Hitler's murder paradox
Encyclopedia
The Hitler's murder paradox is a common trope of time travel fiction
, where a character with access to time travel technology attempts to go back in time and murder Adolf Hitler
before his rise to power in Germany, expecting to prevent World War II
and The Holocaust
from happening. In such storylines, the outcome is never as expected by the character.
. The character reasons that, if Hitler never rises to power in Germany, then World War II
and The Holocaust
would never take place. This generates a temporal paradox
, by the attempt of changing the past.
In some cases, the character simply fails to murder Hitler at all: he may fail in doing so, he may be convinced by other time travelers to give up the project, he may be stopped by the German army, or even by "guardians of time" that prevent such paradoxes. Stories with this approach work on the premise that the past can not be modified. The mere murder attempt may be formulated in such a way to fit or explain other specific real history events involving Hitler.
In other cases, the character may successfully murder Hitler, but without the expected results. For example, a new Führer may rise to power in Germany, and things would develop similarily. This approach rejects the Great Man theory
: as WWII was the product of several economic, political and ideological causes
, and not the will of a single man, then the loss of a single man would not be enough to stop the chain of events leading to it. The new Führer may even defeat the allies and triumph in the war, leading to a dystopia
or a post-apocalyptic future
. The character may then return to the past and prevent his own actions, to restore the timeline where Hitler ruled Germany and lost WWII. Common results of trying to assassinate Hitler in the past include:
1. The character not only fails to kill Hitler, but his actions themselves inadvertently bring about his rise to power.
2. A new, more competent Führer arises and defeats the allies in WWII.
3. Hitler is successfully assassinated, but without him, there is no major power to stop the threat of the Soviet Union, leading to Soviet domination of the whole of Europe or the world.
4. A true paradox is achieved, and a time loop results, where having killed Hitler, WWII does not occur, meaning the character in the future now has no reason to go back to change time, meaning he doesn't go back to change time, meaning Hitler is not assassinated, meaning WWII does occur, meaning the character has to go back and assassinate Hitler, and so on.
The paradox does not apply when there is no time travel involved. A story where the murder attempt is carried out exclusively by people from that time period (including depictions of the real failed attempts to murder Hitler), is simply historical fiction
. If Hitler is successfully murdered in such a story, it would be a case of alternate history.
The theoretical murder of Hitler before raising to power, such as during his infancy, may also open discussions about the morality of it. At that point in time, Hitler would have not commited any crimes, and characters may discuss whenever he can be considered guilty of things that he had not done yet but would do in the future.
A concrete example of the above can be found in "The Little Book
" by Selden Edwards, in which the protagonists find themselves in turn-of-the-century Vienna and travel to Hitler's hometown with the intention of killing him - but when encountering the boy Hitler on his way back from school, find themselves completely unable to kill an innocent boy even though he would grow up to become a terrible mass murderer.
Time travel in fiction
Time travel is a common theme in science fiction and is depicted in a variety of media. It simply means either going forward in time or backward, to experience the future, or the past.-Literature:...
, where a character with access to time travel technology attempts to go back in time and murder Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
before his rise to power in Germany, expecting to prevent World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
from happening. In such storylines, the outcome is never as expected by the character.
Description
The storylines involving this paradox have a character with access to a time machine, who attempts to "fix" history by murdering Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. The character reasons that, if Hitler never rises to power in Germany, then World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
would never take place. This generates a temporal paradox
Temporal paradox
Temporal paradox is a theoretical paradoxical situation that happens because of time travel. A time traveler goes to the past, and does something that would prevent him from time travel in the first place...
, by the attempt of changing the past.
In some cases, the character simply fails to murder Hitler at all: he may fail in doing so, he may be convinced by other time travelers to give up the project, he may be stopped by the German army, or even by "guardians of time" that prevent such paradoxes. Stories with this approach work on the premise that the past can not be modified. The mere murder attempt may be formulated in such a way to fit or explain other specific real history events involving Hitler.
In other cases, the character may successfully murder Hitler, but without the expected results. For example, a new Führer may rise to power in Germany, and things would develop similarily. This approach rejects the Great Man theory
Great man theory
The Great Man Theory was a popular 19th century idea according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of "great men", or heroes: highly influential individuals who, due to either their personal charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or Machiavellianism utilized their power in a way that...
: as WWII was the product of several economic, political and ideological causes
Causes of World War II
The main causes of World War II were nationalistic tensions, unresolved issues, and resentments resulting from the World War I and the interwar period in Europe, plus the effects of the Great Depression in the 1930s....
, and not the will of a single man, then the loss of a single man would not be enough to stop the chain of events leading to it. The new Führer may even defeat the allies and triumph in the war, leading to a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
or a post-apocalyptic future
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
. The character may then return to the past and prevent his own actions, to restore the timeline where Hitler ruled Germany and lost WWII. Common results of trying to assassinate Hitler in the past include:
1. The character not only fails to kill Hitler, but his actions themselves inadvertently bring about his rise to power.
2. A new, more competent Führer arises and defeats the allies in WWII.
3. Hitler is successfully assassinated, but without him, there is no major power to stop the threat of the Soviet Union, leading to Soviet domination of the whole of Europe or the world.
4. A true paradox is achieved, and a time loop results, where having killed Hitler, WWII does not occur, meaning the character in the future now has no reason to go back to change time, meaning he doesn't go back to change time, meaning Hitler is not assassinated, meaning WWII does occur, meaning the character has to go back and assassinate Hitler, and so on.
The paradox does not apply when there is no time travel involved. A story where the murder attempt is carried out exclusively by people from that time period (including depictions of the real failed attempts to murder Hitler), is simply historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
. If Hitler is successfully murdered in such a story, it would be a case of alternate history.
Moral approach
A concrete example of the above can be found in "The Little Book
The Little Book
The Little Book could refer to:1) The Little Book by English writer David Hughes, the last novel by that writer. It was originally published by Hutchinson in 1996...
" by Selden Edwards, in which the protagonists find themselves in turn-of-the-century Vienna and travel to Hitler's hometown with the intention of killing him - but when encountering the boy Hitler on his way back from school, find themselves completely unable to kill an innocent boy even though he would grow up to become a terrible mass murderer.
See also
- "Cradle of Darkness"
- Making History
- "The Primal SolutionThe Primal SolutionThe Primal Solution is a novella written by Eric Norden and published July 1977 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Vol. 53 No 1.-Plot:...
"