Narcissistic Ramblings of a Megalomaniac
It would be meaningless for me to do a deep dive into the psychology and meaning behind the words of one of history’s great monsters as this man’s actions have been dissected by luminaries time and again. This article is merely the general impressions I came away with after ploughing my way through this seemingly endless tome.
As endless tasks go, it was tough making it through this book but I pushed myself sometimes only a page or two at a sitting because I felt it is important to try to understand the origins of how these monsters come into being.
Hitler’s writing style does not lend itself to easy reading. Perhaps he forbade his comrades from doing a proper edit or there was not anyone brave enough to volunteer but it certainly could have used better structure. It seemed as if he thought of a subject, labeled bags with the chapter headings, and then randomly tossed in vaguely relevant thoughts until the bag was full. He would start with some premise to begin the chapter, write pages and pages of endless paragraphs which would somewhat torturously lead to a conclusion, then do a sort of summation to close. These two volumes are not for your casual reader.
Things Hitler did not Like
Jews
Hitler really got into his hatred for the ‘International’ Jew in the 2nd Volume. His main complaints related to the banking and media sectors who were going to ultimately ruin the Fatherland. The Jews had played a large hand in the ‘Revolution’ or the final days of WW1 where Germany surrendered. In addition, he abhorred the idea that Jewish blood would dilute the Aryan bloodlines.
Few things here, Jews don’t really intermarry outside of their faith and Hitler even mentions this in the book. So I am not sure where the widespread ‘contamination’ would come from unless he was refering verboten Jewish ‘ideas’. Jews did participate to a high degree in the banking and print sectors worldwide. As for general anti-Semitism, well, Hitler really was not the first to spew this type of hatred. He was of course, the first to try a Final Solution, but that did not come out in this 1925 writing.
Marxism
Hitler wrote extensively about his dislike for Marxism. The German Marxist political forces were the National Socialist Party’s main opponents. According to Hitler, they helped bring Germany to their knees at the end of the War. Russia could not be trusted because the Marxists had taken over. Plus there were the Jewish Marxist overtones.
Shirkers
Hitler felt that the best of Germany had gone to and had been sacrificed at the Front after four years of titanic struggle. The shirkers and cowards who remained behind eventually sold out the Fatherland when the government was taken over and the War was brought to an end.
When duties within the Party were divvied up, Hitler distained the Committee where he felt the shirker could hide from accountability. He would assign individuals tasks and they would hold sole responsibility for the success or failure.
Negroids
Hitler was not convinced that Germany’s strength was going to come from their colonies implying their Negro inhabitants were an issue. He looked towards France who allowed Negros to pour into the country from their colonies as a warning to Germany. Again, it was an issue of bloodlines being diluted.
France
The War was really a gigantic struggle between France and Germany fought mostly on French soil. France, understandably, took a hard line with the terms to end the conflict. Then later, French forces moved into the rich coal area of the German Ruhr. Hitler was not the only ex-soldier to be disgruntled with this backhanded treatment.
Things Hitler did Like
- Himself: Hitler definitely had an outsized ego. He was the only one who knew the way forward. He pushed aside the leadership of the group he joined to lead them himself. He bragged about being the one to design the new flag. His speeches would last for hours.
- Propaganda: To Hitler, this was the most important part of a movement in order to get it going and to bring in the followers.
- Large Spectacles: Go big or go home would have been his motto. He understood the psychology of getting a mass of humanity together and how much more it would sway them during his speeches.
- The Fatherland: Hitler’s goal was to centralize certain important concepts in order to cement proper respect for the German way of life. He was a hardline traditionalist in many respects. He definitely wanted the fair haired German women to breed with only fair haired German men to keep the Aryan blood pure.
- Athletics: Hitler felt that an active German people who were fit would be a good base to draw from in case of a need to raise a military.
Some Miscellaneous Points
- Hitler and his National Socialist Party were a product of their time. Their controversial and ultimately hugely successful propaganda newsletter was one of 1000’s being printed. Their political group started with a few men, no money, and would have been swept away like flotsam like so many others except for Hitler’s sheer force of will.
- Hitler must have been one helluva good speaker. There would not have been much for entertainment except to go to a hall to listen to one guy or another up on his soapbox blathering away. Usually fights would break out. Drinks and a show would keep bored men entertained.
- Hitler posited that Britain could have been an ally. His thoughts were that the Empire did not want just one strong European power like France. If there were at least two strong powers, then they would cancel each other out to Britain’s benefit.
- Hitler’s goal for German expansion was not through colonies but through growing the German homeland, specifically to the East through Poland. He foresaw a population growth to 250 million Germans.
- Hitler liked intimidation. He wrote a whole chapter on his Storm Troops. At first, they were the bodyguard necessary when rival groups wanted to break up one of their public hall meetings. They were the most fanatical of the Party’s members and used ferociousness to fend off attack.
Conclusion
Was there a point where Adolf Hitler could have stopped advancing his military and become a World leader instead of one of the most reviled villains of history? He marched into former German areas to reunite the Fatherland with nary a shot fired. Even Poland was a small bump which he deftly divided in half with the Soviets. Sure, that brought the ‘Big Boys’ into the arena but there seemed to be no stomach from the West to make the first move. In fact, could have Hitler extended an olive branch to Britain after the conquest of France? Would a strong Germany not have been a good bulwark between Red Russia and Britain? Push come to shove, if Russia had been more of a threat would the World have really cared that all the Jews were being rounded up?
In the end, Hitler’s megalomania which got him to his pinnacle of power was what ultimately defeated him. As for his book, it was not his skills in penmanship which gained him his fame.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.