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Mein Kampf

[mahyn kahmpf]

Mein Kampf (English: My Struggle/My Battle) is a book by Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's National Socialist political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and volume 2 in 1926.

Popularity and history during Hitler's lifetime

Following the failed Beer Hall Putsch, Adolf Hitler went into hiding. However, he was arrested on November 11, 1923, was remanded and, after a 24-day trial, found guilty of high treason and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. Presiding Judge Neithhardt was convinced that Hitler and the other members of the Kampfbund had acted honourably, and Hitler was therefore eligible for parole in nine months and also to be given the privilege of Festungshaft (imprisonment without penal labor). This permitted Hitler a steady flow of visitors and a desk in his cell.

Hitler was allocated Cell No. 9 of the Landsberg Prison fortress. A subsequent trial pertaining to the putsch saw Hitler's chauffeur Emil Maurice and close associate Rudolf Hess imprisoned for five years, though they too would be eligible for release in nine months. During this time in prison, Hitler underwent something of an epiphany with regards to his use of violence: from now on everything was to be ostensibly legal.

Having chosen this new move, Hitler felt that he needed to make sure that the public knew what he stood for, so began to dictate a book to Hess and Maurice, part autobiography but also a political treatise. While imprisoned, Hitler's first, often overlooked, work was released, a small 24-page self-written booklet entitled "What Happened On November 8?" aimed at clearing up confusion and rumour amidst both the party ranks and presumably some members of the public.

A poster shows that Hitler originally wanted to call his forthcoming book "Viereinhalb Jahre [des Kampfes] gegen Lüge, Dummheit und Feigheit" (Four and a Half Years [of Fighting] Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice). Max Amman, Hitler's publisher, is said to have suggested the much shorter "Mein Kampf" (often translated as "My Struggle", or "My Campaign"; its meaning could also be conveyed as "My Fight").

Though Hitler had received many visitors earlier on, he soon devoted himself entirely to the writing (or rather the dictation) of the book. As Hitler continued, he realized that it would have to be a two-volume work, with the first volume scheduled for release in early 1925. The prison governor of Landsberg noted at the time that "he [Hitler] hopes the book will run into many editions, thus enabling him to fulfill his financial obligations and to defray the expenses incurred at the time of his trial".

Once released from prison on December 20, 1924, Hitler moved back to the picturesque mountainous climes of the Obersalzberg, to which he had been introduced by his mentor Dietrich Eckart, who had been at Landsberg with Hitler for a few weeks (imprisoned for eighteen months for his role in the putsch) before his health failed and he was released. By day, Hitler dictated his second volume of Mein Kampf to Eckart before sleeping, first at a room in the nearby Hotel Pension Moritz and later a rented cottage just a stone's throw away from Haus Wachenfeld, over which he would later construct his Berghof as chancellor of Germany.

On July 15, 1925, Franz Eher Nachfolger, later to become the publishing house of the NSDAP, released Mein Kampf: Eine Abrechnung ("A Reckoning") at a run of a mere 500 copies. Though by no means popular, people were said to have contacted Eher asking for a larger run, which resulted in the publication of a second edition of the first volume in mid-1926. The second volume, Die Nationalsozialistische Bewegung (The National Socialist Movement) was released in December 1926.

While Hitler was in power (1933–1945), Mein Kampf came to be available in three common editions. The first, the Volksausgabe (People's Edition), featured the original cover on the dust jacket and was navy blue underneath with a gold swastika eagle embossed on the cover. The Hochzeitsausgabe (Wedding Edition), in a slipcase with the seal of the province embossed in gold onto a parchment-like cover was given free to marrying couples. In 1940, the Tornister-Ausgabe was released. This edition was a compact, but unabridged, version in a red cover and was released by the post office for parents and partners to send to loved ones at the front. These three editions contained both volumes one and two in the same book.

There was also a special edition published in 1939 in honour of Hitler's 50th birthday. This edition was known as the Jubiläumsausgabe (Anniversary Issue). It came in both dark blue and bright red boards with a gold sword on the cover. This work contained both volumes one and two. It was considered a deluxe version relative to the smaller and more common Volksausgabe.

