Karl Ernst Haushofer
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Karl Ernst Haushofer (27 August 1869 – 10 March 1946) was a German general, professor, geographer, and
diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
. Haushofer's concept of
Geopolitik was a German school of geopolitics which existed between the late 19th century and World War II. It developed from the writings of various European and American philosophers, geographers and military personnel, including Oswald Spengler (1880– ...
influenced the ideological development of
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
.
Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician, Nuremberg trials, convicted war criminal and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer ( ...
was also a student of Haushofer, and during Hess and Hitler's incarceration by the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
after the
Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other leaders i ...
, Haushofer visited
Landsberg Prison Landsberg Prison is a prison in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, after the ...
to teach and mentor both Hess and Hitler. Haushofer also coined the political use of the term ''
Lebensraum (, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
'', which Hitler also used to justify both
crimes against peace The crime of aggression was conceived by Soviet jurist Aron Trainin in the wake of the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Pictured: Stalingrad in ruins, December 1942 A crime of aggression or crime against peace is the p ...
and
genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
. At the same time, however, Gen. Haushofer's half-Jewish wife and their children were categorized as ''
Mischling (; ; ) was a pejorative legal term which was used in Nazi Germany to denote persons of mixed " Aryan" and "non-Aryan", such as Jewish, ancestry as they were classified by the Nuremberg racial laws of 1935. In German, the word has the general ...
e'' under the
Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. The two laws were the Law ...
. Their son,
Albrecht Haushofer Albrecht Georg Haushofer (7 January 1903 – 23 April 1945) was a German geographer, diplomat, author and member of the German Resistance to Nazism. Life Haushofer was born in Munich, the son of the retired World War I general and geographer K ...
, was issued a
German Blood Certificate A German Blood Certificate (German: ''Deutschblütigkeitserklärung'') was a document provided by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to ''Mischlinge'' (those with partial Jewish heritage), declaring them ''deutschblütig'' (of German blood). This practice w ...
through the influence of Rudolf Hess, but was arrested in 1944 over his involvement with the July 20th plot to assassinate
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
and overthrow the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
. During the last days of the war, Albrecht Haushofer was summarily executed by the SS for his role in the German Resistance. After being interrogated by Fr.
Edmund A. Walsh Edmund Aloysius Walsh (October 10, 1885 – October 31, 1956) was an American Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus and career diplomat from South Boston, Massachusetts. He was also a professor of geopolitics and founder of the Georgetow ...
, who recommended to
Robert H. Jackson Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1941 until his death in 1954. He had previously served as Un ...
that Haushofer be prosecuted at the
Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...
for complicity in
Nazi war crimes The governments of the German Empire and Nazi Germany (under Adolf Hitler) ordered, organized, and condoned a substantial number of war crimes, first in the Herero and Nama genocide and then in the First and Second World Wars. The most notable of ...
, Karl and Martha Haushofer died together in a
suicide pact A suicide pact is an agreed plan between two or more individuals to die by suicide. The plan may be to die together, or separately and closely timed. In England and Wales, a suicide pact is a partial defense, under section 4 of the Homicide Act ...
outside of their home in the
American Zone The American occupation zone in Germany (German language, German: ), also known as the US-Zone, and the Southwest zone, was one of the four Allied-occupied Germany, occupation zones established by the Allies of World War II in Germany west of t ...
of
Occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sove ...
.


