This is a story of a period between two World Wars—an interim in which Insanity cut loose. Liberty took a nose dive, and Humanity was kicked around somewhat.
It helps to know The Great Dictator was released slightly more than one full year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Not only were a lot of Americans not worried about Hitler and the Nazis, but a surprising number of them—including such legendary Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford and the father of JFK, Joseph Kennedy—either openly or tacitly supported the Nazi regime prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Not entirely exclusively, but certain the greater majority of those in Hollywood wanting to make anti-Hitler movies were Jewish. The reality is muddy, but one thing is for certain: despite stealing The Little Tramp’s mustache for his own, the Nazis assumed that Chaplin was Jewish and this movie did nothing to lessen that.
“We've just discovered the most wonderful, the most marvelous poisonous gas! It will kill everybody!”
The character of Herring is a parody of Hermann Goering who would be sentenced to death at the Nuremberg war crimes trial. This is a pretty shocking line of dialogue to be found in any Hollywood movie released in 1940, much less a comedy. The full extent of the gassing of Nazi victims would not be made public for some time, but those who were paying attention—like Chaplin—had already heard rumors at the very least even before America entered the war. Or, in other words, during a time when men like Lindbergh, Ford and Kennedy were still either actively or surreptitiously supporting Germany. Also of note: the Final Solution—the plan to actually kill everybody who disagreed with the Nazis—was not year even formulated. So, Chaplin was also quite prescient; able to see into a horrible future that, frankly, most Americans would have considered an extreme point of view at the time. Once again, those who chose to pay attention foresaw where everything was heading.
"Today, democracy, liberty, and equality are words to fool the people. No nation can progress with such ideas. They stand in the way of action. Therefore, we frankly abolish them. In the future, each man will serve the interest of the State with absolute obedience. Let him who refuses beware!"
Garbitsch is a parody of what was probably the only member of the Nazi regime to achieve his despicable goals: Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda. One can tell what Chaplin thought of propaganda from his name. (Pronounce while thinking of synonyms for rubbish.) This statement introducing the Jewish barber disguised as the great dictator could actually have come straight from the mouth of Goebbels. One of the first steps in building a tyrant state is to convince the citizens to view established traditions with suspicion. In fact, such a strategy rarely fails to captivate at least a significant portion of the population. Even in the most seemingly solidly democratic of nations.
“You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will!”
The most famous dialogue in The Great Dictator—the most famous spoken words in any Chaplin film—are the thousand-plus words that comprise the climax of the film. It is the Jewish impersonator taking advantage of his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to undo all the damage which has been done by the oppressive regime of Hynkel. The section quoted above is also a direct repudiation of the garbage spouted by Garbitsch.