The book could also be purchased as a two volume set during Hitler's time in power and was available in softcover and hardcover. The soft cover edition contained the original cover (as pictured at the top of this article). The hardcover edition had a leather spine with cloth covered boards. The cover and spine contained an image of three brown oak leaves.

The arrangement of chapters is as follows:

Introduction
Volume I: A Reckoning

Chapter 1: In the House of My Parents
Chapter 2: Years of Study and Suffering in Vienna
Chapter 3: General Political Considerations Based on My Vienna Period
Chapter 4: Munich
Chapter 5: The World War
Chapter 6: War Propaganda
Chapter 7: The Revolution
Chapter 8: The Beginning of My Political Activity
Chapter 9: The 'German Workers' Party'
Chapter 10: Causes of the Collapse
Chapter 11: Nation and Race
Chapter 12: The First Period of Development of the German National Socialist Labour Party

Volume II: The National Socialist Movement

Chapter 1: Philosophy and Party
Chapter 2: The State
Chapter 3: Subjects and Citizens
Chapter 4: Personality and the Conception of the Folkish State
Chapter 5: Philosophy and Organisation
Chapter 6: The Struggle of the Early Period - the Significance of the Spoken Word
Chapter 7: The Struggle with the Red Front
Chapter 8: The Strong Man Is Mightiest Alone
Chapter 9: Basic Ideas Regarding the Meaning and Organisation of SA Storm Troop
Chapter 10: Federalism as a Mask
Chapter 11: Propaganda and Organisation
Chapter 12: The Trade-Union Question
Chapter 13: German Alliance Policy After the War
Chapter 14: Eastern Orientation or Eastern Policy
Chapter 15: The Right of Emergency Defense

Conclusion

Index

Analysis

The book is heavily influenced by Gustave Le Bon's 1895 The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, which theorised propaganda as an adequate rational technique to control the seemingly irrational behaviour of crowds. (See also: Nazi Propaganda.) Particularly prominent is the violent anti-Semitism of Hitler and his associates. For example, Hitler claimed that the international language Esperanto was part of a Jewish plot and makes arguments toward the old German nationalist ideas of "Drang nach Osten" and the necessity to gain Lebensraum ("living space") eastwards (especially in Russia).

In Mein Kampf, Hitler uses the main thesis of "The Jewish peril", which speaks of an alleged Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership. The narrative describes the process by which he became increasingly antisemitic and militaristic, especially during his years in Vienna, Austria. Yet the deeper origins of his antisemitism remain a mystery. He speaks of not having met a Jew until he arrived in Vienna, and that at first his attitude was liberal and tolerant. When he first encountered the anti-Semitic press, he says, he dismissed it as unworthy of serious consideration. A little later and quite suddenly, he accepted the same anti-Semitic views whole-heartedly, and they became crucial in his programme of national reconstruction. It was Zionism, which he calls a "great movement" in Mein Kampf, which he says settled his view (as theirs) that one cannot be both a German and a Jew.

Mein Kampf has also been studied as a work on political theory. For example, Hitler announces his hatred of what he believed to be the world's twin evils: Communism and Judaism. The new territory that Germany needed to obtain would properly nurture the "historic destiny" of the German people; this goal explains why Hitler invaded Europe, both East and West, before he launched his attack against Russia. Laying Germany's chief ills on the parliament of the Weimar Republic, he announces that he wants to completely destroy that type of government.

Mein Kampf has additionally been examined as a book on foreign policy. For example, Hitler predicts the stages of Germany's political emergence on the world scene: in the first stage, Germany would, through a program of massive re-armament, overthrow the shackles of the Treaty of Versailles and form alliances with the British Empire and Fascist Italy. The second stage would feature wars against France and her allies in Eastern Europe by the combined forces of Germany, Britain and Italy. The third and final stage would be a war to destroy what Hitler saw as the "Judeo-Bolshevik" regime in the Soviet Union that would give Germany the necessary Lebensraum. German historian Andreas Hillgruber labeled the plans contained in Mein Kampf as Hitler's "Stufenplan" ("stage-by-stage plan"). The term "Stufenplan" has been widely used by historians, though it must be noted that the term was Hillgruber's, not Hitler's.