Life and early career

Haushofer belonged to a family of artists and scholars. He was born in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
to Max Haushofer Jr, a well-known professor of economics, politician and author of both academic and literary works, and Adele Haushofer (née Fraas). His grandfather was the landscape painter Max Haushofer Sr. On his graduation from the Munich Gymnasium (high school), in 1887, Haushofer entered the 1st Field Artillery regiment "Prinzregent Luitpold" of the
Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...
and completed '' Kriegsschule'', ''Artillerieschule'' and ''
War Academy (Kingdom of Bavaria) The Bavarian War College, also Bavarian Staff College ( Ge: ''Bayerische Kriegsakademie'') was the highest military facility to educate, instruct, train, and develop ''general staff officers''. It was active from 1867 to the beginning of World W ...
''. In 1896, he married Martha Mayer-Doss (1877–1946) whose father was Jewish. They had two sons,
Albrecht Haushofer Albrecht Georg Haushofer (7 January 1903 – 23 April 1945) was a German geographer, diplomat, author and member of the German Resistance to Nazism. Life Haushofer was born in Munich, the son of the retired World War I general and geographer K ...
and Heinz Haushofer (1906–1988). In 1903, he accepted a teaching position at the Bavarian War Academy. In November 1908, Haushofer was ordered to
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
as a
military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...
to study the
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
and as a military advisor in
artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
instruction. He travelled with his wife via India and South East Asia and arrived in February 1909. He was received by
Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...
and became acquainted with many important people in politics and the armed forces. In autumn 1909, he travelled with his wife for a month to
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
and
Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...
on the occasion of a railway construction. In June 1910, they returned to Germany via
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and arrived one month later. However, shortly after returning to Bavaria, he began to suffer from a severe lung disease and was given a leave from the army for three years. During his convalescence, from 1911 to 1913, Haushofer would work on his
doctorate of philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
from
Munich University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
for a thesis on Japan titled ''Dai Nihon, Betrachtungen über Groß-Japans Wehrkraft, Weltstellung und Zukunft'' ("Reflections on Greater Japan's Military Strength, World Position, and Future"). He established himself as one of Germany’s foremost experts regarding the Far East, and co-founded the geopolitical monthly ''Zeitschrift für Geopolitik'' (ZfG), which he would co-edit until it was suspended towards the end of World War II. Haushofer continued his career as a professional soldier after the annexation of Bavaria by Germany, serving in the army of
Imperial Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
and returning to teach War History at the Military Academy in Munich. During World War I, he commanded a
brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...
on the Western Front. But he was disillusioned with Germany's readiness for the tests of warfare. When the United States entered the war, it cemented two especially bitter hatreds for Haushofer. The first was for the U.S. America was a "deceitful, ravenous, hypocritical, shameless beast of prey," he wrote. "Americans are truly the only people on this world that I regard with a deep, instinctive hatred." At the same time, Haushofer developed an especially virulent strain of anti-semitic feeling. In letters to his wife Martha, whose own father was Jewish, Haushofer wrote of Jewish "treason against Volk, race and country." He repeated false but common slanders alleging that Jews declined to fight for their country of citizenship, and were guilty of war profiteering. The solution to these ills besetting Germany, he declared, would be a powerful and charismatic leader. "A man! A kingdom, an imperial crown for a man worthy of the name!" "You see how ready for a
Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...
I am," he wrote in another letter to Martha, "and what kind of a good instrument I would be for a Caesar, if we had one and if he knew how to make use of me." Haushofer would both identify and influence Germany's contemporary autocracy (although the title '
Führer ( , spelled ''Fuehrer'' when the umlaut is unavailable) is a German word meaning "leader" or " guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Hitler officially cal ...
' would be used, not 'Kaiser'). After retiring from the army with the rank of ''
Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...
'' (major general) in 1919, he forged a friendship with the young
Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician, Nuremberg trials, convicted war criminal and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer ( ...
, who became his scientific assistant and later rose to be the deputy leader of the Nazi Party, second in authority only to Hitler. In 1919, Haushofer successfully defended his second dissertation, and became
Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...
for
political geography Political geography is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures. Conventionally, for the purposes of analysis, ...
at
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
, and was made a professor in 1933, although he declined a formal position and salary, because that would have affected his military pension.


