Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

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George L Gregory
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Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#1

Post by George L Gregory » 11 Dec 2021, 20:37

My Deputies, Men of the First Greater German Reichstag! As I conclude my explanations today, the years of struggle and fulfillment lying behind us now pass once more before my mind’s eye. To many these meant the sense and purpose of their entire existence. We know that greater things cannot be granted to our Volk and our own lives. Without shedding a drop of blood, we succeeded in raising up this great Reich of the German Volk.

[…]

We may now consider this process of the formation of the German nation as having reached its conclusion. The creation of the Greater German Reich represents the culmination of our Volk’s thousand-year struggle for existence.
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Adolf_ ... uary_1939)

Since Hitler declared that the Greater German Reich had “reached its conclusion”, why did he want to annex more territory?

ljadw
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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#2

Post by ljadw » 11 Dec 2021, 21:07

Very obvious : he could not say that the Greater German Reich had not reached its conclusion.


George L Gregory
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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#3

Post by George L Gregory » 13 Dec 2021, 22:23

ljadw wrote:
11 Dec 2021, 21:07
Very obvious : he could not say that the Greater German Reich had not reached its conclusion.
Why? As early as the 1920s he was arguing that Germany needed Lebensraum in Eastern Europe.

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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#4

Post by ljadw » 14 Dec 2021, 08:24

1 When he said that Germany needed Lebensraum in Eastern Europe, he was only an unknown agitator, not the leader of Germany .
2 After Munich he said, imprudently, that this ( the Sudeten ) was his last territorial demand .
3 Everyone knew what he wanted ( which was the same as wanted the Weimar Republic ) :to take back what Germany lost in 1918 AND to eliminate Poland as an independent state (the quarrel with Poland was never about Danzig ),but,as long as he did not say it openly,everyone could pretend that there was no problem .

George L Gregory
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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#5

Post by George L Gregory » 14 Dec 2021, 12:27

ljadw wrote:
14 Dec 2021, 08:24
1 When he said that Germany needed Lebensraum in Eastern Europe, he was only an unknown agitator, not the leader of Germany .
2 After Munich he said, imprudently, that this ( the Sudeten ) was his last territorial demand .
3 Everyone knew what he wanted ( which was the same as wanted the Weimar Republic ) :to take back what Germany lost in 1918 AND to eliminate Poland as an independent state (the quarrel with Poland was never about Danzig ),but,as long as he did not say it openly,everyone could pretend that there was no problem .
By the mid-1930s he was talking openly about the need for Lebensraum.

Sid Guttridge
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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#6

Post by Sid Guttridge » 14 Dec 2021, 13:06

HI GLG,

I think the answer may be in the speech itself:

"The dilemma we shall then face can only be resolved in two ways:

1. through an increase in the import of foodstuffs which necessitates an increase in the export of German manufactured goods in due consideration of the fact that raw materials used in the production process have to be imported initially and hence only a fraction of profit remains for the purchase of foodstuffs, or

2. through an expansion of Lebensraum for our Volk, thereby establishing an economic circle to secure the production of sufficient foodstuffs for Germany domestically. Since the second approach is as yet [!] impossible to pursue due to the persistent delusions of the one-time victorious powers, we are forced to follow along the path of the first proposition. This means we must export in order to be able to purchase food from abroad. Since these exported goods use up raw materials which we ourselves do not possess, this means we must export yet more goods to secure these raw materials for our economy. We are compelled not by capitalist considerations, as this may be the case in other countries, but by dire necessity, the most excruciating which can befall a people, namely, concern for its daily bread.
"

The "The creation of the Greater German Reich" and the "expansion of Lebensraum for our Volk" were not the same thing but successive stages in a process.

Cheers,

Sid.

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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#7

Post by ljadw » 14 Dec 2021, 13:14

Yes,but without specifying where he would get his Lebensraum,and when he would get it .Or how . He also demanded he return of the lost German colonies,but,when Britain proposed him to give Portuguese and Belgian colonies (which were more valuable ) ,he refused .
Already before his speech on 30 January,the quarrel between Poland and Germany was becoming more seriously,as Poland said no to his demands .
He knew very well that Poland was the maximum he could get ,because the preliminary demand for the defeat,occupation, exploitation and colonization of European Russia ,was the defeat of the West and the defeat and occupation of the West would make a successful Barbarossa impossible .
He had to chose : going West or going East .
Going west meant that he could not go east and going east meant that he could not go West.
And : victory in the West would make victory in the East impossible and the opposite .
Thus, what did he ? As usual when people know that what they want is impossible : he delayed the whole thing .
And in 1941,he went East ,hoping that this would make victory in the West possible .And he lost twice : in the West and in the East .
And, what he was saying before the war ,was very vague,there were no detailed investigations on how victory in the East would make the exploitation and colonization of these territories possible .Not only in Poland ,but also in Russia .

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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#8

Post by ljadw » 14 Dec 2021, 13:27

Sid Guttridge wrote:
14 Dec 2021, 13:06
HI GLG,

I think the answer may be in the speech itself:

"The dilemma we shall then face can only be resolved in two ways:

1. through an increase in the import of foodstuffs which necessitates an increase in the export of German manufactured goods in due consideration of the fact that raw materials used in the production process have to be imported initially and hence only a fraction of profit remains for the purchase of foodstuffs, or

2. through an expansion of Lebensraum for our Volk, thereby establishing an economic circle to secure the production of sufficient foodstuffs for Germany domestically. Since the second approach is as yet [!] impossible to pursue due to the persistent delusions of the one-time victorious powers, we are forced to follow along the path of the first proposition. This means we must export in order to be able to purchase food from abroad. Since these exported goods use up raw materials which we ourselves do not possess, this means we must export yet more goods to secure these raw materials for our economy. We are compelled not by capitalist considerations, as this may be the case in other countries, but by dire necessity, the most excruciating which can befall a people, namely, concern for its daily bread.
"

The "The creation of the Greater German Reich" and the "expansion of Lebensraum for our Volk" were not the same thing but successive stages in a process.

