Leadership Qualities of Adolf Hitler Essay Example

his strategic approach he took any action or direction. Just before the outbreak of the World War 1, the leader to be applied for a position in the German army where his application was accepted, although he was an Austrian citizen (Zamulin & Britton, 2010). He started working for the Army in August of 1914 and spent most of his time in the back lines. However, his presence came with the victory, making him be decorated for being brave as well as receiving the honors of the Iron Cross First Class and the Black Wound Badge (Römgens, 2012).

More so, his bravery was evident when he became bitter about the Germany's surrender from the war in 1918. Together with the other nationalists, they believed that the army was betrayed by the civilian leaders as well as the Marxists. He, therefore, anticipated for another war in a view that the Treaty of Versailles degraded the army by demilitarization processes in the Rhineland and stipulated the acceptance of Germany as responsible for starting the War (Römgens, 2012).

He was an intellectual man, in spite of his poor performance in school. Hitler's leadership started soon after the World War 1 where he worked as the intelligence officer in the army upon his return to Munich (Zastrow, 2015). He kept monitoring the activities of the leading party called the German Worker's Party and adopted the ant-Semitic and the ant-Marxist ideologies that were founded by Anton Drexler. Upon invitation by Drexler, Hitler joined the party in 1919 (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2010).

Hitler illustrated his quality of unwavering conviction in leadership as he did not at any one time allow for defeat. Once he

started one thing, he made sure that it will lead to the other. He spearheaded the revival of the DAP party in which the name changed to the Nationasozialistis-che Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) (Adolf Hitler Leadership, 2016). He designed the banner for the party which featured a swastika which was in a white circle and placed on a background colored red. His influence was highly felt through his speeches of victory against the outcomes of the Treaty of Versailles, the Marxists and the Jews ideas (Zamulin & Britton, 2010).

The lectures attracted regular audiences, including the army officials. An example was the army captain, Ernst Rohm, who headed the Nazi in the paramilitary organization. Also, the Sturmabteilung (SA), an organization that protected meetings by frequently attacking the opponents in the political field. He gained popularity to a point of replacing Drexler as the chairperson of the party in 1921 (Zamulin & Britton, 2010).

He was an orator, a charismatic and a straightforward leader, who knew where to start from in case of a political or economic issue. At Munich, on 8th of November, 1923, Hitler, together with the SA counterparts held a public meeting where more than 3,000 people converged at a beer hall (Römgens, 2012). Here, Hitler declared the beginning of a national revolution in which a new government was to be formed. This move saw a short revolution struggle in a coup called the Beer Hall Putsch which resulted in 20 deaths, although it failed. As a result, Hitler got arrested and convicted of high treason where he served a jail term of one year. However, he took his time in prison dictating the first book,

the Mein Kampf, commonly known as ‘My Straggle' to Rudolf Hess, his deputy (Adolf Hitler Leadership, 2016). This book explained the plans Hitler had in his bid to transform the German society into a racially based community.

Hitler's economic and political leadership manifested at the verge of the Great Depression. It provided an ideal opportunity for Hitler to rise to power. The general public became arrogant and liked the extremist opinions, rather than the parliamentary republic (Zastrow, 2015). The political standoff forced Hitler into internal politics where he ran for the presidency in 1932, against Paul von Hindenburg. He lost in the two rounds, becoming the second and garnering over 35% of the total votes cast in the general election. He, therefore, became a leading force in the political arena (Zastrow, 2015). He was appointed as the chancellor to enhance a political balance, in spite of the reluctance of Hindenburg.

Hitler was always a strong character. He believed in victory and could make the soldiers and the public believe in the same triumph. As the chancellor, Hitler formed the de facto dictatorship legal. The incidence of a suspicious fire at Reichstag led to the announcement of the Reichstag Fire Decree, which saw the suspension of the fundamental constitutional rights and the allowance of detention without prior trial (Zastrow, 2015). Under his political influence, the Enabling Act was passed, giving his cabinet the full powers over the legislations for four years and could deviate from the static constitution (Zastrow, 2015).

As a leader, Hitler was aware of the human nature. He understood the minds of an average person and believed that the control of the land lies under the

supervision of the policies and laws regulating the human actions. It was through the full monitoring of the legislature and the executive that Hitler and his allies were able to suppress all the political oppositions (Rees, 2014). This destabilized the government of Hindenburg, weakening it further. By June 1933, all the other parties were disbanded, in particular through intimidation. Later, on 14th of July, 1933, the Nazi Party, which was headed by Hitler, remained the only legal party all over of Germany, a move that was declared by Hitler (Rees, 2014).

