Adolf+Hitler



 **__The Fourth Reich: A Review of Tyranny__**   ** Personal Background ** By forcing his political system into disarray Hitler was able to consolidate all leadership expectations into a single point of complete control. Hitler had made sure to establish a system of his closest friends and supporters to ensure that every facet of the Nazi regime was under the influence of the Third Reich. Those who did not support the Führer, or resisted the Nazi regime, and many tired, were not given the chance to be resocialized, instead they were often tortured and hung in public places as a symbol that those who did not fall in line would be hung from a line. "In the twelve years of his rule in Germany Hitler produced the biggest confusion in government that has ever existed in a civilized state. It was intentional. With this technique he systematically disorganized the upper echelons of the Reich leadership in order to develop and further the authority of his own will until it became a despotic tyranny."
 * Born: ** April 20, 1889
 * Died:** April 30, 1945
 * Birthplace:** Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary
 * Occupation:** Politician
 * Source: Otto Dietrich, Hitler, London, 1955, pp. 127-32**

**__ Leadership Style:  __** ** Paternalistic "father knows best" manager **  Hitler's leadership style depended on the promise of reward and success with the threat of punishment if a follower disobeyed. This theme of reward versus punishment was carried down to all in the Nazi regime as a way to ensure order and allegiance. Operation Valkyrie was an attempt to kill Hitler in 1944 by a few of his top generals. After the failed attempt, Hitler ordered the torture and hanging of each of the traitors. This set a tone for the ramifications of going against Hitler. ** Charismatic Leader ** Another aspect of Hitler's leadership and what followers appealed to was his charismatic persona. Hitler relied on referent power in that the people of Germany could identify with him or in some cases even wanted to be like him. Hitler preached of stability and prosperity for the people of Germany. This simple message coming from a person who seemed to want the greater good for Germany was a main proponent for the strong followership of the Nazi Party. Included here are sample clips of some of Hitler's speeches to the German people. media type="custom" key="2672297"

**Autocratic Style**   Hitler leadership style was controling and he left followers with minimal influence. Hitler saw himself as supreme authority and extended downward. As a leader with complete and unquestioned power, he was constantly giving out orders and demanded acceptance. In addition, Hitler mistrust in his followers lead him to work isolation. Generals advice went untaken, left only with opton to follow without influence.

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Although many would be led to believe that Hitler was an unrelenting dictator and the German people had no say in the Nazi Empire, however, this was not always true. In fact, it was the people of Germany themselves chose to have Hitler rise to power. Summed up best in one of his speeches in Munich in 1938, Hitler states, “Under the rules Parliamentary Democracy I obtained the absolute majority of votes and today I have the unanimous support of the German people.” To better demonstrate this form of participative management one need only look at the magnitude of free elections held under Hitler’s regime. There was overwhelming support by both the German people, as well as the those in the specific areas for the union of Germany and the Saar Teritory as well as Austria, in open elections held prior to the occupation of Germany in each of those areas. For specific election numbers, please visit http://www.ety.com/HRP/rev/ahpopular.htm. Hitler as a servant leader? It may sound contradictory in and of itself, but when framed in the sense of looking not at the individual peoples of Germany, but with the more holistic view of the German people, we find this to be true. Though he did most of what he did to benefit himself, one of Hitler's main objectives in his rule was to bring Germany back to greatness, and have its people, the "superior race of people" to take their place as such. From the healing of the broken spirits of the German people after thier supression by the Allies following The Great War, to his ability to persuade even powerful world leaders (see Neville Chamberlain) into giving him what he wanted, mast of the things that Hitler did could be broken down to his service to Germany and its people, as thier leader. After all, Hitler was only trying to build an environment for his followers to grow within, unimpeded by the outside world, to become the super-power Germany once was, and Hitler visioned they could be again. It was the growth of a community between like people seeking a similar life...a German life, within a German community. The Third Reich. __ ** Additional Information Links ** __ **The following link will provide more insight as to Adolf Hitler and the various articles and covers Time Magazine has published:** [|http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/hitler.html] **The following link displays a map of Germany over several years to depict the gaining control the Nazi had established geographically:** http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Nazi_Germany.png **The following link is a web site completely dedicated to Adolf Hitler and the history of Nazi Germany:** http://www.adolfhitler.dk/
 * Participative Management**
 * Servant-Leadership**