I would see Hitler if he wasn't a maniacal, crazy fiend. Had he been less psychotic and of a kinder disposition, I daresay Germany would have had bragging rights...but no, they got screwed instead.
I'll agree with the Lenin statement. He did a lot of good things for Russia- not in the long run, but at the time.
Originally posted by Grand_Moff_Gav
Caesar, of you where a Socialist,
Pompey Magnus if you are a Conservitive
Caligula-Nero-Tiberius if you are a bit into the wacky backy!Romans have all the answers, honestly though?
Perhaps Bismark, he did alot for his Reich, not that the Prussian Rebels were too pleased!
Hitler is another!
Chairman Mao?
Best leader - Hmmm, there were few who could qualify.
Deffinitivly Hitler is one of them. He was one of the greatest leaders.
Alexander the Great would be another.
I would say Stalin too - this guy murdered 40 million people under his rule, yet died of natural causes in his bed - he must have been doing SOMETHING right...
Originally posted by §P0oONY
I'd probably have to say Hitler, he was a very good leader; great public speaker and a pretty decent tactical mind, he pretty much inspired a whole country, shame the bastard was leading the bad guys, good thing he lost the plot near the end of his reign.
What?
Hitler had one of the greatest tactics ever. The only reason he failed at the end, is because he miscalculated because he became greedy.
Think about the cunning invasion of Czechoslovakia, entering of Austria and later Poland, while allies just sat there watching.
Then consider how he manipulated Mussolini, who for the most part had NO idea what was going on, yet remained Hitler's ally.
Originally posted by lil bitchiness
What?Hitler had one of the greatest tactics ever. The only reason he failed at the end, is because he miscalculated because he became greedy.
Think about the cunning invasion of Czechoslovakia, entering of Austria and later Poland, while allies just sat there watching.
Then consider how he manipulated Mussolini, who for the most part had NO idea what was going on, yet remained Hitler's ally.
Originally posted by lil bitchiness
What?Hitler had one of the greatest tactics ever. The only reason he failed at the end, is because he miscalculated because he became greedy.
Think about the cunning invasion of Czechoslovakia, entering of Austria and later Poland, while allies just sat there watching.
Then consider how he manipulated Mussolini, who for the most part had NO idea what was going on, yet remained Hitler's ally.
Someone's been sleeping in history class.
Hitler had no worthwhile tactics to speak of- he relied heavily on the elite cadre of German generals who had learned the brutal lessons of WWI and were in the forefront of reestablishing German military predominance since the dark days of the Weimar republic. People like von Seeckt, Guderan, Student, Beck, and a multitude of other German generals of education did the best laid plans and the overall finetuning of all the wartime efforts. Hitler did little more than point and demand that his generals destroy the opposition. If anything, Hitler repeatedly empeded the better judgment of his elite generals all the time- putting Paulus out in the east, pushing Guderan out of the picture, letting the geniuses behind the Blitzkrieg get dissolved from influence because they did not support his ideals... Hell, if Hitler had listened to Rommel, there would have been armor on Normandy beach!
And Hitler's "cunning" behind Czechoslovakia, the Rhineland, and Austria was a lot more of a gamble than anything else. Poland was more the work of generals Student and Beck, and the clever treaty done by Ribbentrop which divided the country before a shot was even fired.
And I hardly think he manipulated Mussolini; the guy was already way over the top before Hitler even came to power. And it was a thorn in the Nazi side to be helping out the Italians at ever chance, in North Africa, and so on. I mean, Mussolini's troops lost to Ethiopia. And some of the Ethiopians rode on horses and threw spears at plans. The ineptness of the Italian forces in WWII is only surpassed by the sheer idiocy of repeating Napoleon's mistake and attacking Russia just in time to spend Christmas on the Volga.
Oh, and then there's that whole gamble that the Japanese were gonna help counterattack Russia from behind and provide aid.
Really, the genius of Hitler can be best summed up in the burning rubble of Berlin, and in the cries of the civilians and soldiers as the Red Army streamed into their streets. Hitler was a charismatic, powerful political figure. But when it came to war, he was as inefficient as any dictator before him.
Originally posted by Janus Marius
Oh, and then there's that whole gamble that the Japanese were gonna help counterattack Russia from behind and provide aid.
Well, that wasn't exactly Hitler's fault....Japan jumped the gun on his plans, he had to live/deal with what they did. Adding even more pressure on the German troops.
Hitlers biggest mistake however was breaking the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union.