Hitler was able to use the consultant influence as a characteristic of a potential leader. He used propaganda to create a unified nation in which his opponents would use to counter his dictatorial regime. There followed chaos and struggles all over Germany as the political opponents strived to regain power and privileges. The military opposition members were not left in the severe punishments which led to the Nights of Long Knives, taking place from the 30th June to 2rd of July 1934 (Rees, 2014). The SA demanded more political as well as military power. The victims of the shootings included Ernst Rohm together with other SA members, and Hitler's opponents.

Hitler used an individual approach to leadership. It was apparent that his decision was final and could not face rejection by the parties which would otherwise deter him from his achievements. He knew very well that division in authority would weaken the judgment, rather than strengthening it (Watson, 2011). In just a day before the death of Hindenburg, the cabinet had been forced to merge the presidents' office and that of the Chancellor through the abolition

of the law that provides for the president's office and the chancellor separately (Rees, 2014). This made Hitler the head of the state and the chancellor. He was, by then, the commander of the military forces. This move marked the start of the mobilization towards war and the subsequent withdrawal from the League of Nations. Here, Hitler declared an expansion of the armed forces across Germany (Zastrow, 2015).

Hitler introduced reforms because he knew that only well-formulated policies would make the people subject to the authorities. He did not entertain self-destruction and believed that society would only grow if the people observe hygiene and self-actualization (Fischer, 2011). All these happened in the Nazi regime which also incorporated the measures on social reforms. One of the reforms that were evident was the anti-smoking As well as the anti-alcohol campaigns around the country. Some of the reforms sprung from Hitler's personal dietary restrictions. The meat was also not part of his diet and kept on telling stories about slaughtering of animals as a way to shame others who used meat (Fischer, 2011). As an encouragement, he urged all the Germans to purify their bodies by avoiding intoxication and use of unclean substances.

The concept of race did not go unnoticed. Hitler's view of leadership was that the differences in the races would further divide the nation into groups that would become unmanageable. Racial interaction, to him, was a way of differentiating the natives into foreign cultures that would result in cultural variations and subsequently, the erosion of the original culture. The notion of racial hygiene was introduced all over the Nazis where new laws were put in place to

bar the non-Jews from marrying the Jewish Germans. The non-Aryans were denied citizenship of Germany (Kiesewetter, 2015). Hitler had stated earlier that the eugenic policies were to target the physically and mentally challenged children, and later, he authorized for a euthanasia program for the physically challenged adults.

There was a Holocaust that was conducted from racial hygiene. The Nazis executed between 11 million and 14 million people, who included 6 million Jews, a number that represented two-thirds of the total Jewish population in the entire Europe. This Holocaust was done from 1939 to 1945 (Fischer, 2011). The killings took place within the extermination and the concentration camps, while others were through executing masses. The other targeted groups were the Poles, homosexuals, communists, the trade unionists, and the Jehovah's witnesses. Hitler only ordered for the executions, but he did not show up or speak about the killings (Zastrow, 2015).

Hitler illustrates his diplomatic leadership in signing treaties that he knew would not contradict his primary aim of restoring the lost glory of his nation. The man was against the Treaty of Versailles, and the only way out of it was to review the treaty and withdraw from the League of Nations. The signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938 by Hitler and other European leaders led to the consideration of the Versailles Treaty (Rees, 2014). This treaty had ceded Sudetenland districts to Germany. His entry into the continents affairs resulted in his naming as the Man of the Year by the Time Magazine in 1938. As a consequence of the diplomatic win, his urge for a renewed dominance of the Germans increased. This saw the Germans invade Poland

on 1st of September, the same year. In return, Britain and France entered the field of war in response to the German's invasion (Rees, 2014).

All these activities escalated the Second World War, in which Germany continued to invade Scandinavia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, France, and Belgium in 1940 (Zastrow, 2015). With an aim of a further invasion, Hitler ordered raids all over the United Kingdom through massive bombing. In a bid to deter the United States from entry into the war, Hitler signed an alliance with the former Axis powers, including Japan and Italy (Watson, 2011). Their collective aim was to protect the Britons and the United Kingdoms from entry.

