# Was Hitler really smart? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457 "2010-06-01T03:39:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/21 "2010-06-01T15:26:37Z")
Hitler had good “street smarts” and was lucky (at first). Consider that he never rose above the rank of corporal, and never attended any military academy. He sent his weakling army into the Rheinland-and the mighty French Army backed down. He invaded Poland-and the West did nothing. He was warned (by his generals) NOT to attack France-the mighty French Army would detroy the German offensive-but Germany won-in short time. By 1941, Hitler was convinced that he was a military genius-and that destroying the Red Army would be a six-month cakewalk. It wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/22 "2010-06-01T15:30:06Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Hitler had good “street smarts” and was lucky (at first). Consider that he never rose above the rank of corporal, and never attended any military academy. He sent his weakling army into the Rheinland-and the mighty French Army backed down. He invaded Poland-and the West did nothing. He was warned (by his generals) NOT to attack France-the mighty French Army would detroy the German offensive-but Germany won-in short time. > By 1941, Hitler was convinced that he was a military genius-and that destroying the Red Army would be a six-month cakewalk. > It wasn’t. Slight quibble: When he invaded Poland, the West declared war. I don’t think that that counts as “nothing”! 😉 I think that you meant that the West did nothing when he invaded Czechoslovakia (he took the Sudetenland in 1938 and the rest of Bohemia-Moravia in 1939). I have read somewhere that the inaction of the UK and France in the face of those take-overs was what emboldened him to go for Poland in September 1939. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/23 "2010-06-01T19:43:35Z")
the Clinton bit sounds right. I wonder why nobody brought up Obama yet for similar reasons… Hitler was apparently very good at contemporary party politics. He also lucked in on having some very competent leaders in some parts of the government (especially the military). Meanwhile, other parts of the government (e.g. the economy) were not so well managed, e.g. as can be seen from Speer’s attempts to remedy that too little too late [Albert Speer - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Speer). The fact that Hitler personally interfered in decisions that were none of his business (e.g. giving orders to army units to attack or retreat, for crying out loud, and against direct demands of the officers) did not help things either. Such actions by a political leader are just plainly dumb. As far as the luck bit with coming to power amidst depression etc, that’s all true, but then he was not alone there trying to come to power. Many people got nowhere, some rose together with Hitler and got eaten up by him (e.g. Roehm). So he must have had a clue at least in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/24 "2010-06-01T21:31:20Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I keep seeing people call him crazy, but he wasn’t truly mentally ill until the last part of his life. Isn’t that right? > > Evil and foolish, sure. But mentally ill? Was he diagnosed with anything or can he be diagnosed today with anything? The OSS commissioned a couple of psychological profiles of Hitler in [1934](http://ftp.nizkor.org/hweb/people/h/hitler-adolf/oss-papers/text/profile-index.html) and [1943](http://library.lawschool.cornell.edu/WhatWeHave/SpecialCollections/Donovan/Hitler/index.cfm) that variously described him as megalomaniac, narcissistic, neurotic, boderline psychotic with messanic complex, and so on. Many modern attempts have been made to come up with psychological diagnoses, usually settling around some kind of personality disorder or disorders, e.g. borderline, paranoid, narcissistic, antisocial, schizoaffective, etc. [Here’s an example](http://www.uccs.edu/~faculty/fcoolidg//Hitler%20PDF%20unproof.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/25 "2010-06-01T22:58:18Z")
I don’t think he’s nearly as batshit “crazy” as people claim. He was simply very focused on building a German empire and anything that stood in the way re other countries, political enemies, people etc would simply get crushed or killed. He was utterly amoral toward non-Germans/Aryans and his political enemies, and it appears they were barely human to him, but “crazy” as a general lifelong personality trait is a bit of a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/26 "2010-06-02T07:50:44Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I don’t think he’s nearly as batshit “crazy” as people claim. He was simply very focused on building a German empire and anything that stood in the way re other countries, political enemies, people etc would simply get crushed or killed. He was utterly amoral toward non-Germans/Aryans and his political enemies, and it appears they were barely human to him, but “crazy” as a general lifelong personality trait is a bit of a stretch. Personally I think that “crazy” is a trait that covers a lot of ground. No need to be ranting and raving to be crazy. In my opinion it can be said that Hitler had a non-negligible touch of