General Karl Haushofer

General Karl Ernst Haushofer (August 27, 1869, Munich - March 13, 1946, Pähl) was a German geopolitician. Through his student Rudolf Heß, Haushofer's ideas may have influenced the development of Adolf Hitler's expansionist strategies, although Haushofer denied direct influence on the Nazi regime. Image File history File links General Karl Haushofer. ... Image File history File links General Karl Haushofer. ... Births 1407 - Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (d. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Munich and the Bavarian Alps Munich (German: München, (pronounced listen) is the largest city and capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Geopolitics analyses politics, history and social science with reference to geography. ... Rudolf Hess Not be confused with Rudolf Hoess (Höß in German) Walter Richard Rudolf Hess (Heß in German) (April 26, 1894 – August 17, 1987) was a prominent figure in Nazi Germany as Adolf Hitlers deputy in the Nazi Party. ... (help· info) (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer (Leader) of Germany from 1934 until his death. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

Biography

Karl Haushofer belonged to a family of artists and scholars. He was born to Max Haushofer, a professor of economics, and Frau Adele Haushofer (née Fraas). On his graduation from the Munich Gymnasium (high school), Haushofer contemplated an academic career. However, service with the Bavarian army proved so interesting that he stayed to work, with great success, as an instructor in military academies and on the general staff. The French word née (feminine) or né (masculine) (or the English word nee) is still commonly used in some newspapers when mentioning the maiden name of a woman in engagement or wedding announcements. ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ...

In 1887, he entered the 1st Field Artillery regiment "Prinzregent Luitpold" and completed Bavarian war school (Kriegsschule), artillery academy (Artillerieschule), and Bavarian war academy (Kriegsakademie). In 1896, he marries Martha Mayer Doss.

Haushofer continued his career as a professional soldier, serving in the army of Imperial Germany, and rising through the Staff Corp by 1899. In 1903 he begins teaching at the Bavarian Kriegsakademie. This article or section should include material from German Monarchy The term German Empire (the translation from German of Deutsches Reich) commonly refers to Germany, from its consolidation as a unified nation-state on January 18, 1871, until the abdication of Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918. ...

In 1908 the army sent him to Tokyo to study the Japanese army and to advise it as an artillery instructor. The assignment changed the course of his life and marked the beginning of his love affair with the Orient. During the next four years he traveled extensively in the Far East, adding Korean, Japanese, and Chinese to his repertoire of Russian, French, and English languages. Karl Haushofer had been a devout student of Schopenhauer, and during his stay in the Far East he was introduced to Oriental esoteric teachings. He became proficient enough to translate several Hindu and Buddhist texts, and became an authority in Oriental mysticism. Some authors even believe that he was the leader of a secret community of Initiates in a current of satanism through which he sought to raise Germany to world power, though these occult connections have been denied. Haushofer toured the Far East, learning of Eastern philosophy and political ideology. These countries included India, Tibet, and Japan. Of particular interest to him was a long extinct Aryan tribe, which had settled in the Irano-Indian area. Haushofer also stoked interest among other Nazi leaders, such as Heinrich Himmler, in Japanese ideologies. Himmler would eventually come to consider the SS as the German version of the Japanese Samurai. It is postulated that Haushofer may have developed racial ideas of superiority from the old Hindu caste systems from his time in the region. Far East is an inexact term often used for East Asia and Southeast Asia combined, sometimes including also the easternmost territories of Russia, i. ... The usefulness of dividing philosophy into Western philosophy and other philosophies is open to challenge, not the least for speaking down to those other philosophies. ... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... This article is on historic Tibet. ... Aryan is an English word derived from the Indian Vedic Sanskrit and Iranian Avestan terms ari-, arya-, ārya-, and/or the extended form aryāna-. The Sanskrit and Old Persian languages both pronounced the word as arya-. Beyond its use as the ethnic self-designation of the Proto-Indo-Iranians... Motto: Persian: Esteqlāl, āzādÄ«, jomhÅ«rÄ«-ye eslāmÄ« (English: Independence, freedom, the Islamic Republic) Anthem: SorÅ«d-e MellÄ«-e Īrān Capital Tehran Largest city Tehran Official language(s) Persian Government Supreme Leader President Islamic republic Ali Khamenei Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Revolution Declared Overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi... (help· info) (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... The infamous double-sig rune SS insignia. ... Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. ... The word Caste is derived from the Portuguese word casta, meaning lineage, breed or race. ...

