Was Hitler Insane?

[GeneralHaNor]

Hitler was a sociopath, a person without empathy. That means he was able to hurt and kill people without any remorse.

He was also a master at deception. He always told people what they wanted to hear. He was so good at this "game", even close nazis stated they never really met the guy himself.

Another psychological issue of him was that he was delusional. He felt like a messias, believing he would lead people into a better age. With the more and more obvious failure of these plans, he turned into a drug addict and ultimately ended his life through suicide.


Mad people might still know perfectly well what they're doing. Thats a question of intelligence, not sanity.

Without empathy, I would disagree. This is a guy that personally appeared at a minor aides daughters christening.

This is true, Hitler was also known as a lover of dogs and children, and was considered quite personable and affectionate in private company.

He was also a hugger.

[Nazis in Space]

To bad the gas did not kill him

Somebody else would have taken his place. Germany wasn't going to stay quiet about Versailles and the resentment toward jews was still waiting to be exploited.

Hardly. While the NSDAP wasn't founded by him, and until the purges in '33, contained a not wholly insubstantial number of dissidents who weren't wholly happy with him, the NSDAP absolutely collapsed in relevance during his stay in prison. None of the others were anywhere near as capable as Hitler when it came to uniting the party behind a single person, a single goal. Plenty of the others (Göbbels and Röhm in particular) were also far too left-wingish (Practically national communists) to make the arrangements with the industry and finances Hitler made - and consequently, unable to grab power. An NSDAP without Hitler would be a fringe party, I'd be surprised if they managed to break the 10% mark.

Consequently, without Hitler, the traditional, social-democrat and conservative elites would continue to make out the government between them in '33. Now, keeping in midn that...

• the question of WW1 reparations had already been settled in 1932, by the then-conservative government. All cancelled
• Guderian mentions in his memoirs that Germany was increasingly successful in lifting restrictions on its military - restrictions on its civilian sector had already been eliminated in the mid- to late twenties (Barring a few restrictions on export trade income, which took until '32 to get rid of)
• the great depression was already subsiding, economic conditions were improving

it becomes pretty obvious that the Weimar Republic would've... Well... Stabilised.

This is hardly unknown. France, during the 1880s, 1890s, was in almost the same situation Germany was in in the late twenties, early thirties. A military always just a simgle step from staging a coup. Rabid antisemitism (Dreyfuss affair). Streetfights between the right and the left. The occasional economic crisis (Albeit less severe than the great depression). But unlike Germany, the French right didn't have a truly capable leader - for all his rhetorics, Boulanger was a wimp who pussed out when he was given the opportunity to try a coup.

In th aftermath, France stabilised.

And the same would've happened in Germany, if there hadn't been a Hitler.

You're assuming that 1. Versailles was still a substantial problem (It was crumbling rapidly before Hitler came to power; Hitler was fantastically lucky to get in power at a time where none of the war winners could be arsed to enforce the treaty anymore, and in many cases, willingly passed on it) and 2. That there was any kind of unusual resentment towards jews in Germany - there wasn't. Antisemitism is a pan-european, pan-western concept, France showed this nicely. During the 1920s, the assimilation of jews into society at large (Already ongoing with increasing speed since the 17th, 18th century, depending a bit on where you look) continued just fine. What led to the gas chambers wasn't an unusually high degree of resentment towards jews in the general population, but silence in the general population while the extremists went full-force. This can - and should - be blamed on the then-and-still present German culture of obedience towards authority (Extant to a far greater degree than anywhere else in Europe barring Russia and maybe Britain), which let to a country of 'Not my problem' and 'It's my orders, sorry' people. But not on an eighty-million strong mob of rabid mass-murderers that never existed.

Eliminate the leadership figure that was able to push people in the direction of Zyklon B, and although the society wont change in its core values (It'll still be a nation of people saying 'Not my problem' and 'It's my orders, sorry'), the society will be directed in a different, less murderous direction.

Take away Hitler, and you do change everything.

[Risottia]

Do you think Hitler was insane?

He was insane enough to plot and enact various genocides, but not insane enough to excuse him for doing that.

[Kubrath]

He was out of his mind!... But he was back in five minutes!

[South Norwega]

Jesus Bloody Hell Christ.

Eventually people will get this right.

The order of DoWs was:

Austia->Serbia
Germany->Russia
""->France
""->Belgium
UK->Germany
Montenegro->AH
AH->Russia

It's on Wikipedia, not that hard to find.