Cheers,

Sid.
His two points are the WHY . But both were wrong .
There is no proof that Germany needed to import more food .
It is also very dubious that the export of manufactured goods was depending on the import of raw materials .
The fact is that Germany was doing reasonably well during the depression,without Lebensraum .
Germany did not need Lebensraum to have raw materials, besides it was cheaper to import them or to produce them than to fight to get them .Schacht's policy was very successful .

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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#9

Post by Sid Guttridge » 14 Dec 2021, 13:38

Hi ljadw,

The question was about what Hitler wanted, not whether he was right, or justified.

Cheers,

Sid

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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#10

Post by Gorque » 14 Dec 2021, 15:34

The key word here is "formation." The formation has reached its conclusion.

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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#11

Post by ljadw » 14 Dec 2021, 18:28

Sid Guttridge wrote:
14 Dec 2021, 13:38
Hi ljadw,

The question was about what Hitler wanted, not whether he was right, or justified.

Cheers,

Sid
On 30 January 1939,there was no creation of the Greater German Reich ,neither was there an expansion of Lebensraum for the German people .
The Anschluss of Austria and the Sudeten did not mean that the Greater German Reich was created,or that the German people had now Lebensraum . What Hitler was saying was only meaningless twaddle :he had to say something at the 6th anniversary of the regime and he invented things which did not exist .

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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#12

Post by ljadw » 14 Dec 2021, 19:35

What Hitler said and what Hitler wanted were two totally different things (this applies to most people ) :he did not mention an occupation of Czechia,or the Anschluss of Memelland,or his demands to Poland .All things he did a few months after his speech on 30 January,where he boasted about what he had already done .

George L Gregory
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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#13

Post by George L Gregory » 15 Dec 2021, 18:17

ljadw wrote:
14 Dec 2021, 18:28
Sid Guttridge wrote:
14 Dec 2021, 13:38
Hi ljadw,

The question was about what Hitler wanted, not whether he was right, or justified.

Cheers,

Sid
On 30 January 1939,there was no creation of the Greater German Reich ,neither was there an expansion of Lebensraum for the German people .
The Anschluss of Austria and the Sudeten did not mean that the Greater German Reich was created,or that the German people had now Lebensraum . What Hitler was saying was only meaningless twaddle :he had to say something at the 6th anniversary of the regime and he invented things which did not exist .
Hitler declared the Greater German Reich after the Anschluss.
Soldiers of the German Wehrmacht! As in years past, you have assembled in Nuremberg for this year’s Reich Party Congress. For the first time, you stand here as soldiers of the Greater German Reich!

Party Comrades! National Socialists! The first Reich Party Congress of Greater Germany ends at this hour. All of you are still under the spell of the great historic events of these past days. This demonstration of our Volk’s power and determination has reinforced the nation’s pride and your confidence in it.
12 September 1938

http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/38-09-12.htm
This greeting is at the same time an avowal: never again shall this land be torn from the Reich! This Greater German Reich is protected by the German shield and by the German sword. You yourselves form part of this protecting umbrella. From now on, like all other Germans, you will have to do your part.
3 October 1938

http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/38-10-03.htm
Just as you must take care of that Greater German Reich which we share, and the citizens of which you have now become, this Germany will take care of you! Seventy-five million other Germans reciprocate your feelings of love and dedication, of loyalty and willingness to sacrifice.

I did not know which paths would lead me here. But that I would stand here one day, that I knew! As I stand before you now, you will not only thank me but I wish to thank you as well for your loyalty, faithfulness, and your willingness to sacrifice. Just as you are proud of this Greater German Reich whose leader I am, so this Germany takes great pride in you Sudeten Germans.

At this hour, we can but think of our eternal German Volk and our Greater German Reich!
4 October 1938

http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/38-10-04.htm
As I greet you here today as the new citizens and members of our great German Reich, I wish to, first of all, thank you for your loyalty to your Volkstum and for never losing faith in the great German Volk and Reich.

If the German Volk perishes, then every single German will perish along with it! If our great German Reich, however, is once more mighty and strong, then a ray of this fortune will shine upon every single German! All of us live in Germany and through Germany! To this we faithfully pledge ourselves in these memorable and moving hours.

This we promise as Volksgenossen in this mighty and great German Reich to which we have pledged ourselves for a life time, body and soul.
20 October 1938

http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/38-10-20.htm

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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#14

Post by Hans1906 » 16 Dec 2021, 15:38

George,

if you were serious about your "sources" above, then you have no credit left with me personally.
If these should be your "sources", for these speeches at that time, then I am sorry.

This is now too much for me, I do not support such a thing.


Hans
The paradise of the successful lends itself perfectly to a hell for the unsuccessful. (Bertold Brecht on Hollywood)

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Re: Adolf Hitler’s speech on 30 January 1939 and Lebensraum

#15

Post by ljadw » 16 Dec 2021, 16:29

If Grossdeutschland existed after the Anschluss of Austria and Sudetenland, why did Hitler want to have back the parts of Poland Germany lost in 1918 ?Why did he occupy Memelland,the Alsace, Eupen-Malmedy, South Tirol, the north of Slovenia,why ordered he plans for the colonization of European Russia ?
If Grossdeutschland existed before the war,why was it increased during the war ?
There was a big difference between what Hitler said and what he did .

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