Page:Observations On The Collapse Of The Hitler Regime In Germany And The Weak Points Of The Stalin Regime In The Soviet Union.pdf/2

 Hitler's road to power was paved by promises, all of which risked the danger of future mar. Nevertheless, many of the German people were taken in by those promises because, being in a wretched position, they were not able to realize that danger, much less to weigh its consequences. Those promises were the following: Hitler's continuing in power depended decisively on his success in fulfilling his promises through a victorious war. Although Germany was not at all able to wage a successful war against all the rest of the world, Hitler unleashed that war. Many of my friends shared with me the conviction that Hitler had already doomed his and Germany's fate when, on September 1, 1939, he gave the order to invade Poland. The opinion was shared by one of my British friends who told me on the eve of the outbreak of World War II, "In the beginning the Germans will have a tremendous success, but eventually we will win the mar."
 * 1) Hitler promised the German people that he would abolish unemployment once and for all. He never could have solved this problem by constructive means, such as increasing German export, because his general policy, and especially his attitude toward the Jews, excluded every possibility of sound economic relations based on mutual confidence with the rest of the world. Hitler, therefore, decided to fulfill this promise by establishing an enormous rearmament program, which became the basis for war.
 * 2) Hitler's promise that he would regain for Germany both international equality of rights and her former position in the world resulted in measures which violated the Versailles Treaty and, therefore, made an armed conflict with the Western Powers inevitable.
 * 3) Hitler contended that the German people needed additional living space in the East in order to secure their existence. He promised the German people that he would provide them with this . The result of this promise was his attack against the Soviet Union in June 1941.

But Hitler held a different opinion, because he entirely judged the material, and psychological advantages which enabled the Allies to win the war. Hitler, who had never been abroad, had no comprehension whatsoever of other nations' mentalities. Faith in his own infallibility and wishful thinking completely dominated his thinking and actions. Therefore, his military and political advisers failed completely in their efforts to change his mind. The fate of those who dared repeatedly to try to influence him is well known. He labeled RS defeatism every objective representation of actual military, economic and mental situation on the opposite side. He had no understanding of psychological warfare. For example, he did not avail himself of the Russian general VLASOV who could have facilitated his war against the Soviet Union. He completely failed to understand the disastrous consequences that would result from his treatment of prisoners of war and from the attitude of German administration officials