''Geopolitik'' and relationship with Hitler

Haushofer entered academia with the aim of restoring and regenerating Germany. He believed the Germans' lack of geographical knowledge and geopolitical awareness to be a major cause of Germany’s defeat in World War I, because Germany had found itself with a disadvantageous alignment of allies and enemies. His specialty was to combine the fields of geography, history, economics, demography, political science, and anthropology into a new discipline that came to be called
Geopolitik was a German school of geopolitics which existed between the late 19th century and World War II. It developed from the writings of various European and American philosophers, geographers and military personnel, including Oswald Spengler (1880– ...
. Haushofer himself could not plainly describe this "new science," but its principal thrust was the view the state as a person or organism, shaped over time by its unique geography and history into a specific national character. In this context he coined the term ''Lebensraum'' - "room to live" - to describe the territory that a healthy and expanding state needed to sustain its population. This notion would be adopted by Hitler and the Nazi party in its most aggressive and militaristic interpretation. In 1923, Hitler was jailed following his failed "
Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other leaders i ...
," and Rudolf Hess surrendered to be imprisoned alongside his leader in
Landsberg Prison Landsberg Prison is a prison in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, after the ...
. Haushofer became a teacher of politics and philosophy to both Hess and Hitler. According to scholar
Holger Herwig Dr. Holger H. Herwig (born 1941) is a German-born Canadian historian and professor. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including the award-winning, ''The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918'' and ''The Origins of World ...
, "Like a dry sponge, Hitler soaked up what Haushofer offered." Haushofer's son Albrecht considered that his father's most powerful contribution to Hess and Hitler was his own substantial credibility as a soldier and scholar: "One has to imagine what it meant in the Bavaria of that time," he wrote, "when a man of my father’s stature eneral and professorand popularity constantly traveled out to Landsberg."Holger Herwig, "THE DAEMON OF GEOPOLITICS: KARL HAUSHOFER, RUDOLF HESS AND ADOLF HITLER," lecture at the United States Air Force academy, 2016, pp. 9-10. From 1925 to 1931 and from 1933 to 1939, Haushofer broadcast monthly radio lectures on the international political situation. That ''Weltpolitischer Monatsbericht'' made him a household name in contemporary Germany, and he came to be known in circles far removed from academia. He was a founding member of the
Deutsche Akademie The Academy for the Scholarly Research and Fostering of Germandom (''die Akademie zur Wissenschaftlichen Erforschung und Pflege des Deutschtums''), or German Academy (''die Deutsche Akademie'', ), was a German cultural institute founded in 1925 at ...
, of which he served as president from 1934 to 1937. He was a prolific writer, publishing hundreds of articles, reviews, commentaries, obituaries and books, many of which were on Asian topics, and he arranged for many leaders in the Nazi party and in the German military to receive copies of his works. After the establishment of the German Nazi government, Haushofer remained friendly with Hess, who protected Haushofer's wife from the racial laws of the Nazis, which deemed her a "
half-Jew The term half-Jew () is a derogatory term for people with a non-Jewish and a Jewish parent. The overwhelming majority of the so-called half-Jews were legally classified as " first-degree Jewish hybrids" during the era of Nazi Germany. Occasionally ...
". During the prewar years, Haushofer was instrumental in linking Japan to the
Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
, acting in accordance with the theories in his book ''Geopolitics of the Pacific Ocean''. Under Hitler's regime, Haushofer became both rich and immensely influential. But his influence and his public profile shrank abruptly after his patron, Rudolf Hess, flew to Scotland in May 1941 in a doomed effort to make peace with the United Kingdom. Hess was purged from the Nazi Party, and the Haushofer family, with its close relationship with Hess and its Jewish background, once again came under suspicion. In 1944 Haushofer's son Albrecht was implicated in the
July 20 Plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...
to assassinate Hitler. Karl was arrested on 28 July 1944, and imprisoned for a month at
Dachau Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...
before he was released. Albrecht went into hiding but was arrested on 7 December 1944 and put into the
Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the boroughs of Berlin, borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2022, about 84,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial sector, industr ...
prison in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. Karl wrote a personal letter to Hitler pleading for mercy for his son, but never sent it. During the night of 22–23 April 1945, with only days remaining in the war, he and other prisoners, among them
Klaus Bonhoeffer Klaus Bonhoeffer (5 January 1901 – 23 April 1945) was a German jurist and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime who was executed after the July 1944 plot to kill Hitler. Early life Klaus Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau, Germany, now Wro ...
, were walked out of the prison by an SS
death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings, massacres, or enforced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in w ...
and shot on the orders of
Josef Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda f ...
. When his brother Heinz found his body, Albrecht was still clutching a sheaf of papers on which he had written dozens of poems in his last days trying to make sense of his life, his father's work, and the war. Those eighty poems were eventually published as ''The Moabit Sonnets.'' In the thirty-eighth sonnet, titled "The Father," Albrecht indicts his father for helping to unleash the horrors of Nazi brutality: Karl Haushofer was devastated by Albrecht's death. And yet - even though the Nazis had murdered his beloved son, and their war had left Germany in ruins around him, Haushofer continued to blame "New York's finance Jews" for the destruction of his beloved Munich. He was repeatedly arrested by the American forces he so detested. Beginning on 24 September 1945, Karl Haushofer was informally interrogated by Fr.
Edmund A. Walsh Edmund Aloysius Walsh (October 10, 1885 – October 31, 1956) was an American Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus and career diplomat from South Boston, Massachusetts. He was also a professor of geopolitics and founder of the Georgetow ...
on behalf of
Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...
prosecutor
Robert H. Jackson Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1941 until his death in 1954. He had previously served as Un ...
to determine whether Haushofer should also stand trial. Fr. Walsh ultimately reported to Jackson that Haushofer was both legally and morally guilty of complicity in
Nazi war crimes The governments of the German Empire and Nazi Germany (under Adolf Hitler) ordered, organized, and condoned a substantial number of war crimes, first in the Herero and Nama genocide and then in the First and Second World Wars. The most notable of ...
. Citing "the role of geopolitics in corrupting education into a preparation for war", Walsh accused Haushofer and his associates of being "basically as guilty as the better-known war criminals." In his later memoir of the Nuremberg Trials, Walsh further alleged that "The tragedy of Karl Haushofer" was his participation in the "nationalizing" of academic scholarship and of turning
Geopolitik was a German school of geopolitics which existed between the late 19th century and World War II. It developed from the writings of various European and American philosophers, geographers and military personnel, including Oswald Spengler (1880– ...
into a weapon supplying "an allegedly scientific basis and justification for international brigandage."


