0:00:02 > 0:00:04VOICES ECHO DISTANTLY
0:00:04 > 0:00:09MAN SPEAKING IN GERMAN
0:00:11 > 0:00:13CHEERING
0:00:13 > 0:00:16In the 1930s, here in Nuremberg,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19hundreds of thousands of Germans gathered
0:00:19 > 0:00:21to pay homage to Adolf Hitler.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Everybody wanted to be close to him.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Just to live in his favour, to be in his presence,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36to be near him just once,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39that was the big event for the individual.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48Hitler hadn't hypnotised these Germans into supporting him.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53They believed in him because of what he'd done and what he'd said.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Not least that he'd told them
0:00:57 > 0:01:00they were a superior race who would accomplish great things.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16But Hitler now faced the greatest test yet
0:01:16 > 0:01:19to his charismatic leadership.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24He wanted to take these people into a war of racial conquest,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27to gain a vast new empire.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30But there was no evidence most of them wanted war.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34With insights from those who lived through these times,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38most of whom were interviewed by the BBC over the last 20 years,
0:01:38 > 0:01:43this film reveals how Hitler tried to persuade his followers
0:01:43 > 0:01:44to embrace conflict.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13Berlin.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Capital of Germany today,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21just as it was capital of Germany in the 1930s,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24when Adolf Hitler was Chancellor.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35In 1937, Hitler lived and worked at a building on this site.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45This was the Old Reich Chancellery.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53And here, Hitler spent much of his time alone in his bedroom
0:02:53 > 0:02:56where he would listen to what he called his "inner conviction".
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Often, Hitler would not emerge from his bedroom until lunchtime.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06For central to his charismatic leadership, was the idea
0:03:06 > 0:03:10that he made all the big decisions entirely on his own.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Hitler was always certain that he was right.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21He didn't even like to read other people's advice.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26In 1935, a leading Nazi sent Hitler a paper on youth issues
0:03:26 > 0:03:29and received this reply from Hitler's adjutant.
0:03:32 > 0:03:33"The Fuehrer received it,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37"but immediately gave it back to me unread.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41"He intends to give a major speech on this issue at the next Party rally
0:03:41 > 0:03:43"and therefore, does not want his thinking
0:03:43 > 0:03:45"to be influenced by anybody in any way."
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Hitler was thought infallible.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53"When a decision has to be taken,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56"none of us count more than the stones on which we are standing.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59"It is the Fuehrer alone who decides."
0:04:01 > 0:04:05And in late 1937, in the isolation of his bedroom,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07the Fuehrer was thinking about this.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Austria.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22This place would be the first test of Hitler's desire
0:04:22 > 0:04:26to occupy land that was not part of Germany.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30The first test of how others would react to his willingness
0:04:30 > 0:04:34to use brute force to subjugate another country.
0:04:38 > 0:04:39Hitler had been born in Austria
0:04:39 > 0:04:42and passionately wanted this German-speaking country
0:04:42 > 0:04:44to be under his control.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51On 5th November 1937,
0:04:51 > 0:04:56Hitler told his military leaders that he'd decided to occupy Austria,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00and then wanted later to eliminate Czechoslovakia.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04But his generals were worried that Hitler would start another war.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08It wasn't the reaction Hitler had expected.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10He wanted his generals to be like this.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34"My generals should be like bull terriers on chains,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38"and they should want war, war, war.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40"But what happens now?
0:05:44 > 0:05:46"I want to go ahead with strong policies
0:05:46 > 0:05:48"and the generals try to stop me!"
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Within just a few months, three of those who'd been unenthusiastic
0:05:56 > 0:06:00about Hitler's plans at the meeting were no longer in office.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04But still, Hitler didn't feel able to be as ruthless
0:06:04 > 0:06:09with his military leaders as his fellow dictator Stalin did.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Hitler needed the support of the German officer corps.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18The Chief Of Staff of the German army, Ludwig Beck,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20had welcomed Hitler as Chancellor.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Like many generals,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24he wasn't against the idea of German expansion,
0:06:24 > 0:06:28he was just anxious that the German army wasn't strong enough yet
0:06:28 > 0:06:30to accomplish the task.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34But in the end, Hitler's sheer determination won him over.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46On the morning of 12th March 1938,
0:06:46 > 0:06:51German soldiers crossed the border into neighbouring Austria.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53They were greeted not with bullets and guns,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56but with roses and carnations.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06So much so that the action became known as the Blumenkrieg -
0:07:06 > 0:07:08the war of flowers.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15"During my ten years at party conferences
0:07:15 > 0:07:17"or at rallies with Adolf Hitler,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20"I had certainly witnessed my share of enthusiasm,
0:07:20 > 0:07:21"but the degree of enthusiasm
0:07:21 > 0:07:23"that was prevalent in Austria at that time
0:07:23 > 0:07:26"was not only surprising to us, but also quite unbelievable."
