Darwinist Haushofer Influenced Holocaust Views

People seldom develop concepts on their own. They get inspirations and influences from a variety of people. If one ponders how they arrived at their religious or political beliefs, several influencers will probably come to mind. Adolf Hitler had a great deal of help with his evils.

He has sparked research by historians, psychologists, and others who want to learn how he gained power, and able to commit so many atrocities for several years. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, but many of his thoughts were under the inspiration of Karl Haushofer.

Karl Haushofer, circa 1920 (colorized at Img2Go, further modified)

There were evolutionary views before Darwin, and Haushofer was among those who welcomed Darwin's ideas. It is interesting that the idea of Lebensraum (struggle for living space) was asserted to be the duty and even the moral right of the superior race to take land away from the inferior races. Haushofer was all for it. — but did anyone ask, "How do you know?" What determines superior and inferior races, by what standards, and how did this "moral" thing come about? Asking probing questions are important to critical thinking.

Hitler was influenced by this man and others, and all of them influenced each other. They developed concepts. Also, they drew from philosophers in the past. Obviously, there are people today are learning the evils of the past and embracing them. Sometimes influence can be unnoticed consciously but still have a lasting impact.

German dictator Adolf Hitler is widely regarded as the most evil man who has ever lived. To make the point that someone is very evil, you would compare him to Hitler. Yet Hitler was only following the teachings of his mentor, Karl Ernst Haushofer, and Haushofer’s disciples, including Rudolf Hess and a few other academics and scholars. Munich professor Haushofer and Hitler’s personal political aide Hess played a critical role in forming the central ideas in Hitler’s manifesto. Mein Kampf, in turn, was the blueprint that Hitler used to rule during his regime. Furthermore, the Nazi Party very closely followed his manifesto, which produced the Holocaust and World War II. Through Darwin’s German disciple Ernest Haeckel, Charles Darwin was a critical influence for both Haushofer and Hess, as well as Hitler. Haushofer’s influence also was critical in Japan’s involvement in WWII.

To read the rest, see "Karl Haushofer: One of the More Important Persons to Influence the Events That Led to WWII and the Holocaust."