Did Hitler Want a World Dominion
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10074085 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Milan Hauner (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1978 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 15-32 |
| Publication date | 1978-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Contemporary History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0094 • E-ISSN: 1461-7250 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/002200947801300102 |
| OpenAlex | W2119747801 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
The dispute among historians about the true nature of Hitler's war aims still continues and, in all certainty, will go on as long as history remains 'an argument without an end'. Sixteen years after A.J.P. Taylor came out with his thesis that Hitler was merely a traditional statesman, of limited aims, who was only responding to a given situation without any preconceived plan of world conquest, the controversy among historians has not yet receded. Taylor's extravagant statements, however, are now being regarded with much less credibility owing to the additional evidence which he either ignored or which was simply not accessible to him.' Did Hitler in fact have any specific design, a master plan, a definite blueprint for the aggression he was preparing for and which was to unfold, stage by stage, from 1933 to 1945? The standard term which German historians writing on the Nazi period have accepted for this kind of plan is Hitler's 'Programme'. Not surprisingly, it is treated with forbearance by their British and American colleagues. For instance, Geoffrey Barraclough maintains that 'there is not a scrap of evidence to support . . . the idea that Hitler had a distinctive Programme.'2 Moreover, he seems to be puzzled by the fact that German historians3 always speak of Hitler's 'Programme' in quotation marks, thereby implying that the 'Programme' is a post-facto construction of historians, for which there is no direct contemporary evidence. Let us first briefly examine Hitler's vision of Germany's future role in the world, as it developed during his active political life. To avoid unnecessary semantic quibbles, I should perhaps warn the reader that in this survey the name 'Hitler' will be frequently used in place of 'Germany'; for such was the charismatic appeal of this man and the totalitarian character of his power, that Hitler can justifiably be seen as the personification of Germany's will-power from the moment he assumed full control over her foreign and military affairs. 'The point cannot be stressed too strongly', says Norman Rich, 'Hitler was master in the Third Reich . . . in his ultimate control of power and authority, Hitler was indeed the Fuhrer.'4
Argument (complex analysis · German · Nazi Germany · Nazism · Political science · Classics · German History and Society · History · Intelligence, Security, War Strategy · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,06 |
| Citation span | 1978 - 2021 (44) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |