By Heinrich Hoffmann – This is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. Modifications: 3:4 portrait crop, some dust and scratches removed, contrast/brightness changed. The original can be viewed here: Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H1216-0500-002, Adolf Hitler.jpg: . Modifications made by Notwist., Public Domain, Link
Because Hitler held some very strange beliefs regarding the future of the German people, the economy, and race.
First things first: Hitler was a bigot who sincerely thought that the only people capable of creating civilizations were those descended from the Aryan master race. Mixing Aryan and non-Aryan blood would also only lead to the collapse of civilization, as would all other races.
He genuinely believed that unless the Aryans could be united to save it, civilization would end.
And guess who he thought the Aryan ancestors were? Correct, it’s Germans!
Alongside this, he also subscribed to the “shrinking markets problem” school of economic thought. That is to say, he thought that nations that relied on trade to get materials or goods would eventually fall behind those that were able to obtain sufficient resources for themselves.
With its abundant resources, he considered the USSR to be the primary issue. In addition to not having many essential resources, Germany was not an industrialized country. It was compelled to trade metals and oil.
Hitler took this to mean that Germany would eventually lose economic ground to the USSR. The Bolsheviks controlled non-Aryan Slavs, and since Bolshevism was “obviously” a Jewish plot to seize power, this would lead to the collapse of civilization and the beginning of a new Dark Age.
Even though it’s obvious that this is all absurd, that was his belief. He genuinely believed that civilization was about to end and that he would save it.
All that was required of him was to take the necessary resources to establish a Greater Germanic Reich, after which his Aryan ethnostate would be able to defend civilization against the Bolsheviks and Jews.
Hitler believed that there was no way he could avoid occupying his neighbors. He believed that unless he invaded his neighbors and seized everything they owned so that the Germans could use it “properly,” civilization would perish. The western world would collapse and those resources would be wasted if they were left in the hands of non-Germans. He reasoned that this was what the Jews wanted to occur. For, well, reasons, I suppose? It all makes no sense at all.
The problem with evil deeds is that their perpetrators almost always believe they are doing good. It is not cartoon villains that should worry us, but rather well-intentioned individuals with foolish beliefs.
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