Similarities and Differences in Hitler’s and Bismarck’s Views on Nationalism

Being a student Hitler criticized Bismarck’s decision to create an alliance with Austria, though in the beginning of his book Mein Kampf he says that all the Germans should be brought together to live in one Reich at any cost irrespective of the consequences. It can be connected with the fact that Hitler’s views in the period of his imprisonment differed from views he had while being a secondary school student, and besides a person can change his or her views on the issue over the time. Hitler’s views on nationalism at the moment the writing of his book Mein Kampf was finished was affected by another point of view and from another perspective than that of Bismarck’s, and that viewpoint was from the ethnic South German perspective and not pure German. The difference between Bismarck’s definition of nationalism and Hitler’s later one is absolutely stunning.

The reasons for the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire according to Hitler consisted in the fact that Austria was a multinational and multicultural country and he says that no nation can uphold itself in such a country. Similarly to the United States of America being nowadays a virtual melting pot, Austria in which Hitler grew up was alike in terms of multicultural chemistry. Hitler was sure that a nation of one signified a nation of one race with the same language that wanted the same thing in national and international scale. Besides, he was sure that it was not the case with the World War I in Austria, and because of this the Empire collapsed. It is clear here that Hitler is presenting arguments in Mein Kampf for the pursuit of nationalism. In this particular regard, concerning the so-called melting pot, Hitler’s viewpoint on nationalism is similar to that of Bismarck’s. Bismarck also strived for racial sovereignty and this aspect was important to his definition of nationalism.

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