The physical manifest devil

In the lyrics to Sympathy for the Devil, we encounter a devil who is very much a physical being, as opposed to a metaphorical or abstract evil. The devil in the song has manifested himself, and is playing a leading role in big events in history. The biggest indication of this is in the lines regarding World War II:

I rode a tank held a gen'rals rank when the blitzkrieg
raged and the bodies stank

The devil here playing a direct role in the events, posing as a German (blitzkrieg) general, riding a tank.
The other places in the lyrics the devil directly influences history pertains to the communist revolution in Russia:

[I] Killed the Tzar and his ministers, Anastasia screamed in vain

And lastly regarding the Kennedy assassinations:

I shouted out "Who killed the Kennedy's?" when after all
it was you and me

In the remaining historical examples, the devil seems to play a more obfuscated role, preferring to manipulate events from the background.

What these examples, in which the devil is directly influencing history, show us, is that the devil is able to assume every identity he (or indeed she) wishes, both, it seems, as a way of taking possession of an already existing person, or by appearing as himself in whatever guise he wishes. The first instance seems to correspond with the Christian (catholic) ritual of exorcism, whereupon a priest will perform certain rituals, that supposedly drives out the devil or 'evil spirit' possessing some hapless individual. The latter instance of manifestation corresponds with the popular belief that the devil will come in many guises in its aspirations to lead you to temptation and sin.