A year before WWII, doctor Carl Jung made psychological portraits of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini, and accurately predicted their future. Here are the main theses of the prophetic diagnosis (and a bold hint about Putin)

In primitive societies there were two types of strong people — the leader and the shaman. The leader was physically stronger than his opponents, and his physical strength was personified by his power over the soldiers. The shaman was strong not physically, but due to the power projected on him by people who believed in his magical supernatural abilities. The power of the shaman in some places could even exceed the power of the leader. According to this typology, Mussolini and Stalin are leaders, and Hitler is a shaman.

Mussolini is an original leader who had his own style. This was manifested, for example, in his original title "duce", which came from the military tradition of Ancient Rome. He was adored by millions of Italians. However, according to Jung, Mussolini “did not act out of ecstasy of the spirit, but as if with a hammer in his hand he gave Italy the desired shape.”

Stalin is a barbarian leader, a destroyer like Genghis Khan. His predecessor, the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, completely demolished the previous structure of Russian society and replaced it with his own creation. Stalin is not a creator, he simply grabbed previous achievements and destroyed them without any creative idea. “Stalin is a sly malevolent peasant with animal instincts, who resembles a saber-toothed tiger with his powerful neck and lush mustache and has the smile of a cat licking cream,” Jung describes the Soviet dictator.

Hitler is a shaman, a mythical man, his power is not political, but magical. Actually, the whole ideology and symbolism of the Nazis is frankly mystical. This is the biblical concept of the "Third Reich", which appeared long before Hitler came to power, and the revival of the cult of Wotan, and, of course, the swastika. Hitler did not impress with physical strength. However, for the Nazi fanatics, he became something more than just a man. And thatʼs why he sought to turn Nazism into a kind of religion that claimed total power — both spiritual and secular.

Dictators become dictators under the influence of extraordinary circumstances in society, not because of some special relationship with parents in early childhood. All three — Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler — came to power against the backdrop of a political, economic or social crisis in the country. However, they ruled their peoples in different ways.

For the Germans, Hitler became a messiah who was supposed to rid them of their inferiority complex. This complex appeared a long time ago. The Germans started their nation much later than the British and French, and they were just as late in taking over colonies and establishing an empire. And gradually they “became resentful and envious, like a younger brother who is always a little late to the feast.” Defeat in the First World War strengthened this complex.

For millions of Germans, Hitler became a reflection of their own unconscious vision of the fate of Germany. And that made him so powerful. Because the German people stood behind him, as he sometimes said himself: “I am Germany.” His own voice became an echo of the German collective unconscious. It seems that on the basis of this “unconscious voice” Hitler made extremely risky political decisions about the occupation of Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938. He unconsciously knew that Britain and France would do nothing, despite their loud threats.

When these decisions proved correct, even against the warnings of his closest advisers, Hitler himself believed in his magical messianic nature. His “voice” told him to unite all Germans and lead them to a better future, prosperity and wealth. However, he almost ceased to exist as a person, turning from an individual into the embodiment of a nation. “Hitler gave me the impression of a wooden frame over which clothes were draped, a mechanism reminiscent of a robot. It seemed that he was a double of a real person, and the Hitler-man was hiding inside — and hiding on purpose so as not to disturb the mechanism,” Jung said.

Hitler would never marry, because then he would cease to be Hitler. Jung said that he would not be surprised if it became known that Hitler completely sacrificed his sex life for the cause. “Itʼs not that uncommon, especially for shaman-type people, though itʼs much less common for a leader-type. Mussolini and Stalin apparently lead a perfectly normal sexual life. Hitlerʼs true passion is, of course, Germany,” remarked the psychiatrist.

In this, Jung turned out to be almost right. Only at the end of April 1945, when Germanyʼs defeat was a matter of days, did Hitler marry Eva Braun. And the next day, both committed suicide.

Mussolini was the personification of Italian poise. Having seized power, he did not even overthrow the king of Italy. Another example of “endurance” is the attitude of the fascists towards the Jews, who were not persecuted at first.

