Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 1, p. 187
		From the beginning, the National Socialist movement claimed that its object was to unite the German People in the consciousness of their mission and destiny, based on inherent qualities of race, and under the guidance of the Führer. For its achievement, two things were deemed to be essential: the disruption of the European order as it had existed since the Treaty of Versailles, and the creation of a Greater Germany beyond the frontiers of 1914. This necessarily involved the seizure of foreign territories. War was seen to be inevitable, or at the very least, highly probable, if these purposes were to be accomplished. The German People, therefore, with all their resources, were to be organized as a great political-military army, schooled to obey without question any policy decreed by the State. Preparation for Aggression In Mein Kampf Hitler had made this view quite plain. It must be remembered that Mein Kampf was no mere private diary in which the secret thoughts of Hitler were set down. Its contents were rather proclaimed from the house-tops. It was used in the schools and Universities and among the Hitler Youth, in the SS and the SA, and among the German People generally, even down to the presentation of an official copy to all newly-married people. By the year 1945 over 6 1/2 million copies had been circulated. The general contents are well known. Over and over again Hitler asserted his belief in the necessity of force as the means of solving international problems, as in the following quotation: "The soil on which we now live was not a gift bestowed by Heaven on our forefathers. They had to conquer it by risking their lives. So also in the future, our people will not obtain territory, and therewith the means of existence, as a favor from any other people, but will have to win it by the power of a triumphant sword." Mein Kampf contains many such passages, and the extolling of force as an instrument of foreign policy is openly proclaimed. The precise objectives of this policy of force are also set forth in detail. The very first page of the book asserts that "German-Austria must be restored to the great German Motherland," not on economic grounds, but because "people of the same blood should be in the same Reich." The restoration of the German frontiers of 1914 is declared to be wholly insufficient, and if Germany is to exist at all, it must be as a world power with the necessary territorial magnitude. Mein Kampf is quite explicit in stating where the increased territory is to be found: 187
		Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 1, p. 187     Last modified: October 10, 1998 Copyright © 1998 The Mazal Library and The Holocaust History Project. All rights reserved. Technical/administrative contact: webmaster@holocaust-history.org Find a typo? Let us know.