0:07:31 > 0:07:35The Austrian government, destabilised by the Nazis for years,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38had finally succumbed to Hitler's bullying
0:07:38 > 0:07:39and offered no resistance.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Most of the Austrian people,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48envying what they saw as the economic success
0:07:48 > 0:07:51and prestige that Hitler had brought to Germany,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54now welcomed their German neighbours.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Hitler's first great gamble of expansion had paid off.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25At just before four o'clock in the afternoon of 12th March 1938,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Adolf Hitler drove down this road
0:08:27 > 0:08:31and crossed over the River Inn, into Austria.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33He was coming home.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44This town, Braunau am Inn was his birthplace.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49And it was in this house that Hitler had first entered the world
0:08:49 > 0:08:5149 years before.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00The crowds were so ecstatic
0:09:00 > 0:09:04that Hitler's motorcade took several hours to reach the city of Linz,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08the place Hitler had gone to school and lived for much of his youth.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16The welcome here was the most tumultuous yet.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27"I think we cried, most of us, at that time.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30"Tears were running down our cheeks,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32"and when we looked at the neighbours, it was the same.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34" 'You all,' and he said that to us,
0:09:34 > 0:09:38" 'You all shall help me build up my empire to be a good empire
0:09:38 > 0:09:43" 'with happy people who are thinking and promising to be good people.' "
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Something extraordinary happened to Hitler that night in Linz.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Something that demonstrates how charismatic leadership
0:09:55 > 0:09:58is about a connection between the leader and the led.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02For Hitler only decided NOW,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05once he'd witnessed the joyous reaction of the people of Linz,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08that Austria should formally become a part of Germany,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11rather than remain a separate country within the Nazi empire,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14as he'd originally planned.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17It was as if the people had changed his mind for him.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Hitler moved on to Vienna.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37And his emotional state would have been heightened even more
0:10:37 > 0:10:38by what happened next.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45It was here, as an unknown young man,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49struggling to survive before the First World War,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52that he had dreamt dreams of greatness.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58At the Vienna opera, he'd seen Wagner's heroic opera Lohengrin
0:10:58 > 0:11:00over and over again.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09And now, 25 years later, here on the Heldenplatz,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12the Heroes' Square in front of the Hofburg Palace,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16more than 200,000 people gathered to see Hitler.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29In this city, Hitler had once longed to be a hero.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34And now, to the cheering crowd in front of him, he was one.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36CHEERING
0:12:08 > 0:12:12All the most important elements of Hitler's charismatic attraction
0:12:12 > 0:12:14were on show here in Austria.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18His mission to unite all Germans under his rule.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22His ability to establish a connection
0:12:22 > 0:12:25and express what his audience were wanting and feeling.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27His vision of a racist state,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30filled only with those he thought "true" Germans.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33The hope he offered these people
0:12:33 > 0:12:35in their economic crisis.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38His certainty that all would come well...
0:12:40 > 0:12:43..now that Germany and Austria were united.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47A final part of Hitler's charisma was also on show -
0:12:47 > 0:12:49one that appealed to people's prejudice.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51His capacity to hate.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58GLASS SHATTERING
0:13:03 > 0:13:07Tens of thousands of Hitler's political opponents in Austria were arrested,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10with many sent to concentration camps.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13In particular, Austrian Jews suffered,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17many violently attacked, robbed and humiliated.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Some forced to scrub the streets clean.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23"There was no protection from anywhere.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26"I remember I once had to scrub the streets as well.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30"I saw in the crowd a well-dressed woman
0:13:30 > 0:13:32"and she was holding up a little girl
0:13:32 > 0:13:34"so that this girl could see better."
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany's and Austria's defeat
0:13:39 > 0:13:42in the First World War, for Communism,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44and for much else besides.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47And many believed these anti-Semitic fantasies.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Around ten per cent of the population of Vienna was Jewish,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59with many Jews concentrated in this area in the north of the city.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Few of their fellow Austrians helped the Jews,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06some were glad to see them go.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28The Nazis now organised a plebiscite, a vote of approval,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31not just in the unification of Austria and Germany,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33but, crucially, in Hitler himself.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49The Nazi propaganda campaign was focused on Hitler,
0:14:49 > 0:14:55and Austrians were taught the three united values of their new state -
0:14:55 > 0:14:57one people, one reich, one leader.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07In a demonstration of how central he was personally to this whole system,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Hitler travelled across Austria on a campaign tour.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34ALL: Heil! Heil! Heil!
0:15:34 > 0:15:39ALL: Heil! Heil! Heil!
