Chapters 9 and 10 of Volume II of Mein Kampf further outline Hitler’s vision and plans for the future of Germany and the Nazi Party, specifically his ideas on the foundations of authority, his plans for the S.A. (Sturmabteilung or Stormtroopers), and his view on how Jews used Federalism to divide Germany. These two chapters provide more insight into the specifics of Hitler’s plan while showing how detailed and meticulous his plans were.
In Chapter 9, Hitler begins by explaining how the old state of Germany rested on three pillars, and how they were destroyed by the Revolution. Hitler was specifically referring to the November Revolution of 1918 that led to the collapse of the German Empire after World War I and established the Weimar Republic in its place, which Hitler highly disliked. According to Hitler, these three foundational pillars were vital for establishing an “unshakable” authority.
The first foundation for forming authority was popularity. However, Hitler claimed that authority could not solely rely on popularity. In order to “safeguard” the popular authority, force, the second foundation, was necessary to keep the authority strong. Finally, the combination of those two foundations with the final foundation of tradition was the essential combination for having an “unshakable” authority. The importance of these three pillars and their influence on Hitler was very interesting to see, not only expressed in his writing, but in his actions as well.
Hitler also discussed that there were three classes that “every national body” could be divided into. He believed there was the “best of mankind” that possessed all of the positive qualities of a society, including courage and, more concerningly, the “eagerness to sacrifice” oneself for their nation. This is an example of the extremes of nationalism, and it shows how far some were willing to go for their nation. The second group was the “scum” of mankind that had all of the negative qualities of society. This group was argued to be behind the collapse of society. In the middle was the “large broad middle” that was neither the most brilliant nor the worst. Although it was not explicitly mentioned at first, it was clear who Hitler was trying to pin as the “scum” of mankind.
Further in this chapter, Hitler blamed the November Revolution of 1918 for the state of Germany at the time, and further stated that the “real” organizers of the Revolution were international Jews, while also setting the stage for his plans for the S.A. The further the chapter goes, the more in-depth Hitler got, and notably the more he had to blame on Jews.
In Chapter 10, Hitler discussed Federalism. Specifically, he discussed how German Federalism at the time was a tactic used by the Jews to divide and further weaken Germany. A noteworthy moment in this chapter was the possible influence of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Throughout this chapter, Hitler painted the Jews as sly and “slick”, saying “the slickness of Jews divided public attention away from themselves…” Similar to the Protocols, where the Jews were essentially painted as an elite group of evil elders scheming to ruin the world, Hitler painted the Jews as clever and sly, using politics to divide Germany and push their own agenda.
From a political science perspective, it was very interesting seeing how Hitler’s nationalistic ideology influenced his ideas, and furthermore, how nationalism was taken to extremes in his plans. Overall, although it was interesting reading his ideas in a certain way, it was also disheartening knowing what history had in store after this book was published. Knowing the horrors that were soon to come after this book made his writing and his plans much more disturbing.