Death

On the night of 10–11 March 1946, Karl Haushofer and his wife committed suicide in a secluded hollow on their Hartschimmelhof estate at
Pähl Pähl am Ammersee is a municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is on the lake of Ammersee to the southwest of Munich. Famous people * Thomas Müller, footballer for Bayern Munich and Germany, grew up in the area. ...
/Ammersee. Both drank
arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...
and his wife then hanged herself from a tree branch. Haushofer left a detailed map to help his son, Heinz, find the bodies. In a suicide note, he declared that he wanted "no form of state or church funeral, no obituary, epitaph, or identification of my grave... I want to be forgotten and forgotten." Fr. Walsh visited their graves and wrote in his diary, "I could not help but think of the deep tragedy of this death by night, alone, in a lonely gulley, of the last of the geopoliticians! What an inscrutable destiny, that after 19 ears ofteaching and warning heU.S.A. about the teachings of Haushofer, I should today be kneeling over his suicide's body in one of the loneliest spots in Bavaria!"


Geopolitics

Haushofer developed Geopolitik from widely varied sources, including the writings of
Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German polymath whose areas of interest included history, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best know ...
,
Alexander Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...
, Karl Ritter,
Friedrich Ratzel Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844 – August 9, 1904) was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for first using the term ''Lebensraum'' ("living space") in the sense that the National Socialists later would. Life Ratzel's father was th ...
,
Rudolf Kjellén Johan Rudolf Kjellén (, 13 June 1864, in Torsö – 14 November 1922, in Uppsala) was a Swedish political scientist, geographer and politician who first coined the term "geopolitics". His work was influenced by Friedrich Ratzel. Along with ...
, and Halford J. Mackinder. Geopolitik contributed to Nazi foreign policy chiefly in the strategy and justifications for
lebensraum (, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
. The theories contributed five ideas to German foreign policy in the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
: *
organic state was a German school of geopolitics which existed between the late 19th century and World War II. It developed from the writings of various European and American philosophers, geographers and military personnel, including Oswald Spengler (1880– ...
*
lebensraum (, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
*
autarky Autarky is the characteristic of self-sufficiency, usually applied to societies, communities, states, and their economic systems. Autarky as an ideology or economic approach has been attempted by a range of political ideologies and movement ...
*
pan-region A Skillet locale is a geographic region or state's sphere of economic, political and social impact reaching out past that state's borders. For instance, the Skillet locale of the US of America (US) areas both lining the US and its nearby neighbors ...
s * land power/
sea power Sea Power, previously known as British Sea Power and initially as British Air Powers, are an English alternative rock band. The group's original lineup consisted of Jan Scott Wilkinson, known as Yan; Martin Noble, known as Noble; and Alison Co ...
dichotomy A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...
. Geostrategy as a
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
is both descriptive and analytical like political geography but adds a
normative Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A Norm (philosophy), norm in this sense means a standard for evaluatin ...
element in its strategic prescriptions for national policy. While some of Haushofer's ideas stem from earlier American and British
geostrategy Geostrategy, a subfield of geopolitics, is a type of foreign policy guided principally by geographical factors as they inform, constrain, or affect political and military planning. As with all strategies, geostrategy is concerned with matching me ...
, German geopolitik adopted an essentialist outlook toward the national interest, oversimplifying issues and representing itself as a
panacea In Greek mythology and religion, Panacea (Greek ''Πανάκεια'', Panakeia), a goddess of universal remedy, was the daughter of Asclepius and Epione. Mythology Panacea and her four sisters each performed a facet of Apollo's art: * Panac ...
. As a new and essentialist
ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...
, geopolitik resonated with the post-World War I insecurity of the populace.Mattern, p.32 Haushofer's position in the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
served 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 Hans Grimm (22 March 1875 – 29 September 1959) was a German writer. The title of his 1926 novel '' Volk ohne Raum'' became a political slogan of the expansionist Nazi ''Lebensraum'' concept. Early life Hans Grimm was born in Wiesbaden, in the ...
in 1926, popularizing his concept of lebensraum. Haushofer exercised influence both through his academic teachings, urging his students to think in terms of
continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...
s and emphasizing motion in
international politics International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
, and through his political activities. While Hitler's speeches would attract the masses, Haushofer's works served to bring the remaining
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...
s into the fold.Beukema, Col. Herman. "Introduction" to Dorpalen, p.xiii Geopolitik was essentially a consolidation and codification of older ideas, given a scientific gloss: *
Lebensraum (, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
was a revised colonial imperialism; *Autarky a new expression of tariff
protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations ...
; *Strategic control of key geographic territories exhibiting the same thought behind earlier designs on the
Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...
and
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
s; a view of controlling the land in the same way as those choke points control the sea *Pan-regions (''Panideen'') based upon the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
, and the American
Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine is a foreign policy of the United States, United States foreign policy position that opposes European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It holds that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign ...
,
Pan-American Union The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