Mein Kampf makes clear Hitler's racist worldview, in which humans are to be classified based on ancestry. Hitler asserts that German "Aryans" are at the top of the hierarchy while Jews, Gypsies and Negroes are consigned to the bottom of the order. Hitler goes on to say that dominated peoples benefit by learning from the superior Aryans. Hitler further claimed that the Jews were conspiring to keep this "master race" from rightfully ruling the world by diluting its racial and cultural purity and by convincing the Aryans to believe in equality rather than superiority and inferiority. He described the struggle for world domination as an ongoing racial, cultural and political battle between Aryans and non-Aryans.

In 1928, Hitler went on to write a second book in which he expanded upon these ideas and suggested that around 1980, a final struggle would take place for world domination between the United States, the combined forces of "Greater Germany" and the British Empire (read more about this sequel below).

English translation

Dugdale abridgment

The first English translation was an abridgment by Edgar Dugdale who started work on it in 1931, at the prompting of his wife Blanche. When he learned that the London publishing firm of Hurst & Blackett had secured the rights to publish an abridgment in the United Kingdom, he offered it gratis in April 1933. However, a local Nazi representative insisted that the translation be further abridged before publication, so it was held back from the public until October 13, 1933, although excerpts were allowed to run in The Times in late July.

In America, Houghton Mifflin secured the rights to the Dugdale abridgment on July 29, 1933. The only differences between the American and British versions are that the title was translated My Struggle in the UK and My Battle in America; and that Dugdale is credited as translator in the U.S. edition, while the British version withheld his name. Both Dugdales were active in the Zionist movement; Blanche was the niece of Lord Balfour, and they wished to avoid publicity.

Murphy translation

One of the first complete English translations of Mein Kampf was by James Murphy in 1939. The opening lines, It has turned out fortunate for me to-day that destiny appointed Braunau-on-the-Inn to be my birthplace, is characteristic of Hitler's sense of destiny that began to develop in the early 1920s.

The two volumes of Mein Kampf are titled as follows:
Volume I : A Retrospect (contains 12 chapters)
Volume II: The Nationalist Socialist Movement (contains 15 chapters)

Some often-cited (and yet some as-often misquoted) passages from the James Murphy translation include:

Oft-misquoted	Sooner will a camel pass through a needle's eye than a great man be `discovered' by an election.
Actual quote	There is a better chance of seeing a camel pass through the eye of a needle than of seeing a really great man 'discovered' through an election.
PDF, Volume 1, Chapter 3, Page 80, Paragraph 1, James Murphy Translation

Actual quote	The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force.
PDF, Volume 1, Chapter 3, Page 95, Paragraph 1, James Murphy Translation

Oft-misquoted	Never forget that the most sacred right on this earth is man's right to have the earth to till with his own hands, the most sacred sacrifice the blood that a man sheds for this earth.
Actual quote	Never forget that the most sacred of all rights in this world is man's right to the earth which he wishes to cultivate for himself and that the holiest of all sacrifices is that of the blood poured out for it.
PDF, Volume 2, Chapter 14, Page 539, Paragraph 2, James Murphy Translation

Oft-misquoted	Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.
Actual quote	He who would live must fight. He who does not wish to fight in this world, where permanent struggle is the law of life, has not the right to exist.
PDF, Volume 1, Chapter 11, Page 240, Paragraph 6, James Murphy Translation

Actual quote	The question whether or not a nation be desirable as an ally is not so much determined by the inert mass of arms which it has at hand but by the obvious presence of a sturdy will to national self-preservation and a heroic courage which will fight through to the last breath. For an alliance is not made between arms but between men.
PDF, Volume 1, Chapter 12, Page 277, Paragraph 4, James Murphy Translation

Oft-misquoted	Any alliance whose purpose is not the intention to wage war is senseless and useless.
Actual quote	An alliance which is not for the purpose of waging war has no meaning and no value.
PDF, Volume 2, Chapter 14, Page 536, Paragraph 2, James Murphy Translation

Actual quote	Now, a policy of alliances cannot be pursued by bearing past grievances in mind, but it can be rendered fruitful by taking account of past experiences. Experience should have taught us that alliances formed for negative purposes suffer from intrinsic weakness. The destinies of nations can be welded together only under the prospect of a common success, of common gain and conquest, in short, a common extension of power for both contracting parties.
PDF, Volume 2, Chapter 13, Page 503, Paragraph 1, James Murphy Translation

Actual quote	The adherents of our Movements must always remember this, whenever they may have misgivings lest the greatness of the sacrifices demanded of them may not be justified by the possibilities of success.
PDF, Volume 2, Chapter 15, Page 577, Paragraph 4, James Murphy Translation, which is (notably) the last paragraph of the translation.

