Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

proclaimed the principle, and must proclaim it, that the freedom of the country in its foreign
relations is not a gift that will be bestowed upon us by Heaven or by any earthly Powers, but
can only be the fruit of a development of our inner forces. We must first root out the causes
which led to our collapse and we must eliminate all those who are profiting by that collapse.
Then we shall be in a position to take up the fight for the restoration of our freedom in the
management of our foreign relations.
It will be easily understood therefore why we did not attach so much importance to foreign
affairs during the early stages of our young movement, but preferred to concentrate on the
problem of internal reform.
But when the small and insignificant society expanded and finally grew too large for its first
framework, the young organization assumed the importance of a great association and we
then felt it incumbent on us to take a definite stand on problems regarding the development
of a foreign policy. It was necessary to lay down the main lines of action which would not
only be in accord with the fundamental ideas of our Weltanschhauung but would actually be
an expansion of it in the practical world of foreign affairs.
Just because our people have had no political education in matters concerning our relations
abroad, it was necessary to teach the leaders in the various sections of our movement, and
also the masses of the people, the chief principles which ought to guide the development of
our foreign relations. That was one of the first tasks to be accomplished in order to prepare
the ground for the practical carrying out of a foreign policy which would win back the
independence of the nation in managing its external affairs and thus restore the real
sovereignty of the Reich.
The fundamental and guiding principles which we must always bear in mind when studying
this question is that foreign policy is only a means to an end and that the sole end to be
pursued is the welfare of our own people. Every problem in foreign politics must be
considered from this point of view, and this point of view alone. Shall such and such a
solution prove advantageous to our people now or in the future, or will it injure their
interests? That is the question.
This is the sole preoccupation that must occupy our minds in dealing with a question. Party
politics, religious considerations, humanitarian ideals – all such and all other preoccupations
must absolutely give way to this.
Before the War the purpose to which German foreign policy should have been devoted was to
assure the supply of material necessities for the maintenance of our people and their
children. And the way should have been prepared which would lead to this goal. Alliances
should have been established which would have proved beneficial to us from this point of
view and would have brought us the necessary auxiliary support. The task to be
accomplished is the same today, but with this difference: In pre-War times it was a question
of caring for the maintenance of the German people, backed up by the power which a strong
and independent State then possessed, but our task today is to make our nation powerful
once again by re-establishing a strong and independent State. The re-establishment of such
a State is the prerequisite and necessary condition which must be fulfilled in order that we
may be able subsequently to put into practice a foreign policy which will serve to guarantee
the existence of our people in the future, fulfilling their needs and furnishing them with those
necessities of life which they lack. In other words, the aim which Germany ought to pursue
today in her foreign policy is to prepare the way for the recovery of her liberty tomorrow. In
this connection there is a fundamental principle which we must keep steadily before our
minds. It is this: The possibility of winning back the independence of a nation is not