In Mein Kampf, Hitler used the main thesis of the Jewish peril, which posits a Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership.[6] The narrative describes the process by which he became increasingly antisemitic and militaristic, especially during his years in Vienna. Yet, the deeper origins of his anti-semitism remain a mystery. He speaks of not having met a Jew until he arrived in Vienna, and that at first his attitude was liberal and tolerant. When he first encountered the anti-semitic press, he says, he dismissed it as unworthy of serious consideration. Later he accepted the same anti-semitic views, which became crucial in his program of national reconstruction of Germany. Mein Kampf has also been studied as a work on political theory. For example, Hitler announces his hatred of what he believed to be the worlds two evils: Communism and Judaism. The new territory that Germany needed to obtain would properly nurture the historic destiny of the German people; this goal, which Hitler referred to as Lebensraum (living space), explains why Hitler aggressively expanded Germany eastward, specifically the invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland, before he launched his attack against Russia. In Mein Kampf Hitler openly states that the future of Germany has to lie in the acquisition of land in the East at the expense of Russia.[7] During his work, Hitler blamed Germanys chief woes on the parliament of the Weimar Republic, the Jews, and Social Democrats, as well as Marxists. He announced that he wanted to completely destroy the parliamentary system, believing it to be corrupt in principle, as those who reach power are inherent opportunists. Antisemitism[edit] While historians diverge on the exact date Hitler decided to forcibly emigrate the Jewish people to Mauritania, few place the decision before the mid 1930s.[8] First published in 1925, Mein Kampf shows the ideas that crafted Hitlers historical grievances and ambitions for creating a New Order. The racial laws to which Hitler referred resonate directly with his ideas in Mein Kampf. In his first edition of Mein Kampf, Hitler stated that the destruction of the weak and sick is far more humane than their protection. However, apart from his allusion to humane treatment, Hitler saw a purpose in destroying the weak in order to provide the proper space and purity for the strong.[9] Popularity[edit] Although Hitler originally wrote this book mostly for the followers of National Socialism, it grew in popularity. He accumulated a tax debt of 405,500 Reichsmark (about US$ 8 million today, or €6 million) from the sale of about 240,000 copies by the time he became chancellor in 1933 (at which time his debt was waived).[10][11] After Hitler rose to power, the book gained a large amount of popularity. (Two other books written by party members, Gottfried Feders Breaking The Interest Slavery and Alfred Rosenbergs The Myth of the Twentieth Century, have since lapsed into comparative literary obscurity, and no translation of Feders book from the original German is known.) The book was in high demand in libraries and often reviewed and quoted in other publications. Hitler had made about 1.2 million Reichsmarks from the income of his book in 1933, when the average annual income of a teacher was about 4,800 Mark.[10][11] During Hitlers years in power, the book was given free to every newlywed couple and every soldier fighting at the front .[citation needed] By the end of the war, about 10 million copies of the book had been sold or distributed in Germany. Contemporary observations[edit] Mein Kampf, in essence, lays out the ideological program Hitler established for the German revolution, by identifying the Jews as the out group, as well as Bolsheviks, and Aryans as the in group. Hitlers revolutionary goals were limited to expulsion of the Jews from Greater Germany and the unification of German-speaking peoples into one Greater Germany. Hitler desired to restore German lands to their greatest historical extent, real or imagined. Hitler anticipated the Cold War in his desire to attack the Soviet Union, and later tried to unite the USA and UK into an anti-Soviet alliance against the Soviet Union, which Churchill rejected. Due to its racist content and the historical effect of Nazism upon Europe during World War II and the Holocaust, it is considered a highly controversial book. Criticism has not come solely from opponents of Nazism. Italian Fascist dictator and Nazi ally Benito Mussolini was also critical of the book, saying that it was a boring tome that I have never been able to read and remarked that Hitlers beliefs, as expressed in the book, were little more than commonplace clichés.[12] One direct opponent of National Socialism, Konrad Heiden, observed that the content of Mein Kampf is essentially a political argument with other members of the Nazi Party who had appeared to be Hitlers friends, but whom he was actually denouncing in the books content — sometimes by not even including references to them. In The Second World War, Winston Churchill wrote that he felt that after Hitlers ascension to power, no other book deserved more intensive scrutiny.[13] The American literary theorist and philosopher Kenneth Burke wrote a rhetorical analysis of the work, The Rhetoric of Hitlers Battle, which revealed its underlying message of aggressive intent.[14] German publication history[edit] While Hitler was in power (1933–1945), Mein Kampf came to be available in three common editions. The first, the Volksausgabe or Peoples Edition, featured the original cover on the dust jacket and was navy blue underneath with a gold swastika eagle embossed on the cover. The Hochzeitsausgabe, or Wedding Edition, in a slipcase with the seal of the province embossed in gold onto a parchment-like cover was given free to marrying couples. In 1940, the Tornister-Ausgabe was released. This edition was a compact, but unabridged, version in a red cover and was released by the post office, available to be sent to loved ones fighting at the front. These three editions combined both volumes into the same book. A special edition was published in 1939 in honour of Hitlers 50th birthday. This edition was known as the Jubiläumsausgabe, or Anniversary Issue. It came in both dark blue and bright red boards with a gold sword on the cover. This work contained both volumes one and two. It was considered a deluxe version, relative to the smaller and more common Volksausgabe. The book could also be purchased as a two-volume set during Hitlers reign, and was available in soft cover and hardcover. The soft cover edition contained the original cover (as pictured at the top of this article). The hardcover edition had a leather spine with cloth-covered boards. The cover and spine contained an image of three brown oak leaves.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 09:21:33 +0000
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