Steven Ortiz Mr.

Tornillo World History Honors 12/6/11

Ortiz 1

Adolf Hitler: A True Machiavellian Although Adolf Hitler used his power for evil causes, he was, no doubt, an incredible leader. He can be considered a Machiavellian, somebody who followed Niccolo Machiavellis principles of being a great leader. For example, Machiavelli made it clear that native troops are the way to go. Hitlers army was purely natives, therefor great success. Machiavelli also makes it clear that it is better to be feared than loved. Hitler was one of the rare people that was both feared & loved. He could be considered a disciple of Machiavelli because he followed his strategies nearly word for word. As previously stated, Hitler had a native army. Machiavelli said that having native troops are the best troops. Because of Hitlers native troops, he had the upper hand against alliances, mercenaries, and auxiliary troops. The reason for this is because native troops have a bigger need to fight for their nation. They become loyal to their nation and gain a strong feeling of defending their home and their freedom. Mercenaries are men who fight for money. They dont have that strong feeling natives have that help motivate them to win the war. They are just there for the money. They could care less about actually winning the war. Machiavelli stands strongly against the use of mercenaries. Auxiliary troops are very similar. They are

Ortiz 2 borrowed from other countries. They are fighting for a war that has almost no impact on their own country. They feel no need to fight strongly against the enemies. Machiavelli writes, The answer is that one would like to be both the one and the other; but because it is difficult to combine them, it is far safer to be feared than loved if you cannot be both. In other words, it would be great to be feared & loved. But if that cannot be accomplished, the safest bet is to be feared. , it is far safer to be feared than loved if you cannot be both. Adolf Hitler was one of the rare people that was both loved and fear, which is probably why he was incredibly successful in creating a powerful army in Germany. Combine that with great oratory skills and youve got yourself a great leader. He had an undeniable charm, and was a master at public speaking. He was also a ruthless leader whose cruelty helped maintain order, and "find a greater security in being feared than in being loved," as Machiavelli told. Many people believe that Hitler actually read The Prince by Machiavelli. There were no failures in Hitlers Reich. Nobody tried to rebel against Hitler. This proved how fear was very effective. He had absolute control over his land, and this is because he followed the strategies written by Machiavelli in The Prince.

Ortiz 3 Bibliography Machiavelli, Niccol. The Prince Machiavelli. New York: Best American Life Institute, 2010. Print. "Military Strategy." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_strategy>. "Machiavelli." Philosophy Pages. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. <http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/macv.htm>. "Adolf Hitler : Biography." Spartacus Educational. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERhitler.htm>.