why did Hitler conquered eastern Europe??
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Well for the simple fact that he viewed the Slavs in Eastern Europe as “untermenschen” (sub-humans). He wanted Germany’s borders to expand Eastwards so that as part of lebensraum, the “Aryan” race could grow and prosper in formerly Slavic lands.
Western Europeans were viewed as Aryans by the Nazis and as a result they were not to have genocide perpetrated on them. The disparity in the Nazi’s treatment of Eastern Europeans compared to Western Europeans was clearly illustrated by the treatment of Allied personnel compared to Soviet personnel. Arguably this was because the Allies were signatories to the Geneva Convention whereas the Soviets weren’t but in reality, the Nazis viewed the Russians with the utmost contempt as they Slavic, thus deemed untermenschen.
So really it boiled down to Nazi eugenics policies. Slavs were viewed as untermenschen whereas Western Europeans were viewed as fellow Aryans worthy of good treatment. As to why he didn’t pick the Balkans for lebensraum, I truly am baffled by this too. Most of the Balkan nations e.g. Slovakia, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria were South Slavic nations. Yet Nazi Germany was actually aligned with both Romania and Bulgaria. To me I am perplexed as to why Hitler viewed Russians, Poles, Ukrainians and Belarussians as untermenschen because they were Slavs yet he allied himself with the South Slavic countries of Romania and Bulgaria. I guess he may have viewed them as useful allies for fighting the USSR and in fact maybe he viewed the Balkans as Fascist Italy’s domain, Slovenia for example was actually under the control of Italy at the time and so were other parts of the Balkans.
Geographically it would indeed have made more sense to use the Balkans for lebensraum. The Balkans are warmer and more arable. They are much more hospitable in climate. Hitler apparently was keen to use Ukraine as the prime spot for lebensraum. Parts of Ukraine such as Odessa and Crimea are really warm in the Summer and during the Winter is still much less harsh. So his lebensraum policies did take geography into account. However, I think you may be onto something here. If he wanted to populate Germans abroad then he should have focused on populating the Balkans instead. To be honest his whole lebensraum policies were put on the back foot until the war was to be ended. This is why he didn’t order the mass genocide of Slavs whereas he was perpetrating the Holocaust whilst World War Two was raging. He used Slavs for forced labour during the war. So who knows, perhaps Hitler would have used the Balkans for lebensraum after the war. Maybe he would have betrayed the Bulgarians/Romanians and populated their territory with German settlers
Western Europeans were viewed as Aryans by the Nazis and as a result they were not to have genocide perpetrated on them. The disparity in the Nazi’s treatment of Eastern Europeans compared to Western Europeans was clearly illustrated by the treatment of Allied personnel compared to Soviet personnel. Arguably this was because the Allies were signatories to the Geneva Convention whereas the Soviets weren’t but in reality, the Nazis viewed the Russians with the utmost contempt as they Slavic, thus deemed untermenschen.
So really it boiled down to Nazi eugenics policies. Slavs were viewed as untermenschen whereas Western Europeans were viewed as fellow Aryans worthy of good treatment. As to why he didn’t pick the Balkans for lebensraum, I truly am baffled by this too. Most of the Balkan nations e.g. Slovakia, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria were South Slavic nations. Yet Nazi Germany was actually aligned with both Romania and Bulgaria. To me I am perplexed as to why Hitler viewed Russians, Poles, Ukrainians and Belarussians as untermenschen because they were Slavs yet he allied himself with the South Slavic countries of Romania and Bulgaria. I guess he may have viewed them as useful allies for fighting the USSR and in fact maybe he viewed the Balkans as Fascist Italy’s domain, Slovenia for example was actually under the control of Italy at the time and so were other parts of the Balkans.
Geographically it would indeed have made more sense to use the Balkans for lebensraum. The Balkans are warmer and more arable. They are much more hospitable in climate. Hitler apparently was keen to use Ukraine as the prime spot for lebensraum. Parts of Ukraine such as Odessa and Crimea are really warm in the Summer and during the Winter is still much less harsh. So his lebensraum policies did take geography into account. However, I think you may be onto something here. If he wanted to populate Germans abroad then he should have focused on populating the Balkans instead. To be honest his whole lebensraum policies were put on the back foot until the war was to be ended. This is why he didn’t order the mass genocide of Slavs whereas he was perpetrating the Holocaust whilst World War Two was raging. He used Slavs for forced labour during the war. So who knows, perhaps Hitler would have used the Balkans for lebensraum after the war. Maybe he would have betrayed the Bulgarians/Romanians and populated their territory with German settlers
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Between 1921 and 1925 Adolf Hitler developed the belief that Germany required Lebensraum ('living space') in order to survive. The conviction that this living space could be gained only in the east, and specifically from Russia, formed the core of this idea, and shaped his policy after his take-over of power in Germany in 1933. So where did he get this idea from? And why did he envisage his country's future living space lying in the east?
The term Lebensraum was coined by the German geographer, Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904). During the last two decades of the 19th century, Ratzel developed a theory according to which the development of all species, including humans, is primarily determined by their adaptation to geographic circumstances.
Above all, Ratzel considered species migration as the crucial factor in social adaptation and cultural change. Species that successfully adapted to one location, he thought, would spread naturally to others. Indeed, he went on to argue that, in order to remain healthy, species must continually expand the amount of space they occupy, for migration is a natural feature of all species, an expression of their need for living space.
... in order to remain healthy, species must continually expand the amount of space they occupy ...
This process also applied to humans, who operate collectively in the form of 'peoples' (Völker), with one Völk effectively conquering another. However, according to Ratzel, such expansion could be successful only if the conquering nation 'colonised' the new territory, and by 'colonisation' he meant the establishment of peasant farms by the new occupiers.
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Pre-war intellectual fashion
Ratzel's ideas very much accorded with intellectual fashions in late 19th- and early 20th-century Germany, where various forms of 'Social Darwinism' were prevalent, and where there was a growing concern about the allegedly negative effects of industrialisation and urbanisation. There was also a b
The term Lebensraum was coined by the German geographer, Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904). During the last two decades of the 19th century, Ratzel developed a theory according to which the development of all species, including humans, is primarily determined by their adaptation to geographic circumstances.
Above all, Ratzel considered species migration as the crucial factor in social adaptation and cultural change. Species that successfully adapted to one location, he thought, would spread naturally to others. Indeed, he went on to argue that, in order to remain healthy, species must continually expand the amount of space they occupy, for migration is a natural feature of all species, an expression of their need for living space.
... in order to remain healthy, species must continually expand the amount of space they occupy ...
This process also applied to humans, who operate collectively in the form of 'peoples' (Völker), with one Völk effectively conquering another. However, according to Ratzel, such expansion could be successful only if the conquering nation 'colonised' the new territory, and by 'colonisation' he meant the establishment of peasant farms by the new occupiers.
Top
Pre-war intellectual fashion
Ratzel's ideas very much accorded with intellectual fashions in late 19th- and early 20th-century Germany, where various forms of 'Social Darwinism' were prevalent, and where there was a growing concern about the allegedly negative effects of industrialisation and urbanisation. There was also a b
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