Mein Kampf is the infamous book written by Adolf Hitler. Its title is German for 'My Struggle' and it was published in two volumes between 1925 and 1927. In the book, Hitler gave a fanciful account of his life and set down his political ideas for Germany. He described how the Germans were a superior race (owing to their Aryan origin) to all others and that the greatness of Germany outranked all others. It is because of this that the book is regarded as an important primary historical document. In essence it was a blueprint for everything the Nazi's were to do. The book started Hitler's ideas on "race purity". These beliefs led to World War 2 (1939-1945), and the slaughter of millions of Europeans- the majority being Jews. Mein Kampf soon became a sort of "Bible" for Nazi's and a guide for Nazi sympethisers in other countries.

At the beginning before Hitler had written Mein Kampf, he was head of the Nazi political party with 27,000 party members in the German Government in 1923. Hitler was then known as "The Fuhrer" or leader and was not shy about letting people know about his racial hatred. He spread this information along with his contempt for Democracy. He organised meetings and terrorised political foes with his bodyguard force, The Sturmabteilung or Storm Troopers.

In November 1923, Hitler led a Putsch or uprising in Munich against the Postwar Weimar Republic, proclaiming himself Chancellor of a new authorisation regime. Without military support however, the Putsch collapsed. As a leader of the plot, Hitler was sentenced to five years imprisonment and served nine months in which he spent dictating his autobiography Mein Kampf. When he was released in December 1924, he rebuilt his political party without interference and realised he would have to spread his word legally by becoming head of Government. The Nazi's gained more and more seats in the Government as they promised a bigger and better Germany. When he became Chancellor in 1933, he was expected to be an easily controlled tool of big business.

We now know how Hitler became powerful and how and where he got his ideas for the book Mein Kampf. In the book we know Hitler portrays his hatreds, impressions and prejudices but this is not all he portrays.

In the first few chapters, a brief but significant sketch of the early years of Hitler's life are portrayed. Born in 1889, at Branau, Austria, Hitler felt himself to be a German more than an Austrian and despised the easygoing people of Vienna. According to the book, his first years were ones of deprivation, poverty and suffering. His formal schooling ended at thirteen and he lost both parents at about the same time. His struggles to become an artist (in Vienna) and an architect were lost because of his lack of schooling.

Hitler read a lot about history in Vienna and was inspired by a book on the Franco-Prussian war (1870). This gave him the impression of the superiority of the German race and at the same time how much he despised the Jews (due to the loss in World War 1 and the lack of jobs for the German people). Finally in 1912 after years in Vienna Hitler settled in Munich, Germany. He enlisted into the Bavarian army and was promoted to Corporal after time.

Also in the book Mein Kampf, Hitler mentions that he dedicates the book to the man he shared his cell with in the Bavarian fortress at Landsberg, Rudolph Hess and that he had originally called the book "Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice". The second volume was completed in 1926 at Berchtesgaden.

Although the book had become a sort of "bible" for some people, others felt it was terribly written. One such critic Otto Tolischus described it as 10% Autobiography, 90% dogma (arrogance) and 100% propoganda.

The German people in 1933 believed in Hitlers Facist ways and fell for all his propoganda due to Mein Kampf. The German people had people had reached a point where order and security to their people meant more than political freedom

Mein Kampf's theme song was race, race superiority, and race supremecy- though Hitler never attempted to define race. In the book Mein Kampf Hitler says that mankind is divided into three groups: the culture-creators (meaning Aryans (Germans)), the culture bearers (the Japanese) and the culture destroyers (Jews and Negroes). This all points out Hitler's feelings towards different cultures and his racial views towards different cultures. He explains in Mein Kampf how some are created superior to others (meaning Germans) and points out how the world's strongest race (Germans) should rule over inferior races on Earth.

