MovieChat Forums > Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) Discussion > Why didn't Hitler just enjoy German's pr...

Why didn't Hitler just enjoy German's prosperity without starting a war?


Why didn't Hitler just enjoy the riches of Germany's new prosperity and let his people enjoy it too, and live happily ever after, without starting any wars? Wouldn't that have made more sense?

Then he could marry Eva Braun, or just have many German mistresses, and raise a family and live happily ever after, while the German people enjoyed their prosperity. Why didn't it turn out that way?

This poster on IMDB raised a good question too.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025913/board/flat/175402986?p=1

Imagine if Hitler had waited 10 to 15 years before invading poland. Imagine how powerful they would have been. The Hitler youth would have been some super brainwashed soldiers for sure. And there's no telling what super technologies they would have that would have easily surpassed every other countries. Such a waste and a shame that Hitler helped create such promise but destroyed Germany and millions of people in the process.




http://www.happierabroad.com - The Overseas Solution to Datelessness in America

reply

It's debatable but his people were being massacred in Danzig. In order to save them he invaded Poland. Before he reached Warsaw he sued for negotiations. Dropped fliers over the city urging talks. He was ignored , the Polish had made a deal with the British and French.

Hitler made a deal with Stalin. To cover his rear. Stalin took half of Poland too. The French and British declared war on Germany but ignored the butchery of Stalin despite being sworn to defend Poland. This is because the wanted a war with Germany.

War was going to happen. It was inevitable. Though I see perfectly where you are coming from, things were booming for the Germans.

Why risk it?

Hitler didn't want to. He sued for peace continually with France and Britain but a warmongering belligerent Churchill ignored him continually.

Hitler invaded Russia because it was better to take the fight to them than wait for Russia to let everyone kill each other then wade in and sowed their borders all over Europe.

reply

I am astonished that such Neo-Nazi distortions of History have not already been addressed so I will rectify that omission now.

Hitler was actually largely uninterested in the day to day business of politics . His two motivations for entering the political arena were to make Germany a "Great Power" once more , meaning a major military power, with a greatly expanded empire ,and his rabid Anti-Semitism .

The former meant that he had always planned for aggressive war to regain the territories lost after World War One and to acquire vast tracts of Eastern Europe as "Living-Space" for German colonists, having, of course, enslaved or exterminated the Slavic and Jewish etc populations of the region. Given this viewpoint, he was committed to war from the very start of his career and so to live in peace with Germany's neighbours would have been, to him, quite impossible, indeed inconceivable .He was even prepared to forge a temporary alliance with his fellow despot Stalin, in order to avoid fighting a dangerous enemy until he was ready to do so . Peace was only ever temporary with Hitler. He could never be trusted to adhere to any treaty he agreed to. That is why he was the most dangerous leader who ever lived. Danzig is an excellent example of my point. That situation could easily have been addressed by diplomacy , but Hitler had not the slightest interest in doing so.

The above poster is utterly wrong in thinking that Britain and France were the belligerents. Hitler was determined to attack France and retake the region of Alsace-Lorraine, which had been ceded to the latter ,at the earliest possible opportunity . Had he done so , and France had been defeated, Britain would have been left alone and vulnerable as Germany dominated Continental Europe. Both Britain and France were so desperate to avoid war that they continued to appease Hitler until Nazi Germany was almost too powerful to be defeated. As for ignoring Stalin , it would have been quite impossible for the Western European powers to have fought both Germany and the Soviet Union. I suggest that you look at a map of Europe , even in logistical terms, how could they have prevented Poland's two powerful neighbours from carving the country up between them ?

Gordon P. Clarkson

reply

[deleted]

Churchill was to blame for war. probably the most evil man of the last 1000 years

reply

Laughable.

Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.

reply

"Churchill was to blame for war. probably the most evil man of the last 1000 years"

Interesting...details?

reply

"....his people were being massacred in Danzig"

Evidence?

reply

Because Hitler wasn't after power to live a life of luxury. His whole reason was to avenge Germany's defeat in the first world war it was an obsession of his. And simply waiting to attack Poland wasn't going to cut it. Hitler gave secret speeches to his generals about why he wanted to attack right away. For starters the war was not vacuum - the allies were building their armies too and they had more resources then Germany Hitler wanted to get the war going before they got too strong. The other important reason was that Hitler believed only he was daring enough to start a war and that if he died or something happened to him the others wouldn't have the courage to go to war. He was most certainly right as no one else wanted war. Aside from the allies getting stronger he also thought he might be dying and was worried he was going to get cancer - the war had to be fought while he was still healthy.

reply

Germany was going bankrupt due to Nazi economic policies.

reply

I hate the Nazis but stifling reparation payments was not a Nazi economic policy.

reply

The policies they pursued after reparations were driving them bankrupt.

reply

Although things were better than a decade earlier Germany was still struggling greatly with the reparations it agreed to pay the Allies of WWI. Also, as said prior here Hitler could not let go of the stinging loss of WWI. Great Britain and France were completely inflexible as to amending the terms of general surrender or reparations. The stock market crash of 1929 and the resulting Great Depression guaranteed that peace with Germany would come to an end. Had the English and French been willing to modify terms with Germany I doubt Hitler would have come to power during the 1930's. Kind of baffling in some respects with England as their losses were minimal when compared with France, Belgium, and Holland. But England was bent on ruling the roost in Europe without regard as to what was going on in the world during the 20th Century.

reply