0:15:52 > 0:15:57ALL: Heil! Heil! Heil!
0:15:57 > 0:16:00ALL: Heil! Heil! Heil!
0:16:00 > 0:16:04The vote was held on 10th April 1938
0:16:04 > 0:16:06and both Austrians and Germans were asked
0:16:06 > 0:16:10if they agreed with the unification of the two countries
0:16:10 > 0:16:12and with Adolf Hitler.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14Several hundred thousand Austrians,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17mostly Jews and the Nazis' political opponents,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19were denied the right to vote.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22And for those who did vote, there was a hint on the ballot paper
0:16:22 > 0:16:24of what their choice should be,
0:16:24 > 0:16:29with the space for "Yes" much bigger than the space for "No".
0:16:29 > 0:16:33More than 99% of Austrians voted for Hitler.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Hitler emerged from his Austrian adventure
0:16:42 > 0:16:44stronger than he had ever been.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47And now he wanted to take over Czechoslovakia.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51General Ludwig Beck wrote a warning memo
0:16:51 > 0:16:55and read it in May 1938 to the head of the army.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39Those who worked closely with Hitler were now split into two camps -
0:17:39 > 0:17:41those who believed in Hitler's charisma,
0:17:41 > 0:17:45like Hermann Goering who had absolutely faith in his judgment,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48and the more pragmatic supporters, like Ludwig Beck.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51He liked a great deal of what Hitler was doing,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53particularly the strengthening of the armed forces
0:17:53 > 0:17:55with more planes and more armaments,
0:17:55 > 0:18:00but feared he was leading the Germans into a war they would lose.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04What wasn't clear was just how many in the military might be prepared
0:18:04 > 0:18:07to try and restrain Hitler,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11and how many simply trusted him and would follow where he led.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15THEY SPEAK GERMAN
0:18:15 > 0:18:18A clue to the prevailing mood came in June 1938
0:18:18 > 0:18:22when a number of officers gathered to discuss Beck's views,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26their words later recalled by one of those who heard them speak.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28THEY SPEAK GERMAN
0:18:54 > 0:18:56THEY CHUCKLE
0:19:03 > 0:19:07Hitler had now been in power for more than five years.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09Years in which the Nazis had sought to influence
0:19:09 > 0:19:12every aspect of German life.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16This traditional festival, held in Muehleberg in central Germany,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19shows just how successful the Nazis had been.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33In particular, Hitler targeted the young.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44He wanted them to be indoctrinated with Nazi beliefs
0:19:44 > 0:19:47almost as soon as they could walk.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:20:50 > 0:20:54CHEERING
0:20:57 > 0:21:01"There was God himself, we young people believed all of that."
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Young people weren't just being taught
0:21:12 > 0:21:14to all but worship Adolf Hitler.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17They learnt his racist, hate-filled values as well -
0:21:17 > 0:21:20that they were better than everyone else,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22and that they should despise the weak.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27What mattered in life was to be strong.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31MUSIC: Es Zittern Die Morschen Knochen by Hans Baumann
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Hitler made big decisions in isolation.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27And when he had the biggest decisions of all to make,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30he liked to come here - to the mountains of Southern Bavaria
0:22:30 > 0:22:32near the border with Austria.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39In the summer of 1938,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43he was asking himself if he was prepared to risk war
0:22:43 > 0:22:46with Britain, France, maybe even the Soviet Union as well.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49All over the question of Czechoslovakia.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54Almost every day,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Hitler would take an afternoon walk down the slopes of the Obersalzberg
0:22:57 > 0:23:00and then, be driven back to his house - the Berghof.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04And almost every day, the tension grew greater and greater.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Hitler said openly in the 1930s
0:23:14 > 0:23:17that he wanted to gain back for Germany the land lost
0:23:17 > 0:23:19as a result of defeat in the First World War
0:23:19 > 0:23:24and gather all ethnic Germans under his rule.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28And the border region of Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31contained several million ethnic Germans.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36But, in reality, as he'd written in his book Mein Kampf back in 1924,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39his ambitions were much greater.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41He wanted to gain a huge new empire for Germany
0:23:41 > 0:23:43in the west of the Soviet Union.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48But he knew that, whilst millions of Germans
0:23:48 > 0:23:51wanted to get back the land they'd lost,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53they didn't want to fight a massive war of conquest.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55And, as a charismatic leader,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57he wanted the majority to support him.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08So he hid his grand ambitions behind the smoke screen of simply saying
0:24:08 > 0:24:11he wanted to right the wrongs of the territorial settlement
0:24:11 > 0:24:12at the end of the First World War.
