Politics & Dictators

5 Frightening Similarities Between Putin And Hitler

Yes, they have a lot in common besides invading the Ukraine

I’ve tried to put together a serious piece about these tyrants, but sometimes you’ve got to laugh.

In WWII, soldiers sang about Hitler having only one ball. I don’t know who’s counting Putin’s. They may differ numerically in the genital department, but in many other respects they are very similar.

Narcissism

I’ll not bore you with all the links but there is plenty of evidence that Hitler was, clinically, a narcissist.

Check out Putin’s photo library and you’ll see pictures of him that are clearly designed to appeal to the macho Russian male: riding horse, trout fishing, wrestling, hunting. In many of them he goes shirtless. And by the way, he reportedly holds a judo black belt.

He’s certainly showing traits of narcissism, but maybe he’s also compensating for something hidden in the closet.

Using the State as an instrument of his actions

The Russian state has been used by Putin to consolidate power and to control the political and economic life of Russia. Putin’s use of the Russian state has led to a rise in nationalism, and how this nationalism has been used in both domestic and foreign policy.

This clearly matches Hitler’s approach.

When Putin’s first two terms as President were time-expired he installed Medvedev as President and oversaw the re-write of the Russian constitution to enable him (Putin) to serve again as President. Indefinitely.

He has continually arranged the brutal elimination of his political enemies and detractors within and without the Russian Federation.

Offended by his country’s history

The Treaty of Versailles emasculated Germany after WWI and this was a big motivator for Hitler in his climb to power.

It is widely held that Putin believes that Russia’s loss of superpower status after the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the USSR in 1991 was a shameful period for his country. He has set out to reverse that, with an extensive re-arming of the country.

The Sudetenland argument deployed for the Ukraine

Hitler used the presence of a considerable number of German speakers in the Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) as a reason for invasion.

Likewise, Putin has used the same argument for the annexation of the Donestk and Lukhansk oblasts of The Ukraine. And, just like Hitler, he used specious arguments and his rolled his tanks onward, with a full invasion started in February 2022.

The Axis

Hitler formed strategic alliances with Italy and Japan. Yes, with Stalin’s Russia too, but that was, arguably, a holding tactic.

Putin has an alliance of sorts with China and strong links with Iran. At the time of writing, China has not condemned the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, and that is unlikely to change following recent joint exercises of Russian, Iranian and Chinese armed forces in the Gulf of Oman during January 2022.

The government of Taiwan is increasingly nervous following months of Chinese air force incursion into their aerial defence warning zone — and now the sideline-watching of the Ukraine invasion by China. It’s a nervous time in the Far East.

Other similarities

There are other traits too, including career issues. Hitler left the German Army as a Lance Corporal, apparently having refused promotion on several occasions. Of course, he later became Commander in Chief.

Putin never made it to the top of the KGB although achieving the rank of Lt Colonel demonstrates a high degree of capability. But why no further? He retired in 1990 and after his climb to power he now oversees the KGB’s successors and the country’s entire armed forces.

I started with five similarities between Putin and Hitler, ended up with six — and I’m still counting.

The similarities are frightening, and the world is watching.

About me: I write on a wide variety of topics including humor, tech and travel, together with daily news events and the minutiae of daily life on a boat. I also write techno-thrillers…and about…

…the lead up to World War III?

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