Friday, March 23, 2007

Unit II - Ideas 1914 - 1929 : Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf is a part autobiography, part ideas of Nazism. It was first published in 1926 by Adolf Hitler. A second volume was published in 1926. The book outlines how Hitler thought that one day the Master race of the world would be Aryan, and that lowest form of human life would be the Jews. Germany and the United Kingdom would join together with Italy and would defeat France and Western Europe, as well as overthrowing the Soviet Union giving Germany "Living Space to the East". In his book, Hitler expresses how he feels that the twins of evil are Communism and Judaism. Throughout the book the idea that all people should be separated based upon ancestry is present. He describes the struggle for world domination as an ongoing racial, cultural and political battle between Aryans and non-Aryans.

Mein Kampf was the back bone for the Nazi party. Though Mein Kampf had very little influence outside of Germany, In Germany the contents of the book were well known. This book sold between six and eight million copies during Hitler's Lifetime, and it translated into many languages.
It is hard to believe that after writting this book that Adolf Hitler was still able to work his way up to the top. Someone must have read this book and said "Wait a minute." Hitler must have been quite the public speaker to be able to convince an entire nation.

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