Hitler Myth Ian Kershaw Summary

In Ian Kershaw’s The ‘Hitler Myth’ Kershaw goes to argue the facts behind the myths about Adolf Hitler and his position in Nazi Germany. Kershaw does not try to focus on the man himself but more along the lines of “It is not, in fact, primarily concerned with Hitler himself, but with the propaganda image-building process, and above all with the reception of this image by the German people-how they viewed Hitler before and during theThird Reich;…” The book itself is split into three parts. The first part taking place in the year 1920 and ending in the year 1940. It deals with the fundamental development of Hitlers image over this twenty year time. The part is split into five chapters each dealing with various sections of Hitler’s political evolution. The first chapter focuses on ____ subjects. The first focuses on the importance of military leadership in German ideals. “The roots of ‘heroic’ leadership ideas in Germany extend deep into the nineteenth century, to the political notions and the mythical visions of Germanic leadership associated with the romantic-conservative strain of early völkisch-nationlist thought.” This continues to be the theme for a good half of the chapter. “The projected image of the Kaiser…also captured …show more content…
Kershaw’s starts from the fundamental views of German leadership, then goes to the traits Hitler exhibited, then proceeded to compare and contrast what actually happened and what was placed into the propaganda. “The gulf between the fictive figure, manufactured by propaganda on the foundations of pre-existing ‘heroic’ leadership ideals, and the genuine Hitler is striking…Hitler’s image which we have examined has pointed to seven significant bases of the ‘Hitler Myth.’” “The Hitler myth can be seen as providing the central motor for integration, mobilization, and legitimization of the Nazi system of