0:24:25 > 0:24:26Most in the adoring crowds
0:24:26 > 0:24:29who attended the national Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg
0:24:29 > 0:24:35were unaware that, soon, Hitler wanted to try and create
0:24:35 > 0:24:37a vast new German empire.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Even though in a few of his speeches in the 1930s,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44Hitler dropped hints that Germany's problem was
0:24:44 > 0:24:47that it just wasn't big enough.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51ALL: Heil, Hitler! Heil, Hitler!
0:25:09 > 0:25:11CHEERING
0:25:15 > 0:25:17MUSIC: God Save The King
0:25:17 > 0:25:19In the autumn of 1938,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25flew to Germany to meet Hitler.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27When I come back,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31I hope I may be able to say
0:25:31 > 0:25:34as Hotspur says in Henry IV,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37"Out of this little danger,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40"we plucked this flower, safety."
0:25:40 > 0:25:42CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Chamberlain made three separate trips to Germany
0:25:46 > 0:25:48in order to discuss Hitler's claims on Czechoslovakia.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56And the dominant thought in Chamberlain's mind
0:25:56 > 0:25:59was the memory of this -
0:25:59 > 0:26:01the First World War.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10The bloodiest war in British history.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20And the worst killing fields were here,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22in the valley of the River Somme.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31On 1st July 1916,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34the first day of the Battle of the Somme,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37nearly 20,000 British soldiers lost their lives,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41more than on any other single day in the history of the British Army.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47"Surely," thought Chamberlain, "no leader of a major European state
0:26:47 > 0:26:50"wanted something like this to happen again."
0:26:59 > 0:27:03But British leaders already had an idea of Hitler's true character,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06because Lord Halifax had met Hitler the year before,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10in November 1937, at Berchtesgaden.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13During the meeting, Hitler had said
0:27:13 > 0:27:16the British could solve any problems they had in India
0:27:16 > 0:27:19by shooting the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22And, if that didn't work,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25they should shoot a dozen members of his Congress party,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28and if there were still problems, shoot 200 more and so on
0:27:28 > 0:27:31until order was established.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Lord Halifax was not impressed.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37He certainly didn't succumb to Hitler's charisma.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43Nor did Chamberlain.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46In September 1938, he travelled to Munich
0:27:46 > 0:27:49and Hitler's office on the Koenigsplatz.
0:27:49 > 0:27:50for one final meeting.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Chamberlain didn't think Hitler was a gentleman.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02In fact, he remarked that Hitler was the commonest little dog he'd ever seen,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06so undistinguished that you would never notice him in a crowd.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10But Chamberlain did have sympathy with the view
0:28:10 > 0:28:13that the peace treaty at the end of the First World War
0:28:13 > 0:28:15had been too hard on Germany.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17And he signed an agreement on 29th September
0:28:17 > 0:28:20that gave Hitler the Sudetenland,
0:28:20 > 0:28:23the German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31Just as they had been in Austria,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34soldiers of the German army were greeted with flowers
0:28:34 > 0:28:38when they entered the Sudetenland in October 1938.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41"The joy of our redemption was very great and it was welcomed by all.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48"People said, 'Thank God, times are changing for us now.'
0:28:48 > 0:28:51CHEERING
0:28:59 > 0:29:02"Everyone was delighted about it."
0:29:14 > 0:29:17But events that would take place here in Munich,
0:29:17 > 0:29:20just a few weeks later in November 1938,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23would demonstrate Hitler's true world view.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25They would also give an insight
0:29:25 > 0:29:28into how his charismatic leadership worked.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Leading Nazis had gathered here to celebrate the 15th anniversary
0:29:33 > 0:29:35of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch -
0:29:35 > 0:29:39a sacred date for the Nazi party.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41On the evening of 9th November,
0:29:41 > 0:29:45they learnt that a German diplomat in Paris had been shot
0:29:45 > 0:29:47by a German-Polish Jew.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53a vicious anti-Semite himself,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57suggested to Hitler that Nazi Stormtroopers be let loose
0:29:57 > 0:29:59against the Jews of Germany.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02This was how Hitler's charismatic leadership could work -
0:30:02 > 0:30:07he had a vision, he hated the Jews and wanted to get rid of them,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11but others suggested the ways in which this could be implemented.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14GLASS SHATTERING
0:30:14 > 0:30:16Hitler agreed with Goebbels' idea
0:30:16 > 0:30:21and so, Nazi Stormtroopers ran wild on the night of 9th November,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23attacking Jews and their property.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26Around 25,000 Jews were imprisoned in concentration camps
0:30:26 > 0:30:29and more than 100 were murdered.
0:30:29 > 0:30:34Shortly afterwards, the SS newspaper warned of terrible consequences
0:30:34 > 0:30:36if a Jew assassinated another leading German.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41"There will be no more Jews in Germany.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43"We hope we make ourselves clear!"
