Machiavelli's The Prince

Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 16th-century. His methods of acquiring and maintaining rule over people are not relevant in today’s modern American society. There are many principles that are still true in politics today, but the methods of ruling can no longer be used in American society today.

Hitler started off as failed artist who wasn’t amounting to much in his life until he was made chancellor and used the Nazi party to build a racist state in Germany. Hitler started by promising people basic necessities to gain support. Then the power started to rush to his head when Nazi’s started to belittle non-Aryans and made stereotyping part of the curriculum for school children. He made Jewish people wear the star of David on their arms and if they owned a business, they had to put signs in their windows saying that they were Jewish. The Nazi party used Jewish people as a major scapegoat for their economic issues like the Great Depression and World War Two. It even got to a point where Hitler passed laws striping Jews of their basic rights.

After World War I, Adolf Hitler was one of the dictators that arose; which then gained power in Germany in its Great Depression. Hitler rose to power using techniques such as propaganda, censorship, charisma and terror, but that was not all he did. Hitler started his own fascist party in Germany and called it the Nazi Party. Later, Hitler developed anti-semitism, or prejudice against Jews and dehumanized them. He viewed Jews as a separate race not a religion. This caused many changes particularly to the Jews. During World War I the Nazi’s treatment of the Jews caused political, economic, and social changes.

The Oxford Dictionary defines the term “Machiavellian” as someone who is cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics or in advancing one’s career. These principles, as well as others, were established in Niccolo Machiavelli’s book, The Prince. The Prince dwelves on what a person needs to do to obtain and maintain power in a principality. Although it was written nearly 500 years ago, it has influenced countless rulers over time. A great example of one of these rulers is Joseph Stalin, dictator of the U.S.S.R (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) from 1929 - 1953.

Hitler showed absurd cruelty to the Jews. Maier says, “Hitler initiated actions against the Jews. They were turned into a race of "untouchables" within their own state, unable to pursue certain careers and a public life. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 defined as Jewish anyone with one Jewish grandparent. That a terrible fate would be their lot was clear in Hitler's remarks that war in Europe would lead to the "extinction of the Jewish race in Europe” (Adolf Hitler, Wendy Maier). Hitler showcased when he first came to power and tried to wipe out the jews. More about Hitler’s savagery. To include to Hitler’s savagery is his aggressive personality. He used aggressive power he had from the Nazis and came after his opponents. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia says,“political opponents such as von Schleicher and Gregor Strasser were murdered or incarcerated, and some Nazis, among them Ernst Roehm, were themselves purged. Jews, Socialists, Communists, and others were hounded, arrested, or assassinated”(Adolf Hitler, The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). Hitler used the aggressiveness of the Nazis to eliminate all threats and enemies. To be included to Hitler’s savagery and aggressiveness is his love for power. Hitler loved having power so much that he tried anything to achieve more and more of power. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia said,“he ran in the presidential elections of

Hitler was a very not a very kind fellow. * His leadership in WWII caused the genocide of at least 5.5 million jews, ordered the death of 11 million in camps, 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war, in addition, 29 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European Theatre of World War II. The question is what allowed him to kill so many and not even have the German people blink an eye. Hitler sought living space for the German people in Eastern Europe.

While Hitler was a young lad just out of the army he was desperate for work. On his hunt for jobs he stumbled across the German Workers Party and discovered he believed with their radical beliefs. One, of these many radical beliefs was that the reason for Germany's loss in WWI was that it was the Jews fault. To punish the Jews Hitler created concentration camps to torture and murder the Jewish population. Finally he began to use his Nazi army to take over places like poland and eventually the majority of Europe. What Adolf Hitler did to world will never be forgotten or forgiven, nor should it

History 's most prominent leaders have shown extreme congruence. These leaders almost always hold reality over ethics. How can we classify lying and manipulative leaders as immoral when their duplicity is the very reason a society can maintain stability? This idea has of "means justifying the ends" has been a staple in History 's most prosperous of societies. Machiavelli 's novel The Prince was the first stab at understanding this human tendency of what is now known as Machiavellian. Machiavelli grasped the sad reality of our world and did not fall prey to other 's idealistic propaganda. Great leaders understand what the endless potential they hold, they can manipulate their followers to make best of what is possible and above all they understand sacrifice. Modern day Machiavellians and successful leaders think realistically and communicate through idealism. No matter the extremes of your belief, utilizing Machiavellian tactics have the capability to bring anyone to power.

