Carl Schmitt, “Der Führer schützt das Recht: zur Reichstagsrede Adolf Hitlers vom 13. Juli 1934,” in his Positionen und Begriffe im Kampf mit Weimar—Genf—Versailles 1923–1939 (Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, 1940), 198–201

With exemplary bravery and with dreadful sacrifices, the German Volk held the onslaught of an entire world at bay for four years. But the political leadership failed woefully in this struggle against the poisoning of the German Volk and the undermining of the German law and its sense of honor. To this very day we still atone for the hesitations and paralyzed state of the German governments during the World War. All moral outrage over the shame of such a collapse has coalesced in Adolf Hitler and has become in him the driving force of a political act. The experiences and warnings of the history of the German misfortune are alive in him. Most people are frightened by the severity of such warnings and would rather flee into an evasive and compensatory superficiality. The Führer, however, takes the warnings of German history quite seriously. This gives him the right and the power to found a new state and a new order.

— Carl Schmitt

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "With exemplary bravery and with dreadful sacrifices, the German Volk held the onslaught of an entire world at bay for four years. But the political leadership failed woefully in this struggle against the poisoning of the German Volk and the undermining of the German law and its sense of honor. To this very day we still atone for the hesitations and paralyzed state of the German governments during the World War. All moral outrage over the shame of such a collapse has coalesced in Adolf Hitler and has become in him the driving force of a political act. The experiences and warnings of the history of the German misfortune are alive in him. Most people are frightened by the severity of such warnings and would rather flee into an evasive and compensatory superficiality. The Führer, however, takes the warnings of German history quite seriously. This gives him the right and the power to found a new state and a new order." in the context of "Carl Schmitt, “Der Führer schützt das Recht: zur Reichstagsrede Adolf Hitlers vom 13. Juli 1934,” in his Positionen und Begriffe im Kampf mit Weimar—Genf—Versailles 1923–1939 (Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, 1940), 198–201" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Adolf Hitler" (Quotes about Hitler, Quotes before the end of World War II: (Note: many of the worst atrocities of Hitler's regime did not begin to become widely known until the final months of the war) Sorted chronologically) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Adolf Hitler

About Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (adɔlf ˈhɪtlɐ; 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer ("Leader") in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.