Hurst & Blackett ceased publishing the Murphy translation in 1942 when the original plates were destroyed by German bombing.

You may download a PDF file of the full James Murphy translation of Mein Kampf.

Reynal and Hitchcock translation

Houghton and Mifflin licensed Reynal & Hitchcock the rights to publish a full unexpurgated translation in 1938. It was translated by a committee of men from the New School for Social Research and appeared on February 28, 1939.

Stackpole translation and controversy

The small Pennsylvania firm of Stackpole and Sons released its own unexpurgated translation by William Soskin on the same day as Houghton Mifflin, amid much legal wrangling. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Houghton Mifflin's favour that June and ordered Stackpole to stop selling their version, but litigation followed for a few more years until the case was finally resolved in September 1941.

Among other things, Stackpole argued that Hitler could not have legally transferred his right to a copyright in the United States to Eher Verlag in 1925, because he was not a citizen of any country. Houghton Mifflin v. Stackpole was a minor landmark in American copyright law, definitively establishing that stateless persons have the same copyright status in the United States that any other foreigner would.

In the three months that Stackpole's version was available it sold 12,000 copies.

Manheim translation

Houghton Mifflin brought out a translation by Ralph Manheim in 1943. They did this to avoid having to share their profits with Reynal & Hitchcock, and to increase sales by offering a more readable translation. The Manheim translation was first published in England by Hurst & Blackett in 1969 amid some controversy.

Selections

In addition to the above translations and abridgments the following collections of excerpts were available in English before the start of the war.

Year	Title	Translator	Publisher	# of pages
1936	Central Germany, 7 May 1936 - Confidential- A Translation of Some of the More Important Passages of Hitler's Mein Kampf (1925 edition)		British Embassy in Berlin	11
1936	Germany's Foreign Policy as Stated in Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler FOE pamphlet n.38	Duchess of Atholl	Friends of Europe
1939	Mein Kampf: An Unexpurgated Digest	B. D. Shaw	Political Digest Press of New York City	31
1939	Mein Kampf: A New Unexpurgated Translation Condensed with Critical Comments and Explanatory Notes	Notes by Sen. Alan Cranston	Noram Publishing Co. of Greenwich, Conn.	32

Sales and royalties

Sales of Dugdale abridgment in the United Kingdom.

Year	On Hand	Editions	Printed	Sold	Gross Royalties	Commission	Tax	Net Royalties
1933		1–8	19,400	18,125
1934	1,275	9–10	3,500	4,695	£7.1.2	£15.4.4		£58.5.6/ RM 715
1935	79	11–12	3,500	2,989	£74.18.6	£14	£7.3	£52.15.1/RM653
1936	590	13–16	7,000	3,633	£243.14.1	£48.14.10	£36.17.5	£158.1.1/ RM1,941
1937	2,055	17–18	7,000	8,648	£173.4	£35.6	£23.3	£114.4 /RM1424
1938*	16,442	19–22	25,500	53,738	£1037.23	£208	£193.91	£635.68 /RM 7410

In 1938, 8,000 copies were sold in the colonies.

Sales of the Houghton Mifflin Dugdale translation in America.

The first printing of the U.S. Dugdale edition, the Oct. 1933 with 7,603 copies, of which 290 were given away as complimentary gifts.

6 mon. ending	Edition	Sold
Mar. 1934	1st	5,178
Sept. 1934	1st	457
Mar. 1935	1st	242
Sept. 1935	1st	362
Mar. 1936	1st	359
Sept. 1936	1st	575
Jan. 1937	1st	140

The royalty on the first printing in the US was 15% or $3,206.45 total. Curtis Brown, literary agent, took 20%, or $641.20 total, and the IRS took $384.75, leaving Eher Verlag $2,180.37 or RM 5668.

The January 1937 second printing was c. 4000 copies.

