4. Hosting The Olympics
Imagine the scene, it's 1936, you've got yourself a nice political power but now you want to show the World the might of the Nazi Party and the "new" Germany. What better way to do it than host the world's biggest sports day demonstrating the genius of German architects and the physical prowess of German athletes. The present Olympic Stadium in Berlin (the home of Hertha Berlin) was designed in 1933 in order to show just what could be done when German minds were presented with just this type of challenge. While Hitler basked in the glory of seeing his efforts rewarded with first place in the medals table a sinister side to the efforts was taking place out of view of the international audience. With the Nazi's main objective of creating a racially pure Germany, the Olympics provided just the test needed to root out "undesirables" and send them to concentration camps. Power-gaining score: 4/5 Yes, the Olympic Stadium is still in use and Germany did finish top of the medal table but the defining image of the games was of the
American Jesse Owens.