From 1911-1913 Haushofer would work on his doctorate of philosophy from Munich University for a thesis on Japan, Dai Nihon, Betrachtungen über Groß-Japans Wehrkraft, Weltstellung und Zukunft. By World War I he had attained the rank of general, and commanded a brigade on the western front. He became disillusioned after Germany's loss and had severe sanctioning, retiring with the rank of Major General in 1919. Haushofer, like some other prominent Germans, attributed Germany's loss to the betrayal of communists and Jews. At this time, he forged a friendship with the young Rudolf Hess. ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... General is a high military rank, used by nearly every country in the world. ... This article is about communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, and as a popular movement. ... Rudolf Hess Not be confused with Rudolf Hoess (Höß in German) Walter Richard Rudolf Hess (Heß in German) (April 26, 1894 – August 17, 1987) was a prominent figure in Nazi Germany as Adolf Hitlers deputy in the Nazi Party. ...

Haushofer entered academia with the aim of restoring and regenerating Germany. Haushofer believed the Germans' lack of geographical knowledge and geopolitical awareness to be a major cause of Germany’s defeat in World War I, as Germany had found itself with a poor alignment of allies and enemies. The fields of political and geographical science thus became his areas of specialty. At the age of 45, Haushofer would receive his doctorate in political geography. Political geography is the scientific study of power relations in space and space implications on them. ...

Haushofer was a great admirer of Japanese culture, and when he committed suicide in 1946, he did so in the traditional Japanese manner. Prior to and during WWII he had extensive interaction with the Japanese and influenced their biological warfare development. Haushofer had been military attaché in Japan in 1909 and 1910. During his multiple visits to Japan, Haushofer made the acquaintance of Japanese politicians and may have helped to create the German–Japanese alliance during the war. After Hitler came to power in 1933, Professor Haushofer was instrumental in developing Germany's alliance with Japan. Most of the meetings between high ranking Japanese officials and Nazi leaders took place in Haushofer's home near Munich. He saw Japan as the brother nation to Germany. Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Seppuku with ritual attire and second (staged) General Akashi Gidayu preparing to commit Seppuku after losing a battle for his master in 1582. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead:17 million Civilian dead:33 million Total dead:50 million Military dead:8 million Civilian dead:4 million Total dead:12 million World War II... Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of any organism (bacteria, virus or other disease-causing organism) or toxin found in nature, as a weapon of war. ...

Upon his return, Haushofer started serving as a professor of geography in Munich University in 1921, gaining international recognition among academia and intellectuals. Adolf Hitler and Rudolph Hess relied on Haushofer's international contacts to legitimize Nazi ideologies and philisophies. With approximately 48,000 students, the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (German: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München or LMU) is one of the largest universities in Germany. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

It is also believed that he belonged to the esoteric circle of George Gurdjieff. However the author, Lewis Pauwels of the book "Monsieur Gurdjieff" where this "fact" originates, later recanted many things from his book. Others claim that he was a secret member of the Thule Society. Some authors have linked Haushofer's name with another esoteric group, the Vril Society, or Luminous Lodge, a secret society of occultists in pre-Nazi Berlin. Before the war Professor Haushofer and his son Albrecht allegedly maintained close contacts with British members of the Golden Dawn. Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff (January 13, 1872 - October 29, 1949), the Greek-Armenian mystic and teacher of dancing born in Alexandropol, Armenia (then of the Russian Empire, now Gyumri, Armenia), traveled to many parts of the world (i. ... Thule Society emblem The Thule Society (German: Thule-Gesellschaft) was founded August 17, 1918, by Rudolf von Sebottendorff, a leading Occult author. ... Vril is a word from a science-fiction novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton titled Vril: The Power of the Coming Race. ... Vril is a word from a science-fiction novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton titled Vril: The Power of the Coming Race. ... Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, in Egyptian costume, performs a ritual of Isis (not a Rite of the Golden Dawn). ...

