Nationalist Leadership: Hitler, Mussolini, Berlusconi, Putin, and Trump (article)

Enthusiasm and fear guide most of the more extreme nationalisms in the Western world; enthusiasm for country, flag, racial purity, violence, and a leader—along with fear of the unknown, loss of status and income, exclusion, the outsider, and the other—make a powerful mix.

On the enthusiasm side, we have such slogans as “Deutschland über alles,” that is, “Germany above all others.” Germans felt that their country had been great before “the war” (World War I) and it must rise again. That slogan that is nicely matched by Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again.” In other words, America was great, but it has lost its luster and it must be restored. This particular enthusiasm expresses itself rather specifically, as in, our country stands or must stand above all others; it is the most important and special nation in the world.

This appeal, along with others, say by Vladimir Putin, is often directed at the principal or leading ethnic group of a nation

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and, within it, its men. In Germany before Adolf Hitler, in Italy before Benito Mussolini and Silvio Berlusconi, and in Russia before Vladimir Putin, men were particularly affected by the effects of the loss of WWI in the case of Germany, international labor conditions in the case of Italy, and an ongoing international embargo in the case of Russia. Men in the leading groups felt or feel their status in their societies, families, and households had eroded. In this vein, nationalist politicians tend to blame this situation on decisions of previous leaders, especially if they were from a minority, like in Germany, where they blamed the post-WWI government they viewed as Jewish, or in the US, where they blame a specific African American, Barack Obama. These leaders tend as well to blame outsiders, like the European Community (EC) in the case of Berlusconi and the US in the case of Russia.

Fear is the other factor exploited by nationalistic leaders; for example, fear of the other who can be strangers, foreigners, other ethnic groups, women, gays, lesbians and transgendered people, and terrorists (or partisans in the older expression). These others, these outsiders, have repeatedly become groups to scorn and are showered with enmity. In 1930s Germany, these outsiders were not only Jews and Gypsies, but also outsiders to internal “normalcy,” that is, gays and lesbians. In Russia, it is Africans and, once more, gays and lesbians. In Italy as well, it is gays and lesbians. In November 2010, Berlusconi offered the following: “It’s better to like beautiful girls than to be gay” (BBC, August 2, 2013). Not to be undone, Trump said that, “You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass” (ThingsTrumpSaid.com). He has made it clear in addition that the outsiders are Mexicans and Muslims. He has been very specific:

When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They bring crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people (http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/550112/donald-trump quotes.html#fCHydh6fUrCZps7l.99).

Part of the appeal to the “native” population was and remains that outsiders are said to undermine the wellbeing and progress of insiders. The outsiders’ single purpose is perceived to be

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none other than to rattle the insiders and undermine their contentment. In some cases, the attacks were argued very specifically; to quote Joseph Goebbels:

Every Jew is our enemy in this historic struggle, regardless of whether he vegetates in a Polish ghetto or carries on his parasitic existence in Berlin or Hamburg or blows the trumpets of war in New York or Washington. All Jews by virtue of their birth and their race are part of an international conspiracy against National Socialist Germany (“Die Juden sind schuld!” Das eherne Herz [Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP, 1943], 85-91. The original essay was dated November 16, 1941 and is from the German Propaganda Archive, Calvin College).

Or as Heinrich Himmler put it in regard to Gypsies on December 8, 1938:

Experience gained in combating the Gypsy nuisance, and knowledge derived from race-biological research, have shown that the proper method of attacking the Gypsy problem seems to be to treat it as a matter of race” (Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team, www.HolocaustRes earchProject.org).

He did not change his mind over time:

With regard to the destruction of asocial life, Dr. Goebbels is of the opinion that the following groups should be exterminated: Jews and Gypsies unconditionally, Poles who have to serve 3-4 years of penal servitude, and Czechs and Germans who are sentenced to death or penal servitude for life or to security custody for life. The idea of exterminating them by labor is the best (Discussion of Thierack with Dr. Goebbels, Sept. 14, 1942 in Berlin. Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume III [USGPO, Washington, 1946], 496).

Trump said early on in his quest to attain the US presidency that most Mexicans are criminals and all those who live in the US illegally need to be deported; after all, they take away jobs from regular Americans and, by the very fact that they are here illegally,

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they are criminals. Not only that, a wall needs to be built so that Mexico cannot send more criminals, rapists, and drug dealers into the US. That is, like other nationalists before him and today, say in the small country of Hungary, he wants fences against those nasty outsiders, “to make us safe against them.” Some Americans agree with him and feel that they will indeed be safe behind the wall.

