About Mein Kampf

"Mein Kampf" is the historical autobiography and political treatise written by Adolf Hitler in 1924 and 1925. Sitting in Landsburg Prison, 30 miles west of Munich, Hitler composed "Mein Kampf" as the self-told story of his life, and as an introduction to his National Socialist political ideology. The book that would come to lay the groundwork of the Nazi party, "Mein Kampf" is a highly controversial personal tome and an oft-quoted historical political exposition.

History

Already a prominent political figured by early 1923, ten years before he would rise to power in Germany, Adolf Hitler found himself in jail following his notorious failed Beer Hall Putsch. Allowed a desk and a stream of visitors in his cell, Hitler began composing "Mein Kampf" as a means of conveying to the public his thoughts and intentions for himself and his country. Translated into English as "My Struggle," the book's first volume was finished in 1924 while he was in jail. Its second volume was finished the next year after publication of the first.

Function

The first volume of "Mein Kampf," titled "Die Abrechnung," outlines Hitler's views on his childhood, on his service in World War I from 1914-1918 and on the collapse of the German state following their defeat in the war. This early volume of "Mein Kampf" was the first public exposition of Hitler's notorious anti-Semitic views. The second volume, written in 1925 and published the next year, is a treatise of the political struggle within Germany and its future possibilities for his Nazi party.

Features

The contents of the separate volumes of "Mein Kampf" find Hitler expressing a strong anti-international feeling. He proposes the supremacy of the German people and insinuates that the Jews were responsible for many world problems. He blames Germany's Jewish population for their defeat in war, calling it "The Jewish Peril." Hitler, in "Mein Kampf," announces his hatred of Communism and outlines a plan for a future Germany reliant on militarism.

Time Frame

"Mein Kampf" was published in its first volume on July 15, 1925, by the predecessor to the publishing house that would eventually be responsible for much Nazi propaganda. The first volume went through two editions before the second volume was published in December 1926. It was first published in one volume in 1930, and was distributed heavily in Germany after 1933, reaching nine million copies by the beginning of World War II in 1940.

Significance

Called the bible of National Socialism, "Mein Kampf" has sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. Along with "The Communist Manifesto", it remains one of the most important historical and political documents of recent history. It is sold widespread around the world, and is still illegal in many countries that were touched by the Nazi regime, such as Austria. It has served as the official documentation of Hitler's racist worldview, of his belief in a "master race," and as a blueprint to his militaristic rise to power for 12 years in Europe.