Norman Rich - Böcker

In this volume Norman Rich shows how Hitler's policies followed his blueprint of expansion, outlined in Mein Kampf and based mainly on racial ideology, until political and military necessities, real and imagined, drove him to war against nations that played no part in his ideological programme. After an introduction that places Hitler and the Nazi regime in the perspective of German history, Professor Rich relates Hitler's actual theories to the rise of the Nazi state and the development of a system of men and institutions dedicated to carrying out the Führer's orders. This system was to provide the machinery of expansion that becomes the focus of this study, as the spread of the Nazis is traced in detail from the annexation of Austria to Hitler's attack on Russia and declaration of war against the United States.

The chief sponsor of national revolutions at the beginning of the period was Napoleon III, who hoped to re-establish French ascendancy in Europe, but he was defeated by the forces of a rising and newly unified power-Germany under Bismarck. As in the first edition, Norman Rich traces the spread of nationalism across the continent. He has, however, greatly amplified his treatment of the social and intellectual consequences of industrialization, with particular emphasis on the changing demography of Europe and cultural trends at all levels of society.

After an opening chapter that describes the treatment of the Jews in German society, the focus shifts to the government and administration of the conquered countries—ranging from those nations with a substantial population of ethnic Germans to those, such as the Balkan states, where few, if any, “Germanic” peoples could be found. To round out the account, Professor Rich also deals with Hitler’s intentions toward countries and continents that never were brought into the Nazi empire. The volume provides a comprehensive picture of the world that would have existed had Hitler achieved the totality of his war aims.

Friedrich von Holstein (1837-1909) was Bismarck's subordinate at the German Foreign Office. Since his death historians have combined to make him a monster of sinister and self-seeking policy. At various times von Holstein kept diaries, began memoirs, and wrote and received letters, and many of these survive. A selection of this Nachlass, which was first published in volume form between 1955 and 1963, is presented here. The original effect of this publication prompted an entire re-judgement of Bismarck, of German foreign policy at that time and since, and naturally of Holstein himself. The memoirs in this first volume were written in 1883, 1898 and 1906-1909. They include accounts of von Holstein's own career, essays on political subjects and personal impressions. There are fascinating sections on Bismarck, the Franco-Prussian war, and particularly the deterioration of German-British relations. These memoirs were his most formal compositions of this kind.

Friedrich von Holstein (1837-1909) was Bismarck's subordinate at the German Foreign Office. Since his death historians have combined to make him a monster of sinister and self-seeking policy. A selection of his Nachlass, which was first published in volume form between 1955 and 1963, is presented here. The original effect of this publication prompted an entire re-judgement of Bismarck, of German foreign policy at that time and since, and of Holstein himself. Though he had been advised by Bismarck that it was indiscreet to keep a diary, Holstein began to do so in the 1880s, and passed the pages to a cousin as they were completed up to 1886, when they died out. This diary (Volume 2) gives an incomparable fresh and direct description of life in the German foreign ministry at the time as well as Holstein's own mordant comments on the general trend of international politics.