6 mon. ending	Edition	Sold
March 1937	2nd	1170
Sept. 1937	2nd	1451
March 1938	2nd	876

There were three separate printings from August 1938 to March 1939, totalling 14,000; sales totals by March 31, 1939 were 10,345.

The Murphy and Houghton Mifflin translations were the only ones published by the authorised publishers while Hitler was still alive, and not at war with Britain and America.

There was some resistance from Eher Verlag to Hurst and Blackton's Murphy translation, as they had not been granted the rights to a full translation. However, they allowed it de facto permission by not lodging a formal protest, and on May 5, 1939, even inquired about royalties. The British publishers responded on the 12th that the information they requested was "not yet available" and the point would be moot within a few months, on September 3, 1939, when all royalties were halted due to the state of war existing between Britain and Germany.

Royalties were likewise held up in the United States due to the litigation between Houghton Mifflin and Stackpole. Because the matter was only settled in September 1941, only a few months before a state of war existed between Germany and the U.S., all Eher Verlag ever got was a $2500 advance from Reynal and Hitchcock. It got none from the unauthorised Stackpole edition or the 1943 Manheim edition.

Popularity

From the royalties, Hitler was able to afford a Mercedes while still being imprisoned. Moreover, he accumulated a tax debt of 405,500 Reichsmark (8 million USD today, or £4m UK Pounds Sterling) from the sale of about 240,000 copies by the time he became chancellor in 1933 (at which time his debt was waived).

After Hitler's rise to power, the book gained enormous popularity and for all intents and purposes became the Nazi Bible. Despite rumours to the contrary, new evidence suggests that it was actually in high demand in libraries (topping the lending lists) and often reviewed and quoted in other publications. By the end of the war, about 10 million copies of the book had been sold or distributed in Germany (every newly-wed couple, as well as every front soldier, received a free copy), and Hitler had made about 1.2 m Reichsmarks from the income of his book in 1933 (when the average annual income of a teacher was about 4,800 Mark).

Some historians have speculated that a wider readership prior to Hitler's rise to power (or at least prior to the outbreak of World War II) might have alerted the world to the dangers Hitler would pose to peace in Europe and to the Holocaust that he would pursue. An abridged English translation was produced before World War II. However, the publisher removed some of the more anti-Semitic and militaristic statements. The publication of this version caused Alan Cranston, who was an American reporter for United Press International in Germany (and later a U.S. Senator from California), to publish his own abridged and annotated translation. Cranston believed this version to more accurately reflect the contents of the book. In 1939, Cranston was sued by Hitler's publisher for copyright infringement, and a Connecticut judge ruled in Hitler's favour. However, by the time the publication of Cranston's version was stopped, 500,000 copies had already been sold.

Criticism

Mein Kampf, due to its racist content and the historical impact of Nazism upon Europe during the Second World War and the Holocaust, is considered a highly controversial book. However, criticism has not come solely from direct opponents of Nazism. Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, himself experienced in writing and editing for newspapers, was also critical of the book. Mussolini attempted to read the book, but was disappointed and claimed that Mein Kampf was "a boring tome that I have never been able to read" and remarked that Hitler's beliefs expressed in the book were "little more than commonplace clichés.

Current availability

At the time of his death, Hitler's official place of residence was in Munich, which led to his entire estate, including all rights to Mein Kampf, changing to the ownership of the state of Bavaria. As per German copyright law the entire text is scheduled to enter the public domain on December 31 2015, 70 years after the author's death. The copyright has been relinquished for the English, Dutch and Swedish editions. Historian Werner Maser, in an interview with Bild am Sonntag has stated that Peter Raubal, son of Hitler's nephew, Leo Raubal, would have a strong legal case for winning the copyright from Bavaria if he pursued it. Peter Raubal, an Austrian engineer, has stated he wants no part of the rights to the book, even though it could be worth millions of euros. The government of Bavaria, in agreement with the federal government of Germany, does not allow any copying or printing of the book in Germany and opposes it also in other countries but with less success. Owning and buying the book is legal. Trading in old copies is legal as well unless it is done in such a fashion as to "promote hatred or war", which is, under anti-revisionist laws, generally illegal. In particular, the unmodified edition is not covered by §86 StGB that forbids dissemination of means of propaganda of unconstitutional organisations, since it is a "pre-constitutional work" and as such cannot be opposed to the free and democratic basic order, according to a 1979 decision of the Federal Court of Justice of Germany. Most German libraries carry heavily commented and excerpted versions of Mein Kampf.