and hemispheric defense, whereby the world is divided into spheres of influence. *Frontiers – His view of barriers between peoples not being political (borders) or natural placements of races or ethnicities but as being fluid and determined by the will or needs of ethnic/racial groups. The key reorientation in each
dyad Dyad or dyade may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dyad (music), a set of two notes or pitches * ''Dyad'' (novel), by Michael Brodsky, 1989 * ''Dyad'' (video game), 2012 * ''Dyad 1909'' and ''Dyad 1929'', ballets by Wayne McGregor *Dyad Insti ...
is that the focus is on land-based
empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
rather than naval imperialism. Ostensibly based upon the geopolitical theory of American naval expert
Alfred Thayer Mahan Alfred Thayer Mahan (; September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) was a United States Navy officer and historian whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His 1890 book '' The Influence of Sea Pow ...
, 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
anthropomorphize Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
d conception of the state, and the need for self-sufficiency through the top-down organization of society. 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. Ratzel's writings coincided with the growth of German industrialism after the
Franco-Prussian war The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
and the subsequent search for markets that brought it into competition with
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
. His writings served as welcome justification for imperial expansion. 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. Haushofer was exposed to Ratzel, who was friends with Haushofer's father, a teacher of
economic geography Economic geography is the subfield of human geography that studies economic activity and factors affecting it. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics. Economic geography takes a variety of approaches to many different topi ...
, 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. 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 War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
and designs for
empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
. The behavioral rules of previous geopoliticians were thus turned into dynamic normative
doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...
s for action on lebensraum and world power. 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 ( ; ) is a German word whose meaning is analogous to the English word " realm". The terms and are respectively used in German in reference to empires and kingdoms. In English usage, the term " Reich" often refers to Nazi Germany, also ca ...
, but the right to the more extensive ''Volk'' and cultural lands." 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 A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
or
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
power could not. Haushofer even held that
urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...
was a symptom of a nation's decline, evidencing a decreasing soil mastery,
birthrate Birth rate, also known as natality, is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population for a given period divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration syste ...
and effectiveness of centralized rule. 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 Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
, but the old colonial powers had a much lower density, a virtual
mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also r ...
for German expansion into resource-rich areas. 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. Closely linked to that 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. These states were seen as being too small to maintain practical
autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...
even if they maintained large colonial possessions and would be better served by protection and organization within Germany. In Europe, he saw
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
,
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
and the "mutilated alliance" of
Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
as supporting his assertion. Haushofer's version of autarky was based on the quasi-
Malthusian Malthusianism is a theory that population growth is potentially exponential, according to the Malthusian growth model, while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of trig ...
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 Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...
. 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 The New European Order (NEO) was a neo-fascist, Europe-wide alliance set up in 1951 to promote pan-European nationalism. The NEO, led by René Binet and Gaston-Armand Amaudruz, was a more radical splinter group that broke away from the Europea ...
, then to a New Afro-European Order, and eventually to a
Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...
n Order. That concept became known as a pan-region, taken from the American Monroe Doctrine, and the idea of national and continental self-sufficiency. That was a forward-looking refashioning of the drive for
colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...
, something that geopoliticians did not see as an economic necessity but more as a matter of prestige, putting pressure on older colonial powers. The fundamental motivating force would be not economic but cultural and spiritual. Haushofer was, what is called today, a proponent of "
Eurasianism Eurasianism ( ) is a Political sociology, socio-political movement in Russia that emerged in the early 20th century under the Russian Empire, which states that Russia does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the Geop ...
", advocating a policy of German–Russian hegemony and alliance to offset an Anglo-American power structure's potentially dominating influence in Europe. Beyond being an economic concept, pan-regions were a strategic concept as well. Haushofer acknowledges the strategic concept of the
Heartland Theory "The Geographical Pivot of History" is an article submitted by Halford John Mackinder in 1904 to the Royal Geographical Society that advances his heartland theory.Mackinder, H. J."The Geographical Pivot of History" ''The Geographical Journal'', ...
put forward by the British geopolitician Halford Mackinder. If Germany could control Eastern Europe and subsequently Russian territory, it could control a strategic area to which hostile seapower could be denied. Allying with
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
would further augment German strategic control of Eurasia, with those states becoming the naval arms protecting Germany's insular position.