Haushofer's son, Albrecht (1903-1945), was indicted in the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler and subsequently was killed by the Nazis in the Moabit prison in Berlin. Haushofer was interrogated by Father Edmund A. Walsh on behalf of the Allied forces to determine if he would need to stand trial at Nuremburg for war crimes. However, Haushofer was determined by Walsh not to have committed war crimes. On March 13, 1946, Haushofer and his wife committed suicide together by drinking poison (Haushofer would take the additional step of performing seppuku). Albrecht Haushofer was a German geopolitician and professor of political geography in Berlin, author of tragedies in verse, and representative of conservative resistance in Germany during World War II. Born in 1903, he was the son of Karl Haushofer, the German geopolitical theoretician, whose student, Rudolf Hess, was Hitlers... (help· info) is the capital city and a state of Germany. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Seppuku with ritual attire and second (staged) General Akashi Gidayu preparing to commit Seppuku after losing a battle for his master in 1582. ...

Geopolitik

Main article: Geopolitik

Haushofer developed Geopolitik from widely varied sources, including the writings of Oswald Spengler, Alexander Humboldt, Karl Ritter, Friedrich Ratzel, Rudolf Kjellén, and Halford J. Mackinder. Geopolitik is the German branch of Geopolitics. ... Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (Blankenburg am Harz May 29, 1880 – May 8, 1936, Munich) was a German historian and philosopher, although his studies ranged throughout mathematics, science, philosophy, history, and art. ... Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, Baron von Humboldt, (September 14, 1769, Berlin–May 6, 1859, Berlin), was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt. ... Carl Ritter (in German: Karl Ritter) (August 7, 1779, Quedlinburg – September 28, 1859, Berlin) was, along with his fellow German Alexander von Humboldt, one of the founders of modern geography (and of the Berlin Geographical Society). ... Friedrich Ratzels photograph from the University of Leipzig Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844, Karlsruhe, Baden – August 9, 1904, Ammerland) was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for coining the term Lebensraum (living space). // Ratzels Life Ratzels father was the head of the household staff of the Grand... Johan Rudolf Kjellén Johan Rudolf Kjellén (13 June 1864, Torsö – 14 November 1922, Uppsala) was a Swedish political scientist and politician who first coined the term geopolitics. His work was influenced by Friedrich Ratzel. ... Halford John Mackinder Sir Halford John Mackinder PC (February 15, 1861 - March 6, 1947), was an English geographer. ...

Geopolitik contributed to Nazi foreign policy chiefly in the strategy and justifications for lebensraum. The theories contributed five ideas to German foreign policy in the interwar period: the organic state; lebensraum; autarky; pan-regions; and the land power/sea power dichotomy. Lebensraum (German for living space) is a German term that is used in English to refer to a motivation for Nazi Germanys expansionist policies, to provide extra space for the growth of the German population. ... The Interwar period was the time between World War I and World War II, ergo the 1920s and 1930s. ... An autarky is an economy that does no trade with the outside world, or an ecosystem not affected by influences from its outside, and relies entirely on its own resources. ... Naval warfare is combat in and on seas and oceans. ... A dichotomy is a division into two non-overlapping or mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive parts. ...

Geostrategy as a political science is both descriptive and analytical like Political Geography, but adds a normative element in its strategic prescriptions for national policy.¹ While some of Haushofer's ideas stem from earlier American and British geostrategy, German geopolitik adopted an essentialist outlook toward the national interest, oversimplifying issues and representing itself as a panacea.² As a new and essentialist ideology, geopolitik found itself in a position to prey upon the post-WWI insecurity of the populace.³ Political science is a social science discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. ... In philosophy, normative is usually contrasted with descriptive or explanatory when describing types of theories, beliefs, or statements. ... In Greek mythology, Panaceia, or Πανάκεια (Latin Panacea), was the goddess of healing. ... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... Flag of Weimar Republic, 1919–1933 This article outlines political events from 1918 until the collapse of the Republic in 1933. ...

