The reason why the Germans had great early success was the same in both wars - they were pioneering the tactics, equipment and soldier training in the beginning which lead to them winning the early battles. This shifted over time when other nations also gained new knowledge on how to wage battle.
Prior to Hitler joining, the Nazi Party held extremely nationalist, racist and antisemitic views. After Hitler had joined the party, he expanded upon and marketed these ideas.
Hitler had a racist world view. He believed that people could be separated into a hierarchy of different races, where some races were superior and others were inferior. Hitler believed the German race to be the superior race, and called the German race ‘Aryan’.
Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be an inferior race of people, who set out to weaken other races and take over the world. Hitler believed that Jews were particularly destructive to the German ‘Aryan’ race, and did not have any place in Nazi Germany.
Hitler also wanted to rid Germany of the disabled, homosexuals, Roma and Sinti, and other minorities that did not fit in to his idea of an Aryan race. The Nazis labelled these groups ‘ a-social ’.
Hitler was an extreme nationalist , believing the German ‘Aryan’ race should dominate. His expansionist policies sought Lebensraum for the German people. Hitler wanted to create a generation of young Aryans who were physically fit and totally obedient through programmes such as Hitler Youth. He believed these policies would unite Germany and ensure it was the strongest nation on earth.