Relationship with Nazi leaders

Biographers of both Haushofer and of Hitler disagree somewhat on the extent of Haushofer's influence on Hitler:
Ian Kershaw Sir Ian Kershaw (born 29 April 1943) is an English historian whose work has chiefly focused on the social history of 20th-century Germany. He is regarded by many as one of the world's foremost experts on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and is ...
writes that " isinfluence was probably greater than the Munich professor was later prepared to acknowledge," while
Joachim C. Fest Joachim Clemens Fest (8 December 1926 – 11 September 2006) was a German historian, journalist, critic and editor who was best known for his writings and public commentary on Nazi Germany, including a biography of Adolf Hitler and books about A ...
says that Haushofer's contributions to Hitler's ideation were important, but that "Hitler's version of aushofer'sideas was distinctly his own." Haushofer told Walsh that he viewed Hitler as a half-educated man who never correctly understood the ''Geopolitik'' principles explained by Hess, and saw Foreign Minister
Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician and diplomat who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. ...
(in office: 1938-1945) as the principal distorter of geopolitik in Hitler's mind. Most writers on Haushofer agree that at the very least, through his teaching and his writing, he gave to Hitler and the Nazis intellectual legitimacy - providing Hitler and his cronies with a political and philosophical vocabulary that they would use to justify the goals that they pursued with war and terror. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Haushofer would deny that he had taught Hitler, and claimed that the National Socialist Party perverted Hess's study of geopolitik. Although Haushofer accompanied Hess on numerous
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
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. 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 Konstantin Hermann Karl Freiherr von Neurath (2 February 1873 – 14 August 1956) was a German politician, diplomat and convicted Nazi war criminal who served as Foreign Minister of Germany between 1932 and 1938. Born to a Swabian noble famil ...
, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs (in office: 1932-1938), were the only officials Haushofer would admit had a proper understanding of geopolitik. Father
Edmund A. Walsh Edmund Aloysius Walsh (October 10, 1885 – October 31, 1956) was an American Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus and career diplomat from South Boston, Massachusetts. He was also a professor of geopolitics and founder of the Georgetow ...
, professor of
geopolitics Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of State (polity), states: ''de fac ...
and
dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...
at
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
, who interviewed Haushofer after Allied victory in preparation for the
Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...
, disagreed with Haushofer's assessment that Hitler and the Nazis terribly distorted geopolitik.Walsh (1949), p.41 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, Walsh felt that was enough to implicate Haushofer's geopolitik. Various more damning allegations about Haushofer's involvement with political extremism have been presented over the years.
Louis Pauwels Louis Pauwels (; 2 August 1920 – 28 January 1997) was a French journalist and writer. Born in Paris, France, he wrote in many monthly literary French magazines as early as 1946 (including ''Esprit'' and ''Variété'') until the 1950s. He partic ...
, in his book ''Monsieur Gurdjieff'', describes Haushofer as a former student of the Greek-Russian mystic
George Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff ( – 29 October 1949) was a philosopher, mystic, spiritual teacher, composer, and movements teacher. Born in the Russian Empire, he briefly became a citizen of the First Republic of Armenia after its formation in 1 ...
. Others, including Pauwels, claimed that Haushofer created a
Vril society The Vril Society was a fictitious secret society that is said to have existed in Germany in the early to mid-twentieth century. A series of conspiracy theories and pseudohistorical texts claim that it was involved in the rise of Nazism and used sup ...
and that he was a secret member of the
Thule Society The Thule Society (; ), originally the ('Study Group for Germanic Antiquity'), was a German occultist and group founded in Munich shortly after World War I, named after a mythical northern country in Greek legend. The society is notable chie ...
. It was theorized that Haushofer had co-written, or helped to write, ''Mein Kampf''. Rumors floated that Haushofer was Hess's father, or, conversely, that the two men were lovers. Holger dismisses these unproven allegations as "mythmaking" and "rumors." Aware of some of these accusations, after the war Haushofer denied assisting Hitler in writing ''Mein Kampf'', saying that he only knew of it once it was in print, and that he never read it. But Walsh found, as scholars have since, 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 Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired Strategic goal (military), strategic goals. Derived from the Greek language, Greek word ''strategos'', the term strategy, when first used during the 18th ...
entered Hitler's thought between his imprisonment and the publishing of ''Mein Kampf''. Chapter XIV, on German policy in
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
, in particular displays the influence of the materials Haushofer brought Hitler and Hess while they were imprisoned.
Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, lawyer and convicted war criminal who served as head of the General Government in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member ...
, the governor general of wartime Poland, quoted Hitler as telling him, "Landsberg was my university education at state expense." Haushofer was never a member of the Nazi Party, and did voice disagreements with the party. Haushofer came under suspicion because of his contacts with left-wing socialist figures within the Nazi movement (led by
Gregor Strasser Gregor Strasser (also , see ß; 31 May 1892 – 30 June 1934) was a German politician and early leader of the Nazi Party. Along with his younger brother Otto, he was a leading member of the party's left-wing faction, which brought them into ...
) and because of his advocacy of essentially a German–Russian alliance. The Nazi left-wing had some connections to the
Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor 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
Ernst Niekisch Ernst Niekisch (23 May 1889 – 23 May 1967) was a German writer and political theorist. Initially a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and of the Old Social Democratic Party of Germany (ASP), he later became a prominent exponent of th ...
(1889-1967),
Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian far-right philosopher and writer. Evola regarded his values as Traditionalist conservatism, traditionalist, Aristocracy, aristocratic, War, martial and Empire, im ...
(1898-1974),
Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomology, entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir ''Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful busin ...
(1895-1998),
Friedrich Hielscher Friedrich Hielscher (31 May 19026 March 1990) was a German intellectual involved in the Conservative Revolutionary movement during the Weimar Republic and in the German resistance during the Nazi era. He was the founder of an esoteric or Neopaga ...
(1902-1990) and other figures of the "conservative revolution". Haushofer did profess loyalty to the
Führer ( , spelled ''Fuehrer'' when the umlaut is unavailable) is a German word meaning "leader" or " guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Hitler officially cal ...
and make
anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
remarks. However, his emphasis was always on space over race; he believed in
environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...
rather than racial determinism. In contrast to his personal hostility towards Jews, he declined to associate himself with anti-Semitism as a state policy, especially because his wife was half-Jewish. Haushofer claimed 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).), and his son and grandson were imprisoned for two and a half months. Several authors have explored more obscure angles on the contact between Haushofer and the Nazi establishment.for example: *Berzin, Alexander
"The Nazi Connection with Shambhala and Tibet"
(May 2003) *FitzGerald, Michael. ''Storm Troopers of Satan'' (Robert Hale, 1990) *FitzGerald, Michael. ''Adolf Hitler: A Portrait'' (Spellmount, 2006) *Sklar, Dusty. ''The Nazis and the Occult'' (Dorset Press, 1977) *Webb, James. ''The Occult Establishment'' (Richard Drew, 1981)
Suggestions such as Haushofer's connection to
Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff ( – 29 October 1949) was a philosopher, mystic, spiritual teacher, composer, and movements teacher. Born in the Russian Empire, he briefly became a citizen of the First Republic of Armenia after its formation in 19 ...
's occultism, or that he had studied
Zen Buddhism Zen (; from Chinese: '' Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka ph ...
, or had been initiated at the hands of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
an
lama Lama () is a title bestowed to a realized practitioner of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. Not all monks are lamas, while nuns and female practitioners can be recognized and entitled as lamas. The Tibetan word ''la-ma'' means "high mother", ...
s – are subject of debate. The influence of Haushofer on Nazi ideology is dramatized in the 1943 short documentary propaganda film, '' Plan for Destruction'', which was nominated for an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
.


