Winston Churchill And Adolf Hitler

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Over the years a lot has been said and written about Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler.

On one hand we have Winston Churchill, a man who saved Europe from the Nazi rule and on the other hand, we have Hitler who brought Germany some of the greatest victories until World War II and later on, left Germany badly wounded post World War II.

They both had quite dissimilar backgrounds. Churchill was a descendant of a long line of political leaders. Hence, he was introduced to the world of politics from a very young age. Winston considered his father, Lord Randolph his role model and wished to follow his footsteps. In contrast Adolf Hitler’s parents were just commoners. Adolf considered his father as his biggest obstacle to his dream.

The different upbringings led them to their positions of power. Winston’s parents’ lack of attention and due care caused young Churchill chronic depression, which he had to overcome in order to achieve greatness. Hitler’s violent childhood thanks to his father led to hatred in his heart which was nurtured by those he admired and this became the basis of Hitler’s motivation as a ruler. Their unhappy childhood turned them into history’s greatest leaders.

So what is it that makes them immortal in the minds of people even today? What is it about these leaders that left people awe struck? It’s their unique traits and attributes that helped them achieve greatness.

The personality traits given below give us a deeper understanding as to how these leaders unified millions of people.

VISIONARY

Winston Churchill was a very inspirational leader to millions of soldiers and civilians. His extraordinary writing and speaking skills played a major role in leading Britain and its commonwealth to victories. It was his inspirational speeches that truly encouraged the British people to be courageous and hopeful in a time of despair. He had a real gift of conveying his vision to the masses and making them believe that anything is possible. In the darkest hours of war, it was his words that planted a small seed of hope in the minds of people that they could actually win the war. Of course, he was capable of more than just pretentious or pompous talk. His earnest entreaties inspired billions of people to stand up and take responsibility by doing their duties in the struggle against tyranny. In order to make his vision effective he made people believe in it.

DECISIVE

Another important trait was that he was very decisive. He knew exactly what he wanted and was very precise in give instructions. He never avoided making tough decisions, unlike other leaders. His leadership style was very bold and decisive.

TRUST WORTHY

Trust another important trait required in order to be a leader. If the people do not trust the leader, they will refuse to carry out one’s own vision. It was a necessity for Winston Churchill to gain the trust of his followers without which he could not have succeeded in protecting Britain from the invasion of the Nazi Germany.

ENTUSIASTIC

Winston was sixty five years of age when he attained the post of Britain’s prime minister. He was a very enthusiastic and passionate leader. In order to be an effective leader, it is very important to bring out the best in people. Churchill, through his enthusiastic way of talking could light up a room. Although he was old, his enthusiasm acted as a boost for those around him. It is believed that Churchill had no idea as to how Britain could win the war. However, he focused on the fact as to why Britain should win the war, for the sake of freedom, civilization and democracy.

INTEGRITY

Integrity was one of the key traits of Churchill’s leadership style. His rock solid moral values of what was right and wrong helped him stay strong during the war. He always stood up for what he believed in, even if it meant standing alone. Churchill spent many years trying to warn his people regarding the ever growing Nazi rule. Although they paid no heed to his warning instead they started accusing him by calling him a "warmonger". The strong headed Churchill chose to continue fighting for his country. Nazi’s were considered very evil at the same time a great threat which could not be ignored. Eventually, people started understanding his point of view and later on joined hands with him in the fight for freedom.

SELF-BELIEF

Winston Churchill had immense self-belief and self-confidence. He believed not only in his abilities to achieve success but also in his destiny. As a leader, he had a considerable amount of self-belief in order to inspire the same amount of faith in his followers. His vast experiences and a track record of making the correct decisions gave him the upper edge. Although he had learnt certain things the hard way and also faced major setbacks in his journey, there was no alternative leader other than in him during Britain’s darkest days.

PERSEVERANCE

Another important trait of a leader is perseverance. Churchill faced the most amount of ups and downs in his political career however he never gave up. His spirit may have been beaten down, but never crushed. Others in his case would have given up a long time ago, but his "never give-in" attitude is truly remarkable.

These are some of the basic personality traits of Sir Winston Churchill which were observed by historians and people around him.

Adolf Hitler too had some very similar traits. He was considered as one of the most charismatic leader of all time.

MASTERFUL COMMUNICATOR

Adolf Hitler was considered as a masterful communicator. He had a way with words. The way he conveyed his vision to the masses was extraordinary. He was person who could ask someone to go to hell and that person actually looked forward to the journey. He knew exactly what the people wanted to hear and exploited that. Through his speeches he managed to convince the Germans that he knew what was best for Germany and it would be a wise decision if they cooperate with him.

STRONG VISION

Like Churchill, Hitler too was very decisive and knew exactly what he wanted. Hitler wanted to expand the boundaries of his country by capturing places towards the east. He basically wanted to unite the people who spoke German which also included a union of his birth place, Austria.

A similar trait between Adolf and Hitler was their hatred for communism. Hitler saw communism as a worldwide ideology that had to be destroyed.

GOAL SETTER

Hitler was known for setting very high standards not only for himself but also for his followers. He was what the modern world would call "perfectionist". Although some of his goals were very farfetched for instance the Nazi army was ordered to invade other nations in a short period of time.It is a positive characteristic of a leader.

SELF-BELIEF

He was very confident about himself thinking he could achieve his goals. He even believed that he could easily win the world war. His confidence was overturned in the end.

Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler may have similar personality traits however there leadership styles were very different from each other.

Hitler; the Great Dictator

Adolf Hitler was a very goal-oriented leader. All he cared about was achieving results. This task oriented nature of his formed the basis of his autocratic form of leadership. He exerted high level of power over his followers. This task- related behaviour helped him In order to achieve his vision of re-dividing the world and making Germany the greatest nation. Some of his personality traits help explain as to why Adolf Hitler was considered as one of history’s greatest leaders.

Winston Churchill was a classic example of an inspirational politician, not a charismatic one. Churchill’s appearance did not leave the people in awe.

As surprising as this may sound, Hitler was a better people’s manager.