A biography of Adolf Hitler published two years before his autobiography Mein Kampf may also have been written by Hitler:
In the early fall of 1923, when Adolf Hitler was still mostly known for his frenzied speeches at Munich beer halls, a slim biography was published that lauded him as the savior of the German nation and even compared him to Jesus. The book, "Adolf Hitler: His Life and His Speeches," was credited to Baron Adolf Victor von Koerber, a German aristocrat and war hero. Scholars have said that Hitler sought Mr. von Koerber out for the biography because he needed a conservative figure without links to the Nazi Party to help legitimize him as a leader.
However, new research says Hitler penned the work himself. This suggests that Hitler had designs on taking power earlier than many historians have previously thought and manipulated public opinion to get there.
"Adolf Hitler: His Life and His Speeches" was published two years before "Mein Kampf," the autobiography and manifesto that historians consider the moment Hitler went from political propagandist to leader in waiting. The von Koerber biography was published shortly before Hitler helped lead a bungled coup in Munich known as the Beer Hall Putsch.
"It's 1923, and Hitler suddenly decides he needs to boost his national profile," said Thomas Weber, a professor of history and international affairs at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland, who uncovered documents in Mr. von Koerber's archival papers that he argues reveals Hitler as the biography's true author. The documents included a sworn statement by the publisher's widow.
Dusty old Godwin meme.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2016, @11:47AM
Voting time! Who would you perfer:
A. Saddam Hussein
B. ISIL
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday October 11 2016, @02:29PM
Fun fact: Syria gets both a petty dictator and ISIS at the same time.
The nature of the Iraq War and the carelessness with which it was waged did, in fact, lend a lot of momentum to the creation of ISIS, but the line doesn't need to be between openly supporting the kinds of dictators who create large swaths of religiously fundamentalist, uneducated, and unhappy people, and endorsing the warlord-esque pseudo-governments those unhappy fundamentalists create.
It's the kind of false dilemma that comes from a foreign policy that only asks the question "Who do we bomb?"