Hitler's Rise and Fall

Laurence Rees looks at how Adolf Hitler formed a connection with millions of German people and in the process, this seemingly unlikely figure generated a level of charismatic attraction almost without parallel. Dispelling the myth that Hitler somehow hypnotised a nation, this first episode looks at how his alleged 'charisma' played a key role in his success as a leader.

In this second episode, Laurence Rees looks at the peak of Adolf Hitler's popularity in Germany throughout the 1930s and his decision to invade France in 1940. In Nuremburg, huge numbers of people gathered to pay homage to Hitler, filling the streets in celebration of their leader. Yet Hitler had not hypnotised the German people into following him, they did so willingly. Hitler's ultimate aim was to take Germany into a war of racial conquest to gain a vast new empire. But since many of his followers did not want war, Hitler had to persuade his people to maintain their faith in him and embrace conflict.

The concluding episode in this three-part series reveals how Hitler tried to maintain his charismatic appeal in his final years. In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler made ambitious boasts about what lay ahead for the German nation, and to start with the war went well for Germany. Hitler led the German army into a series of stunning victories but, as the war progressed, the successes stopped coming. Faith in Hitler's charismatic appeal, once so strong, became fractured, and yet Hitler still managed to cling to power until the Red Army were just yards away from his bunker in Berlin.