I've managed to memorise it by now.

AH-Serbia
Russia-AH
Germany-France
Germany-Russia
Germany-Belgium
UK-Germany

I'm quite sure it was this order... Not sure bout Montenegro... Don't think that was significant... Ottomans/Bulgaria maybe...
EDIT: actually, now that I think about it, it seems that a lot of people in NS know about Montenegro... What did they actually do?

You're wrong. Don't dispute my list. It is the list. It is accurate. It is 100% accurate. It is the list. Don't ever say Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary again, because they didn't.

Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on August sixth, after the others. It's on Wikipedia, it's in other places. it's a fact, don't dispute it. Russia did not declare war on Austria-Hungary. They merely mobilised their army, which is not an Act of War per se.

Montenegro was there and was occupied for a time, they're there because they declared war in the first week or so.

Jesus Bloody Hell Christ.

Eventually people will get this right.

The order of DoWs was:

Austia->Serbia
Germany->Russia
""->France
""->Belgium
UK->Germany
Montenegro->AH
AH->Russia

It's on Wikipedia, not that hard to find.

I've managed to memorise it by now.

Blaarg. Never did WW1 in school, and I'm not going to go rooting around on wiki when I'm busy (and on my phone, as I was when I wrote that). I also put Austria instead of Russia, which was pretty stupid of me, but meh.

It's my mission in life for all to know in what order the Declarations of War occurred in World War I.

[Sociobiology]

The number of people calling Hitler insane is kind of insane. He was, for the most part, sane. His mental health may have deteriorated as the war continued, especially after the Battle of Kursk, but I do believe he was as sane as any other politician when he was hoisted to power. He may have become insane, but to call him insane from the get go (a total nut-job) is completely separate from reality. By saying he was clearly mentally unstable, it actually makes his crimes less evil in comparison. The fact of the matter was that Hitler make a conscious decision to exterminate undesirables, that decision was founded in his own twisted theories, but these were analyzed on a logical level. Gah, I wouldn't even say perverted logic. If you subscribe to the theory that races and ethnicities are competing for global power it isn't much of a stretch to see genocide as beneficial to one's own race...

as I said the reasonable doing the insane is way scarier.

[Harata]

He was certainly terrible at military strategy; he may or may not have been insane, but he was an idiot.

[Aryas regime]

no but he had a sort of diease that gave him a lack of judgement

[Pfnochi]

To be insane, he'd have to act irrationally.

He did not act irrationally, his rationale was just different to the consensus of today. Working from the precepts that socialism and jewry were the cause of the economic and social downturn Germany was in at the time, all of his actions make sense.

This is not to say that he wasn't mentally unstable, once he got into power he had no one to stop him and thus began his habit of long extended rants (for example Book 1 of Mein Kampf) on topics he felt strongly about (mainly jews, gypsies and communists).

So misguided, scary and angry, but not insane.

Edit: As for the disputes about the order of declarations, the fact that most of them were made by default as each member of the alliance got involved tends to make it all less clear.

[The Rich Port]

Does The Pope Shit In The Woods?

Well, yes and no. You don't have to be crazy to be a monster. The best thing to say is that Hitler had a big old sociopathic chip on his shoulder with the whole world, and, seeing as how minorities (like the Jews) are the easiest people to blame and victimize because EVERYONE picks on them during hard economic times, he'd start with them.

[Sociobiology]

Does The Pope Shit In The Woods?

Well, yes and no. You don't have to be crazy to be a monster. The best thing to say is that Hitler had a big old sociopathic chip on his shoulder with the whole world, and, seeing as how minorities (like the Jews) are the easiest people to blame and victimize because EVERYONE picks on them during hard economic times, he'd start with them.

like people who blame a countries problems on immigrants or "Them"

[The Rich Port]

Does The Pope Shit In The Woods?

Well, yes and no. You don't have to be crazy to be a monster. The best thing to say is that Hitler had a big old sociopathic chip on his shoulder with the whole world, and, seeing as how minorities (like the Jews) are the easiest people to blame and victimize because EVERYONE picks on them during hard economic times, he'd start with them.

like people who blame a countries problems on immigrants or "Them"

'Xactly. A little Godwinism, butt fuck it. It's true.

[Fionnuala_Saoirse]

What is meant by insane in this instance?

[RobCo Industries]

He was certainly terrible at military strategy; he may or may not have been insane, but he was an idiot.

