The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler

Pure evil but able to communicate to followers on a deep, emotional level

Adolf Hitler was an unlikely leader. But he still formed a connection with millions of German people. And he generated a level of charismatic attraction that was almost without parallel. It is a stark warning for us today.

At the heart of the story of Adolf Hitler is one gigantic, mysterious question. How was did a man as strange and inadequate as Hitler ever gain power in a sophisticated country at the heart of Europe? Not only that, he was then loved by millions of people?

The answer is found not only in the historical circumstances of the time but in the nature of Hitler's leadership.

Hitler's leadership came from the power to diffuse a positive energy and a sense of greatness. As such, it rested almost entirely on him. He realised that his absence for any reason could lead to the authority's power dissolving. Yet due to its idiosyncratic nature his charismatic authority depends more strongly on the perceived legitimacy of the authority. Should the strength of this belief fade, as it did from 1943 onwards, then the power of the charismatic leader would face quickly. This is one of the ways in which this form of authority shows itself to be unstable.

In contrast to the current popular use of the term charismatic leader, Hitler showed that charismatic authority was not so much his character traits. Rather his charismatic leadership was more like a relationship between the leader and his followers. People viewed him as a quasi-religious leader. He offered an almost spiritual goals of redemption and salvation. He communicated his sense of personal destiny, in something he called “providence”.

I watched the TV series of the same name. It helped add context and richness to the text. But, the book works well as a stand-alone text.