The Hitler of History

303 Pages·1998·11.194 MB·English

by  John Lukacs

THE HITLER OF HISTORY
JOHN LUKACS
iVIN thtiLki Pifi. . . .
Mr. t ub^ri #rriT*v il Ihii GBatlwMonil
with piinilakini. tihi uitm e- lagac that li
bird I* rflii.1—rfc# Htw Timrm
John Lukacs
THE HITLER OF HISTORY
John Lukacs was born in Hungary and came to the United
States in 1946. Now emeritus, he has been a visiting pro¬
fessor at various universities. The recipient of the 1991
Ingersoll Prize, he is the author of nineteen other books.
He and his wife live in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
ALSO BY JOHN LUKACS
The Great Powers and Eastern Europe
Tocqueville: The European Revolution and
Correspondence with Gohineau (editor)
A History of the Cold War
Decline and Rise of Europe
Historical Consciousness
The Passing of the Modem Age
The Last European War, 1939-1941
1945: Year Zero
Philadelphia: Patricians and Philistines, 1900-1950
Outgrowing Democracy: A History of the
United States in the Twentieth Century
Budapest 1900: A Historical Portrait of a City and Its Culture
Confessions of an Original Sinner
The Duel: 10 May-31 July 1940: The Eighty-Day
Struggle Between Churchill and Hitler
The End of the Twentieth Century and the End of the Modem Age
Destinations Past
George E Kennan and the Origins of Containment 1944-1946:
The Kennan-Lukacs Correspondence
A Thread of Years
The Hitler of History

THE
HITLER
OF
HISTORY
John Lukacs
VINTAGE BOOKS
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York
FIRST VINTAGE BOOKS EDITION, NOVEMBER 1998
Copyright ©1997 by John Lukacs
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. Published in the United States by Vintage Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously
in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States
by Random House, Inc., New York, in 1997.
Permissions acknowledgments may be found on page 281.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lukacs, John, 1924-
The Hider of history/John Lukacs.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-375-70113-3
1. Hider, Adolf, 1889-1945.
2. Germany—History—
193 3-1945—Historiography.
3. National socialism—Historiography.
4. Heads of state—Germany—Biography. I. Tide.
DD247.H5L84 1998
943.086'092—dc21 98-26451
[B] CIP
Book design by Misha Beletsky
www.randomhouse.com
Printed in the United States of America
io 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 i
This book is dedicated to
Jim McBride

CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgments
xi
I
HISTORIOGRAPHICAL PROBLEMS
The purpose of historical knowledge—The extraordinary popular
interest in Hitler—Its development and continuation—
His treatment by historians—Its evolution—The relationship of
history and biography—Principal problems—The documentary
problems—The limits of our knowledge
2
THE CRYSTALLIZATION. VIENNA AND/OR MUNICH?
Hitler’s own account—Its acceptance by historians—Contradictory
evidence—Importance of Munich—Certain physical and mental
characteristics—The turning points in his life
3
REACTIONARY AND/OR REVOLUTIONARY?
A problem of definitions—Hitler’s revolutionary rhetoric—
His appeal to conservatives—His revolutionary achievements—
The question of a duality—A revolutionary of a new kind
l6