Reading Mein Kampf is like listening to Hitler speak at length about his youth, early days in the Nazi Party, future plans for Germany, and ideas on politics and race.
The original title Hitler chose was "Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice." His Nazi publisher knew better and shortened it to "Mein Kampf," simply My Struggle, or My Battle.
In his book, Hitler divides humans into categories based on physical appearance, establishing higher and lower orders, or types of humans. At the top, according to Hitler, is the Germanic man with his fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes. Hitler refers to this type of person as an Aryan. He asserts that the Aryan is the supreme form of human, or master race.
And so it follows in Hitler's thinking, if there is a supreme form of human, then there must be others less than supreme, the Untermenschen, or racially inferior. Hitler assigns this position to Jews and the Slavic peoples, notably the Czechs, Poles, and Russians.
As a child, Hitler didn't feel the motivation in school because he felt a lack of challenge. In terms of a career, at a young age, he was aspiring to become a painter or artist of some sort. His father didn't seem to accept this idea and often looked down upon him for it. History soon became a favorite subject of Adolf's, in which he learned about German history. He started to see the inconsistency of race, especially with the German-Austria people, and started to have thoughts about how the Germans should be more pure, of the best blood, and have a great sense of nationalism and pride. He then started to learn about the theories of Karl Marx and of the Jewish race, which grew into more of a hatred and perhaps fuel for his future plans. Eventually, both of Hitler's parents died and he was out into the real world.
The book continues on to explain how Hitler began to meet with Social Democrats and how he was deeply conflicted with his views of the way others handled politics and his hate for the Jew continued to grow and grow. He began to associate the two together and wanted to make a more pure country out of Germany, excluding the other types of races and focusing on the Aryan race, which is what he believed to be the superior, in which would result later on in the Holocaust. Those of the Aryan race would be protected and saved. As the novel continues, the subjects can be anything from his educational plans, military plans, and ways to be a savior of Germany. He didn't believe in the mixing of races and greatly pushed the purity of the German race. Indeed, the majority of Mein Kampf focuses on his hatred of the Jewish race, in which he refers to them as "parasites" and uses words such as "disgust" when referring to them.
Mein Kampf is divided into two parts called Volumes. The first deals with Hitler's background. He intends it to be autobiographical but critics say he is more interested in portraying himself in a favorable light than he is in being factual. The second part of the book is concerned with Hitler's theories and views. The book is written while Hitler is in prison which is before he comes to national power. He basically sees himself as trying to stir up the people. He has no aspirations to national power early in his career but that soon changes as he begins to see himself as the Savior of the German people. Mein Kampf is written before he becomes a major political figure.
The first volume of Mein Kampf, subtitled “Eine Abrechnung” or “A Reckoning,” was written mostly during Hitler’s stay in Landsberg and ultimately consisted of 12 chapters when it was published in July 1925.This first volume covered Hitler’s childhood through the initial development of the Nazi Party. Although many of the book’s readers thought it would be autobiographical in nature, the text itself only uses Hitler’s life events as a springboard for long-winded diatribes against those he viewed as inferior, particularly the Jewish people.Hitler also frequently wrote against the political scourges of Communism, which he purported was directly linked to the Jews, whom he believed were attempting to take over the world.Hitler also wrote that the present German government and its democracy was failing the German people and that his plan to remove the German parliament and instate the Nazi Party as the leadership would save Germany from future ruin.
The second volume is dedicated to presenting the foundations of his beliefs that form the basis for the National Socialist German Workers' Party. There is really not much of a difference between the two sections. They are both laden with propaganda. Hitler explains how the storm section comes into being, how the uniforms, insignia and flag are designed. He explains the position on trade unions, foreign policy, the federation of German states, propaganda and such things. In Hitler's views, Jewish is synonymous with Marxism and he views Marxism as the greatest threat to post-World War I Germany. He sees a strong Germany as being a necessity for the survival of the German people in the post-World War I world.
When Mein Kampf was first released in 1925 it sold poorly. People had been hoping for a juicy autobiography or a behind-the-scenes story of the Beer Hall Putsch. What they got were hundreds of pages of long, hard to follow sentences and wandering paragraphs composed by a self-educated man.
However, after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, millions of copies were sold. It was considered proper to own a copy and to give one to newlyweds, high school graduates, or to celebrate any similar occasion. But few Germans ever read it cover to cover. Although it made him rich, Hitler would later express regret that he produced Mein Kampf, considering the extent of its revelations. Those revelations concerning the nature of his character and his blueprint for Germany's future served as a warning to the world. A warning that was mostly ignored.
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