The man was a terrible strategist, but he had a profound obsession with the military. He would memorize the statistics of weapons, artillery, and tanks down to how far they could shoot, what type of ammunition it used, etc. You'd think someone that engrossed in the military would be semi-adept at strategy, but he severely lacked.

I don't think Hitler was insane, evil? Sure, of course. But, insane? I don't think so. He had pushed policies for some good, especially environment-ism, and as others said, had a deep love for dogs, etc. The man, however, was a con-artist, someone who is good at manipulating, and presented a presence of power (stubborn, and a complete lack of someone looking down upon him). All he did was take resentment that was building up over the years, and had been for quite a long time, funneled it behind his persona. Top it off with propaganda, speeches to show his power, etc. he morphed into what we saw in World War II.

He was messed up, but not insane.

[Vakarnus]

Even if you agree with his politics (and there's a lot to be said there, but glossing over that for now), he was certifiably insane anyway. A psychotic delusional megalomaniac whose actions directly cost Germany the war several times.

One example: prior to a planned invasion of Britain in 1940, the Luftwaffe attempted to destroy the RAF, which was the only thing standing between the Reich and conquering the island, and thus winning the war. We British outfought the Germans and had considerable homefield advantages, but even so, they were winning by sheer weight of numbers. Then, with the RAF on its knees and almost crippled, a handful of British bombers made it to Germany and bombed Berlin (by accident, I believe). The effect was negligible, but Hitler flew into a rage and demanded that the Luftwaffe switch to attacking civilian targets. That gave the RAF breathing space to recover and rebuild itself, and they eventually won the Battle of Britain and ended the threat of German invasion.

[LoL island]

yes

yes he was

[Mosasauria]

I hink he was a genius rather than inherently insane. A few problems, maybe. Insane, no.

[L3 Communications]

Do you think Hitler was insane?

He was insane enough to plot and enact various genocides, but not insane enough to excuse him for doing that.

But anti-Semite prejudice was rampant in his era, and he simply combined the common racism of his time with the common scientific beliefs of eugenics. This is the age of Kiev, Kielce, and Lwow after all. You can't really say he wasn't influenced by the political and scientific establishments of early 20th century Europe.

Even if you agree with his politics (and there's a lot to be said there, but glossing over that for now), he was certifiably insane anyway. A psychotic delusional megalomaniac whose actions directly cost Germany the war several times.

One example: prior to a planned invasion of Britain in 1940, the Luftwaffe attempted to destroy the RAF, which was the only thing standing between the Reich and conquering the island, and thus winning the war. We British outfought the Germans and had considerable homefield advantages, but even so, they were winning by sheer weight of numbers. Then, with the RAF on its knees and almost crippled, a handful of British bombers made it to Germany and bombed Berlin (by accident, I believe). The effect was negligible, but Hitler flew into a rage and demanded that the Luftwaffe switch to attacking civilian targets. That gave the RAF breathing space to recover and rebuild itself, and they eventually won the Battle of Britain and ended the threat of German invasion.

If being an atrocious military strategic thinker is the mark of insanity, chalk up every American general ever.

[Geilinor]

What is meant by insane in this instance?

Mentally disturbed

[Mozria]

In many ways

But he was right about the Jews

What's wrong with Jews? What have they done that could possibly deserve global extermination and pitiless mockery from the likes of you?

[Roman Cilicia]

Hell no. And his followers still aren't. Many of them are rather intelligent.

[The Rich Port]

Hell no. And his followers still aren't. Many of them are rather intelligent.

And a lot of them are theorized to be socially awkward/lacking in self esteem for not fitting in at any of the other cliques in high school and really responsive to peer pressure.

Depends on the person.

[LoL island]

Hell no. And his followers still aren't. Many of them are rather intelligent.

the reason his "followers" followed was because the goverment force fed them propaganda and hate speech so they thought the jews, the gypsys, the blacks, the abnormals of any form, were benith, exept their leader


yeah
he was so fucking crazy he proclaimed the areian race, a race he him self could not fit in, he haveing black hair and brown eyes while he needed blounde haired blue eyed people

[Mad hatters in jeans]

What is meant by insane in this instance?

Mentally disturbed

no try again.

[Divair]

Morally? Definitely.

Intellectually? Definitely NOT.

The man was a genius. Look at how much he conquered, and how well he succeeded.

Germany, a tiny country compared the empires it fought (British Empire, USSR, USA, plus all their smaller allies), did AMAZINGLY well until half the world said "whoa, wait, everyone kill that guy".