Hitler, The Nobility, and Machiavelli

Hmm...Hitler and the nobility- well Grace, you are definitely right about Hitler not really having a persay "nobility" to deal with since Hitler was rising to power in the 20th century when social class divisions were much different. Don't forget that Hitler rose to power legally- but i'd say that in the beginning (PRIOR to his ascent to total power) he did not have the support of the big business or of the nobility. Hitler's primary supporters were from the lower classes and the peasantry. But in order to get a majority- you can't just have one group support you- you need some people from most every group. I mean, the majority of the 'nobility' really didn't like Hitler and viewed him as a demagogue. it doesn't seem like Hitler really respected the nobility or the elite intellectuals or the high members of the military either. My evidence for how Hitler didn't like any of these people that had different views than him was that on June 30th, 1934 "Hitler carried out a purge that took the lives of a number of dissident Nazi leaders and other opponents. The exact number of victims has never been determined, although it probably exceeded one hundred. Ernst Röhm, the SA leader, was among these victims. The influence of the SA now declined, while that of Himmler's SS, which provided the executioners for the purge, increased. Himmler also controlled the Gestapo, the secret police created by the Nazis." I don't think he ever promised the nobility anything like he promised the working class jobs, etc... (although he 1did help bring Germany out of the depression); Hitler never gave anything to the nobility like Peter the Great did with having to let the nobility play a role in the government. But once Hitler had total power, which can be explained in detail by looking at this post- through the use of Article 48- Hitler didn't have to give anyone anything because he could just use total force. Hitler had total power since he "abolished the office of president and assumed the president's powers. The members of the armed forces were now required to take an oath of allegiance to Hitler. This oath represented an important step in the establishment of Hitler's control over Germany's armed forces." (same website as before)

Grace- exactly like Machiavelli since Hitler did make the people fear and respect him- love him? Well, they certainly called him the Fuhrer and gave him lots of respect and attention. So i'd say he was pretty damn good at being Machiavellian. Unlike Peter the Great i guess. After Hitler took power- he controlled all the social classes practically- since he could use FORCE FORCE FORCE. In a previous post of mine, i compared Bismarck to Machiavelli- and now i am making the comparison between Hitler and Machiavelli.