Contents
On the Recent Historiography of Hitler and National Socialism (1996–2020)
9
Hitler’s Weltanschauung and the Ideology of National Socialism
14
The Götz Aly Debate – Hitler’s Beneficiaries
19
Volksgemeinschaft – Myth, Promise, Reality?
23
How Modern was National Socialism?
28
National Socialist Revolution?
38
Recent Hitler Biographies: Kershaw, Ullrich, Longerich, Pyta and Simms
42
National Socialism and Anti-Communism
51
Notes
53
Bibliography ‘On the Recent Historiography of Hitler and National Socialism (1996–2020)’
61
Foreword by Karl Otmar von Aretin
65
Translator’s Note
68
I. Introduction
69
II. Hitler and the Revolution
89
1. The ‘So-Called Revolution’ of November 1918
89
2. Hitler’s Concept of the State and the ‘Obligation to Rebel’
102
3. Hitler’s Definition of Revolution
107
4. Hitler’s View of Historic Revolutions
111
a. The French Revolution of 1789
111
b. The Proclamation of the Third Republic in September 1870
116
c. The 1848 Revolution in Germany
117
d. The Jews as Leaders of Revolutions and a ‘Negative Example’ for Hitler
118
5. Hitler’s Revolutionary Claim
119
a. From 1919 to the Hitler Putsch of 1923
119
b. The Problem of Compatibility between Revolutionary Claim and the Tactics of Legality
120
Aside: Was Hitler Toying with the Idea of a Violent Revolution in August 1932?
123
c. Hitler’s Portrayal of the NS Revolution: One of the Greatest Upheavals in History – but in a Measured and Disciplined Form
127
Aside: ‘... And So We Became Revolutionaries.’
133
d. The Importance of National Socialism for the History of the World: The Beginning of a Turning-Point in History
137
e. Continuation or End of the NS Revolution? Hitler’s Contradictory Statements and the ‘Röhm Revolt’
141
III. Hitler’s Social Objectives and His Assessment of the Major Classes of Modern Society
152
1. Hitler on the Importance and Origin of the Social Issue
152
2. The Importance and Substantiation of the Concept of ‘Equal Opportunity’ in Hitler’s Social Programme
158
3. Hitler’s Position on the Major Classes and Levels of Modern Bourgeois Society
182
a. The Bourgeoisie
183
— Anti-Social Stance, Ignoring the Worker Question, Rejection of Workers’ Justified Claims
183
— Profit Greed, ‘Materialism’
188
— Criticism of Bourgeois Nationalism
189
— Bourgeois Parties: No Weltanschauung, Only Fighting for Seats in Parliament
192
— ‘Weakness, Lack of Decisiveness, Lack of Energy, Cowardice’
195
— Inability to Provide Political Leadership
203
— The Bourgeoisie’s Political Mission Has Ended
205
b. The Working Class
211
— Definition of the ‘Workers’ Party’
211
— Hitler’s Reasons for Concentrating on the Worker: The Workers as a ‘Source of Strength and Energy’
215
— Increasing the Worker’s Social Standing; Upgrading Manual Labour
226
— Social Legislation
233
c. The Lower Middle Class
235
d. The Farmers
238
4. The Definition of ‘Volksgemeinschaft’ in Hitler’s Weltanschauung
242
IV. Hitler’s Central Objective: The Revolutionizing of Politics and Economics and the Restructuring of the Economic System
264
1. The Underestimation of the Importance of Economic Questions for Hitler’s Thinking
264
2. Hitler’s Position on Political Economy
267
3. The ‘Secondary Role of Economics’ and the ‘Primacy of Polities’
272
4. Warnings about the Web of Interests between Business and Politics
284
6. Private Ownership and Nationalization
310
7. Hitler’s Criticism of Capitalism in His Early Speeches
333
V. Hitler: An Opponent of Modern Industrial Society? Modernistic and Anti-Modernistic Elements in Hitler’s Weltanschauung
341
1. Agrarian Utopia as an Ultimate Objective? Criticism of a Misunderstanding in the Interpretation of the Function and Implications of ‘Lebensraum in the East’ in Hitler’s Concept
342
a. Substantiation of the Lebensraum Concept within the Framework of Hitler’s Economic Concepts: Criticism of Economic Expansion and the Autarky Concept
342
— The Discrepancy between Population Growth and Lebensraum
342
— German Economic Expansion as the Cause of the First World War
344
— The Theory of ‘Shrinking Markets’ as an Argument against the Strategy of Economic Expansion
346
— The Result of Economic Expansion: A Disproportionality concerning Agriculture and Industry, Urbanization and Migration from the Land
351
— Lebensraum and the Autarky Concept
357
b. Creation of an Agrarian Supplementary Territory by means of Agrarian Settlement
369
c. Lebensraum as a Source of Raw Materials
372
d. Lebensraum as a Market
377
e. The De-Industrialization of Russia
379
Aside: Hitler’s Criticism of the Export of Capital
381
2. Hitler’s Position on Modern Industrial Society
383
a. Positive Remarks by Hitler about Modern Industrial Society
384
— The Constant Increase of the Standard of Living as a Premise
384
— The Highly Industrialized Economy of the USA as an Example
389
— Hitler on Industrialization and Technical Advancement
392
b. Hitler on the Destruction of the Environment as a Result of Industrialization
399
3. Hitler’s Scientific View of the World and His Criticism of Rosenberg’s and Himmler’s ‘Mysticism’
405
VI. Hitler’s Concepts and Objectives in His Domestic Policies
413
1. Hitler’s Criticism of Democracy
413
a. Criticism of the ‘Majority Principle’
413
b. Hitler’s Criticism of the Pluralistic System: The Common Good versus ‘Special Interests’
418
c. Democracy as a Form of Rule by Capital
425
d. Democracy as a Sign of Decadence and Weakness
428
e. Hitler on Political Freedom
429
2. The ‘Historic Minority’ as a Subject of Revolution
433
a. The Principles of Élite Recruitment in the Movement Phase and the Theory of the ‘Historic Minority’
433
b. The Problems of Élite Recruitment in the System Phase
442
Aside: Hitler’s Principle: Draw Conclusions about the Race from the ‘Ability’ and not Vice Versa
454
3. The Führer State
458
a. Hitler on the Constitution and the Question of Succession
459
b. The ‘Führer Principle’
467
c. Dictatorship as the ‘Highest Form of Democracy’
471
d. Hitler on Federalism and Unitarianism
476
VII. Hitler’s Self-Assessment in the Political Spectrum
485
1. ‘Left’ or ‘Right’?
485
2. National Socialism as the Synthesis between Nationalism and Socialism
492
3. Hitler’s Assessment of Related and Opposing Political Movements and Systems
496
a. Social Democracy
496
b. Communism
501
c. Hitler’s Relationship with Marxism
504
e. Hitler’s Criticism of Italian Fascism and the Reactionary Franco Regime in Spain
517
VIII. Final Considerations
523
Notes
537
Bibliography
606
Abbreviations
629
Index of Names
630
The Author
636
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