Elsewhere in the world, the situation is as follows:

Mein Kampf is freely available in Australia (ISBN 0-395-92503-7), Canada (ISBN 0-395-07801-6), Colombia, Finland (ISBN 1-59364-006-4), Greece, India (ISBN 81-87981-29-6), Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia (ISBN 9989-920-54-0) and South Korea.
In Austria, the possession and/or trading of Mein Kampf is illegal.
In Bulgaria, its publishing caused some controversies but it has been freely available for selling since 2001.
In Croatia, Mein Kampf was published in 1999 and was a bestseller, second edition was published in 2003, and the German language edition in 2002.
In the Czech Republic, Mein Kampf was first sold in the Czech lands in 1936, and again in 1993, both times in abridged, annotated versions. In March 2000, the full Czech edition was published by Otakar II.
In Denmark the book can be bought and 50 copies are available in the public libraries
In France, the selling of the book is forbidden unless the transaction concerns a historical version including commentaries from specialists and states the law allowing its special historical edition. In 2002, a French court ruled that the company Yahoo! had to pay €100,000 per diem for selling revisionist materials, including Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, to French customers.
In Indonesia the book is widely and prominently available in the Indonesian language.
In Lebanon, an Arabic edition of Mein Kampf was published in 1995 by Bisan/Beisan.
In the Republic of Macedonia, a Macedonian translation has been available since 2005 and is distributed by the publishing house "Gjurgja", Skopje.
In Mexico, Mein Kampf cannot be found in the largest book stores or libraries because they say its selling is prohibited, but can be encountered in some small book stores and among "pirate" book vendors in Mexico City and other cities.
In the Netherlands, selling the book, even in the case of an old copy, may be illegal as "promoting hatred", but possession and lending is not. Though mainly the matter is handled as a matter of copyright infringement as the Dutch state (as acclaimed owner of the translation) will not allow any publishing. In 1997, the government explained to the parliament that selling a scientifically annotated version might escape prosecution. In 2007, the discussion flared up again and the same arguments for and against as in 1997 were uttered. In 2015, the copyright on the Dutch translation becomes void.
In Spain, Brazil and Argentina, the book is unavailable, but copies before the unavailability of the book still exist. (Note: recent changes may have changed this status.)
When Mein Kampf was republished in Sweden in 1992, the government of Bavaria tried to put a ban on the book. The case went all the way to the Swedish Supreme Court. The court ruled in 1998 that the copyright could not be owned by the modern state of Bavaria. Since the publishing house that published Mein Kampf in the thirties had long gone out of business, Mein Kampf should be considered as being in a state of limbo (or even in the public domain). The case was won by the modern publisher, an outspoken anti-Nazi.
In Turkey, the book is freely available and a Turkish edition was reported to be a bestseller in Turkey in March 2005, selling over 100,000 copies in two months.
In the USSR, the book was unavailable and de facto prohibited. In the Russian Federation, Mein Kampf has been published at least three times since 1992; the Russian text is also available on a number of websites. Recently the Public Chamber of Russia proposed to ban the book.
In the United Kingdom, Mein Kampf is readily available and sells 3,000 copies annually .
In 1999, the Simon Wiesenthal Center documented that major Internet booksellers like amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com sell Mein Kampf to Germany. After a public outcry, both companies agreed to stop those sales. The book is currently available through both companies. Public-domain copies of Mein Kampf are available at various Internet sites with links to banned books. Additionally, several Web sites provide the text of the book.
In the United States, the book can be found at almost any community library and can be bought, sold and traded from many websites like Amazon.com and Borders Book Store. The U.S. government seized the copyright during the Second World War as part of the Trading with the Enemy Act and in 1979, Houghton Mifflin, the U.S. publisher of the book, bought the rights from the government. More than 15,000 copies are sold a year.

The sequel

After the party's poor showing in the 1928 elections, Hitler believed the reason for loss was that the public did not fully understand his ideas. He retired to Munich to dictate a sequel to Mein Kampf which focused on foreign policy, expanded on the ideas of Mein Kampf and suggested that around 1980, a final struggle would take place for world domination between the United States and the combined forces of Greater Germany and the British Empire.

Only two copies of the 200 page manuscript were originally made, and only one of these has ever been made public. Kept strictly secret under Hitler's orders, the document was placed in a safe in an air raid shelter in 1935 where it remained until its discovery by an American officer in 1945. The authenticity of the book has been verified by Josef Berg (former employee of the Nazi publishing house Eher Verlag) and Telford Taylor (former Brigadier General U.S.A.R. and Chief Counsel at the Nuremberg war-crimes trials). The book was neither edited nor published during the Nazi Germany era and remains known as Zweites Buch (Second Book). The Zweites Buch was first discovered in the Nazi archives being held in the United States by the Jewish American historian Gerhard Weinberg in 1958. Unable to find an American publisher, Weinberg turned to his mentor, Hans Rothfels, and his associate, Martin Broszat, at the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich, who published Zweites Buch in 1961. A pirated edition was published in English in New York, 1962. The first authoritative English edition was not published until 2003 (Hitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel to Mein Kampf, ISBN 1-929631-16-2).

Globalists vs. continentists

One of the more important debates of the book concerns the battle between the Continentists, including Hugh Trevor-Roper and Eberhard Jäckel, who argue Hitler wished to conquer only Europe, and the Globalists, including Gerhard Weinberg, Milan Hauner, Gunter Moltmann, Meier Michaelis and Andreas Hillgruber, who maintain that Hitler wanted to conquer the entire world. The chief source of contention between the Continentists and Globalists is the Zweites Buch.

The Globalists argue that Hitler's statement that after Germany defeated the United States, then Germany would rule the entire world clearly proves his intentions were global in reach. The Continentists argue that because Hitler predicts the war between the United States and Germany as beginning sometime ca. 1980 (Hitler was born in 1889), the task of winning this war in the 1980s would presumably have fallen to one of Hitler’s successors. The Continentists believe that Hitler for his own lifetime would have been content with ruling merely Europe.

Intentionalists vs. functionalists

Mein Kampf has assumed a key place in the functionalism versus intentionalism debate. Intentionalists insist that the passage stating that if only 12,000–15,000 Jews were gassed, then "the sacrifice of millions of soldiers would not have been in vain", proves quite clearly that Hitler had a master plan for the genocide of the Jewish people all along. Functionalists deny this assertion, noting that the passage does not call for the destruction of the entire Jewish people and note that although Mein Kampf is suffused with an extreme anti-Semitism, it is the only time in the entire book that Hitler ever explicitly refers to the murder of Jews. Given that Mein Kampf is 694 pages long, Functionalist historians have accused the Intentionalists of making too much out of one sentence.

Functionalist historians have argued that the memorandum written by Heinrich Himmler to Hitler on May 25, 1940, regarding the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" (whose proposals Hitler accepted) proves that there was no master plan for genocide which stemmed all the way back to the 1920s. In the memorandum, Himmler rejects genocide under the grounds that one must reject "...the Bolshevik method of physical extermination of a people out of inner conviction as un-German and impossible". He goes on to argue that something similar to the "Madagascar Plan" be the preferred "territorial solution" to the "Jewish Question".

Additionally, Functionalist historians have noted that in Mein Kampf Hitler states the only anti-Semitic policies he will carry out are the 25 Point Platform of the Nazi Party (adopted in February 1920), which demands that only "Aryan" Germans be allowed to publish newspapers and own department stores, places a ban on Jewish immigration, expels all Ostjuden (Eastern Jews; i.e., Jews from Eastern Europe who had arrived in Germany since 1914) and strips all German Jews of their German citizenship. Although these demands do reflect a hateful anti-Semitism, they do not amount to a programme for genocide, according to the Functionalist historians. Beyond that, some historians have claimed although Hitler was clearly obsessed with anti-Semitism, his degree of anti-Semitic hatred contained in Mein Kampf is no better or worse than that contained in the writings and speeches of earlier volkisch leaders such as Wilhelm Marr, Georg Ritter von Schönerer, Houston Stewart Chamberlain and Karl Lueger, all of whom routinely called Jews a "disease" and "vermin". Nevertheless, Hitler cites all of them as an inspiration in Mein Kampf.