samedi 23 août 2014

What truly motivated Adolf Hitler?

I've recently taken another look into the psychological and personal motivations of Adolf Hitler, for both WWII and the Holocaust. I contend that his motivations were complex and multifarious, and to understand what drove this man to commit such horrific atrocities, it's necessary to look deep beneath the surface.



Was it territory? Could be.




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Between 1921 and 1925 Adolf Hitler developed the belief that Germany required Lebensraum ('living space') in order to survive. The conviction that this living space could be gained only in the east, and specifically from Russia, formed the core of this idea, and shaped his policy after his take-over of power in Germany in 1933. So where did he get this idea from? And why did he envisage his country's future living space lying in the east?



The term Lebensraum was coined by the German geographer, Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904). During the last two decades of the 19th century, Ratzel developed a theory according to which the development of all species, including humans, is primarily determined by their adaptation to geographic circumstances.



Above all, Ratzel considered species migration as the crucial factor in social adaptation and cultural change. Species that successfully adapted to one location, he thought, would spread naturally to others. Indeed, he went on to argue that, in order to remain healthy, species must continually expand the amount of space they occupy, for migration is a natural feature of all species, an expression of their need for living space.



This process also applied to humans, who operate collectively in the form of 'peoples' (Völker), with one Völk effectively conquering another. However, according to Ratzel, such expansion could be successful only if the conquering nation 'colonised' the new territory, and by 'colonisation' he meant the establishment of peasant farms by the new occupiers.



Was it religion? It's possible.




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Sometimes called "the longest hatred," antisemitism has persisted in many forms for over two thousand years. The racial antisemitism of the National Socialists (Nazis) took hatred of Jews to a genocidal extreme, yet the Holocaust began with words and ideas: stereotypes, sinister cartoons, and the gradual spread of hate.



In the first millennium of the Christian era, leaders in the European Christian (Catholic) hierarchy developed or solidified as doctrine ideas that: all Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Christ; the destruction of the Temple by the Romans and the scattering of the Jewish people was punishment both for past transgressions and for continued failure to abandon their faith and accept Christianity.



However, none of this touches on the psychological basis for Hitler's worldview. As a child, he was very close to his mother Klara, and suffered under the hand of his drunken abusive father Alois. Adolf was 17 when his mother succumbed to cancer, leaving him grief-stricken. At the time, he was trying to get accepted to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. While he was living on the streets, sleeping on park benches, and eating at soup kitchens, he couldn't help but notice all the wealthy successful Jews walking around the city. We all know what became of his application to the art school.



Perhaps his art and his artistic vision deserves another look, because it may offer some important clues into his mind.




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Hitler earned a living by using his artistic skills to produce paintings that were sold to the public or used for postcards. Hitler was a great student of the fine arts and studied music, opera, painting, sculpture, and architecture. While living in Vienna under conditions of poverty, he read voraciously and still managed to spend whatever meager income he had to attend lectures, concerts, opera, and the theater. Even when he barely had enough money to survive he refused to compromise and always purchased the best paints, brushes, paper, and canvas. As a remarkably prolific artist, he is estimated to have created between 2000 and 3000 drawings, watercolors, and oil paintings. His artistic talent revealed itself at an early age and continued painting and drawing throughout his life. Even while behind the front lines in World War 1, he continued to paint in his spare time and contributed instructional drawings and cartoons to the military newspaper. His art continued throughout his leadership of Germany and included detailed building plans, furniture design, city planning, and monuments.



Perhaps the notion of an artist becoming a political seems strange in the current era where politics are dominated by professional politicians, it was Hitler's profound artistic vision that translated from his dreams into reality the Autobahn, Volkswagen, Rocket Science, and in the general the groundwork for a prosperous people and flourishing culture before this was lost in World War 2.



Look at his art and there's a common theme you will notice: perfection and idealism of form. Adolf had seen enough ugliness and disease in his life, and sought to banish it from his world. Observe all the straight, perfect lines in his architecture. Notice the ideals of beauty he sought in nature and in the human form. Beauty was not something he wished to see fade away with old age or sickness. Whether painting flowers or drawing people, the colors he used were always vibrant and the subjects were in their prime.



It is my theory that, over time, this fixation on perfection became an obsession of his. As he rose to political prominence, he sought to force everything to conform to his standards of perfection, or be destroyed. To him, there was perfect architecture, hence his massive public works construction project to rebuild Berlin. There was a perfect human form and a perfect / master race, hence his interest in eugenics. There was a perfect society; to him, as with every other brutal dictator in history, utopia justified the means.



Sometimes I imagine what Adolf Hitler could have done with his life if he had continued to pursue his artistic dreams, instead of giving into his bitterness, despair, and hatred of those different from him. I imagine how history would have been different, and how he might have been remembered for his artistic contributions to the world, instead of for causing untold suffering and plunging the world into flames. As much evil as he inflicted on others, one should remember he was still a human being too, with very human motivations.



Your thoughts?





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