984, and Big Brother therein.
 

RLynn

Active Member
......Why was it so easy for Hitler to rise to power and convince an entire country that he was a hero when he was so obviously the opposite? Could such a thing happen again... and in America?
Unfortunately, with the present political climate, it is certainly a potential threat.
 
Sobering thoughts. Hitler is an ever-present reminder that charisma is a great power that can lead to great things—great good, even; but if misplaced, as was in Hitler's case, it can result in grievous atrocities whose repercussions are still being felt.

With regards to RLynn, you have a legitimate point: the political climate in the United States is unstable, as a boulder tottering on the brink of a cliff. I'm not one for conspiracy theories or thriving on thoughts of disaster, but I cannot deny the various news items do give me cause for concern.
 
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