the crazy during his whole life. Of course, at the end he became much more unstable, with wildly swinging moods and rages, and with delusional ideas (how much of that was due to inherent troubles within, and how much to the fucked-up medication his personal doctor was giving him, I do not know). However, I am pretty much convinced that he was not all there his whole adult life. There is an excellent book written by a Spanish psychiatrist, Juan Antonio Vallejo-Nájera (unfortunately I don’t think it has been translated to any other language), with the title “Locos Egregios” (“Great Madmen”, with the pun in the title being that “egregio” can mean all of “Great”, “Royal”, “a great person”, and “egregious”), dedicated to studying important people of the past who could be clearly said to have symptoms of an unbalanced mind. One of the chapters was dedicated to Hitler, and the arguments put forth there appeared rather convincing to me. Just my 2 eurocent! ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/27 "2010-06-02T21:42:45Z")
I once saw a film or documentary about Hitler’s life that explained he had a very rare and very disgusting sexual fetish. According to this film, he was not able to achieve sexual pleasure unless he had a woman do something that most of us would consider extremely disgusting to him. I am very reticent to reveal the details of this sexual fetish and hope that someone else who is reading this thread will know what I’m referring to and will be able to find some kind of link that will explain it and offer some kind of documentation. Apparently, Hitler’s first girlfriend was a close relative and she was so grossed out by this behavior that she shot and killed herself rather than continuing their sexual relation. But Eva Braun was able to continue with this. I hope someone will recognize to what I refer and be able to offer some kind of link or other form of proof. I apologize for being so vague. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/28 "2010-06-02T21:51:34Z")
> [@Joanie](#): > > I once saw a film or documentary about Hitler’s life that explained he had a very rare and very disgusting sexual fetish. According to this film, he was not able to achieve sexual pleasure unless he had a woman do something that most of us would consider extremely disgusting to him. > > I am very reticent to reveal the details of this sexual fetish and hope that someone else who is reading this thread will know what I’m referring to and will be able to find some kind of link that will explain it and offer some kind of documentation. > > Apparently, Hitler’s first girlfriend was a close relative and she was so grossed out by this behavior that she shot and killed herself rather than continuing their sexual relation. > > But Eva Braun was able to continue with this. > > I hope someone will recognize to what I refer and be able to offer some kind of link or other form of proof. > > I apologize for being so vague. This is why Al Gore invented the spoiler box. Spoiler your disgusting Hitler fetish idea, and maybe someone can back it up. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/29 "2010-06-02T21:57:03Z")
Even early on, Hitler constantly went against the advice of the people around him. He launches his invasions while his generals were telling him they weren’t ready yet. There were two reasons he was successful early on. One was that Germany had a totally kick-ass army. The other was that nobody outside Germany expected him to do what he did either, and so they weren’t prepared for a guy like him. Eventually that changed. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/30 "2010-06-02T21:58:22Z")
> [@Joanie](#): > > I once saw a film or documentary about Hitler’s life that explained he had a very rare and very disgusting sexual fetish. According to this film, he was not able to achieve sexual pleasure unless he had a woman do something that most of us would consider extremely disgusting to him. > > I am very reticent to reveal the details of this sexual fetish and hope that someone else who is reading this thread will know what I’m referring to and will be able to find some kind of link that will explain it and offer some kind of documentation. > > Apparently, Hitler’s first girlfriend was a close relative and she was so grossed out by this behavior that she shot and killed herself rather than continuing their sexual relation. > > But Eva Braun was able to continue with this. > > I hope someone will recognize to what I refer and be able to offer some kind of link or other form of proof. > > I apologize for being so vague. Hey, this is the SDMB and the war against ignorance! Fess up, spit it out. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/31 "2010-06-02T22:03:45Z")
