Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” is a book of compelling relevance and undoubtedly one of the most sensational political works known in the postwar period. It is circulating worldwide, translated into eight different languages, and the German edition has long since reached millions of copies.
If until January 30, 1933, the date on which Hitler assumed government of the Reich, “Mein Kampf” was considered the catechism of the National Socialist movement, in the long struggle that it sustained to impose itself, now that Germany is saturated with Hitlerian ideology, it could well be said that “Mein Kampf” constitutes the magna carta par excellence of this powerful State that, in the heart of Europe, today governs the harmonious whole of the life of a great people of 67 million inhabitants.
The autobiographical nature of the work increases its interest, outlining, through real-life events, the strong personality of the man whom his fellow citizens have consecrated with the unique name of FÜHRER.
In the pages of “My Struggle,” the reader will find outlined all the fundamental problems affecting the German nation, the solutions to which the National Socialist government has been systematically addressing. Anyone who judges the renovating work of the Third Reich without doctrinal obfuscation will agree that Hitler was the master of the truth of his cause by promoting a vigorous movement of national exaltation destined to annihilate the Marxism that was devouring the popular soul of Germany. National Socialism came to power through legal means, faithful to the rule Hitler proclaimed from the opposition: “The path to power is marked by law.” It is therefore well deserved the accolade of having defeated its political adversaries in the field of democratic struggle in thirteen years of struggle.
The national socialism practiced by the current regime in Germany reveals, in tangible deeds, the State’s action in favor of the disadvantaged classes; it is a realistic and humane socialism, founded on the morality of work, which has nothing in common with the vociferousness of international Marxism that exploits the misery of the masses around the world. Hitler, who was born in a modest sphere and forged his personality through the experience of a life of struggle and deprivation, knows that within the structure of a people and its economy, there is no room for odious preferences, but rather a spirit of mutual understanding and a fair appreciation of each individual’s role and effort within the nationality as a whole. Hitlerian ideology, in this sense, is a lofty ethic because it seeks in the individual the recognition of merit for work. The peasant and the worker, as well as the mental worker, all have their place, and neither can be underestimated as efficient factors in the community they comprise. The National Socialist State is not a dictatorship of the proletariat, nor can it be, since it rejects privileges.
One of the representative organs of the English press – the “Daily Mail” – recently editorialized on the situation of the new Germany in the following terms: “Hitler’s government promises to be the most durable that Germany and Europe itself have ever seen. Nothing is unstable in it, as is the case in parliamentary governments, where one party intrigues against another and where the Prime Minister represents only a portion of a divided nation. Hitler has proven himself not to be a demagogue, but a statesman and a true reformer. Europe must not forget that thanks to him, Communism was repelled once and for all, which, with its bloody horde, threatened to overwhelm the entire continent in 1932. Let critics say what they will, but they cannot deny that the National Socialist government has put many of Plato’s ideas into practice and is driven by an altruistic passion in the service of lofty goals: the greatness of the fatherland, the establishment of social justice, and unswerving loyalty in the fulfillment of duty, in addition to enormous progress.” material that Germany has achieved in the last two years. The number of unemployed, which in 1933 reached 6,014,000, has been reduced to 2,604,000.”
The ideology of German National Socialism—contrary to what its detractors propagate—is constructive and, therefore, pacifist, but not pacifist in the sense of accepting the imposition of international violence contrary to the dignity and honor of a sovereign people. Will there be a nation
any that, from its own point of view, is capable of accepting living conditions different from those that correspond to it in the general context of the legal equality of States within the international community? National Socialist pacifism is thus inspired by elementary principles of law and rests on the moral unity of the German people.
In an interview published in Le Matin in November 1933, Hitler said, referring to the warlike spirit attributed to him: “I am convinced that once the problem of the Saarland—which is German soil—has been resolved, there will be nothing left to cause discord between Germany and France. Alsace and Lorraine are no longer a cause for dispute.” And he added: “In Europe, there is not a single case of conflict that justifies a war. Everything is susceptible to settlement between governments, if they are aware of their honor and their responsibility. I am offended by those who proclaim that I want war. Am I crazy? War? A new war would solve nothing and would only worsen the world situation: it would mean the end of the European races and, in the course of time, the predominance of Asia on our continent and the triumph of Bolshevism. On the other hand, how could I desire war when the consequences of the last one still weigh heavily on us, which will be felt for another 30 or 40 years? I don’t think only of the present, I think of the future! I have an immense task of domestic policy to accomplish. Now we are facing poverty. We have already managed to halt the increase in the number of unemployed; but I aspire to do much more. And to achieve this, I need long years of hard work.” How can it be believed, then, that I myself would want to destroy my work through war?
The Saar problem has just been peacefully resolved with the reincorporation of this territory into German sovereignty, and the Reich Führer, returning to his declarations of 1933, expressed these memorable words in his speech of March 1, 1935, in Saarbrücken: “Today, when the Saar returns to Germany, is not a day of happiness only for us; I believe it is also a day of happiness for all of Europe. We trust that this event will definitively improve relations between Germany and France. It must be possible for two great peoples to join hands to face with common effort the calamities that threaten to crush Europe.”
These antecedents are of singular significance in the annals of post-war European history, because they come from the figure
The most controversial contemporary European political system in terms of the true aims of its policy, which entails the creation of a new form of state and the triumph of a new conception of government; aspects, of course, of enormous interest to the science of politics and to the lessons that can be drawn from them, adapting them to their own needs, by people who love their nationality and are eager for progress and social renewal.
The book “My Struggle” is divided into two parts. For a better understanding of the work, it’s worth noting that the first part was written in 1924 and the second in 1926.
THE TRANSLATOR