In 1919, Haushofer would become professor of geography at the University of Munich. This would serve as a platform for the spread of his geopolitical ideas, magazine articles, and books. In 1922 he founded the Institute of Geopolitics in Munich, from which he proceeded to publicize geopolitical ideas. By 1924, as the leader of the German geopolitik school of thought, Haushofer would establish the Zeitschrift für Geopolitik monthly devoted to geopolitik. His ideas would reach a wider audience with the publication of Volk ohne Raum by Hans Grimm in 1926, popularizing his concept of lebensraum.⁴ Haushofer exercised influence both through his academic teachings, urging his students to think in terms of continents and emphasizing motion in international politics, and through his political activities.⁵ While Hitler's speeches would attract the masses, Haushofer's works served to bring the remaining intellectuals into the fold.⁶ With approximately 48,000 students, the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (German: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München or LMU) is one of the largest universities in Germany. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... International relations (IR) is an academic and public policy field, a branch of political science, dealing with the foreign policy of states within the international system, including the roles of international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs). ... An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, or speculate on a variety of different ideas. ...

Geopolitik was in essence a consolidation and codification of older ideas, given a scientific gloss:

• Lebensraum was a revised colonial imperialism;
• Autarky a new expression of tariff protectionism;
• Strategic control of key geographic territories exhibiting the same thought behind earlier designs on the Suez and Panama canals; and
• Pan-regions (Panideen) based upon the British Empire, and the American Monroe Doctrine, Pan-American Union and hemispheric defense.⁷

The key reorientation in each dyad is that the focus is on land-based empire rather than naval imperialism. A tariff is a tax on imported goods. ... Protectionism is the economic policy of protecting a nations manufacturing base from the effects of foreign competition (such as including Dumping) by means of high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and other means of reducing importation. ... 1881 drawing of the Suez Canal. ... A canal tug, making its way down to the Caribbean end of the canal, waits to be joined by a ship in the uppermost chamber of the Gatun Locks. ... The British Empire was, at one time, the foremost global power, and the most extensive empire in the history of the world. ... U.S. President James Monroe. ... The Organization of American States (OAS; OEA in the other three official languages) is an international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA. Its members are the 35 independent nations of the Americas. ... Etymology: Late Latin dyad-, dyas, from Greek, from dyo The word dyad has a number of uses: A dyad (general) pair, consisting of two parts. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Ostensibly based upon the geopolitical theory of American naval officer Alfred Thayer Mahan, and British geographer Halford J. Mackinder, German geopolitik adds older German ideas. Enunciated most forcefully by Friedrich Ratzel and his Swedish student Rudolf Kjellén, they include an organic or anthropomorphized conception of the state, and the need for self-sufficiency through the top-down organization of society.⁸ The root of uniquely German geopolitik rests in the writings of Karl Ritter who first developed the organic conception of the state that would later be elaborated upon by Ratzel and accepted by Hausfhofer. He justified lebensraum, even at the cost of other nations' existence because conquest was a biological necessity for a state's growth.⁹ The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations around the globe. ... Alfred Thayer Mahan Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (27 September 1840 - 1 December 1914) was a United States Navy officer, geostrategist, and educator, widely considered the worlds foremost theorist of military sea power. ... Halford John Mackinder Sir Halford John Mackinder PC (February 15, 1861 - March 6, 1947), was an English geographer. ... This dog has been dressed in human accessories for humorous effect. ...

Ratzel's writings coincided with the growth of German industrialism after the Franco-Prussian war and the subsequent search for markets that brought it into competition with Britain. His writings served as welcome justification for imperial expansion.¹⁰ Influenced by Mahan, Ratzel wrote of aspirations for German naval reach, agreeing that sea power was self-sustaining, as the profit from trade would pay for the merchant marine, unlike land power.¹¹ Haushofer was exposed to Ratzel, who was friends with Haushofer's father, a teacher of economic geography,¹² and would integrate Ratzel's ideas on the division between sea and land powers into his theories, saying that only a country with both could overcome this conflict.¹³ The Second Industrial Revolution (1871-1914) involved significant developments for society and the world. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Economic geography is the study of the widely varying economic conditions across the earth. ...

Haushofer's geopolitik expands upon that of Ratzel and Kjellén. While the latter two conceive of geopolitik as the state as an organism in space put to the service of a leader, Haushofer's Munich school specifically studies geography as it relates to war and designs for empire.¹⁴ The behavioral rules of previous geopoliticians were thus turned into dynamic normative doctrines for action on lebensraum and world power.¹⁵ The only atomic weapons ever used in war - the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan by the United States on August 9, 1945, effectively ending World War II. The bombs over Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki immediately killed over 120,000 people. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Doctrine, from Latin doctrina, (compare doctor), means a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. ...

