Hitler was still telling the German people that he
wanted peace and desired no more than to bring
home to the Reich those German people living
beyond the German frontier: not just the people
of course but also the lands in which they were
living. At a meeting of his military commanders
and in the presence also of the foreign and war
ministers in his chancellery on 5 November 1937
Hitler spoke his mind. Colonel Hossbach
recorded the meeting. The aims Hitler expressed
contained nothing new; they were all familiar
from his previous statements and writings. He
referred to the need to realise them within six to
eight years at the latest. The German race needed
space in the east to expand and multiply or it
would be doomed to decline. More land and
resources were an economic necessity. The solu-
tion to Germany’s problems could be found only
by using force. Beyond the years 1943–5 the rear-
mament of Germany’s enemies would exceed the
ageing equipment of the German military.
Germany had to assume the enmity of Britain and
France. Hitler speculated on international com-
plications like a civil war in France or a war
between the Mediterranean powers which would
divide Germany’s enemies to its advantage. As a
first step, a strategic necessity was an ‘attack’ on
Austria and Czechoslovakia. It was therefore
obvious that rearmament expenditure could not
be reduced. The immediate objective of winning
Austria and Czechoslovakia, however, would be
attained by a little war conducted with lightning
speed; and Hitler assured the generals that this
would not lead to general war.
What is noteworthy about Hitler’s policy from
1937 to 1939 is the acceleration of pace – his
reluctance simply to await events and to exploit
suitable opportunities. He became more confi-
dent and reckless; he wanted to carry through his
grand design without waiting much longer. He
became obsessed with his health, nerves and
various disorders. He was ageing and would do
so rapidly during the war. Such independence as
the army had retained, as a professional body
whose independent judgement was expressed on
the military feasibility of Hitler’s plans, was an
obstacle to their realisation. The commander-
in-chief of the Wehrmacht as well as the war226 THE CONTINUING WORLD CRISIS, 1929–39
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