"So it's worth remembering that Hitler was actually an incompetent, lazy egomaniac and his government was an absolute clown show...this may even have helped his rise to power, as he was consistently underestimated by the German elite 2/
#resist #facism
"Before he became chancellor many of his opponents had dismissed him as a joke for his crude speeches and tacky rallies. Even after elections..people kept thinking that Hitler was an easy mark, a blustering idiot who could..be controlled by smart people 3/
#resist #facism
"Why did the elites of Germany so consistently underestimate Hitler? Possibly because they weren't actually wrong in their assessment of his competency—they just failed to realise that this wasn't enough to stand in the way of his ambition. 4/
#resist #facism
"As it would turn out, Hitler was really bad at running a government. As his own press chief..later wrote in his memoir,'In the twelve years of his rule in Germany, Hitler produced the biggest confusion in government that has ever existed in a civilized state 5/
#resist #facism
"[Hitler's] government was constantly in chaos, with officials having no idea what he wanted them to do, and nobody entirely clear who was in charge of what. He would often end up relying on gut feeling, leaving even close allies in the dark about his plans. 6/
#resist #facism
"[Hitler's] unreliability had those who worked with him pulling out their hair, as his confidant later wrote in his memoir..they spent most of their time in-fighting and backstabbing each other in an attempt to win his approval or avoid his attention altogether.7/
#resist #facism
"Hitler was incredibly lazy. .. even when he was in Berlin he wouldn't get out of bed until after 11 a.m., and wouldn't do much before lunch other than read what the newspapers had to say about him, the press cuttings being dutifully delivered to him 8/
#resist #facism
"[Hitler] was obsessed with the media and celebrity, and often seems to have viewed himself through that lens. He once described himself as "the greatest actor in Germany, and wrote to a friend, "I believe my life is the greatest novel in world history." 9/
#resist #facism
"He was deeply insecure about his own lack of knowledge, preferring to either ignore information that contradicted his preconceptions, or to lash out at the expertise of others. 10/
#resist #facism
"He hated being laughed at..enjoyed it when other people were the butt of the joke (he would perform mocking impressions of people he disliked). But he craved the approval of those he disdained..his mood would improve if a paper wrote something complimentary /11
#resist #facism
"Hitler’s personal failings didn't stop him having an uncanny instinct for political rhetoric that would gain mass appeal, and it turns out you don't actually need to have a particularly competent or functional government to do terrible things. /12
#resist #facism
"Many of the worst man-made events..were not the product of evil geniuses. Instead they were the product of a parade of idiots and lunatics, incoherently flailing their way through, helped along by overconfident people who thought they could control them /13
#resist #facism
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