Basically who do you think is the most inspirational leader during WW2? I personally think Winston Churchill was the most inspirational leader of WW2 because he kept the United Kingdom the war and morale high for the people of England.
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Who the most inspirational leader of WW2?
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I would say FDR, for he brought an unwilling nation into war willingly
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(Puts on tinfoil hat) Pearl Harbor was an inside job!
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Adolph Hitler. He brainwashed an entire nation and inspired WWII itself. By sheer force of will he kept Germany fighting to the bitter end against impossible odds.
He was a monster, of course, but a very charismatic monster.
He was a monster, of course, but a very charismatic monster.
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Personally I would say it was Hitler. He inspired the entire population to prepare and conduct a war after he rose to power from a non traditional ideology.
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Winston Churchill he kept a nation together feeding them the hard truth but with wit and charm, something barely any leader has or could ever have accomplished.
Hitler lied and bluffed his way to power, proceeded to lie and bluff his way to success, which is why when nobody could deny reality anymore he lost the support a virtually everyone within and outside the Reich, fear being the last bastion keeping the Reich duct taped together and barely at times. We've seen a million Hitlers through history altho none of them have ever been given a mechanized army to commit their genocides or a propaganda machine like the one of the Reich, altho Hitler is interesting most of what would be interesting about him as a leader is much more to the credit of the tools he was given and them being used to their full extend for the first time in history rather than him being a unique character in history.
Hitler lied and bluffed his way to power, proceeded to lie and bluff his way to success, which is why when nobody could deny reality anymore he lost the support a virtually everyone within and outside the Reich, fear being the last bastion keeping the Reich duct taped together and barely at times. We've seen a million Hitlers through history altho none of them have ever been given a mechanized army to commit their genocides or a propaganda machine like the one of the Reich, altho Hitler is interesting most of what would be interesting about him as a leader is much more to the credit of the tools he was given and them being used to their full extend for the first time in history rather than him being a unique character in history.
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I mean Pearl Harbor happened and then support for war skyrocketed so was it really FDR?
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I would go against the grain of thought and ignore the words of the leaders and account for their actions and the actions they inspired/coerced. Iosef Vissariovich Dzugashvilli or Joseph Stalin as he was know, was the most inspirational as he ended up achieving almost all the goals of the Comintern.
Two main things stand out-
1. The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact - - The "deal" pulled off by Hitler and Stalin ensured the USSR got breathing space and also access to modern fighters, aircraft engines, lot of naval stuff (including a partially built cruiser), machine tools (Germany had max machine tools in 1939, more than USA and USSR was starved of machine tools), technical expertise etc. That they squandered most of their gains in June 1941 is another story.
2. Staying put in Moscow on October 16th- Date of the great Skeddadle
Two main things stand out-
1. The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact - - The "deal" pulled off by Hitler and Stalin ensured the USSR got breathing space and also access to modern fighters, aircraft engines, lot of naval stuff (including a partially built cruiser), machine tools (Germany had max machine tools in 1939, more than USA and USSR was starved of machine tools), technical expertise etc. That they squandered most of their gains in June 1941 is another story.
2. Staying put in Moscow on October 16th- Date of the great Skeddadle
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Stalin because I saw some T34 pictures with "For Stalin" written on it. LOL
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Have you all forgotten about the Little Orphan by the name of Annie?
A song to hold yourself together when despairing for the release date.
A song to hold yourself together when despairing for the release date.
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I know man, just a joke.
For me it has to be the Desert Fox, Rommel... (he's at least in my top 5) =)
Edit: Removed out a picture of him with a naughty symbol before the mods found out. Whoops!
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Personal favorite would be Churchill in his top hat. But the war was driven by charismatic people on all fronts. Hitler and Mussolini impressed their peoples with promises of greatness and freedom from oligarchy and communist menace, Stalin was venerated as a hero of socialism by communists around the world, FDR was a strong leader who maintained a firm grip on his country and worked hard despite his declining health, and Charles de Gaulle was a badass freedom fighter.
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Again I'd say Churchill and Hitler, neither were perfect but both were charismatic and inspiring. De Gaulle should get an honourable mention too.
The Japanese emperor is a weird one but worth a mention. He didn't actually really do anything but the mere existence of him as an almost father/god-like figure certainly motivated a lot of Japanese.
The Japanese emperor is a weird one but worth a mention. He didn't actually really do anything but the mere existence of him as an almost father/god-like figure certainly motivated a lot of Japanese.
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Interesting that all the Churchill suggestions are getting dislikes, his speeches alone...
I find the love for Hitler a little unsettling conversely... Post 1942, where arguably you'd need him to be the most inspirational he could be, he's lost his nerve (no public appearances, the drugs start post Stalingrad). Sure, he got the country moving and back on track (to disaster) but when you needed a Churchill figure in Germany to rally the troops and do the whole "we will never surrender" for the Germans, he wasn't there.
Stalin... I think Stalin's a better leader than Hitler, but not more inspirational. There's a few significant moments... but he spent the rest of his life trying to make himself out to be an inspirational leader, he probably had Churchill envy. The only significant moment for him personally where he is one show from memory is in his speech a week after Barbarossa, but what made that speech important was that it was all about defending Russa, not communism...
I don't know enough about FDR to comment on him.
Now... what about commanders? What about some inspirational commanders. Slim might be a good candidate for that, but I'm sure there are others. I'm most familiar with Soviet commanders who generally went in for more violent forms of encouragement than inspiration.
I do find Rokossovsky quite impressive, but not for being inspirational but for fighting exceptionally for a regime that had taken out all his fingernails and kicked out his teeth.
I find the love for Hitler a little unsettling conversely... Post 1942, where arguably you'd need him to be the most inspirational he could be, he's lost his nerve (no public appearances, the drugs start post Stalingrad). Sure, he got the country moving and back on track (to disaster) but when you needed a Churchill figure in Germany to rally the troops and do the whole "we will never surrender" for the Germans, he wasn't there.
Stalin... I think Stalin's a better leader than Hitler, but not more inspirational. There's a few significant moments... but he spent the rest of his life trying to make himself out to be an inspirational leader, he probably had Churchill envy. The only significant moment for him personally where he is one show from memory is in his speech a week after Barbarossa, but what made that speech important was that it was all about defending Russa, not communism...
I don't know enough about FDR to comment on him.
Now... what about commanders? What about some inspirational commanders. Slim might be a good candidate for that, but I'm sure there are others. I'm most familiar with Soviet commanders who generally went in for more violent forms of encouragement than inspiration.
I do find Rokossovsky quite impressive, but not for being inspirational but for fighting exceptionally for a regime that had taken out all his fingernails and kicked out his teeth.
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