0:30:48 > 0:30:50They also threatened...
0:30:50 > 0:30:52"Because no power on Earth can stop us,
0:30:52 > 0:30:56"we will bring the Jewish question to its total solution.
0:30:56 > 0:31:02"The programme is clear - total expulsion, complete separation."
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Many Germans were certainly anti-Semitic at the time,
0:31:20 > 0:31:24but there was no evidence that the majority of ordinary people,
0:31:24 > 0:31:28like these holidaymakers, approved of murderous attacks on German Jews.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32Nor that they had any desire to fight another European war.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39But large numbers of them did certainly have faith in Hitler.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42They called him General Bloodless -
0:31:42 > 0:31:45someone who had achieved great things for them and their country
0:31:45 > 0:31:47without the need to spill any blood.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52"We had adopted an attitude
0:31:52 > 0:31:54"whereby one said that the Fuehrer would manage.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57"The Fuehrer would do the right thing."
0:31:59 > 0:32:01Hitler knew that this attitude of trust,
0:32:01 > 0:32:03that he would "do the right thing",
0:32:03 > 0:32:07was based on these people's faith in his charismatic leadership.
0:32:08 > 0:32:13So he faced the difficult task of trying to get ordinary Germans
0:32:13 > 0:32:17to accept military conflict, without them losing their faith in him.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27We can get an idea of just how Hitler had been working
0:32:27 > 0:32:29at turning around public opinion
0:32:29 > 0:32:32from a secret speech he gave here in Munich
0:32:32 > 0:32:34to leading German journalists.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39On 10th November 1938, Hitler said...
0:32:39 > 0:32:46"For decades, circumstances forced me to talk almost exclusively of peace."
0:32:46 > 0:32:49But now, he told the journalists, the news had to be presented
0:32:49 > 0:32:52so as to create the impression that...
0:32:52 > 0:32:55"There are matters which, if they cannot be achieved by peaceful means,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58"must be enforced by means of violence."
0:33:04 > 0:33:08What was crucial was to say to the people...
0:33:12 > 0:33:14This was now important, said Hitler,
0:33:14 > 0:33:18in order to free the German people from the bondage of doubt.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20CHEERING
0:33:34 > 0:33:39These were the scenes in Munich, in July 1939,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41for a celebration of German art.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46By the time these pictures were taken,
0:33:46 > 0:33:49Hitler had orchestrated the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52and the British and French governments had warned Hitler
0:33:52 > 0:33:56that if the Germans moved on Poland, then there would be war.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01The German press saw things very differently
0:34:01 > 0:34:03and with one voice had been telling the people
0:34:03 > 0:34:07that Germany was being treated unjustly.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12That their Fuehrer's legitimate demands were simply not being met.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Secretly, Hitler had already told his military leaders
0:34:23 > 0:34:25to be ready for war.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28And just a month after his trip to the Munich Art Festival,
0:34:28 > 0:34:32Hitler announced to his generals that they should harden their hearts against the enemy.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40One general who wasn't part of Hitler's plans was Ludwig Beck.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43He'd resigned as Chief Of Staff of the German army,
0:34:43 > 0:34:45believing now, as he said to a friend,
0:34:45 > 0:34:49that Hitler was "a psychopath through and through".
0:34:49 > 0:34:50He was more certain than ever
0:34:50 > 0:34:53that Hitler was leading Germany to catastrophe.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56"I warned and warned," he said, "and at last I stood alone."
0:34:59 > 0:35:02GUNSHOTS
0:35:09 > 0:35:14On 1st September 1939, the German army invaded Poland.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23The Polish army stood little chance.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27Not only was this ideal country for the German tanks,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30but under a secret part of a non-aggression agreement with Stalin,
0:35:30 > 0:35:32signed just days before,
0:35:32 > 0:35:36Germany and the Soviet Union split up Poland between them.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42The Germans invaded Poland from the west.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46Two weeks later, the Red Army invaded Poland from the east.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51Less than six weeks after it began, the war was over.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53Poland was crushed.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09For the German officers and their men, it was a time for celebration.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20For the Poles, it was the beginning
0:36:20 > 0:36:24of one of the most brutal occupations in history.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28Poland would suffer proportionately
0:36:28 > 0:36:30more than any other country in this war -
0:36:30 > 0:36:34nearly six million Poles would die.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36More than 16% of the population.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39For Hitler and the Nazis,
0:36:39 > 0:36:43this was an ideological war from the very beginning.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45Hitler told Joseph Goebbels that autumn
0:36:45 > 0:36:50that he thought the Poles were "more animals than human beings"
0:36:50 > 0:36:53and that "the filth of the Poles was unimaginable".
