Mein Kampf – A Critical Analysis

Table of Contents
Mein Kampf: A Critical Analysis....................................................................................................3
Historical Context: The Beer Hall Putsch and Landsberg Prison................................................3
Summary..........................................................................................................................................3
Critical Analysis..............................................................................................................................5
Anti-Semitism..........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
 Mein Kampf: A Critical Analysis
One of the most notorious men known on earth, wrote a manuscript about his life in 1925. Mein
Kampf is an autobiographical account of Adolf Hitler that he wrote amidst his struggle for power
in Germany. ‘Mein Kampf’ is a German group of a word which means “My Fight’, or ‘My
Struggle’. This book is important when it comes to study and understand the ideology of the
Nazi party and the life and political views of Hitler. If give a read to the book, there seems to be
a hate-filled book and outlines the racism and his hate towards Jews and Slavic people. In many
chapters of his book, he explicitly reveals his ideas and plans which should be done with the
Jews to evacuate them from what he calls, “the holy land of Germany”. Anti-Semitism, Social
Darwinism, and German Nationalism are the major themes that occupy the whole book.

Historical Context: The Beer Hall Putsch and Landsberg Prison

Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s Party known as the Nazi Party was one of the many
political parties in Germany led by a charismatic but fanatical leader, Adolf Hitler. Hitler wrote
his book ‘Mein Kampf’ during his imprisonment due to the famous Beer Hall Putsch. In a putsch
attempt, Hitler tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic, which was a democratic government
ruling in Germany after World War I. But he failed in this attempt and was imprisoned in charge
of treason. The first volume of the book was published in July 1925. Firstly, he named his book
‘Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice’. Later, his
publisher suggested he shorten it to ‘Mein Kampf’. Then after some months he wrote the second
volume of the book and republished the book in 1926. His book is the major source to
understand the worldview of Germany and the Nazi Party in those years.
Summary
In the first volume of the book, Hitler discusses his childhood that many historians found it
enough for propaganda purposes. He has not written certain aspects of his family background.
By reading the first volume, it can be accessed that the nationalism and greatness of Germany
occupied Hitler at a very early age. While writing about himself, he keeps on expressing his
political views as well. 
Hitler describes his aspirations and the struggle he went through when he was asked and
expected to follow his father’s route. He was born in the town between Austria and Germany and
belonged to a traditional family where her mother was a housewife, who devoted her all-time to
the family. His father was a civil servant and owned a farm in the countryside. His family
expected him to be a civil servant as well but he had no such intention. And this intention caused
a conflict with his father about which he stated in his book, “It was simply inconceivable to him
that I might reject what had become the content of his whole life". He aspired to be a painter or
an artist but his father did not like this idea and was displeased with him for that. Soon, German
history became his favorite subject. He started thinking of the German-Austrian people and the
inconsistency of the race and wanted the Germans to be purer and more filled with nationalistic
pride. On top of that, he got in touch with Karl Marx ‘s theory and the Jewish race, which
gradually turned into his unfinished hate for them. All these ideas set up his plans for him. After
the death of his parents, he entered the real world.
For instance, in chapter three of the first volume, he writes against the democratic form of
government and favors an authoritarian government in Germany. Then in the following chapters,
he points out the Jews as the main cause of the defeat of Germany in World War I. He called the
German Jews “November Criminals”. He saw Jews as betrayals of Germany because they
facilitated the surrender of the ‘Fatherland’. 
In one section of the book, he has talked about, ‘annihilation of the Jews in Europe’. And this
way of thinking of Hitler is known as the ‘Stab-in-the-back” view. (Roberts, 1999).
Mein Kampf focused on a few main themes, including anti-Semitism, anti-Communism, extreme
German nationalism, and lebensraum. Mein Kampf's main themes are anti-Semitism, anti-
Communism, lebensraum, and German Nationalism. Volume 1 of the book continues to explain
his meetings with Social Democrats and at the same time, he conflicted with their political
views. His hate for Jews was unstoppable. Later, he associated both these groups together, and
an urge to have a purer Germany grew. He was of the view that Germans, the Aryan race, were
the most superior race in the world. This view later caused the Holocaust. As the book continues,
he discussed his military plans, educational plans, and his ways to be the rescuer of Germany. He
did not believe in the mingling of the races and wanted the purity of the Germans race at any
cost. A large part of the “Mein Kampf” is about his hate towards Jews and he calls them
‘parasites’. His disgust for the Jewish race prevails throughout the whole book.
The next topic covered in the book is anti-Communist views.it was a popular ideology during the
Russian Revolution, 1917. Due to the economic constraints of Germany, communism became
very popular in Germany and Hitler saw this as a threat to his ideas and rise to power. He argued
that ‘Mein Kampf’ discussed the dangers of communism to Germany and he called the
movement ‘Red Terror’. In fact, after coming to the power he banned the Communist Party and
sent his members to concertation camps.
Mein Kampf has been banned in Germany and now the publication rights of the book are owned
by Bavaria. As this book is filled with hate stuff, some historians want this book to be read by
people and Germans should know the historical aspects of their country. But in many countries,
like the US, it’s available for the public and also, the book is available on the Internet now.
Critical Analysis
Mein Kampf was published in 1925 by Franz Eher-Verlag who was a publisher of Nationalist
Socialist German Worker’s Party. It includes the author’s experiences, childhood, youth, anti-
