Interprétations de la politique étrangère de Hitler : une analyse de l'historiographie

Compares West German approaches to the historiography of Nazi foreign policy with those current in the USA, Britain, and France. Analyzes the place given to Hitler's racist and imperialist ideology. Conservative German historians of the 1950s portrayed Hitler as a demonic figure, blaming him for Nazi crimes while justifying other aspects of Nazi foreign policy. Ch. 7 (pp. 83-103) focuses on those who believe that Hitler's intentions determined his foreign policy, driven by racism and the call for "Lebensraum". Hillgruber showed how the Third Reich followed the program laid down by Hitler in the 1920s. Surveys Marxist theory and the "totalitarian theory" of Nazism which viewed antisemitism as a deflection of the masses' resentment and the recent theory of "polycracy" (structuralism). Its proponents, such as Broszat and Mommsen show a Hitler only superficially in control while rival power centers compete to influence progressively radical decisions. The last part of the book consists of a case study of the invasion of Poland in 1939 as seen by the various schools. Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-211) and index. 217 pages ; 25 cm.