Adolf Hitler Quotes
It is the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe, but it is a claim from which I will not recede and which, God willing, I will make good.
Hitler, Adolf. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939. Edited by Norman H. Baynes, vol. 2, Oxford University Press, 1942, p. 1511.
Giving his analysis of the start of World War I:
The "Rhenish Republic" only lasted for a few days. Although if the Allies had allowed the Rhinelanders to separate, the Prussians who would also form the backbone of the German military in WWII would have been very weakened, only France was very worried about future German aggression. However the French were more motivated by their desire to obtain the money reparations that Germany was required to pay. If Germany had split up into separate independent states which many Germans favored, then the French worried that they would have much more trouble collecting their reparations in the future as the Rhinelanders and other German subgroups really blamed the Prussians for the German aggression and might not feel responsible to make payments. Therefore the Allies did not insist on the separation and the Prussians and many of the right wing were absolutely opposed to it. Interestingly, Konrad Adenauer, then the Chief Bürgermeister of Cologne and later to be the First President of Post WWII West Germany was an enthusiast for the general German separation and the Rhineland Movement in particular of which he was one of the leaders.
He was referring to President Jefferson’s inclination to send the military against the Barbary Pirates. They had an incredible extortion racket going in the Mediterranean. If nations would pay them an annual sum each year, they would not attack and seize merchant ships of that country and sell the ships and goods while holding the sailors for ransom. Note that Congress was not very well respected at that time which Jay and most leaders did not think was a good thing, much like in the 21st century.
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming Chancellor in 1933 and then assuming the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. During his dictatorship from 1933 to 1945, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about 6 million Jews and millions of other victims.