Haushofer defined geopolitik in 1935 as "the duty to safeguard the right to the soil, to the land in the widest sense, not only the land within the frontiers of the Reich, but the right to the more extensive Volk and cultural lands."¹⁶ Culture itself was seen as the most conducive element to dynamic special expansion. It provided a guide as to the best areas for expansion, and could make expansion safe, whereas projected military or commercial power could not.¹⁷ Haushofer even held that urbanization was a symptom of a nation's decline, evidencing a decreasing soil mastery, birthrate and effectiveness of centralized rule.¹⁸ (help· info) (), is the German word for realm or empire, cognate with Scandinavian rike and Dutch rijk. ... Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) is a historical term which arose in the early 20th century to apply for Germans living outside of the German Empire. ... Commerce is the trading of something of value between two entities. ... In demography, the crude birth rate of a population is the number of childbirths per 1000 persons per year. ...

To Haushofer, the existence of a state depended on living space, the pursuit of which must serve as the basis for all policies. Germany had a high population density, whereas the old colonial powers had a much lower density, a virtual mandate for German expansion into resource-rich areas.¹⁹ Space was seen as military protection against initial assaults from hostile neighbors with long-range weaponry. A buffer zone of territories or insignificant states on one's borders would serve to protect Germany.²⁰ Closely linked to this need, was Haushofer's assertion that the existence of small states was evidence of political regression and disorder in the international system. The small states surrounding Germany ought to be brought into the vital German order.²¹ These states were seen as being too small to maintain practical autonomy, even if they maintained large colonial possessions, and would be better served by protection and organization within Germany. In Europe, he saw Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark, Switzerland, Greece and the "mutilated alliance" of Austro-Hungary as supporting his assertion.²² Mandate can mean: An obligation handed down by an inter-governmental body; see mandate (international law) The power granted by an electorate; see mandate (politics) A League of Nations mandate To some Christians, an order from God; see mandate (theology) The decision of an appeals court; see mandate (law) The... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ...

Haushofer's version of autarky was based on the quasi-Malthusian idea that the earth would become saturated with people and no longer able to provide food for all. There would essentially be no increases in productivity.²³ The Rev. ...

Haushofer and the Munich school of geopolitik would eventually expand their conception of lebensraum and autarky well past the borders of 1914 and "a place in the sun" to a New European Order, then to a New Afro-European Order, and eventually to a Eurasian Order.²⁴ This concept became known as a pan-region, taken from the American Monroe Doctrine, and the idea of national and continental self-sufficiency.²⁵ This was a forward-looking refashioning of the drive for colonies, something that geopoliticians did not see as an economic necessity, but more as a matter of prestige, and putting pressure on older colonial powers. The fundamental motivating force would not be economic, but cultural and spiritual.²⁶ Haushofer was, what is called today, a proponent of "Eurasianism", advocating a policy of German–Russian hegemony and alliance to offset an Anglo–American power structure's potentially dominating influence in Europe. Eurasia African-Eurasian aspect of Earth Eurasia is the landmass composed of Europe and Asia. ... In politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a geographically-distant state. ...

Beyond being an economic concept, pan-regions were a strategic concept as well. Haushofer acknowledges the strategic concept of the Heartland put forward by the British geopolitician Halford Mackinder.²⁷ If Germany could control Eastern Europe and subsequently Russian territory, it could control a strategic area to which hostile seapower could be denied.²⁸ Allying with Italy and Japan would further augment German strategic control of Eurasia, with those states becoming the naval arms protecting Germany's insular position.²⁹ Heartland is a most often a geopolitical term, often used to refer to a central area of Eurasia that is remote and inaccessible from the periphery. ...