Semitic, anti-communist views, and his party-political program that includes the demand for
expansion in Lebensraum for Germans in the East. (Gordana, 2016).
The book has been banned in Germany for most of the time and when it was republished in
1945, curiosity was built up which later became a part of the nation’s guilt and culture. Although
it was banned in Germany neo-Nazis imported Hitler’s text from other countries because they
didn’t mind publishing Hitler’s autobiography. Mein Kampf has been called “a playbook for
World War II and the Holocaust” by Ronald S. Lauder. (World Jewish Congress, 2016).
In this book, various recurrent themes about Hitler’s ideology are discussed: anti-Semitism, anti-
Marxism, racism, and Lebensraum. If the book is critically analyzed the discourse cognitively, it
seems to be exhaustive.
Anti-Semitism
The most prominent and frequently discussed theme in the book is anti-Semitism and it
incorporates the other themes in it. It seems to be a deep-rooted ideology engraved in his mind.
Along with philosophical justification, some speeches of Hitler tried to justify his thinking for
the Jews. “We in Germany have come to this: that sixty million people see its destiny to lie at the
will of a few dozen Jewish bankers. This was possible only because our civilization had first
been Judaized.” (Mahdi, Sundas, 2015). He considered the economic downfall of the Germans
due to a few bankers who were Jews by origin. Their financial policies made Germany sink into
the crisis. So, Hitler considered that this trivial group was exploiting Germany because the
country does not belong to them and they had no good and kind intentions for the country. He
wanted Jews to be utterly powerless that they cannot harm anyone and above all he wanted to
show this urge to evacuate Germany from all the Jews. Later, he demanded the expulsion of the
Jews who came to Germany in 1914. It manifests Hitler’s idea of belongingness to Germany and
shows his extremist views that how he was intolerable of the other races. He was of the view to
consider nobody if anyone from the world speaks about his views or the policies because for him
nothing was above his Fatherland.
He supposed the Jew’s main characteristics “greed”, who just wanted to exploit Germany for
their wealth. Later in one of his speeches, Hitler termed “proletariat” for the hand-workers and
the “Bourgeois” who made them work. It makes his views about Jews clearer than how much he
hates them. He considered all the Bourgiese of no respect because they were responsible for the
destruction of the state. So, Hitler wanted the workers to be more superior and high intellects.
Because if Germans continued to be workers, Jews would control the thinking of the nation due
to the absence of German think-tanks. Hitler considered the business system of Germany was
extremely “Judaized” which needed to be clean because “Aryan Identity” was being lost due to
the mass led by the Jews. In view of Germans, all the German leaders stopped caring about their
German fellows and their needs, therefore he was the one who was going to be the savior of the
nation. (Mahdi, Sundas, 2015).
The anti-Semitic views of Hitler also need a psychoanalysis. In this regard, Peter den Hertog
gave some insights into this aspect. He says that is a common view among the historians that the
strongly anti-Semitic environment in pre-war Vienna made it impossible for Hitler to pursue his
career in the arts and this was the point when his hatred for the Jews began to stir. He also
discusses the “stab-in-the-back” concept given by a Jewish Marxist at the end of WW1.
Darwin’s theory of natural selection and survival of the fittest also seems to prevail in Hitler’s
text where he considers Germans the purest and fit race to rule the world. 
Hitler’s rejection of the Marxist ideology is also the main theme of his book. It can be due to the
idea of the annihilation of the personality of the individual in Karl Marx’s Theory. Marxism
believes in the socialist state but Hitler believed and promoted the idea of Socialist Nationalism
which now some historians term as “Ultra-Nationalism”. He considered democracy as a false
form of government for a country like Germany. This idea of being anti-Marxist might come
from the harrows of the First World War. The economy and overall structure of Germany were
devastated and many people had migrated to Germany due to which there was no sense of
identity and nationalism left. Hitler considered nationalism should be regained by the German
race and they should know the value of their race and identity.
Later in one of his speeches, he exactly defined the reason behind his dislike for the Marxism
“For us, it was a filthy crime against the German people, a stab in the back of the German
nation”. The middle class could not take up arms against it because the middle class did not
understand the whole revolution. It was necessary to start a new struggle and to incite against the
Marxist despoilers of the people who did not even belong to the German race - which is where
the Marxist problem is linked with the race problem… (Feb. 26th, 1924, to the Munich Court).
Another major theme that is part of Hitler’s autobiography is racism. He proudly preaches hate
towards others and asked the Germans to be proud of their identity and origin. By reading the
book one can easily know that according to Hitler there is no other race in the world who is the
justified ruler of the world. Only Germans have the right and potential to rule the world and he
proposed an authoritarian regime for it. The words hate and hatred expresses the innermost
feelings for the other religious and ethnic groups of Germanys. But if critically viewed, it can be
only justified based on seeking freedom at a personal and national level. 
Conclusion
By reading the autobiography of Hitler, it is concluded that the book is based on one single
element i.e., “extremism”. Hitler from his written text sounds like an extremist person, who
believes in raising the national racist spirit and he considers it the most appropriate tool for the
fight against democracy, Marxism, and Jews. The only way of justification, if found, would be
his love and affiliation for the Germans and Germany due to which he could not bear the killing
of millions of Germans in World War 1. Then it can be justified otherwise the horrors, Hitler’s
ideology and way of rule committed would always remain unforgettable. His book is the primary
source and true cognitive representation of his personal beliefs and ideas. He used syncretic
structures in the expression of his ideological views. The hate-text in the book involved nothing
other than the hate, expulsion of certain members of the community, racism, and incitement for
killings.
 References
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