Date of Award

1998

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Leadership Studies

Abstract

There is no doubt today in the minds of the world's population that Adolf Hitler, the leader, the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany was responsible for horrendous acts and possessed of insane intentions. However, what was is that enabled him to see his goals through to the extent that he was able? In truth, there exist hundreds of insane and sadistic people in today's world, however a "Fourth Reich" has not yet emerged. In other words, how was it that Adolf Hitler was able to be the demigod of a country and movement which branded the continent of Europe for all eternity and not just another angry German looking for an end to post-World War I and Versailles injustice and inflation? The answer is this: Hitler's success was linked to those powerful men who followed him. These devotees became the combined incarnated body-vessel for the deranged and dangerous yet intoxicating mind of Adolf Hitler. Three such "architects" of this infamous dictator were Hermann Goring, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels. Powerful, skilled, and fanatic, these men had a direct impact upon the success of Hitler's rise to power, maintenance of control, and implementation of his leadership. The intense and somewhat dysfunctional relationships these men had with their Fuhrer suggests a deeper concept at work as well. That concept is a broadened form of codependency and its subset topic of enabling. Therefore, it is my argument, that without men such as these and the codependent relationships they experienced, Hitler would simply have been one more embittered Germanic madman.

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