Hitler's view of America

From all readings, Hitler had a low view of America as a country and its soldier's abilities. Was Hitler's view solely based on flawed racial theories and racial science that had no basing on actual facts? He thought America was a racial mix-up of too many minorities and "bad" races which meant they couldn't fight. That is pretty ridiculous sounding for anyone with common sense. That was also his reasoning for the American soldier's apparently lack of fighting ability, that Americans were consumers, all about Hollywood, cosmopolitanism, Wall Street, etc., yet Hitler loved the America cowboy stories because they were tough and fought (an irony in his theories).

I have read books about World War One, in which Hitler fought, where the accounts of German soldiers said that once the US entered the war, the American soldiers were the only soldiers on the Allied side who attacked and were aggressive in the German doctrine of war, and the Americans were the only ones doing damage to the German lines, and they had respect for the US Army. That kind of contradicts anything Hitler thought of the US Soldier coming from his own side. Why was Hitler so flawed in his views of America?

 

Interesting topic. I believe you touch on an important component. Hitler believed the US was weakened by its "racial impurity" and looked at it as being "racially inferior." Stark contrast to his belief of the British. He also believed the US system of government was a flawed system, as he compared it to Weimer. The US were selfish capitalists only concerned with fiscal gain. In addition, the Great Depression, in Hitler's eyes, was caused greatly by the United States and its improper use of government. He believed the Depression also severely weakened the U.S.'s ability to produce like it did during the First World War.

 

Very interesting topic indeed.

Stefan.

 

Fascism is capitalism to the greediest degree: the most exploitation and least rights for the workers, but the means of production and property are owned privately by the most wealthy with profits being gained by individuals, with a guiding hand from the state a la the New Deal.

 

There is an inherent racism and ardent nationalistic push with fascism. Everything is controlled and business opposition is stamped out. Capitalism is, like you said, the privately owned control of capital and free trade. I understand your comparison and one can see a a governmental control taking place with the New Deal. However, the world was in financial chaos and such domestic programs were in response to an economic crisis.

 

I agree with you, KJ. There is nothing wrong with the New Deal, I was just giving an example of how Fascism from an economic standpoint, is a form of capitalism.

In Hitler's second book, "Zweites Buch" Hitler wrote the the most dangerous enemy and potential opponent of Germany in the future would be the United States. So Hitler seemed to contradict himself a lot, especially in the case of the United States, whether for public image or public consumption to get his racial theories across regardless if he believed them or not. In one hand he says they are racially weak and as a result would be worthless soldiers, and in the other hand feels the US would be the most dangerous threat to Germany for a war in the near or distant future.

 

Hitler gained a lot of policy influence from the United States, and liked and took the ideas and polices of Segregation and Eugenics from the United States for Nazi Germany. He also thought it was right for the American push and expansion West, Manifest Destiny, and wiping out and using whatever violent means necessary to wipe out the Native Americans to make room for the white-European heritage of Americans to establish there. He even had praise for the US in these regards, so maybe subconsciously Hitler was upset that a country like the US could have these "racist" policies, be a successful country up to that point history both economically and militarily (he couldn't argue against US success in WWI, and all the other successful wars America fought and won), yet have the various minorities and different races all in one country co-existing for the greater good.

From these different examples, it seems America and Nazi Germany would have been the ultimate allies, maybe that's why all the wealthy American businessmen and bankers did business and supported the Nazis economically in the 30s and 40s?

 

I guess from the period of Mein Kampf to Zweites Buch, Hitler's view on America did change. In the period of Mein Kampf he saw America as racially mixed, racially inferior, and inherently weak because of this. Years later in his second book, he saw the US as a dynamic and racially successful nation due to the policies I mentioned in the previous post, and that the US was mostly Aryan but ruled by a Jewish plutocracy, which was competent and what made them the most dangerous. So he was just a bundle of contradictions probably due to all the drugs he was on and the fact that he was probably mentally unstable and delusional to begin with.

 

It was also criticized as being Fascist in that time period as well. In one of FDR's radio addresses in the 30s he stated how some of his opposition in America were comparing the New Deal with the policies of the totalitarian European regimes, which he didn't name specifically but were Germany and Italy.

 

It's definitely a very interesting discussion to have.

 

The right compared the New Deal to Fascism and Communism. They also linked together Mussolini, Hitler, and Roosevelt. The Fascists loved FDR's economic policies as well. Supporters and Critics of FDR found similarities between the National Recovery Act and European Fascism.

 

http://reason.com/archives/2007/09/28/hitler-mussolini-roosevelt

 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/25114553?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents



https://mises.org/library/three-new-deals-why-nazis-and-fascists-loved-fdr


http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1656&context=fss_papers

 

One of those is a study and article from Yale Law School

 

Fascism is corporatism and that's what America's form of capitalism is when Big businesses and the wealthy get more breaks and more freedom to gain profits by exploiting workers and workers are paid less and less with the least of benefits and a voice aka like when politicians get tax cuts and subsidies for big business and the rich while trying to destroy labor unions.

 

"Mussolini believed in leaving property under private ownership but placing it under government control. That's what Roosevelt believed in also." - Jacob G. Hornberger