Why I reject the ‘MADMAN HITLER’ myth

Was Hitler an insane "madman"? No. Absolutely not. And it's time to explain my stance on this controversial history debate.

YouTube Censors: No, I'm NOT a Nazi, NOT a Fascist, NOT a Marxist, or anything like that. I'm also not the only historian who holds this view. I even quote from historian Ian Kershaw at the end of the video who also thinks Hitler wasn't a 'madman'.

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ABOUT TIK 📝

History isn’t as boring as some people think, and my goal is to get people talking about it. I also want to dispel the myths and distortions that ruin our perception of the past by asking a simple question - “But is this really the case?”. I have a 2:1 Degree in History and a passion for early 20th Century conflicts (mainly WW2). I’m therefore approaching this like I would an academic essay. Lots of sources, quotes, references and so on. Only the truth will do.

This video is discussing events or concepts that are academic, educational and historical in nature. This video is for informational purposes and was created so we may better understand the past and learn from the mistakes others have made.

[trevorbacquet]

Reminds me of the movie "Downfall", where all those Hitler Rants Parodies come from. The director took a lot of criticism for supposedly showing Hitler as sympathetic. His response was something like: "If we continue treating Hitler as some sort of supernatural being, we're never going to learn anything from that moment in history."

[MZONE]

The scariest thing about Hitler is not that he is a monster

The scariest thing about Hitler is that he is a human

[darthcalanil]

It's the same logic as calling every terrorist a "psychologically troubled mad man". Many people, especially in the west, refuse to acknowledge that there's a genuine train of "rational" thought that culminates in ideologies (as much as they are based on false beliefs) that lead people to commit terrible acts of horror.
Understanding this "logic" is vital to dismantling it. Censorship never succeeds in changing minds.

[danielharris]

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

[iattacku]

I reject it because it’s dishonest and make it seem like ordinary people don’t have the capacity to do great evil.

[pedrob]

The reality that Hitler was a regular human being interferes with peoples' self-satisfaction: "I'm a good person! He's evil! I have nothing in common with him!" Yes, you do.

[Fjodor.Tabularasa]

I read a ton about Hitler and the one constant is that almost everyone was deeply impressed by him, friends and foes alike. I never heared any contemporary describe him as a madman or as crazy.

[jameswoodard]

Cartoonizing evil keeps us from learning lessons from evil. "Never Again" *requires* us to talk about how the evil happened.
They weren't Indiana Jones villains or crazy monsters. Humans. Did. The. Evil.

[aerialmacaroon]

Considering how insane and random history can seem at times; I don’t blame people for wanting to believe something easier to explain yet more crazy

[LyriaSiders]

Yes, lets not try to uncover the reasons and ideologies behind his actions and why he inspired so many people to support him and commit horrible atrocities. Lets just leave it as 'he was insane', not learn anything from this period that we could use to prevent anything like that ever happening again and all will remain well.

[Oberkommando]

"The way to hell is paved with good intentions."
I believe this describes the evolution of Germany from the late 1920's until 1945 pretty well.
Nobody was "mad", these people all thought they were doing the right things to progress Germany forward - except they were going for a head on collision with the doors to hell.

[raxxology]

One other thing. By acknowledging he was sane, they must accept that anyone is capable of horrible acts. They must admit evil is real and that terrifies them more than anything.

[mkosmala]

I remember reading a book on how macabre storytelling in America shifted from "Anyone could become a monster" to "look how awful and different from us monsters are, " and how that lead to people concluding "Oh, I could never be the bad guy." Then, when someone like Jordan Peterson comes along and says, "Those tyrants are even more evil than you know... and if you'd lived in their time you'd probably join them because you've been trained not to think for yourselves, " people freak out and either wake up or double down.

[posham]

This is how I imagine the madman Hitler theory was born

Franz Halder in his retirement cottage thinking to himself "Wow, Hitler left me in charge for a long time even after I made so many errors and directly disobeyed his orders and caused the failure of several campaigns. Any other general would have been dismissed or shot but Hitler left me in charge up until halfway through the war, he must have been a madman for keeping me in charge so long"

[AimDelta]

It's like people can't wrap their mind around the idea that someone can hold ideological principles.
Just because I can understand the logic and reasoning flowing from a set of principles does not mean I am beholden to that reasoning.

If someone believes in eugenics, I can accept that they are still a sane and rational person while, myself, rejecting the notion that eugenics is an acceptable policy or goal.

I am beginning to understand why the current war propaganda is so childishly bad.

[ritz]

Evil requires sanity because insanity takes away your very ability to make your own choices.

[AKOuterheaven]

To really understand history, you should attempt to identify with the perpetrators as well as the victims. The naive assumption that you aren't capable of evil makes you incredibly susceptible to become so.

[GuyfromStoke]

Oh my goodness, I had the exact same argument at University!
My lecture labelled Hitler & Station "monsters", I argued that monsters are works of fiction, these men were human, all too real and to make them into bogeyman makes them appear fictional.
I got thrown out of the class.

[jamesbeeching]

Just because somebody does "Insane things" (like the Holocaust) doesnt mean they are actually mad!..After the war a number of psychologists tried to prove the NAZIS that did such terrible things were somehow different/evil...However (rather worryingly) experiments showed that if normal people are deemed free of responsibility they can often commit terrible acts..
This shocked a lot of the psychologists!!!

[Jesusnadeson]

General Patton:
"-We fought the wrong enemy, "