hitler's weltanschauung

mein kampf

• written while in prison in 1924

• inaccurate + filled w obscene hatred but does reveal his views + outlook

• became a bestseller in 1933

weltanschauung points (8)

• nationalism

• racism

• anti-communism

• democracy + the state

• führerprinzip/leadership principle

• socialism

• social darwinism

• propaganda + control

nationalism

• G had lost their position of greatness

• wanted a revival of national will

• wanted germanic nations to unite and form a greater reich, populated by racially pure germanic people

• said hate + fear should be concentrated on WR, jews + communists

racism

• protection + expansion of G race was highest priority

• aryan race = the master race/herrenvolk, creative force

• jews, slavics, black people = lowest race/untermenschen

• jews were threat to purity of AR, decline of civilisation due to decline of racial purity

anti-communism

• natural opposition to far-right

• saw it as international movement seeking to spread influence throughout the word

• portrayed communism as part of a jewish world conspiracy

democracy + the state

• saw WR and parliamentary democracy as weak + ineffective

• G individuals could only find fulfilment by submitting to will of nation

• democracy + WR were “greatest miscarriage of the 20th century”

leadership principle / führerprinzip

• beleived will of the leader would interpret the needs of the people + move the nation forward

• believed G lost war due to “inner-rotedness, cowardice + lack of character”

• a national revival required a strong leader who would lead nation to its destiny w/o restraint

socialism in national socialism

• 25 point program incl. nationalisation of business profits, profit sharing etc.

• industrialists + businesses couldn’t accept this part of program

• hitler put less emphasis on socialism as needed support of businesses

• believed all Gs, no matter class, should work juntos for national good

• volksgemeinschaft

social darwinism

• concept of struggle + survival of the fittest appealed to Hitler

• “he who wants to live must fight and who does not want to fight … has no right to exist”

propaganda + control

• had no faith in the intelligence of the masses “feeble + quick to forget”

• believed effective propaganda required simple concepts that were repeated, persistence = key to success

• believed in the spoken word > the written word