Days 50-52 – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Finally! Mein Kampf is finished! I’m so excited.

These last chapters are really nothing more than a rehash of their counterparts in Volume One, so there’s not going to be a lot of meat to this blog.

Chapter 9 deals with his SA (State Authority). He discusses the three attributes that he believes an unshakable SA must be built upon. First is popularity; second is power (through force); and lastly is tradition. He believes that if these three are combined, “an authority may be regarded as unshakable” (page 518).

He goes through great lengths to discuss Germany’s authority at that time and, of course, how it had been basically shattered because it lacked, in his opinion, all three elements.

He talks at length about the need for power through force in order to achieve the aims of a revolution. He says, “Firm belief in the right to apply even the most brutal weapons is always bound up with the existence of a fanatical faith in the necessity of the victory of a revolutionary new order on this earth” (page 533).

Hitler then spends the rest of the chapter discussing the evolution of his Sturmabteilung (storm section): his defense group. His two main points regarding his SA were that it would have nothing in common with a combat organization, nor would it have anything in common with a secret organization. After giving his reasons why this was of necessity, he talks about the expansion of his SA.

He spends considerable time talking about a march on Coburg where he and his men were reviled and the police had to reroute them. Hitler saw this as intolerable and demanded that they continue on their course. His SA made sure they got to where they were supposed to go.

The next chapter returns to the topic of propaganda, only this time under the title of Federalism as a Mask. He talks about how propaganda was used to turn the Prussians and Bavarians against each other; then the Catholics and the Protestants and so on. Then he claims that he was able to bring to light the intentions of these propagandists and then took credit for this: “the most devout Protestant could sit beside the most devout Catholic, without coming into the slightest conflict with his religious convictions” (page 564). Apparently this was to show how good at negotiation he was.

After his little foray into religion, he gets to the question: Should Germany be a Federated or Unified state? The rest of the chapter is devoted to shoot down the idea of a federated state and to remake the idea of a unified state. “The National Socialist doctrine is not the servant of individual federated states, but shall some day become the master of the German nation” (page 578).

The next chapter again deals with the use of propaganda: Propaganda and Organization. He discusses how he was put in charge of the propaganda “department” of the up and coming National Socialist party. He lays out how propaganda works and what it should do to make it work. Then he goes on to tell how he became the leader of the entire movement.

Chapter twelve discusses his stance on trade unions. For some reason I found it odd that he actually supported the idea.

Chapter thirteen he goes back to the German Alliance Policy after the War. Though he had given us his seething view of this in Volume One, he expands on it – 36 pages full of more criticism! This time, however, he really vilifies the French. His words for them in Volume One were short, but not so here. Here they rank up with the Jewish people and Marxism on his list of hate.

Chapter fourteen: Russia. Continuing on his idea of foreign policy, he says, “Only an adequately large space on this earth assures a nation of freedom of existence” (page 643). He talks about how the German people need more soil in order to survive. He says that Germany cannot be considered a world power because the “mother country is limited to the absurd area of five hundred thousand square kilometers” (page 644). And that as guardians of the “highest humanity on this earth” they need to make sure they have enough land so that they can expand their race.

Finally, the last chapter deals with France (the “mortal enemy” of Germany) and how Germany’s leaders bungled the peace treaty after WWI.

All in all, it was an interesting read. Though I’m sure many of his “facts” were twisted to fit his viewpoint, nonetheless, he had a keen insight into people – thus his mastery of propaganda. He seem very passionate (if not fanatical) about Germany, so unlike many who were shocked that he killed himself at the end of WWII, I’m not. If he truly believed what he wrote about in Mein Kampf, I would have expected nothing less. He would not have allowed himself to be taken prisoner; he would have rather died, hoping to be a martyr for his beloved fatherland.

What still amazes me, is that this book was written about 8-9 years before he came into power – his plan for “world domination” was clearly laid out. His views on the Jewish people were on every page. His threats were also there – in black and white. Yet no one seemed to have taken him seriously. But then, if I had lived back then and there, would I have taken him seriously?

I recently came across some “revisionist” books that try to portray Hitler in a gentler tone… and try to convince people that the Holocaust didn’t happen. To these people I have to say, “Have you read Mein Kampf? Because Hitler said what he was going to do, and once he got the power, he carried through on his plans.” It is a sad world we live in where certain factions want to rewrite such a horrific part of world history to suit their own agendas.