Hitlers Leadership in Foreign Policy: Chiefly on the Recent Trend of Study in West Germany
The Eve of the Second World War : International Relations in Summer, 1939
1982 Volume 1982 Issue 72 Pages 9-23,L6
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1982 Volume 1982 Issue 72 Pages 9-23,L6
A conspicuous feature of recent studies on Nazi-German foreign policy in the West-Germany may be in the controversy: to which should more importance be attached, Hitler's leadership or what is called the pluralism in the regime, though the pluralism itself has been generally recognized? For instance, W. Michalka's new study on the Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, which seems to contribute much in this respect, and so which we take as a clue, has been proved, as the result of the inquiry, to be inclined to overestimate the influences of other leaders upon Hitler.
This applies above all to the analysis of the two most epoch-making events immediately before the Second World War, namely, the conclusion of the Munich-Agreement (30.9.1938) and the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (23.8.1939). Therefore, as K.Hildebrand asserts, the pluralism in the regime should after all be interpreted as the premise of Hitler's leadership, and in this meaning also W. Michalka's study should be regarded only as an excellent hypothesis for the future development of research on the subject.