Contacts with Nazi leadership

Evidence points to a disconnect between geopoliticians and the Nazi leadership, although their practical tactical goals were nearly indistinguishable.³⁰

Rudolf Hess

Rudolph Hess, Hitler's secretary who would assist in the writing of Mein Kampf, was a close student of Haushofer's. While Hess and Hitler were imprisoned after the Munich Putsch in 1923, Haushofer spent six hours visiting the two, bringing along a copy of Friedrich Ratzel's Political Geography and Clausewitz's Vom Kriege.³¹ After WWII, Haushofer would deny that he had taught Hitler, and claimed that the National Socialist party perverted Hess's study of geopolitik. He viewed Hitler as a half-educated man who never correctly understood the principles of geopolitik passed onto him by Hess, and Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop as the principal distorter of geopolitik in Hitler's mind.³² While Haushofer accompanied Hess on numerous propaganda missions, and participated in consultations between Nazis and Japanese leaders, he claimed that Hitler and the Nazis only seized upon half-developed ideas and catchwords.³³ Furthermore, the Nazi party and government lacked any official organ that was receptive to geopolitik, leading to selective adoption and poor interpretation of Haushofer's theories. Ultimately, Hess and Konstantin von Neurath, Nazi Minister of Foreign Affairs, were the only officials Haushofer would admit had a proper understanding of geopolitik.³⁴ Picture of Rudolph Hess The copyright status of this vintage image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ... Picture of Rudolph Hess The copyright status of this vintage image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ... Rudolf Hess Rudolf Hess should not be confused with the other prominent Nazi, Rudolf Höß (also spelled Höss or Hoess. ... Cover of Mein Kampf Mein Kampf (English: My Struggle or My Fight) is the fundamental political work of Adolf Hitler, combining elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitlers political ideology of Nazism. ... The Hitler Putsch (also commonly referred to in English as the Beer Hall Putsch) occurred in the evening of Thursday, November 8 to early afternoon of Friday, November 9, 1923 when the nascent Nazi partys Führer Adolf Hitler, the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, and other leaders... A young Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz (June 1, 1780 - November 16, 1831) was a Prussian general and influential military theorist. ... On War (Ger. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead:17 million Civilian dead:33 million Total dead:50 million Military dead:8 million Civilian dead:4 million Total dead:12 million World War II... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Joachim von Ribbentrop Joachim von Ribbentrop (born Joachim Ribbentrop) (April 30, 1893–October 16, 1946) was the Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany from 1938 until 1945. ... U.S. propaganda poster, depicting a Nazi stabbing a Bible. ... 1. ... Konstantin von Neurath Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath (February 2, 1873 – August 14, 1956) was a German diplomat, Foreign Minister of Germany (1932-1938) and Reichsprotektor (Governor) of Bohemia and Moravia (1939-1943). ...

Father Edmund A. Walsh S.J., professor of geopolitics and dean at Georgetown University, who interviewed Haushofer after the allied victory in preparation for the Nuremberg trials, disagreed with Haushofer's assessment that geopolitik was terribly distorted by Hitler and the Nazis.³⁵ He cites Hitler's speeches declaring that small states have no right to exist, and the Nazi use of Haushofer's maps, language and arguments. Even if distorted somewhat, Fr. Walsh felt that was enough to implicate Haushofer's geopolitik.³⁶ Father Walsh with General Douglas MacArthur in Tokyo, 1948 Edmund Aloysius Walsh S.J. (1885 - 1956) was a Jesuit professor of geopolitics and founder of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. ... The Society of Jesus (Societas Iesu (S.I. or S.J.) in Latin) is a Christian religious order of the Roman Catholic Church in direct service to the Pope. ... Geopolitics analyses politics, history and social science with reference to geography. ... In an educational setting, a dean is a person with significant authority . ... Not to be confused with the University of Georgetown in Georgetown, Guyana or Georgetown College in Georgetown, KY. Georgetown University is a private university in the United States. ... Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) was May 8, 1945, the date when the Allies during the Second World War formally celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitlers Reich. ... The Nuremberg Trials were the sets of trials of officials involved in World War II and the Holocaust during the Nazi regime. ...

Haushofer also denied assisting Hitler in writing Mein Kampf, saying that he only knew of it once it was in print, and never read it.³⁷ Fr. Walsh found that even if Haushofer did not directly assist Hitler, discernible new elements appeared in Mein Kampf, as compared to previous speeches made by Hitler. Geopolitical ideas of lebensraum, space for depth of defense, appeals for natural frontiers, balancing land and seapower, and geographic analysis of military strategy entered Hitler's thought between his imprisonment and publishing of Mein Kampf.³⁸ Chapter XIV, on German policy in Eastern Europe, in particular displays the influence of the materials Haushofer brought Hitler and Hess while they were imprisoned.³⁹ Military strategem in the Battle of Waterloo. ... Current division of Europe into five (or more) regions: one definition of Eastern Europe is marked in orange Eastern Europe as a region has several alternative definitions, whereby it can denote: the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Central Europe and Russia. ...