0:36:56 > 0:37:00Hitler's "judgment" on the Poles, said Goebbels, was "annihilatory".
0:37:03 > 0:37:08Two million Polish Jews came under Nazi control in the autumn of 1939.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11Thousands were shot and the Nazis began to mark the rest,
0:37:11 > 0:37:17with Polish Jews made to wear special symbols on their clothes.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20They would shortly be imprisoned in ghettos.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24Later in the war, they would be sent to death camps.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27The likelihood is that not one of these Polish Jews
0:37:27 > 0:37:29would have survived the war.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43Back in Berlin, Hitler prepared to speak to the German Reichstag.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47And, on 6th October, he gave a speech
0:37:47 > 0:37:49which exuded confidence about the way ahead.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01CHEERING
0:38:14 > 0:38:17CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Senior German army offices knew that Hitler was not planning on peace.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00Just days before he spoke to the Reichstag,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03Hitler had told them to prepare immediate plans
0:39:03 > 0:39:05for an attack in Western Europe,
0:39:05 > 0:39:09which would mean invading France.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13It's almost impossible to overestimate how reckless, almost crazy,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17the idea of attacking France seemed to many of Hitler's generals.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21Not only did the British and French possess more tanks than the Germans,
0:39:21 > 0:39:23their tanks were better.
0:39:23 > 0:39:28The consensus was that the Germans could not possibly succeed.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32There was even talk in the autumn of 1939 of a mutiny.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38General Halder, Chief Of Staff of the German army
0:39:38 > 0:39:41and General Brauchitsch, the head of the army,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44discussed trying to enforce a change in leadership.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47THEY SPEAK GERMAN
0:39:49 > 0:39:52What they almost certainly had in mind was something
0:39:52 > 0:39:55that had happened little more than 20 years ago.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59In the First World War, the head of state, the Kaiser,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01had been pushed into the background,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04whilst leading generals like Hindenburg took control.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08This is what they wanted to see happen to Hitler.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
0:40:16 > 0:40:20also tried to rally support for a coup against Hitler.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23He called the planned attack in the west simply mad.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26And he also thought the atrocities that were being committed
0:40:26 > 0:40:30by the Nazis in Poland were unworthy of a civilised nation.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38But von Leeb's was a rare voice of protest.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43It was one of von Leeb's own officers,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46Corps Commander General Geyr von Schweppenburg,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49who identified the problem the conspirators faced.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52THEY SPEAK GERMAN
0:40:52 > 0:40:55He came to the view, after consulting his colleagues,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58that their soldiers would refuse to turn against Hitler
0:40:58 > 0:41:04because respect and faith in Hitler was entrenched too deeply in them.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11Hitler's charismatic leadership,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14one built on the education of the young in Nazi ideology
0:41:14 > 0:41:17and on successes like Austria, the Sudetenland and now Poland,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21was simply too powerful for them to overcome.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Then, there was another aspect of Hitler's leadership
0:41:30 > 0:41:33which was to prove crucial - his absolute certainty
0:41:33 > 0:41:36that Germany would win this war against the French.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38Despite all the objections of his generals,
0:41:38 > 0:41:41HE remained sure of victory.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46And this certainty, this complete confidence, began to have an effect.
0:41:54 > 0:41:59'Der Fuehrer mit seinen Generaelen in Hauptquartier...'
0:41:59 > 0:42:04Once again, Hitler set a vision, this time, invade Western Europe,
0:42:04 > 0:42:07and others came up with ways of implementing it.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11And they all knew that Hitler admired radical plans,
0:42:11 > 0:42:13was prepared to take fantastic risks
0:42:13 > 0:42:16to gamble on the chance of success.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23And in early 1940, a new version of the invasion plan,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26this one proposed by General von Manstein,
0:42:26 > 0:42:28was certainly both radical and risky.
0:42:54 > 0:42:55The idea was simple.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59The main armoured thrust of the German invasion of France
0:42:59 > 0:43:01should go through this.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07The forest of the Ardennes -
0:43:07 > 0:43:11one of the last natural wildernesses in Western Europe.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18If the Germans could get through here undetected by the Allies
0:43:18 > 0:43:20and then dash for the Channel coast,
0:43:20 > 0:43:23then they stood a chance of a swift and dramatic victory.