Works

* ''Das Japanische Reich in seiner geographischen Entwicklung''. Wien: L. W. Seidel & Sohn, 1921. * ''Geopolitik des Pazifischen Ozeans: Studien über die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen Geographie und Geschichte''. Heidelberg: Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, 1925; Bremen: Dogma, 2013. * ''Bausteine zur Geopolitik''. Heidelberg: Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, 1928. * ''Weltpolitik von heute''. Berlin: Zeitgeschichte-Verlag Wilhelm Undermann, 1934
online
. * ''Napoleon I.'' Lübeck: Coleman, 1935. * ''Kitchener''. Lübeck: Coleman, 1935. * ''Foch''. Lübeck: Coleman, 1935 * ''Weltmeere und Weltmächte''. Berlin: Zeitgeschichte-Verlag, 1937. * ''Deutsche Kulturpolitik im indopazifischen Raum''. Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe, 1939. * ''Geopolitische Grundlagen''. Berlin and Wien: Industrieverlag Spaeth & Linde, 1939. * ''Grenzen in ihrer geographischen und politischen Bedeutung''. Heidelberg, Berlin and Magdeburg: Vowinckel, 1939. * ''Wehr-Geopolitik: Geographische Grundlagen einer Wehrkunde''. Berlin: Junker und Dünnhaupt, 1941. * ''Japan baut sein Reich''. Berlin: Zeitgeschichte-Verlag Wilhelm Undermann, 1941. * ''Das Werden des deutschen Volkes: Von der Vielfalt der Stämme zur Einheit der Nation''. Berlin: Propyläen-Verlag, 1941. * ''Der Kontinentalblock : Mitteleuropa, Eurasien, Japan''. Berlin: Eher, 1941. * ''Das Reich: Großdeutsches Werden im Abendland''. Berlin: Habel, 1943. * ''De la géopolitique''. Paris: Fayard, 1986. * ''English Translation and Analysis of Major General Karl Ernst Haushofer's Geopolitics of the Pacific Ocean: Studies on the Relationship between Geography and History.'' Lewiston, New York and Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press, 2002. .


