the book was written by hitler.
The writing of Mein Kampf
The first volume, entitled "Eine Abrechnung" ("An Account") was published on July 18, 1925; the second volume, "Die Nationalsozialistische Bewegung" ("The National-Socialistic Movement") was published in 1926. The original title Hitler chose was [[Viereinhalb Jahre [des Kampfes] gegen Lüge, Dummheit und Feigheit]] (Four and a Half Years [of Struggle] against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice). His Nazi publisher, Max Amann, decided this title was too complicated and had it shortened to Mein Kampf ("My Struggle").
The connotative and contextual flexibility of the German word, "Kampf" brings the possibility of multiple translations to the title. The contemporary connotations of Kampf at the time of the text's writing are equally ambiguous. While translated as "fight", "combat" or even "war", as evidenced by examples such as the German names for a number of tanks ("Panzerkampfwagen", "armored fighting vehicle") and dive bombers ("Sturzkampfflugzeug", "diving war airplane"), "My Fight" might be considered a more accurate translation.
"My Struggle" may also represent the truest interpretation however. Throughout the text, Hitler describes the various trials and tribulations he and his movement experienced during their early years. Precedence for this translation can be found in the titles of other contemporary literary works such as Rudolf von Jhering's Der Kampf ums Recht (The struggle for justice).
Hitler began dictating the book to Emil Maurice while imprisoned in Landsberg, then after July 1924 to Rudolf Hess, who later, along with several others, edited it. The book has been said to be convoluted, repetitive and hard to read, partly as a result of being edited and re-edited over the next twenty years in a range of editions. It was dedicated to Dietrich Eckart, member of the Thule Society.
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Contents
Opening of a popular 1933 edition of Mein KampfThe book outlines major ideas that would later culminate in World War II. It is heavily influenced by Gustave Le Bon's 1895 The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, which theorized propaganda as an adequate rational technique to control the seemingly irrational behaviour of crowds. Particularly prominent is the violent anti-Semitism of Hitler and his associates, drawing, among other sources, on the fabricated "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". For example, Hitler claimed that the international language Esperanto was part of a Jewish plot and makes arguments toward the old German nationalist ideas of "Drang nach Osten" and the necessity to gain Lebensraum ("living space") eastwards (especially in Russia).
In Mein Kampf, Hitler uses the main thesis of "The Jewish peril", which speaks of an alleged Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership and also warns against the French. Overall, however, it does explain many details of Hitler's childhood and the process by which he became increasingly anti-Semitic and militaristic, especially during his years in Vienna, Austria. In one early chapter, he wrote about how for the first time in the city streets he noticed distinctively dressed Jews unlike those he already knew and then asked himself "Was that a German?" rather than "Was that a Jew?"
Mein Kampf has also been studied as a work on political theory. For example, Hitler announces his hatred in Mein Kampf toward what he believed to be the twin evils of the world: Communism and Judaism. Moreover, he states that his aim is to eradicate both from the face of the earth. The new territory that Germany needed to obtain would properly nurture the "historic destiny" of the German people; this goal explains why Hitler invaded Europe, both East and West, before he launched his attack against Russia. Laying Germany's chief ills on the parliamentary government, he announces that he wants to completely destroy that type of government.
Mein Kampf has been examined as a book on foreign policy. For example, Hitler predicts the stages of Germany's political reality on the world stage: in the first stage, Germany would, through a massive program of re-armament, overthrow the shackles of the Treaty of Versailles and form alliances with the British Empire and Fascist Italy. The second stage would feature wars against France and her allies in Eastern Europe by the combined forces of Germany, Britain and Italy. The third and final stage would be a war to destroy what Hitler saw as the "Judeo-Bolshevik" regime in the Soviet Union that would give Germany the necessary Lebensraum. The German historian, Andreas Hillgruber, labelled the plans contained in Mein Kampf as Hitler's "Stufenplan" (Stage-by-stage plan). The term "Stufenplan" has been widely used by historians, though it must be noted that the term was Hillgruber's, not Hitler's.
A page in "Mein Kampf" where Hitler discusses the Jewish religious communityHitler presented himself as the "Übermensch", frequently rendered as the somewhat ambiguous "Superman" or "Superhuman". The essentially apolitical Friedrich Nietzsche had developed this term in his book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Hitler's self-identification as such may have stemmed from his association with Nietzsche's sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, who was an early member of the Nazi party and a committed anti-semite. While she became the owner (and editor) of his works after his mental collapse, Nietzsche had often, during prior years, criticized her for having no understanding of his work and denounced her antisemitism.
Mein Kampf makes clear Hitler's racist worldview, dividing up humans based on ancestry. Hitler states that German "Aryans" are at the top of the hierarchy and that Jews and Gypsies are consigned to the bottom of the order. Hitler goes on to say that dominated peoples benefit by learning from the superior Aryans. Hitler further claimed that the Jews were conspiring to keep this "master race" from rightfully ruling the world by diluting its racial and cultural purity and by convincing the Aryans to believe in equality rather than superiority and inferiority. He described the struggle for world domination as an ongoing racial, cultural and political battle between Aryans and non-Aryans.
In 1928, Hitler went on to write a second book in which he expanded upon these ideas and suggested that around 1980, a final struggle would take place for world domination between the United States, the combined forces of "Greater Germany" and the British Empire (read more about this sequel below).
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Popularity
Advertising for "Mein Kampf" (late 1920s)Even before Hitler came to power, Mein Kampf was already quite popular. From the royalties he was able to buy a Mercedes while still in prison. Moreover, he accumulated a tax debt of 405,500 Reichsmark (6 m euros today) from the sale of about 240,000 copies by the time he became chancellor in 1933 (at which time his debt was waived) [1][2].
After Hitler's rise to power, the book gained enormous popularity and became the virtual Bible of every Nazi. Despite rumors to the contrary, new evidence suggests that it was actually quite popular among the general population. Often reviewed and quoted in other publications, the book lead the lending lists of public libraries. By the end of the war, about 10 million copies of the book had been sold or distributed in Germany (every newly-wed couple, as well as every front soldier, received a free copy), and Hitler had made about 7.6 m Reichsmark from the income of his book (when the average income of a teacher was about 4,800 Mark) [1][2].
Some historians have speculated that a wider reading prior to Hitler's rise to power (or at least prior to the outbreak of World War II) might have alerted the world to the dangers Hitler would pose to peace in Europe and to the Holocaust that he would pursue. An abridged English translation was produced before World War II. However, the publisher removed some of the more anti-Semitic and militaristic statements. The publication of this version caused Alan Cranston, who was an American reporter for UPI in Germany (and later senator from California), to publish his own abridged and annotated translation. Cranston believed this version to more accurately reflect the contents of the book. In 1939, Cranston was sued by Hitler's publisher for copyright infringement, and a Connecticut judge ruled in Hitler's favor. However, by the time the publication of Cranston's version was stopped, 500,000 copies had already been sold [3].
2006-10-13 17:00:56
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answer #6
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answered by darkainjul 3
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