As a potential leader, Hitler knew that he had to be more aggressive to any change, either from the country or from outside. His urge was to make the largest or the strongest nation in the region, a move that could be done possibly by only expanding his spheres of influence. Hitler's aggression in the war continued as he violated the non-aggression agreement with Joseph Stalin by sending over 3 million troops to invade the Soviet Union on June, the year 1941 (Kiesewetter, 2015). The Germans had sieged a large area before they were stopped in Moscow in December 1941. The troops continued to expand influence through Japan's attack on the Hawaiian's Pearl Harbor. As by the 7th of December, Hitler knew that he was at war with the largest empire in the world, Britain, the world's financial power, the US, and the largest army, the Soviet Union (Kiesewetter, 2015).

However, there are some shortcomings in the overall leader in Hitler. These limitations can be traced from the time

that he conceded defeat from the Allied forces, although not much would be done to restore the lost fame. Leadership ability was diminished in Hitler's erratic military judgment. His health worsened as the army and economic stability deteriorated. The forces failed in their attempt to capture the Suez Canal in 1942 (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2010). There was a lot of humiliation when the military suffered defeats, particularly in the Stalingrad Battle and the Kursk Battle. As not enough, the Western Allied forces landed in the Northern parts of France on 6th June 1944. It became evident that there were an inevitable defeat and the forces anticipated for further destruction of Germany if the war would persist (Zastrow, 2015).

The worst happened immediately after the withdrawal of his army troops from the region of war. It was barely one day after Hitler married Eva Braun in a civil ceremony that they both committed suicide, and upon realizing that he was fighting a losing battle (Kiesewetter, 2015). It happened just moments after he was informed about the association of the Italian dictator called Benito Mussolini. The assassination made Hitler to fear the same treatment if he falls into the hands of the aggressive enemy troops and the humiliation they could cause to him. This marked the end of the war as Berlin fell on 2nd May, 1945, and the subsequent surrender of the Germans to the Allied powers on 7th May, the same year (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2010).

Hitler had desirable leadership qualities. At first, the country's independence was almost entirely achieved through standard and brave tactics that Hitler brought forth. He was the man to watch because he

did not believe in defeat, especially in the battlefield. However, his dictatorial policies inflicted suffering and deaths of an estimated over 40 million people (Bendersky, 2011). The merciless killings subjected the German's to the harshness of the outside world while Hitler himself had no proper link with the majority of the European and outside powers. The Allies, therefore, had an upper hand in the overall fight. Hitler left behind a devastated Eastern as well as Central Europe. The policies that some races made Germany an isolated region as people would keep on fleeing the country in search for peace (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2010). On the other hand, as a result of the humiliations and sufferings, a new form of global conflict emerged. This kind of conflict involves the differences in the ideas, the Cold War.

Conclusion

Adolf Hitler was an influential leader, and the Germans listened to him. He was demanding as he did not allow anyone to change what he believed and thought that he held all the powers to make decisions. At times, Hitler relied on the troops in carrying out his plans. He was a universal controller of the States affairs and wanted everyone to do as told; including the beliefs he had about himself. Also, Hitler was a goal setter, in that; he had goals for himself and the Nazis as well. He made all the judgments and believed that the Aryans were not part of the Germans. There was a general confidence in the man, Hitler, as he worked for victory in all his trials. However, trust and power were diminished upon the defeat by the Allied forces, although his leadership qualities

remain admirable.

References

• Adolf Hitler Leadership. (2016). Leadership With You. Retrieved 4 May 2016, from http://www.leadership-with-you.com/adolf-hitler-leadership.html
• Ahlstrom, D., & Bruton, G. D. (2010). International Management: Strategy and Culture in emerging world. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning.
• Bendersky, J. (2011). Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945). The Encyclopedia of War. doi:10.1002/9781444338232.wbeow282
• Fischer, K. P. (2011). Hitler & America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Kiesewetter, H. (2015). Von Richard Wagner zu Adolf Hitler. Varianten einer rassistischen Ideologie. Zeitgeschichtliche Forschungen. doi:10.3790/978-3-428-54543-8
• Rees, L. (2014). Hitler's charisma: Leading millions into the abyss.
• Römgens, I. (2012). What made Adolf Hitler a charismatic leader?. Talkin'Business online magazine. Retrieved 4 May 2016, from http://www.talkinbusiness.nl/2012/10/charismatic-leadership/
• Watson, P. (2011). The German genius: Europe's third renaissance, the second scientific revolution, and the twentieth century. New York: Harper Perennial.
• Zamulin, V. N., & Britton, S. (2010). Demolishing the myth: The tank battle of Prokhorovka, Kursk, July 1943: An operational narrative. Solihull: Helion.
• Zastrow, C. (2015). Social work with groups: A comprehensive worktext.