0:43:25 > 0:43:30If they were detected as they drove down the forest roads and attacked,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33then, almost certainly, Germany would lose the whole war.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39It was to be one of the greatest gambles in military history.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41All or nothing.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50And Hitler loved the idea.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58The plan was that Army Group B would invade Belgium and Holland
0:43:58 > 0:44:01and engage the Allies in battle,
0:44:01 > 0:44:04whilst Army Group A made its dash through the Ardennes
0:44:04 > 0:44:06and tried to reach the coast.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09As a result, Allied armies would be trapped.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15What was vital was that the Germans were able to cross the River Meuse
0:44:15 > 0:44:17in north east France
0:44:17 > 0:44:20before Allied reinforcements arrived.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22If they could do it, and the risks were huge,
0:44:22 > 0:44:26then there was no other major natural obstacle in their way
0:44:26 > 0:44:28until the English Channel.
0:44:37 > 0:44:38On the 10th May 1940,
0:44:38 > 0:44:42one section of the German army did what the Allies expected
0:44:42 > 0:44:44and invaded Belgium.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53British and French forces moved forward to engage them.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57It looked like this would all develop
0:44:57 > 0:44:59into a series of conventional battles.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03Most probably, it would lead to stalemate.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05Not unlike the First World War.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27Waiting in the forest far south of them,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31undetected by the Allies, were 1,200 Panzers of Army Group A.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40The Germans had concentrated their mechanised forces here.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43Though they had fewer tanks than the Allies,
0:45:43 > 0:45:46they were gambling on the Allied tanks being north of them,
0:45:46 > 0:45:48in the wrong place to stop their advance.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59But the roads were so narrow that one German general was worried
0:45:59 > 0:46:02that the advance could turn into an enormous traffic jam.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11The whole essence of the attack was speed.
0:46:11 > 0:46:17So much so that the drivers of the Panzers were issued with amphetamine tablets
0:46:17 > 0:46:20so that they wouldn't need to sleep for several days,
0:46:20 > 0:46:23tablets known as Panzer Chocolates.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Units of 7th Panzer were some of the first to reach the River Meuse,
0:46:35 > 0:46:38here, near the town of Dinant.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44The commander of 7th Panzer was a 48-year-old,
0:46:44 > 0:46:47then relatively unknown general, called Erwin Rommel.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54On 13th May, Rommel crossed the River Meuse at this weir.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58A day later, more Panzers crossed the river further south.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10For the Germans, all this was a triumph.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15"It was hard to believe - we had broken through
0:47:15 > 0:47:18"and were advancing deep into enemy territory.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20"It was not just a beautiful dream.
0:47:20 > 0:47:21"It was reality."
0:47:39 > 0:47:41But in the midst of all this success,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44something strange was happening behind the scenes.
0:47:44 > 0:47:49On 17th May, Hitler ordered Army Group A to stop its advance.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58He was, thought General Halder,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01"Terribly nervous and frightened by his own success."
0:48:02 > 0:48:05The generals couldn't understand how Hitler could be
0:48:05 > 0:48:09both the great gambler and yet be so fearful during the battle.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15But Hitler was proving to be an unreliable battlefield commander
0:48:15 > 0:48:17because of how his leadership worked.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19For Hitler believed...
0:48:19 > 0:48:22"Decision-making means not hesitating to do
0:48:22 > 0:48:25"what inner conviction commands you to do."
0:48:27 > 0:48:30Hitler had previously listened to this inner conviction
0:48:30 > 0:48:35in places like his bedroom or walking amongst the mountains of Southern Bavaria.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44Now, constrained in endless military meetings about detail,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47rather than thinking of grand visions,
0:48:47 > 0:48:51Hitler's inner conviction was proving to be an unreliable guide.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58Here, in the battle for France, Hitler overcame his fears
0:48:58 > 0:49:01and, within a day, the advance was continuing.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03But it was a sign of things to come -
0:49:03 > 0:49:06the clearest example yet of how Hitler as a military leader
0:49:06 > 0:49:09could be as much a liability as an asset.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Army Group A reached the Channel coast,
0:49:18 > 0:49:23here, where the River Somme meets the sea, on 20th May 1940.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27Just ten days after the attack had been launched.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36Refugees had tried to run from the Germans.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40But the advance had been so swift
0:49:40 > 0:49:43that there was nowhere for them to run to.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56The shock of what had just happened,
0:49:56 > 0:49:59almost impossible for us to conceive of today.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11In this single campaign,
0:50:11 > 0:50:14the Germans took more than one and a half million prisoners.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23The Germans lost about 30,000 dead.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28The Allied death toll was three times that.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34The defeat of the Allies was made all the worse
0:50:34 > 0:50:38because they'd been confident they could hold back the Germans.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40Hitler had said before the campaign
0:50:40 > 0:50:43that reacting quickly to events was...
0:50:43 > 0:50:47"Not in the nature of either the systematic French
0:50:47 > 0:50:49"or the ponderous Englishmen."
0:50:49 > 0:50:52And events had proved that he was right.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Here, on the beaches of Dunkirk,
0:51:02 > 0:51:06the British had managed to fashion a kind of victory from defeat.
