Lebensraum

Lebensraum, meaning ‘living space’, involved expansion into Eastern Europe. His racist ideology falsely claimed that the so-called Aryan race was superior, while his anti-communism made the Soviet Union an enemy. Territorial expansion and the destruction of communism were therefore connected in his thinking.

He also advocated Lebensraum, or ‘living space’, through territorial expansion into Eastern Europe. His Führerprinzip, or ‘leader principle’, demanded an all-powerful leader rather than parliamentary democracy. Together, these ideas showed that his new electoral strategy served aims that remained racist, expansionist and dictatorial.

The difficulty was that his ambitions extended beyond revising Versailles. He wanted to unite German-speaking people, destroy communism and gain Lebensraum, or ‘living space’, in eastern Europe. Concessions might satisfy a limited demand, but they could not necessarily satisfy an expansionist programme.

The Nazis regarded Slavic peoples, including Poles, as inferior. They wanted eastern territory as Lebensraum, or ‘living space’, for Germans. This meant removing local people, taking their land and using others as forced labourers.