Did Hitler plan war?

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Did Hitler plan war?

        Before 1939, the year war broke out, there had been many events you could say where the build up to the second World War and that Hitler planned the whole thing years before.  The other view is that Hitler was an opportunist and he planned round other peoples mistakes, like that of The Versailles Treaty and other European problems.  Ian Kershaw takes this opinion and also does A. J. P. Taylor, “ ...the outbreak may have owed so much to the faults and failures of European statesmen.”

        Before Hitler knew that he was going to become Chancellor of Germany, and while he was still in prison, he wrote a book called Mien Kampf (1926).  He wrote about his views, remedies and points on domestic and foreign dilemmas with advice on propaganda and political tactics.  Though Taylor disagrees and believes these were just chimera, “...fantasies from behind bars”.  But when Hitler was asked about Mien Kampf in 1933 he replied, “...as to the substance there is nothing that I would want to change.”  Knowing the events that led to the second war Mien Kampf could possibly be seen as an outline to Hitler’s plans and so he did plan war.  Also the fact that when Hitler became Chancellor, he made the people of Germany read the book so that everyone would get an idea of what he planned for Germany.

        Hitler had some views that you could see as being on the same lines as that of his predecessors such as Stresemann.  All Hitler’s predecessors wanted to make Germany a great power, to have a strong economy and army and become more dominant within Europe and individual, not having to depend on other countries to help with money e.g. USA and loans.  The only difference is that Stresemann wanted economic rather that military potential with the reduction of reparation payments which Stresemann was successful in doing with the help of Bruning.  They declared Germany unfit to pay reparations due to the depression and the Wall Street Crash of 1929.  Hitler on the other hand from the beginning was more interested in foreign affairs rather than domestic policy.  This can be seen with his aggressive foreign policy from 1936 onwards.  With the invasion of  the Czech and later of Poland, 1941 this was all because Germany wanted to gain living space, ‘Lebensraum’.  The population at that time was growing rapidly- “ Annual increase of nearly 900 thousand souls.”  So you could say this was a reason Hitler planned and went to war in 1939.

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        The Treaty of Versailles plays an important part to the start of the 2nd war.  Made up by the great powers France, Britain and America.  Though there was a great problem with this, the three countries could not agree on a decision and they had different ideas for what they wanted to happen to Germany.  The USA were going along with Wilson’s Fourteen points.  France wanted German Agriculture and industry to suffer, like France suffered in the first World War.  They also wanted Germany to demilitarize the Rhineland and all military equipment to be surrendered, so to permanently weaken Germany. ...

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