See also

* Geojurisprudence *
Intermediate Region The Intermediate Region is an established geopolitics, geopolitical model set forth in the 1970s by the Greece, Greek historian Dimitri Kitsikis, professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada. According to this model, the Eurasian continent is c ...
*
Alfred Pringsheim Alfred Pringsheim (2 September 1850 – 25 June 1941) was a German mathematician and patron of the arts. He was the father-in-law of the author and Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann. Family and academic career Pringsheim was born in Ohlau, Prov ...
* Nazi Ideologues, Philosophers, and Sociologists


References

Notes Bibliography *Dorpalen, Andreas.''The World of General Haushofer: Geopolitics in Action'' (New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1942). *Jacobsen, Hans-Adolf. ''Karl Haushofer: Leben und Werk''. 2 vols. (= ''Schriften des Bundesarchivs ''24) Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard 1979. *
Halford Mackinder Sir Halford John Mackinder (15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was a British geographer, academic and politician, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy. He was the first Principal of University Ext ...
. ''Democratic Ideals and Reality'', Washington, DC: National Defence University Press, 1996. *Mattern, Johannes. ''Geopolitik: Doctrine of National Self-Sufficiency and Empire'', The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore: 1942. *Ravenscroft, Trevor. ''The Spear of Destiny.'' Weiser Books, London: 1983. *Walsh, Edmund A. ''Total Power: A Footnote to History.'' Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York: 1949. Further reading * Bassoni, N. (2019).
Karl Haushofer as a “Pioneer” of National Socialist Cultural Diplomacy in Fascist Italy
" Central European History, 52(3), pp. 424–449. * Coogan, Kevin, ''Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the postwar fascist international'' (Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 1998). * Heske, Henning, "Karl Haushofer: his role in German politics and in Nazi politics," ''Political Geography'' 6 (1987), pp. 135–144. * Kaplan, Robert D. (2012) ''The Revenge of Geography: What the Maps Tell Us About the Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate'' New York: Random House. * Murphy, David Thomas, ''The Heroic Earth: Geopolitical Thought in Weimar Germany, 1918–1933'' (Kent, Oh.: Kent State University Press, 1997) * Rees, Philip (ed.), ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 1991, * Spang, Christian W., "Karl Haushofer Re-examined – Geopolitics as a Factor within Japanese-German Rapprochement in the Inter-War Years?" In C. W. Spang, R.-H. Wippich (eds.), ''Japanese-German Relations, 1895–1945. War, Diplomacy and Public Opinion.'' (Routledge, London/New York: 2006) pp. 139–157. * Spang, Christian W., ''Karl Haushofer und Japan. Die Rezeption seiner geopolitischen Theorien in der deutschen und japanischen Politik'', Munich: Iudicium, 2013. . *


External links


Deutsches Historisches Museum: Biography of Karl Haushofer
(German) *
Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
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* * ttps://web.archive.org/web/19991004204648/http://www.algonet.se/%7Ejman/bertil/geous.html Geopolitics, the United States, the Eurasian Continental Bloc, and China by Bertil Haggman
"The Last Days of World War II – Last Secrets of the Axis" – An online documentary by History Channel about Karl Haushofer and his role on Eurasia alliance

Japan und die Japaner - eine Landes und Volkskunde
(1933) at The
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haushofer, Karl 1869 births 1946 suicides 1946 deaths Bavarian generals Dachau concentration camp survivors Geopoliticians German geographers German Army generals of World War I People from Nazi Germany Joint suicides Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Military geographers Military personnel from Munich People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Suicides by poison German military attachés German expatriates in Japan Writers from Munich Japanophilia Russophilia Antisemitism in Germany Anti-American sentiment in Germany Suicides in Germany