US image in Hitler's texts during the Weimar republic

This paper aims at reconstructing the image of the United States by interpreting the writing produced by Adolf Hitler from the beginning of his political career after World War I and up to his appointment as chancellor of the German Reich (1919-1933). Within the scope of the study are the role of subjective and objective factors that influenced how Hitler perceived the United States; the connections between Fuhrefs notions of the USA and Nazi ideology; the similarities and differences between Hitler’s image of the US and that of his contemporaries during the Weimar Republic. The study draws on books, articles, speeches and notes by Hitler, that were published with scientific commentary in the Federal Republic of Germany, primarily by the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich, in the 1980s-2010s. At the beginning of his political career, Hitler had a vague notion of the United States. Young Hitler learned about the US mostly from adventure stories by Karl May, which were highly popular in Germany. Intrinsically fictitious, May’s novels depicted far-fetched America. Hitler also came to know the United States through conversations with Germans that had visited that country or had lived there for a long time. Apart from the stereotypes shared by many Germans, Hitler’s perception of the United States was determined by the official propaganda during the World War, when the government encouraged opinion leaders to criticize the materialistic Anglo-American civilization, opposing it to the romantic, idealistic and heroic German civilization. Jews were viewed as the main agents of influence of the US, and so anti-Americanism naturally blended with antisemitism. Deeming the United States the “absolute enemy” of Germany, Hitler, however, admired certain aspects of the American way. He likened the American president to the Kaiser and noted that both Germany and the United Stated were essentially monarchies. He praised the US immigration law that denied people with health issues entry to the country and precluded access to citizenship for non-Europeans. Such “sensible” policy supposedly paved the way for American advances in economy and technology. Hitler believed that “Nordic” migrants were the bearers of the “superior culture” and the elites, whose achievements determined the success of the American people. Besides, he witnessed the spread of American cars in Europe. The author concludes that Hitler had mixed feelings about the United Stated due to the contradictory attitude that the Weimar Republic displayed towards that country: enthusiastic, yet ideologically antagonistic. In line with the main doctrine, Hitler regarded the world history as that of fight and bitter rivalry between races for “Lebensraum”, thus limiting his own perception of the United States. Hitler’s US image, fusing fascination with “Nordic” and scorn for “Jewish” America, was far from accurate. In essence, the United States lied at the periphery of his world scheme of things.

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