A few of Hitler's entries into Mein Kampf concerning the race superiority are:

1. Writing of Austrian Empire- repelled by the mixture of Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Ruthenians, Serbs, Croats and everywhere the eternal mushroom of humanity- Jews and more Jews.
2. About Africans- It is criminal lunacy to keep on drilling a born half ape until people think they have made a Lawyer out of him, while millions of members of the highest culture-race must remain in entirely unworthy positions; it is a sin against the will of the Eternal Creator if most gifted beings by the hundreds and hundreds of thousands are allowed to degenerate in the present proletarian morass, while Hottentots and Zulu Kaffirs are trained for intellectual professions.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler talks about other Countries, which he feels he has a problem with and those, which he doesn't. Mostly though, Hitlers attacks on the Jews were his main concern. In Mein Kampf, he talks about the Bolshvization of Germany or the extermination of Folkish Jewish Intelligentsia to make possible the sweating of the German working class under the yolk of Jewish world finance. All of this, and Hitlers craving for Lebensraum or living space for the Germans were more or less the goals which Hitler wished to achieve. Mein Kampf helped in all of this because Hitler needed support to achieve these things and people began to follow Mein Kampf so he had the support of his people to move in and take over parts of surrounding countries, killing all Jews in the process. Nowadays because of Hitler's plans in Mein Kampf, eighty million Germans can be found all over Europe due to the expansion of Lebensraum.

Hitler also used Mein Kampf as a sort of Propoganda. He described it as one of the Nazi's most impressive techniques and he was right as it obviously worked. Hitlers faith in propaganda was illustrated in this statement "It is possible by means of shrewd and unremitting propaganda, to make people believe that Heaven is Hell- and Hell is Heaven".

We all know Hitler drew out the blueprints for his plans for Germany in Mein Kampf but the book wasn't even fully translated fully uncensored in English until 1939 before the war started so not everything about Hitlers plans was to be known by the Allies. Although it wasn't published in other languages, Mein Kampf was published in the millions in Germany and every newly married couple recieved a copy!

Although it has such glaring defects, Mein Kampf is considered to be one of the most extraordinary historical documents of all time and one of the most effective books of the Twentieth Century. It is the world's misfortune that Hitler's ideas didn't die with him as many still follow his ways in Germany and in other places. Dictators everywhere will continue to seek advice in Mein Kampf for Primary advice on evil purposes.

R. B Downs. Books That Changed the World. Mentor, 1956.

G. Fee and M. Hartigan. Europe 1870-1970, Recent Times, School and College Publishing.

R. Rosenbaum. Explaining Hitler, Macmillan.

J. Keegan. Who's Who in World War 2, Oxford.

E. Townley. The Complete A-Z 20^th Century European History Handbook, Hoddar & Stoughton.

K. Farrington. Witness to World War 2, Blitz Editions.

http://encarta.msn.com

Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2000

World Book 1999

1. Mein Kampf played a significant part in the beginning of World War 2 as it fed the Nazi's and all of Hitler's other followers the details of war, hatred and propaganda.
2. I was able to gain first hand information from that time as Hitler had it written for himself in his own words which gave me some information on Hitler and how he thought.
3. The book Mein Kampf gave the world a warning as to what Hitler's plans were. What is interesting is that the British and American politicians chose to ignore this warning.
4. The Book also gives us a fairly detailed account of Hitler's life and struggles.

One of the sources used was to write this essay was a Book named 'Books That Changed the World' which was written by R.B Downs. Mentor published this book in 1956.

I feel that the book was a good source because:

1. It goes from the early life of Adolf Hitler to when he wrote Mein Kampf in the Bavarian fortress at Landsberg. As such it gives a good backround to the writing of Mein Kampf.

1. It tells the story of all Hitler's plans for Lebensraum for the Aryan race.
2. It tells of Hitler's plans for all the people he considered inferior such as the Jews and Negroes.
3. It contains a very reasonable amount of Primary sources from that time
4. It portrays all of Hitler's ideas for his Propaganda and superiority.
5. It contains good Bibliography, which could be used for other sources.
6. It contains plenty of easily understandable material.

1. I learned how to seek information from books in local libraries. (Research skills)
2. I learned how to find information by using the Internet. (Research skills)
3. I learned how to read primary and secondary sources before writing the essay. (Analysis skills)
4. I learned how to type the essay using Microsoft word. (I.T. skills)