Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf English translation ‘My Struggle’ is the autobiography of Adolf Hitler
regarded as of the most controversial Rulers of History. Hitler began the dictation of the
book while he was imprisoned for a failed coup against the German government.
Adolf Hitler was born on the 20th of April 1889 in Austria. His father worked as an
Austrian Government official. Right from his early childhood Hitler had become
enthusiastic about wars after finding a picture of the ‘Franco Prussian’ war in his
father’s writings. He had developed an obsession for German Nationalism as a young
student and although he was a resident of German-Austria, the part of Germany
annexed to the Austrian Empire after the Franco-Prussian war.
After the death of his parents Hitler moved to Vienna in Austria. He wanted to become
a painter but he was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He had then
developed an interest for Architecture but couldn’t pursue it, as he did not have a high
school certificate. Hitler’s days in Vienna when he struggled as a small time painter and
living in a house for poor working men changed his beliefs forever and gave him a fine
overview of the conditions of the working class and the German population in Austria.
He had seen the working of the parliament and believed that this form of government
was highly incapable of solving the problem of the people, as politicians were only
worried about their votes and winning back their constituencies. He also realized that
the Germans who comprised 10 Million of the Austrian population were never given
their due.
He also believed that the Jews were responsible for the defeat of Germany in World
War I. Later on Hitler moved to Munich to avoid serving in the Austrian Military and
got enlisted in the Bavarian regiment.
Hitler served in the Bavarian Regiment during the First World War. He was twice
decorated for bravery, however ironically he was never promoted as as his regiment
staff thought he lacked leadership skills. During his war experience Hitler had become
convinced that the purpose of his life was to save Germany. Hitler had started believing
that the Jews were responsible for the defeat of Germany in World War I as the Jew
controlled banks and press had worked against Germany. Hitler also blamed the civilian
leaders and Marxists for stabbing Germany in the back and signing the treaty of
Versailles, which imposed heavy economic and territorial sanctions on Germany.
After the war Hitler stayed in Munich and later, on being impressed by the leader of the
German Workers Party joined the party. The party later changed its name to the
Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party. His exceptional oratorical skills and open
public criticism of the Treaty of Versailles, Marxists and the Jews.
In 1923 Hitler buoyed by the growing influence of his party attempted a coup to
overthrow the ruling government as a consequence of which he was jailed. After his
release he strengthened his party further and adopted a true ‘Leader principle’ for his
party a synonym of his dictatorial views. The turning point for Hitler came when the
Great Depression hit Germany and the subsequent downfall of the parliamentary
republic. Hitler later went on to become the Chancellor of Germany from 1933-1945
and during this period attacked and made Austria a part of the German nation. Based on
his philosophy that the Germans or the Aryans were a superior race and that they
should control he world Germany under his dictatorship attacked several European
nations thus starting the Second World War.

The book describes Hitler’s many admirable qualities. He was an exceptional leader, a
master orator and extremely patriotic about Germany. He regarded himself as such a
person, selected by providence to revive the German people after their defeat in the
First World War.

He expressed his opinions on the theater, education, the techniques of effective

propaganda, economics, trade unions, the art of reading, history, literature, marriage,
syphilis, Marxism, the necessity of a strong leader for Germany, and the responsibility
for the loss of the First World War. Mein Kampf is the work of a visionary, not a
politician, written to articulate Hitler's view of life, or "weltanschauung," rather than the
detailed charter of a political party. The two basic elements of his vision are discussed
at length in each volume; they constitute the essence of the National Socialist ideology
from which Hitler and his most fervent supporters never deviated.
One is the doctrine of racial struggle, which is the cornerstone of his philosophy and
which he regarded as the "iron logic of Nature." He believed in the survival of the
fittest, insisting adamantly that races must struggle or else they will be doomed to
extinction. "Mankind has grown great in eternal struggle," he wrote, "and only in
eternal peace does it perish." He deemed the Aryans to be the master race, "forever
kindling anew that fire of knowledge which illumined the night of silent mysteries and
thus caused man to climb the path to mastery over the other beings of this earth." Yet
he was concerned about the threat of other races who attempted "to raise themselves
up" and approach the level of their masters. Specifically, he warned against the danger
of what he regarded as the promiscuous mingling with other races. "Blood mixture and
the resultant drop in the racial level is the sole cause of the dying out of old cultures,"
he argued. The salvation of Germany, he believed, would only come about when it had
restored its racial integrity.
The principal objects of his racial hatred were the Slavs, and especially the Jews, whom
he blamed for all of the indignities suffered by the German nation. Jews indeed became
the convenience scapegoat for everything Hitler disdained. The anti-Semitism he
embraced as a young man in Vienna became so virulent that by the time he wrote Mein
Kampf he came to regard Jews "as a parasite on other peoples," foreshadowing his
eventual remedy of massive extermination for this perceived biological problem.
The other central element of Hitler's vision was the geopolitical concept of
"lebensraum" or living space for the German people. "Only an adequately large space
on this earth assures a nation of freedom of existence." The larger a nation in terms of
geography, according to Hitler, the larger its influence in international affairs. He was
convinced that the greatness of a nation was connected with territorial expansion,
asserting that "what is refused to amicable methods, it is up to the fist to take." The
need for living space in Europe for the expanding German population, he wrote bluntly,
"could be obtained by and large only at the expense Russia, and this meant that the new
Reich must again set itself on the march along the road of the Teutonic Knights of old,
to obtain by the German sword sod for the German plow and daily bread for the
nation."

The political power of a country should be strong and not the economic reasons. Man
would die for an ideal; He would not die for a business.

Man has become great through perpetual struggle. In perpetual peace his
greatness must decline.
Hitler committed suicide on the 30th of April 1945
By the end of the WWII more than 10 Million copies of the book had been
sold