I completely disagree with this statement. Even though navisism, the holocaust, and world war two have been traumatic events I think the main reason people would see Hitler as so influential is because of how much press is given to these topics. This is not to say that what happened was not horrific but it is not the most horrific by standards of the time. Stalin is responsible for the death of 17 million Russians. Hitler on the other hand killed somewhere between 11 and 14 million people. Although both horrendous, Hitler is seemed to be considered more villainous character in todays interpretations of history. I would personally expect that this discrepancy is a result of Hitler killing both his own people and the people of several other countries. Alternatively Stalin was killing mostly his own people who in the modern day would prefer not to bring attention to their horrific rulers genocidal tendencies, considering much of the Soviet Union is still pereserved today in Russia.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Hitler in History
"I think Hitler has been the most influential historical figure in the last hundred years."
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Although Stalin was responsible for more deaths than Hitler, could it not be argued that Hitler is more influential simply because he receives more attention? Hitler’s destruction was also on a global scale, effecting culture all around the globe; Stalin’s influence seems to be limited mainly to Russia. Hitler not only receives attention for the casualties under his regime, but also for his charisma. One man was able to gain enough support that he was almost able to take over the world. That’s pretty influential.
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