Dictatorship With Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince

Comparing Adolf Hitler’s vicious dictatorship with Niccolò Machiavelli's teachings in The Prince reveals an eerie resemblance between both approaches to maintaining power. Both utilize a combination of force and cunning manipulation—Hitler through his indoctrination of propaganda and secret police forces while Machiavelli advocated for rulers who employed deception as well as outright strength. Adolf Hitler is a notorious figure who continues to have a significant impact on the present-day. An analysis of his rise to power and leadership style provides insights into Machiavellian principles discussed in Chapter 18 of The Prince. Despite his appalling actions, an exploration of Machiavellian theory can provide context and understanding.

Machiavelli

By creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and trepidation, Hitler rose to power through strategies such as dishonesty and betrayal. He pledged significant changes like restoring pride for the Germans and establishing an entirely new system; however, these vows were ultimately discarded as Hitler resorted to duplicity whenever convenient for achieving personal objectives. A classic illustration is a promise made in his Reichstag address when he spoke about peace worldwide but promptly invaded Poland only days later. Machiavelli posits in Chapter 18 that people are uncomplicated creatures and readily succumb to their urgent desires, creating an abundant pool of targets for deception. Hitler deftly used this concept as a means of manipulating his populace in order to sustain his

Under his leadership, Nazi Germany promoted itself as morally upright and caring for its citizens' well-being. In practice though, Hitler engaged in atrocities like the Holocaust which claimed millions of lives. Machiavelli argues that individuals who choose to maintain strict adherence to virtue often come up short due to less than ethical individuals around them. Hitler's reign of terror is attributed not only to the force he possessed but also the way in which he manipulated society by using a form of moral pretext. His success lay in his ability to embody gross moral contradictions while portraying himself as a messiah fighting against unacceptable horrors like communism and corruptness. In doing so, he constructed an alternative reality that conveniently fitted into people's deepest prejudices about what was good or