The Mind of the Third Reich: The Ideas Behind Aggression, Atrocity and Defeat (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781476698786)

This book traces the evolution of Nazi ideology from its roots in 19th Century notions of Romanticism and nationalism into a charter for racist atrocity and unbridled aggression. Nazi ideas did not emerge fully fledged at the time Hitler took power in 1933 but had been developing for more than a decade. The raw wounds of defeat and humiliation following WWI, as well as the financial debacles of hyper-inflation and worldwide depression, left Germany vulnerable to the attractions of a 'strong man' who promoted extremist explanations for the nation's predicament, explanations which included racist scapegoating as a major component.

Hitler was the final arbiter of Nazi ideas, poisoning the body politic with his warped notions of racial purity and the need for territorial expansion. This book traces Hitler's inflated belief in his own prowess as a military strategist, showing how it undermined the capabilities of the German Wehrmacht. His campaigns in the east, including his lesser-known attempt to acquire Russian oil fields, were hijacked by his personal obsession with Stalingrad. Until weeks before his death Hitler refused to acknowledge defeat, blinded by ideology, and convinced that if only Germany had sufficient "will" it could prevail, or, conversely, that if it were defeated it should be utterly destroyed.