Adolf Hitler

There are many things that people think of when they hear the name Hitler. One of the first things that a lot of people always think of is what he did to the Jews. Some people think of the war he started that killed hundreds of millions of people. Some people remember him for being a great speaker and how he was able to convince millions of people that what he was doing was actually a good thing. Adolf Hitler can be categorized as one of the most worshiped and despised leader of all time. What was it that he did that made him so revered by his own people and other people throughout the world? Was it because of his stellar mustache or the fact that he was one of the greatest public speakers that the world has ever known? I guess the question that we need to ask ourselves is; what does the legacy that Hitler left have to do with us? We all have heard the concept that we should learn from our past.

Through out history there have been many great speakers that have been able to influence the people of their country to do what they want them to do by just speaking to them. As we know, Hitler was one of these people who had an ability to influence people with his words. The only reason why Hitler was able to become Fuhrer of Germany was because was able to convince all of the other government officials that he was right for the job. He was able to finally gain the trust of the people because he made them think that what he was doing was for them. But how is that different than what Martin Luther King Jr. said when he was fighting for equal rights? The difference between the two is what they were doing.

How do you get a whole country to do what you want them to do? Do you call up the army and go around and kick down their doors and drag them out into the middle of the street during the night and beat them? Do you tax them and take away all of their rights so they have to do what you want them to do? There are many other ways in which leaders of countries can get people to follow what they want them to do, however some of these tactics are not the best way to get people to do what you want. So what is the best way to get people to listen to you and do that which you want them to do? The thing is, nobody likes to be forced to do anything; if people are going to do something it is going to be done by their own free will. But all of the great leaders from the past have understood one thing and one thing alone; persuasive speaking.

When World War one first broke out people thought that it was only going to take a couple of months for it to be over. In fact, they said that the troops will be home for Christmas. As it turns out, the war went on for a span of a couple of years. While the war in Europe was going on, America just stayed in the background and got up on its feet and prepared itself. President Wilson knew that if he was going to go to war that someone would have to strike first on us or the American people would not allow him to go to war. The Germans sank a passenger ship that was filled with Americans. After that, President Wilson knew that he could talk to the people and convince them that it was right to go to war with the Germans. Here we see that he was able to do this by speaking to the people. The same thing happened when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and President Roosevelt spoke to the people. They both understood the fact that they had to be united with the people before going to war. Now, I am not saying that their decisions to go to war where bad things, but they knew how to win the hearts of the people so that they could go to war.

Today you may find on the internet many places that have a copy of what Martin Luther King Jr. said forty six years ago in his "I have a dream" speech (Eidenmuller). They all say the same thing and they all still have the power to persuade people like it did when he first gave it to all of the people in the world, but more so for the people of America. That speech is known as one of the greatest speeches that has ever been given. The reason why it is such a great speech is because he understood that he had to relate his message to the people to whom he was speaking. So how did Hitler speak to the people of Germany when he was in power? He did the same thing. He knew that he had to relate his topic to his people. (Please watch the video of Hitler speaking and it also has the subtitles to read. If you would like to watch a video of Mr. King speaking you may go to the second link or you can also read it at the second link.)

So why is it that Hitler is not considered one of the greatest speaker that has ever lived? You may go to many different websites that have a list of some of the great speakers that ever lived and you will notice that he is not on any of them. The reason why you do not see his name on any of these list is because of what he did. Although he spoke in the same way as many other great speakers and he understood how to win the hearts of the people by speaking, what he said in those speeches made it so that he would not be considered as one of the great speakers. When you listen to parts or even whole speeches that he gave you can feel the energy and emotion that he spoke with while giving those speeches. Hitler knew how to speak, but the message that he shared was an evil message.

As time has gone on and we have lost some of the greatest speakers that have lived, we are still finding new speakers that help motivate us to do the right thing. Of those great speakers that have died are John F. Kennedy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ronald Regan, Richard Nixon, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and many other people. Even though people die, their words do not. Books, videos, TV, and websites will always share their great messages with us and the future generations that will come. We will always be inspired by what they said and people will study what they said and they will become great speakers like them. The whole point here with Hitler and the other speakers is that we need to be careful of whom we listen to and how we let what they say affect our lives. We need to use the gift that we have to choose right from wrong so that we can keep people like Hitler from ever coming to power again. If the German people would have not been so blinded by his words that war would have not had happened.

Speach

Hitler Speaking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ui7Mc2vsY

Martin Luther King Jr.'s I have a dream speech
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Quotes from Hitler

“If cowards cry out: ‘But we have no arms!’ that is neither here nor there! When the whole German people knows one will and one will only – to be free – in that hour we shall have the instrument with which to win our freedom. It matters not whether these weapons of ours are humane: if they gain us our freedom, they are justified before our conscience and before our God. When the eyes of German children look questioning into ours, when we see the suffering and distress of millions of our fellow-countrymen who without any fault of theirs have fallen into this frightful misfortune; then we laugh at the curses of the whole world, if from these curses there issues the freedom or our face. (International)”


“There are two things which can unite men: common ideals and common criminality. We have inscribed upon our banner the great Germanic ideal and for that ideal we will fight to the last drop of our blood. We National Socialists have realized that from the international cesspool of infamy, from the Berlin of today, nothing can come to save the Fatherland. We know that two things alone will save us: first, the end of internal corruption, the cleansing out of all those who owe their existence simply to the protection of their party comrades. Through the most brutal ruthlessness towards all party officials we must restore our finances. It must be proved that the official in not a party man, but a specialist! The body of German officials must once more become what once it was. But the second and the most important point is that ht day must come when a German government shall summon up the courage to declare to the Foreign Powers: The Treaty of Versailles is founded on a monstrous lie. We refuse to carry out its terms any longer. Do what you will! If you wish for war, go and get it! Then we shall see whether you can turn seventy million Germans into serfs and slaves. (International)”

"All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach. (Quote)"

"All great movements are popular movements. They are the volcanic eruptions of human passions and emotions, stirred into activity by the ruthless Goddess of Distress or by the torch of the spoken word cast into the midst of the people. (Quote)"

Work Cited

Eidenmuller, Michael E. Top 100 Speeches. 2009. April 2009 http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm.

International, Humanitas. 20 February 2009. http://www.humanitas-itnernational.org/.

Quote, Brainy. Adolf Hitler. 2009. April 2009 . http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/adolf_hitler.html.