0:51:12 > 0:51:17Around 340,000 soldiers had been rescued from here,
0:51:17 > 0:51:20and in the city itself, before the Germans took control.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29But the heavy equipment had been left behind -
0:51:29 > 0:51:32almost 2,500 pieces of artillery
0:51:32 > 0:51:35and more than 60,000 vehicles were lost in this campaign.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49As for Hitler, General Keitel now announced
0:51:49 > 0:51:53that he was the greatest military leader of all time.
0:52:09 > 0:52:15The Germans and the French signed an armistice on 22nd June 1940.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18The Germans had won in little more than six weeks
0:52:18 > 0:52:21and, in truth, the key battles of this campaign
0:52:21 > 0:52:24had been won in just four days.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32Now it was time for German soldiers to enjoy themselves.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52For these Germans, who were all well-aware
0:52:52 > 0:52:55of the stalemate of the trenches of the First World War,
0:52:55 > 0:52:57with the German Army stuck for years
0:52:57 > 0:53:00in trenches 100 miles north-east of Paris,
0:53:00 > 0:53:04this victory seemed all but miraculous.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12"German soldiers were obviously unstoppable.
0:53:12 > 0:53:17"And given the situation, we all, we all were, to be honest, enthusiastic.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19"Even those who'd previously held a different attitude
0:53:19 > 0:53:22"towards the entire regime.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25"All of a sudden, considering everything worked so well
0:53:25 > 0:53:27"and nobody had been able to stop us,
0:53:27 > 0:53:30"we were suddenly all nationalists.
0:53:30 > 0:53:35"Wherever German soldiers were, nobody else could get a foothold.
0:53:35 > 0:53:37"It was really like that."
0:53:44 > 0:53:47And it all appeared to be part of a pattern,
0:53:47 > 0:53:50one created by Adolf Hitler.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59Faith in charismatic leadership is fed by success.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03And Hitler had gained success after success.
0:54:03 > 0:54:08Austria, the Sudetenland, Poland, and now, the greatest of all,
0:54:08 > 0:54:12the humiliation of the old enemy - the French.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21Hitler's victory parade in Berlin, on 6th July 1940,
0:54:21 > 0:54:26marked the high point in faith in his charismatic leadership.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36Never again would he be so triumphant.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43These people hadn't somehow been hypnotised
0:54:43 > 0:54:45into believing in Hitler.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47They'd chosen to support him
0:54:47 > 0:54:50because they loved what he'd brought them - victory.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58Shortly after this parade,
0:54:58 > 0:55:00Hitler would announce to his military commanders
0:55:00 > 0:55:03that since Britain's position was hopeless,
0:55:03 > 0:55:06then Germany had won the war.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09It was just a question of the British realising
0:55:09 > 0:55:11that they had lost.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18It was a moment that captured both the strength and weakness
0:55:18 > 0:55:20of Hitler's charismatic rule.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25Because, despite the faith these people had in him,
0:55:25 > 0:55:29Hitler knew that he was not in control of events,
0:55:29 > 0:55:30as he pretended to be.
0:55:36 > 0:55:37Back in the New Reich Chancellery,
0:55:37 > 0:55:42he could shut himself up to wait for guidance from his inner conviction,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45but he didn't seem able to make his enemy, the British,
0:55:45 > 0:55:48act as he thought they were supposed to, and just give up.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57What he decided to do next would lead both
0:55:57 > 0:56:00to the shattering of the Germans' faith in his charisma
0:56:00 > 0:56:02and the death of millions of innocent people.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25Hitler orders his army to advance into the Soviet Union.
0:56:27 > 0:56:32"We were all inspired by the belief that we succeed in whatever we do.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35"And that, for us, nothing is impossible."
0:56:41 > 0:56:45Hitler said that he wanted this to be a racist war of annihilation.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48And, within weeks, the Germans said they'd won.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00But they hadn't.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04And so this becomes the story of what happens to a charismatic leader
0:57:04 > 0:57:06when the victories stop coming.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12"I experienced examples of it -
0:57:12 > 0:57:16"of men who came to tell him it could not go on any longer,
0:57:16 > 0:57:18"and even said that to him.
0:57:18 > 0:57:20"And then, he talked for an hour
0:57:20 > 0:57:23"and then, they went and said,
0:57:23 > 0:57:25" 'I want to give it another try.' "
0:57:36 > 0:57:40The history of Hitler's charismatic leadership finally ends here,
0:57:40 > 0:57:42in a bunker in Berlin,
0:57:42 > 0:57:46with Hitler ever more deluded and living in fantasy.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50Claiming he'd done the right thing all along.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd