What do you think?
Rate this book
Nazism and War
An incendiary work of scholarship arguing that racism was the driving force behind Nazism, rather than a by-product of it—essential reading in an age of renewed fears of bigotry, tyranny, and fascism.
World War II was the defining event of the twentieth century, redrawing the political map in ways that continue to affect nearly the entire human race. What was unprecedented, however, was not simply the war’s scale, but its causes. Unlike previous territorial or political clashes, the war launched by Nazi Germany was an ideological one, waged to wipe entire peoples and cultures from the face of the earth.
In Nazism and War, Richard Bessel, one of the preeminent authorities on the social and political history of modern Germany, demonstrates that “Nazi war was racial struggle; Nazi racial struggle was war.”
War was the anvil on which Hitler’s worldview was German National Socialism emerged triumphant over a country deeply scarred by defeat and eager to reclaim its greatness. As a political philosophy, Nazism glorified struggle and conflict, viewing them as the purpose of a nation and a measure of its overall condition. As a political movement and state system, Nazism made its ideology real, plunging the European continent into a war of annihilation and a sea of blood. Nazism destroyed the old Europe, and thus helped to create the world in which we live.
Praise for Nazism and War
“[A] stimulating and thoughtful volume.” —Richard Overy, Literary Review
“[A] rich, well-rounded portrait . . . offers both the serious scholar and the lay reader a concise yet comprehensive perspective on the events and horrors of that period.” — Publishers Weekly
“[An] impressive study . . . highly recommended.” — Library Journal
“Clear, engaging, and quietly profound.” — Booklist
World War II was the defining event of the twentieth century, redrawing the political map in ways that continue to affect nearly the entire human race. What was unprecedented, however, was not simply the war’s scale, but its causes. Unlike previous territorial or political clashes, the war launched by Nazi Germany was an ideological one, waged to wipe entire peoples and cultures from the face of the earth.
In Nazism and War, Richard Bessel, one of the preeminent authorities on the social and political history of modern Germany, demonstrates that “Nazi war was racial struggle; Nazi racial struggle was war.”
War was the anvil on which Hitler’s worldview was German National Socialism emerged triumphant over a country deeply scarred by defeat and eager to reclaim its greatness. As a political philosophy, Nazism glorified struggle and conflict, viewing them as the purpose of a nation and a measure of its overall condition. As a political movement and state system, Nazism made its ideology real, plunging the European continent into a war of annihilation and a sea of blood. Nazism destroyed the old Europe, and thus helped to create the world in which we live.
Praise for Nazism and War
“[A] stimulating and thoughtful volume.” —Richard Overy, Literary Review
“[A] rich, well-rounded portrait . . . offers both the serious scholar and the lay reader a concise yet comprehensive perspective on the events and horrors of that period.” — Publishers Weekly
“[An] impressive study . . . highly recommended.” — Library Journal
“Clear, engaging, and quietly profound.” — Booklist
320 pages, Paperback
First published November 2, 2004
About the author
Richard Bessel
32 books12 followersRichard Bessel is Professor of Twentieth Century History. He works on the social and political history of modern Germany, the aftermath of the two world wars and the history of policing. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of German History and History Today.
He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies.
He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 7, 2010
The main idea behind this isn’t really all that surprising – it is that war was an essential condition of Nazi fascism. I’ve come to this book as I was looking for a book that would give me a comprehensive introduction to the chronology of Nazi Germany while also giving me something to think about along the way. This book certainly did both jobs well. It is quite short – and given that I’ve been reading bits and pieces of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich that isn’t as silly a criterion for reading it as you might think.
I’ve been teaching WW2, and so I really needed to get the key events of the war and when they happened into my head. This book was as good a place to start as any. It presents the history of Nazism in a clear and chronological manner. I found the telling of this story compelling and fascinatingly interesting.
The main problem with Nazism is that it seems all too easy to say nonsense like, ‘if Hitler hadn’t hated the Jews everything would have been just fine’. This book utterly undermines such ideas, just as it does with opinions such as, ‘no one ever talks about the good things Hitler did for Germany’. This book shatters these views by showing that war was an absolute and fundamental condition of Nazism. So much so that the Nazi economy was unsustainable without being propped up by the pillage of war. The dream of Aryan ‘lebensraum’ (living space) spreading out to the Urals and fertilised by the blood of untermenschen Slavs or Jews was never going to find an end to this slaughter. The militarisation of the economy by the Nazis was never going to be completed or, indeed, ever enough. There would never have come a time when what had been ‘achieved’ would have been final.
This book stands as a great warning. It reminds us that the lust that drives those who will be revenged at any cost must be resisted with similar intensity by those of us more lacking in our convictions.
I’ve been teaching WW2, and so I really needed to get the key events of the war and when they happened into my head. This book was as good a place to start as any. It presents the history of Nazism in a clear and chronological manner. I found the telling of this story compelling and fascinatingly interesting.
The main problem with Nazism is that it seems all too easy to say nonsense like, ‘if Hitler hadn’t hated the Jews everything would have been just fine’. This book utterly undermines such ideas, just as it does with opinions such as, ‘no one ever talks about the good things Hitler did for Germany’. This book shatters these views by showing that war was an absolute and fundamental condition of Nazism. So much so that the Nazi economy was unsustainable without being propped up by the pillage of war. The dream of Aryan ‘lebensraum’ (living space) spreading out to the Urals and fertilised by the blood of untermenschen Slavs or Jews was never going to find an end to this slaughter. The militarisation of the economy by the Nazis was never going to be completed or, indeed, ever enough. There would never have come a time when what had been ‘achieved’ would have been final.
This book stands as a great warning. It reminds us that the lust that drives those who will be revenged at any cost must be resisted with similar intensity by those of us more lacking in our convictions.
April 3, 2017
Ugh. I started reading this book at the library and thought it was interesting enough to justify taking it out and finishing it. I soon realized my mistake and most pages of this put me to sleep. Quite a feat for a book about WWII - a time period I am very interested in.
Huge, long paragraphs. Ridiculously long and complex sentences that needed to be re-read at least once to figure out what the author was trying to say and odd repetition of some concepts made this a bore overall. (a long sentence complaining about long sentences. Hooray!)
I got some information out of it that I didn't know before, but the pain I had to go through to get that information wasn't worth it. I'm sure there are better histories available that won't put you to sleep.
I almost quit a couple of times, but soldiered on. This book is a prime example of why people don't always want to read non-fiction. There are better ways. I'm hoping to find some better books on this.
Huge, long paragraphs. Ridiculously long and complex sentences that needed to be re-read at least once to figure out what the author was trying to say and odd repetition of some concepts made this a bore overall. (a long sentence complaining about long sentences. Hooray!)
I got some information out of it that I didn't know before, but the pain I had to go through to get that information wasn't worth it. I'm sure there are better histories available that won't put you to sleep.
I almost quit a couple of times, but soldiered on. This book is a prime example of why people don't always want to read non-fiction. There are better ways. I'm hoping to find some better books on this.
Read
April 6, 2017The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, bascially. Read in Mexico, circa 2005-ish (mostly by water, with foreign beers).
I knew most of what is here already: Hitler is bad; Nazism fucked us forever; and idiots, still to this day, try and rise to the shit.
The book's still on the bookcase, gathering dust. I probably won't read it again. But just so you know, I wasn't converted to Fascism or anything.
This is mostly a history lesson, based around the facts.
A decent read.
I knew most of what is here already: Hitler is bad; Nazism fucked us forever; and idiots, still to this day, try and rise to the shit.
The book's still on the bookcase, gathering dust. I probably won't read it again. But just so you know, I wasn't converted to Fascism or anything.
This is mostly a history lesson, based around the facts.
A decent read.
December 2, 2020
I'm positively surprised.
If you're looking for a deep and detailed history of the war the Nazis waged from 1939 to 1945, Nazism and War might not be for you. But if you're looking for a predominantly theoretical study on the Nazi perspective towards war and racial struggle, Bessel's book is concise, easy to read and quite clear cut.
On its own, Nazism and War might not suffice as a reference work to grasp the full reality of the second world war but when read alongside comprehensive and detailed texts on WW2, I believe it's a valuable and useful book.
If you're looking for a deep and detailed history of the war the Nazis waged from 1939 to 1945, Nazism and War might not be for you. But if you're looking for a predominantly theoretical study on the Nazi perspective towards war and racial struggle, Bessel's book is concise, easy to read and quite clear cut.
On its own, Nazism and War might not suffice as a reference work to grasp the full reality of the second world war but when read alongside comprehensive and detailed texts on WW2, I believe it's a valuable and useful book.
October 11, 2019
Great connection of the philosophy to the historical events.
August 13, 2017
"Nazism was inseparable from war." Bessel begins with this statement, one that ties every page of the text to the next, unified in perspective and goal. The book is made of four essays that trace, in turn, the development of Nazism following the First World War, the sudden growth of the ideology and its rapid and unfaltering advancement toward war, the brutal and bloody cost of Nazism in the course of the Second World War, and finally the aftermath of the war, especially in Germany. It is an exhausting, draining book--mentally and emotionally tiring to read the descent into insanity and evil that engulfed the world, and to consider the terrifying way it all began. Hitler vowed revenge from his cell in 1918, at the end of WW1, writing in his manifesto/autobiography "Mein Kampf" of Germany's vengeance upon its enemies, especially "international Jewry". This pledge carried him and his ideals to their conclusion.
Bessel is an excellent writer and an extraordinary scholar. I was astounded, for one thing, at the depth and breadth of his citations--hundreds and hundreds of end-of-text notes, in perfect detail and with full references to sources. His work is enviably well-researched. I have read some criticism of his writing style, which occasionally indulges in lengthy and wordy sentences and paragraphs. However, I found his writing fresh and very readable, as long as I was concentrating.
In the end, my biggest takeaway from this book was that Nazism, whose beginning and end was racist war, was not forced upon those who wore the swastika. It was insidiously embraced by the people, who voted--actually freely chose--to give up their freedom, dissolve the democratic system, and assume a position and take a path that led to the murder of millions. We must learn the lessons of history, 70 years later. We must be wary of charismatic but characterless leaders who hide poison tongues with words of honey. We must guard our freedom jealously, and seek to bring freedom to others. It is our lot to protect the weak, to decry violence, to celebrate goodness and stamp out evil. To do otherwise is to open ourselves again to horrors too many have seen.
Bessel is an excellent writer and an extraordinary scholar. I was astounded, for one thing, at the depth and breadth of his citations--hundreds and hundreds of end-of-text notes, in perfect detail and with full references to sources. His work is enviably well-researched. I have read some criticism of his writing style, which occasionally indulges in lengthy and wordy sentences and paragraphs. However, I found his writing fresh and very readable, as long as I was concentrating.
In the end, my biggest takeaway from this book was that Nazism, whose beginning and end was racist war, was not forced upon those who wore the swastika. It was insidiously embraced by the people, who voted--actually freely chose--to give up their freedom, dissolve the democratic system, and assume a position and take a path that led to the murder of millions. We must learn the lessons of history, 70 years later. We must be wary of charismatic but characterless leaders who hide poison tongues with words of honey. We must guard our freedom jealously, and seek to bring freedom to others. It is our lot to protect the weak, to decry violence, to celebrate goodness and stamp out evil. To do otherwise is to open ourselves again to horrors too many have seen.
November 29, 2017
Again i was disgusted on a lot of disinformation. Why cant ppl just tell the truth!! OPINIONS...OPINIONS...OPINIONS!!!... and some just outright lies!
November 18, 2017
A concise history of how nazism and war go together. Since the nazis got into power war was always on the agenda to accomplish their goals.
December 9, 2015
It was very interesting at the beginning, and his perspective on post-war Germany was something that I've rarely seen covered. Much of the bare historical facts are pretty much the same, and usually Mr. Bessel doesn't really drift too far from the main-stream historical narrative. It was a solid book, and I enjoyed it, but it wasn't really groundbreaking or terribly gripping. It was somewhat short and still very solid which was nice. It also did not fall into the error of blaming everything on Hitler, but did spend most of the book focusing on the effect of Nazism throughout German and European life. Solid
May 11, 2009
This book was a great history lesson of the events in Germany and the culture as Hitler rose to power and the events of WWII. I have a hard time accepting the author's premise that part of the reason that Hitler rose to power was a wide spread racial hatred in the German culture, but I really have no experience with Germans so I don't really know if it is or was true or not. It is always shocking to read about the events and what actually occurred during WWII.
Read
July 23, 2011An important book for anyone interested in the history between the end of WW1 to the early Cold War years as well as Nazism and WW2. With keen insight and research the author shows how Nazi ideology was formed and how it influenced German politics and its conduct of the war. Also reveals how many Germans, despite the atrocities committed by their armed forces and police state came to see themselves as victims as the war in Europe came to a close. A compelling and oftentimes chilling book.
October 24, 2013
I thought this was going to be boring. How wrong I was! This was a good, very interesting look at the Nazi regime and its infatuation with war and race politics. I liked the emphasis on the war with Russia rather than the usual British/American centered view of the war. The last chapter was particularly good.
February 28, 2013
A good short read. The book is a series of essays about the Nazis ties to war. Bessel focuses on the Nazi's racial hatreds as setting them apart. I seem to be in an 20th century atrocity phase right now...
January 18, 2010
It didn't add much new to my understanding of the subject. Occasional penetrating insights were intersperced among long narratives that are very familiar to the student of WW2.
February 8, 2011
Listened to CD but could not find in Goodreads list. Kind of dry.
January 1, 2016
Very valuable treatment of German attitudes of the time.
March 23, 2016
A little bit too repetitive for me. It was very informative regarding the Nazi treatment of those on the Eastern Front.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews