Mein Kampf, by Adolph Hitler

 Hitler's autobiography and world views before he took power.


History, especially war, has more interest for me as I get older. The second  world war has been called the good war and was fought by the "greatest generation". Hitler's book is a guide to his political life. If a ruler or potential ruler sets down his beliefs and goals we should accept, that given the chance, he will conduct events accordingly.  

This book was written while Hitler was imprisoned for his failed pusch. He writes in a meandering wordy fashion. Of course the German language puts thoughts together in long complicated sentences and the translation probably reflects this and makes the English harder to read. Hitler does seem to make some accusations and statements that are not backed up by facts or even examples.

He begins by trashing the Hapsburg monarchy and the Austrian Hungry nation. He thinks Austria should be strictly Austrian and Germanic and the Hungarian Slavs are a lower class of human being and should not be part of his nation.

Democratic socialism, according to him, is facilitated by the Jews to communize the nation. The international flavor of it shows how the Jews have no geographical boundaries of their own but exist within and try to control valid racial entities other than Jewish. The current political climate tends to be tolerant of all religions but the Jews are more than a religion, they are a race.

Germany’s population is growing by 900,000 a year, according to Hitler, and Germany needs more geographical area for development and for food. He says providence bestows on a racial group goals and privileges and it is up to that group to pursue its destiny. If a racial group is not able to have the resources it needs to procreate it will not flourish. There are differences inherent in the races. The Aryan race is superior and should not be diluted or allowed to breed inferior members. Current philosophy dictates that all human life is equal and each birth should be allowed to share in the resources. We can see that he has a conviction that the so-called Aryan race is superior to all others and therefore they should have all the resources and the rest of  humanity should serve the Aryans.

Hitler talks of the motives required to create and maintain a state. Economics appears to be the main ingredient in some sates such as U.S. But a state must have a more compelling cohesion than a need for material goods. And, of course, most of us would agree with this statement – there needs to be some unity if national pride. But then he says It must have a racial cohesion and the emotional attributes that providence gave to that racial population. It must have the will to sacrifice for the state; the citizens must have the will to lay down their lives for the state. The Bismarck ruled Germany was that kind of state but the Marxist, Jewish rational is influencing the population to pursue mundane goals and to project these internationally.  Up to this point if one believes that Hitler, if given the chance/power to act on his beliefs, will pursue them, one can predict what will happen in 1939.

One gets the idea that Hitler probably holds Napoleon as a role model. He used Darwin’s ideas of the survival of the fittest as rule for races and leaders – if you are not moving ahead then you are on your way out.

Of course he blames the Marxist, Jews and the reichstag for surrendering in the first war.

When it comes to politics and underlying strategies and theorems he is vague and bereft of examples or adequate explanations as to render all his bombastic dialogue meaningless. In other words I couldn’t understand what he is so against or for. He continually talks about economic interests as bad and apparently the Hohenzollern monarchy, Bismarck and the Kaiser as good and Jews and Marxists as bad.   

He goes on to tell about the founding of the National Socialist party – NAZIES.