The Nazis in Power | The Rest is History.

Tom Holland,

Dominic Sandbrook.

Lebensraum, meaning “living space,” was a key concept in Nazi ideology that justified Germany’s expansionist policies, particularly towards Eastern Europe, to provide land and resources for the German people. Adolf Hitler believed that acquiring Lebensraum was essential for the survival and growth of the German nation, often at the expense of other ethnic groups, particularly Jews and Slavs.

“No one can doubt that this world will one day be the scene of dreadful struggles for existence on the part of mankind. In the end, the instinct of self-preservation alone will triumph.”

“Hitler has been planning for war since 1928. However, the Treaty of Versailles has placed immense limitations on his ability to rearm Germany, and he must first overcome internal enemies, whether the SA or the communists. He will then need to build-up the Nazi war machine, to allow him to expand the Third Reich and gain his much-desired lebensraum, “living space”. But with Germany facing economic decline, will Hitler’s push for rearmament provide a solution to the economy’s manifold problems?

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+ See also WWII scholar James Holland on Churchill’s role in the Second World War

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Or will the Führer simply use foreign policy coups as a smokescreen, to hide the dire straits facing the German people? Hitler can be certain of one thing – Britain and France do not want another war…

Tom and Dominic in the third part of our series on the Nazis in Power, as they look at how Hitler, both materially and ideologically, prepared the country for war, and, as a brilliant opportunist, preyed on the Allies’ weaknesses in order to complete his rearmament of Germany.”