In the circus arena, the two characters upon whom all the attention and interests of the audience is fixed are the ringmaster and the clown. While it is the ringmaster who controls the whole show and manages the sequences, events, timings, turns and twists of the show, it is the clown who keeps the audience fully entertained and captivated with his timely humor, innovative and even impromptu wits and comedy. The ringmaster may seem to be the master and controller of the show but the audience is actually more interested in the clown. But whatever their roles may be, both the ringmaster and the clown are indispensable for the show. They are complementary to one another and one without the other would be incomplete.
In 1926, Italian leader Benito Mussolini received a letter from an admirer in Germany asking for a signed photograph of his. But Mussolini did not oblige because he considered the German admirer a silly clown in whom he saw no potential to become a great leader like himself. In other words, Mussolini considered himself a ringmaster and that German admirer as just a clown and so he did not bother to even reply to the letter sent from Germany. But within some years, everything would change because the name of that German admirer was Adolf Hitler.
In the mid 1920s, Hitler was still struggling to build his political career from the war-ravaged Germany. But just a hundred miles south of Germany in Italy, Mussolini had successfully overthrown a duly elected government and become the undisputed leader of that country. Hitler was so impressed by the success of Mussolini and he wanted to do the same in his own Germany. So he sent a letter to his idol in Italy asking for a signed photograph. But Mussolini was not at all impressed by the letter he received from an unknown admirer.
Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany in January 1933 and a year later in 1934, Hitler finally got the chance to meet the man to whom he had written 8 years earlier. In 1934, Mussolini accepted Hitler’s invitation and came to visit Germany. But Mussolini was still not impressed and he still considered Hitler as a silly little clown.
At the beginning of their relationship, Mussolini relished his superiority and thought he could bully even Hitler. Hitler saw Mussolini as someone who was providing a blueprint for destroying the old order. He admired and idolized Mussolini and copied the fascist salute and many of his ideas as well.
In 1935 Mussolini invaded Ethiopia with half a million of his troops and in that war over 350,000 Ethiopians perished. In defiance of the League of Nations, he even used mustard gas. This was a green signal to Hitler that the League of Nations can be disobeyed and the bond between Hitler and Mussolini grew tighter.
Both Italy and Germany got involved in the Spanish civil war (1936-39). And it was this Spanish campaign which proved for the first time beyond doubt that the German war machine was better equipped for conflict and was, by now, far superior than the Italian military.
In Sept 1937, Mussolini visited Germany again and Hitler paraded all his military might in front of his idol. Mussolini was absolutely astounded by the progress that Germany had made during those few years. Blown over by the show of military might and order, Mussolini realized that the balance of power had tipped already decisively towards Hitler.
As a man who was obsessed with showmanship and military might, Hitler pressed all of Mussolini’s buttons and Hitler’s guest was left totally enthralled and impressed. The silly little clown had now become the ringmaster.
Upon returning home, Mussolini realized that the future now lies with Germany. It was not only Hitler’s military that won him over, Mussolini was captivated by his ideas too. He saw the persecution of Jews in Germany as a model for the introduction of his own anti-Jewish laws in Italy.
Up to the mid-1930s, Catholics and Jews had lived peacefully side by side in Italy but now (precisely from November 1938) like in Germany Jews were stripped of their citizenship and barred from holding official jobs. Marriage between Italians and Jews was declared illegal.
When World War 2 broke out, Mussolini at first remained neutral but when Hitler conquered France he became sure there could be only one winner and that Hitler was unstoppable. So, in June 1940, he joined Hitler on the war.
Finally when Italy was going through devastating loss in the war, his own people and even allies turned on him and removed him from power and placed him in confinement under house arrest. But in one of the most daring rescues of the war, Hitler sent gliders to where Mussolini was held in the mountains and freed him from captivity. Mussolini was rescued and installed as the head of a new puppet regime in north Italy under Nazi control. Mussolini, the once powerful dictator was now utterly subservient to Hitler. In this way, the reversal of role was duly completed. The man who was considered as a silly clown finally became the ringmaster and the man who thought he was the ringmaster was in the end left just as a mere silly clown.
Hitler and Mussolini are neither saints nor noble souls. On the contrary, they are considered to be two most evil men that ever lived. But just like we learn valuable lessons and morals from people like a Mahatma Gandhi or a Mother Teresa, I believe we can also learn life-changing lessons from the lives and stories of evil personalities like Hitler and Mussolini also. If all men were created in God’s image, that includes even evil people like Hitler and Mussolini.
God created men in His likeness to be a source of joy and happiness to Him. However, God also gave us complete freedom and an independent will and power to take independent choices and decisions and some unfortunately chose to walk down the path of self destruction and showed us to what extent a human being can wander away from the righteousness and the real purpose of God’s creation. Yes, the problem with people like Hitler and Mussolini was that they manifested themselves in such a way which brought out the worst in humanity and went to the most extreme limit as far as evil and inequity were concerned and thus they became a disgrace to humanity itself.
However, this does not make evil people like Hitler and Mussolini irrelevant to history or humanity. They are very much relevant and they offer us many lessons. Just like an entity by the name of Lucifer was thrown down from the pinnacle of glory into the pit of disgrace and shame, even Hitler and Mussolini were ultimately humbled and humiliated for all of history and humanity to witness and learn from their stories.
In this write-up, the relationship that transpired between two most evil men of the 20th century is highlighted. At first, the person who considered himself to be the ringmaster looked down on his admirer and considered him to be nothing but a silly clown. He thought the clown would not amount to anything and thus, tried to bully him and keep him suppressed and undermined. But as the events unfolded, in the end the supposed ringmaster himself ultimately became a mere silly clown and was left completely at the mercy and discretion of the one who was initially considered to be the silly clown but has now become the undisputed ringmaster.
This story once again demonstrates the unpredictability and uncertainty of life. Life is like a roller-coaster and full of contradictions. We never know what life will throw at us in the turns and twists of our journey. We do not know what awaits us at the next turning. This story also once again tells us that we should never look down or underestimate someone just because we are in a seemingly better position today.
In our roller-coaster journey, the ones whom we consider to be ringmasters today may ultimately remain just as mere clowns tomorrow. In the same way the ones whom everyone considers as silly clowns today may be handed the whip tomorrow and become our ringmasters. Likewise, what we consider to be a mistake today may become a miracle tomorrow, what we consider a setback today may turn out to be a setup tomorrow, what we consider to be a disadvantage today may be an advantage tomorrow…and what we consider to be wasted months under lockdown today may actually turn out to be the most reflective, introspective, retrospective, fruitful and critical turning point of our entire lives.
Today the corona virus is undoubtedly the ringmaster and we have become like mere silly clowns. But after sometime, with God’s help, I am sure we will be the ringmasters again with a whole new attitude and perspective towards life.