Among all three dictators, Jung considered Mussolini the most humane. Although he ruled Italy, in a certain sense he was a tool of the Italians. Mussolini was perfectly aware of his role for the nation, but he did not hide behind it. That is, unlike Hitler, he remained a human, a person. And that is why, according to Jung, it will be easier for Mussolini to find a successor.

After a series of defeats in the early years of World War II, even his closest associates became disillusioned with Mussolini. They conspired and overthrew the dictator. Later, Mussolini and his mistress were shot by Italian partisans when they tried to flee the country. The Italian leader died two days earlier than the German shaman Hitler.

Stalin never identified himself with Russia, he simply ruled as a cruel tsar. Stalin fought against tsarism all his life. In order to overthrow it, he studied tsarism so thoroughly that he himself “became infected” with it. And this is not an isolated case in history. For example, the ancient Romans first fought against Christianity, and later became the most ardent Christian fanatics.

According to Jung, the turning point for Stalin came during the Bolshevik coup of 1917. Earlier, he, most likely, never thought about personal power, because there was no hint of such a chance. However, he literally saw with his own eyes how Lenin, together with others, seized power. And then he said to himself something like: “So this is how itʼs done! Itʼs really easy! Well, I can beat them. It is only necessary to remove the one who is ahead of me.” Jung is sure that Stalin would have destroyed Lenin if he had not died himself.

“He is surrounded by a pack of wolves and has to be on guard all the time. But I must say that we should be grateful to him for clearly demonstrating to the whole world the obvious truth that communism always leads to dictatorship,” concluded Jung.

This is what Stalin did until his death — from time to time he “cleaned up” even potential political competitors in his circle. Subsequent Soviet dictators continued to act according to Stalinʼs models until the very collapse of the USSR.

The only way to “cure: Europe of Hitler is to direct him to the east, that is, to the Soviet Union. This is exactly the kind of “therapy” that Jung prescribed — not ordering to resist it, but trying to interpret this voice, encouraging the patient to behave with less danger for himself and society. This is exactly what he did with his patients who listened to their own subconscious voice, similar to Hitlerʼs voice.

“Therefore, considering Hitler as a patient and Europe as the patientʼs family and closest neighbors, I would suggest sending him to Russia. To divert his attention from the West and even help him in that will keep him in that direction. This is a logical course of treatment for Hitler,” Jung said. He considered it a proven recipe, because everyone who invaded Russia faced enormous difficulties. Even if Hitler managed to bite off a large piece of territory, it would probably take a hundred years to “digest” it. “In the meantime, we will be saved, I mean the whole of Western civilization,” concluded Jung.

The US should not be in a hurry to enter a major war in Europe. Jung gave this advice to an American journalist: “Have a large army and navy, but protect them. America must possess significant military power to maintain world peace or determine the outcome of war should it break out. You are the last refuge of democracy.”

Everything happened according to Jungʼs “recipe”. In 1941, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union and initially rapidly seized vast territories and almost took Moscow, but later bogged down on the Eastern Front. The USA was the last of the great powers to enter the war, and its assistance to the Allies, Great Britain and the USSR, became one of the decisive factors in the victory over Hitlerʼs Germany.

Of the three dictators, Stalin will be the winner. At the very beginning of the interview, Knickerbocker asked Jung the following question: “What would happen if Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were locked in a room for a week and given a loaf of bread and a jug of water? Will someone take the bread and water alone, or will they share with each other?”

Jung replied that he doubted they would share. In his opinion, Hitler as a shaman would most likely stay away. He will not get into a fight, because he will be virtually helpless without his German people. Mussolini and Stalin will compete for bread and water based on the right of a strong leader. And Stalin, as more rude and cruel, will most likely emerge victorious from this struggle.

Of all three dictators, it was Stalin who emerged victorious in World War II. In February 1945, together with American President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, he shared the world at the Yalta conference. In a few months, Stalin remained the only one of this “big three” who retained power. And later he quarreled with yesterdayʼs allies and became a new enemy of Western democracy.

Translated from Ukrainian by Anton Semyzhenko.

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