Hitler owed a lot to Ludendorff, who created the stab-in-the-back legend just as soon as he asked for the armistice. He was also taking power in a somewhat demo

Hitler owed a lot to Ludendorff, who created the stab-in-the-back legend just as soon as he asked for the armistice. He was also taking power in a somewhat democratic way, adding to his legitimacy, and he was able to keep the Army as an ally by doing stuff like getting rid of the brownshirts. So for the first few years of the war he was able to avoid the classic dictator syndrome, especially after the early successes. But later on, as another poster notes, he started to turn on his better officers and vice-versa. American hubris is quite awesome. The US establishment really has a thing for picking the worst losers and assholes for allies.