The other part of this fear mongering was and is an emphasis on racial purity, meaning pure blood running through veins, blond Germans then and blond Russians now, and of course white men in the US. Not that the leaders who led these explosions of racial and national purity were themselves so. Think of Hitler, who looked like anything but his lauded Aryans. However, those who were perceived to be part of the group felt reassured in their heritage, and of being part of something bigger than themselves, something seemingly positive and generous.

The men who lead enhancements of national sovereignty and attacks on outsiders give the impression of being superbly confident in their correct assessment of their nation’s situation. It is a confidence that reassures men (and women) who feel threatened by external and internal challenges and enemies. As Berlusconi put it, “(I am) the best political leader in Europe and in the world.” Or, “Out of love for Italy, I felt I had to save it from the left” (www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15642201). Roger Cohen had him pegged well when he wrote:

Widely ridiculed, endlessly written about, long unscathed by his evident misogyny and diverse legal travails, Berlusconi proved a Teflon politician. Nothing stuck. He had the gift of the gab. He had a tone. He connected. He owned a soccer club, for heaven’s sake. Many Italians thought they saw in him one of their own. He served three terms…nine years [in total] as prime minister before an ignominious downfall (“The Trump-Berlusconi Syndrome,” The New York Times, March 14, 2016).

Italians felt attracted to his bravado and his personal and family success. Some men felt reassured that he could attract young women to be (in bed) with him; a leader needs to be strong in many different ways. Trump is not making as much of his sexual prowess, but all the same seems to have sat at the famous Italian’s feet, saying, “I don’t need to go into office for the power. I

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have houses all over the world, stupendous boats…beautiful airplanes, a beautiful wife, a beautiful family…I am making a sacrifice” (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-15642201). As Trump sees it: “The beauty of me is that I’m very rich.” (http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/550112/donald-trump-quotes.html#SkP1t3hjM6stfJc0. 99). Putin has made much of his physical prowess, be it with bow and arrow, bare-chested on horseback, in black attire with motorcycle gangs, and away from his wife.

Certainly a particular group of men (and women) are drawn to this show, otherwise why engage in it? Maybe some see themselves as successful as Berlusconi, as audacious as Putin, and as uninhibited as Trump. Indeed, here is the impression of strength and, if a particular point or idea does not seem readily evident to followers, these leaders simply lie. Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, “In the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility.”

With the lure of enthusiasm and the inspiration of it come the appeal and use of violence and war. Past nationalists were not alone with threatening or using these techniques. Many years ago Goebbels made this dramatic appeal for war in the Berliner Sportspalast on February 18, 1943: “Do you believe in the final and total victory of Germany’s troops?” (Helmut Heiber, ed., Goebbels Reden 1932-1945 [Bindlach: Gondrom Verlag, 1991, 203-05]. Originally in the Frankfurter Zeitung, February 20, 1943, 7). More recently, Trump said to roaring applause that he would “nuke” ISIS into oblivion. Then and today, the applause makes one shiver and wonder, not only because of the content of the words, but also because of the response to them. The images of Syrian cities in ruins have as little impact today on some Americans as the loss at Stalingrad on some Germans at the outset of 1943.

However, Trump and Putin are not alone; Putin uses war, or the threat of war, constantly and successfully, be it in the Caucasus, Ukraine, or Syria. He tells Russians that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is about to attack and so he must attack first. The Russian military has not been so verbally and financially supported since Stalin’s time. With this stance, he is able to create an intense nationalism and support for himself. The people, as are others in other countries with authoritarian figures at the helm, are caught up in the idea that war will lead to victory and end the troubles that beset them every day.

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Brutality is part of this scene. Whether it is the brutality of murdering one’s enemies, as Putin is wont to do, or torturing to death Socialists and Communists in 1930s Germany. Our own violent media culture and private weapons arsenals satisfy the needs of some for personal protection but bode poorly for those who will be exposed to their brutality, given a chance. Already we are willing to tolerate 43 murders per day in America!

Let me conclude with this: few of Germany’s thinkers thought in 1932/33 that Hitler would initiate any of the steps he articulated clearly before he was elected. He did and ruined Germany! None of Italy’s leading minds thought that Berlusconi would actually engage in some of the things he promised. He did and left Italy broke! Few Russians thought that Putin would turn out to be the dictator he has become. He did! This should not have been a surprise, given his KGB past. They even look back at the “good old days” under Joseph Stalin. Where will this story end? Those who hope that Trump will do some of the things he promises will not be surprised when he does; the others might want to keep in mind how other full-blown or aspiring dictators acted once they ascended to power.

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