After war Hitler was imprisoned and in prison he wrote an extremely vile book expressing his hatred views towards the Jewish religion. Once he got out of jail he became colleagues with the head of an anti-semitic newspaper. This colleague inspired him to continue his fight to control the fight against Jews. He began thinking of things he could do to make the Jewish people pay. He grew his ideas from things that had happened in the past such as, “once (saying) the idea for concentration camps came from his studies of the Boer War in South Africa, (Raper

Equally important was his theory that a big lie is always better than a little one because the masses "more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie (Krakowski, 1990)." This quote from Hitler truly shows his inner evil. Not only does it portray his hatred of the Jewish people, but the determination to rule the world. Even though he wanted to keep his lies and actions a secret, Hitler wrote, “Mein Kampf” in 1926, which expressed his thoughts of racism and anti-semitism (Ayer, p. 23).

Hitler was brought up in an anti-Semitic society where Jews were deeply hated by most people for no good reason. He was fed false lies such as a group of communists and Jews were planning a terror attack on the rest of society. He then began to hate Jews and ended up in a position where he could do anything he wanted and nobody could stop him. He made the nation anti-Semitic and formed groups such as the Einsatzgruppen to murder ‘undesirables’ – disabled, homosexuals or Jews.

Adolf Hitler was a man who commits many crimes against humanity and enforced harrowing treatment on innocent humans. Hitler was born in Austria on April 20, 1889. Hitler was raised by an emotionally harsh father, who disliked many of his interests. Therefore, nature and nurture qualities of his life may have influences his choices. Later, Hitler rose to power in the German politics. He used propaganda to influence people to follow him. Subsequently, he became the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, referred as the Nazi Party. From 1933-1945, Hitler was chancellor of Germany. He served as a dictator for the country and people. In addition, Hitler instituted many Anti-Semitic laws to exclude Jews from society. Since Jews had different physical characteristics and religious views, Hitler hated them for their perspective on life.

The Renaissance represented a new era in which values such as secularism and power became prevalent in society. Machiavelli expresses the need for politics and religion to be separated throughout his book "The Prince". Previously rulers had been restricted by Christian principals, but Machiavelli held the idea that rulers were warranted in any action so as long as it benefited the general public. Machiavelli believed that politics existed outside the realm of religion and morals. Subsequently, he approved of using any means necessary to gain and keep power, including lying, stealing, and murder. During this time Italy's city-states were in political chaos and condottieri roamed the streets. Machiavelli thought it was the ruler's duty to maintain discipline and peace in society at any cost. Despite his intentions to help Italy, Machiavelli's ideas were often seen as immoral and dishonest. The idea of a purely political action where morals were set aside is later referred to as the " Reasons of the state". In addition, Machiavelli felt a ruler must be sly

Adolf Hitler was a skilled politician. “Many people didn’t take Hitler seriously, but his fiery words and brilliant blue eyes seemed to hypnotize those who listened to him. His emotional speeches made crowds cheer” “hail, Hitler!” (Peter Hoffmann). Hitler joined a small group of men called the Nazis and soon became their leader (Peter Hoffmann). People believed that he was their protector and their friend (Peter Hoffmann). Hitler will probably never be thought of as protector, friend, or good man ever again.

Perhaps the most influential figure in modern history, Adolf Hitler has transformed the way people think of the word, “tyrant.” History.com gives its perspective on Hitler’s effects writing, “But there cannot be any doubt that in harnessing that energy to extraordinary projects and horrible crimes, Hitler placed his stamp on that war and on the twentieth century.” Events in Hitler’s youth contributed to his heinous actions during World War II. According to Heroes and Villains: Adolf Hitler, before World War I, Hitler spent much of his time reading German, anti-semitic literature. As a result, Hitler formed a strong disliking towards the Jews leading to his malevolent actions against them. This would carry on throughout his political career.