Hitler has become such an oft-used boogeyman in world politics today to paint leaders in a corner that when the real deal comes along it is easy to miss the signs. Hitler and his Germany need to be collectively looked at instead of looking at the Fuhrer as a madman bent on world destruction. The similarities need not be in action, although they can be stark and plenty, but in intended consequences and achieved results as a direct result of the attitudes of the state. While comparisons have been made in the past where Saddam, Qaddafi, and others on the world stage were demonized as Hitlers of their time, the all important element of a state machinery falling in line with that vision and a larger population getting desensitized from violence and oppression of the “other,” painted by the state are clearer and more present warning signs of creeping ultra-nationalistic fervor leading to Fascism. There is a need to look closely at “enablers” for leaders that have outsized visions of themselves as Masters of the Universe and how they get created and perpetuated in seemingly ordinary societies and cultures.
Similarity in World Reaction to Modi and Hitler
Before citing some of the similarities b/w Modi’s India and Hitler’s Germany, it is interesting to take a look at the world’s reaction to Hitler and the similarity in the world’s reaction to Modi and his rise in India. The American Ambassador to Germany during the 30s who sent worrisome cables back to Washington was encouraged to pay closer and all attention to commercial affairs with German companies specially any outstanding payments to American businesses. As for cables about political developments in Germany, they were hardly ever responded to or commented about. The British Government had a similar attitude, more out of a fear of antagonizing Hitler than anything else even though the British were more concerned about Hitler unlike the American Foreign office. Stalin’s Russia had gone a step further and concluded a non-aggression pact with Hitler. This is not unlike the world’s reaction to Modi in India essentially annexing the disputed territory of Kashmir as well as crafting blatantly biased laws like the CAA, that are against one community (Muslims) in India. The Indian state has not suffered any significant reaction from any…
