# Leadership styles: Hitler vs. Stalin **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 5, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916 "2007-06-05T23:59:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/21 "2016-04-27T23:11:10Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Stalin and Hitler were both terrible leaders. Stains paranoia decimated the military and civil society. Hitler megalomania caused him to overrule his general constantly and hold back the German military. IIRC Stalin delegated a lot of his authority during the war, while Hitler almost literally tried to run everything. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/22 "2016-04-27T23:20:14Z")
According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#Calculating_the_number_of_victims), > [@](#): > > Before the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, researchers who attempted to count the number of people killed under Stalin’s regime produced estimates ranging from 3 to 60 million.[110] After the Soviet Union dissolved, evidence from the Soviet archives also became available, containing official records of 799,455 executions (1921–1953),[111] around 1.7 million deaths in the Gulag and some 390,000 deaths during kulak forced resettlement – with a total of about 2.9 million officially recorded victims in these categories That is a horrible figure. But it is not even close to the Six Million Jews and 20 Million other civilians killed by Hitler’s regime. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/23 "2016-04-27T23:37:15Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > IIRC Stalin delegated a lot of his authority during the war, while Hitler almost literally tried to run everything. After he decimated his officers due to his paranoia in the 30s. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/24 "2016-04-28T00:08:26Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > After he decimated his officers due to his paranoia in the 30s. The fact that J Stalin executed his officers is **inexcusable**. But it was his only chance of retaining his power. In order to prevent a revolution against him he had to execute those who dethroned Nicholas II. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/25 "2016-04-28T00:18:18Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Neither was particularly competent. One doesn’t get to lead countries as large as Germany and Russia for over 10 years and for over 30 years (respectively) unless one has _some_ competence as a leader. You can certainly argue that you disagree with their actions as leader, but both of them led their nations unto their deaths. I don’t think you can argue that they were not competent leaders. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/26 "2016-04-28T00:47:49Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#Calculating_the_number_of_victims), > > That is a horrible figure. But it is not even close to the Six Million Jews and 20 Million other civilians killed by Hitler’s regime. I would really, really cautious about assuming that the official figures are accurate. Also, I notice that they didn’t bother to count the famine victims. Stalin killed those people just as surely as he killed the ones noted in the records. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/27 "2016-04-28T00:51:15Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Stalin gave the famous “Motherland” speech after the Nazi invasion, and this might have been the most significant contribution he made (or could have made) to the defense of the USSR against Hitler’s forces. He unified public opinion (there had been some wavering) against the enemy. IMHO one thing that sealed the fate of Hitler was the example that Stalin made when the Nazis were close to taking over Moscow late in 1941. Stalin showed the he had nerve and confidence when he appeared in public to make the speech to celebrate the anniversary of the revolution, it showed to all that the supreme commander did not run away, it told all Russian commanders and soldiers that Stalin was there himself to defend the city. I think that thanks to that Hitler thought that he could do the same in 1945. Problem for him was that by then the war was in two fronts and there were no troops to spare and his army was decimated. The Allies still feared that Hitler would hold out for years in the mountains around Salzburg. But I think that Hitler’s ego and the example made by his arch enemy when defending his capital city told him to reject that idea. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/28 "2016-04-28T01:16:59Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#Calculating_the_number_of_victims), > > That is a horrible figure. But it is not even close to the Six Million Jews and 20 Million other civilians killed by Hitler’s regime. As alluded to by **Flyer** , the numbers tighten up a bit if you include the millions who died in the [_Holodomor_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor). ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/29 "2016-04-28T01:37:51Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > One doesn’t get to lead countries as large as Germany and Russia for over 10 years and for over 30 years (respectively) unless one has _some_ competence as a leader. You can certainly argue that you disagree with their actions as leader, but both of them led their nations unto their deaths. I don’t think you can argue that they were not competent leaders. Being competent at getting into power is not the same thing as being competent at being powerful. Hitler’s rise was partly based on luck. The economic collapse, and Hindenberg underestimating him helped and Hitler couldn’t control either. I don’t recall all the details of the Stalin v. Trotsky fighting in the USSR, but again being good at giving speeches, or winning elections, or building political alliances, or running the secret police is not the same thing as being good at running the economy or military or industrial base. Saddam Hussein was very good at coming to power and staying in power, but he did a terrible job running Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916/30 "2016-04-28T02:33:56Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > IIRC Stalin delegated a lot of his authority during the war, while Hitler almost literally tried to run everything. Churchill, too, got overly involved in minor details, sometimes telling his generals where to position troops. But Hitler was obsessive about it, making the most minute and detailed plans, solely from reading maps, and he had a habit of sacking people for questioning his commands. The Allies were, ultimately, pretty lucky in having Hitler as an enemy, as his military incompetence likely shortened the war. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leadership-styles-hitler-vs-stalin/406916.md?page=1)