Haushofer was never an ardent Nazi, and did voice disagreements with the party, leading to his brief imprisonment. Haushofer came under suspicion because of his contacts with left wing socialist figures within the Nazi movement (led by Gregor Strasser) and his advocacy of essentially a German–Russian alliance. This Nazi left wing had some connections to the German Communist Party and some of its leaders, especially those who were influenced by the National Bolshevist philosophy of a German–Russian revolutionary alliance, as advocated by Niekisch, Evola, Juenger, Hielscher and other figures of the "conservative revolution." He did profess loyalty to the Führer and make anti-Semitic remarks on occasion. However, his emphasis was always on space over race, believing in geographic rather than racial determinism.⁴⁰ He refused to associate himself with anti-Semitism as a policy, especially because his wife was half-Jewish.⁴¹ Haushofer admits that after 1933 much of what he wrote was distorted under duress: his wife had to be protected by Hess's influence (who managed to have her awarded 'honorary German' status); his son was murdered by the Gestapo; he himself was imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp for eight months; and his son and grandson were imprisoned for two-and-a-half months.⁴² Gregor Strasser Gregor Strasser (May 31, 1892 - June 30, 1934) was an early leader of the German National Socialist German Workers Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP) or Nazi Party. ... Advertisement of the German Communist Party, Those who take nothing from the rich can give nothing to the poor. ... Flag of the National Bolsheviks. ... (help· info) (Fuehrer in English when umlauts are not used) is a proper noun meaning leader or guide in the German language. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... The term race distinguishes a population of humans from other populations. ... The Deaths Head emblem similar to Skull and crossbones, often used as the insignia of the Gestapo The (help· info) (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei; secret state police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... SS Chief Heinrich Himmler inspects the Dachau concentration camp (1936) The Dachau concentration camp was a Nazi concentration camp near the city of Dachau, north of Munich, in Bavaria (southern Germany). ...

Haushofer's works

• English Translation and Analysis of Major General Karl Ernst Haushofer's Geopolitics of the Pacific Ocean: Studies on the Relationship between Geography and History ISBN 0773471227
• Geopolitik des Pazifischen Ozeans. (1925)
• Bausteine zur Geopolitik. (1928)
• Weltpolitik von heute. (1934)

References

• Beukema, Col. Herman. "Introduction." The World of General Haushofer. Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., New York: 1984.
• Dorpalen, Andreas. The World of General Haushofer. Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., New York: 1984.
• Mattern, Johannes. Geopolitik: Doctrine of National Self-Sufficiency and Empire. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore: 1942.
• Walsh, S.J., Edmund A. Total Power: A Footnote to History. Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York: 1949.

Notes

Further reading

• Dorpalen, Andreas.World of General Haushofer: Geopolitics in Action, 1942, ISBN 0804601127
• Heske, Henning: Karl Haushofer: his role in German politics and in Nazi politics. In: Political Geography 6 (1987), p. 135-144.
• Who's Who in Nazi Germany, by Wiederfield and Nicolsa, Haushofer entry
• Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the postwar fascist international by Kevin Coogan, Autonomedia, Brooklyn, NY 1998 ISBN 1570270392
• Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 edited by Philip Rees, 1991, ISBN 0130893013
• Tuathail, Gearoid, etal. (1998). The Geopolitics Reader, New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415162718.

External links

• Deutsche Historische Museum of Berlin: Lebendiges virtuelles Museum Online: Biography: Karl Haushofer (Retrieved 25 July 2005)
• Encyclopædia Britannica entry
• Karl Haushofer: The Father of Geopolitik by Radbod (Retrieved 25 July 2005)
• The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition entry on Karl Haushofer
• "The Last Secrets of the Axis", The History Channel
• Geopolitics, the United States, the Eurasian Continental Bloc, and China by Bertil Haggman
• The Haushofer Connection chapter two of The Swastika and the Nazis by Servando González
• Humanitas International Haushofer entry