I know my post is not exactly on topic, but I think that that kind of fetish carries such a deep seated shame, it has to be related to his mental state. Boyo Jim, I’m sorry but I’m not sure what you mean by saying this is the SDMB. Do you mean that “anything goes” and it’s not a problem for me to specify a disgusting, ugly sexual fetish? If so, I’d still like to give it a day or two to see if anyone else may know what I mean and may have some kind of reference or proof. I do recall there was some kind of movie that discussed his first love (I think it was a first cousin) and showed that she preferred to suicide rather than continue on engaging in this sexual fetish. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/32 "2010-06-02T22:05:11Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > This is why Al Gore invented the spoiler box. Spoiler your disgusting Hitler fetish idea, and maybe someone can back it up. I know of other boards that have a “spoiler” facility. I tried it here but it didn’t work. If anyone knows how to do it, I’d be glad to do that. Faililng that, I suppose I can always post it on some other board and offer a link to that so people on this board can have the choice to look at it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/33 "2010-06-02T22:06:48Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > This is why Al Gore invented the spoiler box. Spoiler your disgusting Hitler fetish idea, and maybe someone can back it up. I don’t understand this post. Can anyone explain to me just what a “spoiler box” is and whether I can use it on this board? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/34 "2010-06-02T22:16:12Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Hey, this is the SDMB and the war against ignorance! Fess up, spit it out. C’mon, folks, this is why Al Gore invented Google and Wikipedia: The OSS report states that Hitler was an impotent coprophile.[3] The report describes Hitler as having “possibly even a homosexual streak in him,” although the researchers concluded that the evidence of Hitler’s homosexuality was too thin to make any conclusions. One of Hitler’s opponents in the Nazi Party, Otto Strasser, claimed that the Nazi dictator forced his niece Geli Raubal to urinate and defecate on him.[4] Or, one Fuerher, one cup? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/35 "2010-06-02T22:17:30Z")
If you’re simply unwilling to type the words describing what this perversion is, then the spoiler box is irrelevant. I am completely mystified by your reluctance to tell people what you know, or what you think you know. When I said, “This is the SDMB”, I meant that this is a site for facts and truth, as least so much as we understand them. If you know something, something that doesn’t involve personal information like your name, and you won’t tell us, then you are leaving us in a state of ignorance. This site is dedicated to fighting ignorance, even our own. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/36 "2010-06-02T22:17:53Z")
> [@Joanie](#): > > I don’t understand this post. Can anyone explain to me just what a “spoiler box” is and whether I can use it on this board? Use the terms [spoiler][/spoiler] without the spaces in the brackets. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/37 "2010-06-02T22:21:30Z")
> [@Joanie](#): > > I don’t understand this post. Can anyone explain to me just what a “spoiler box” is and whether I can use it on this board? \Disgusting stuff\, Just change the pointy brackets to square ones and you’re good to go. I am not a Mod here but I have been here a while. Whatever it is, you can post it without spoiler boxes and you won’t be afoul of the rules. If it makes you more comfortable, go for the spoiler boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/38 "2010-06-02T22:27:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Hitler had good political instincts. He knew what would work in getting power. > > Unfortunately for Germany and the rest of the world, having obtained power he turned out to be nowhere near as competent in running a country. I look at it as fortunate that he wasn’t very smart. His control over all things military was the downfall of what was easily a superior force. There were 2 other ships like the Bismark under construction. Had he launched all 3 at the same time with his wolf-pack of submarines he could have cleared all of Europe and Russia of battle ships and then used control of the sea to launch V1’s making them true stand-off delivery weapons. Much time and resources were wasted on projects like the rocket plane and tanks that were over-engineered. There are an infinite number of “ifs” that can be thrown against history but if Hitler had not micromanaged a superior force into the ground and if Japan had successfully destroyed most of America’s aircraft carriers then the war would have most likely have been lengthened considerably which means Germany would have been attacked with nuclear weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/39 "2010-06-02T22:47:39Z")
> [@Joanie](#): > > I don’t understand this post. Can anyone explain to me just what a “spoiler box” is and whether I can use it on this board? By the way **Joanie** , welcome to the dope. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457/40 "2010-06-02T23:07:48Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > By the way **Joanie** , welcome to the dope. I second this, and I apologize if my earlier posts came across as overly harsh. I didn’t consider that your reluctance might be due to fear of violating board rules. I thought your reluctance was simply due to personal squeamishness. If the latter is the case, I suspect that you will eventually get over that if you hang around here long enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-really-smart/541457.md?page=3)