It was a means to an end for Hitler. The final solution was where he started exterminating people. He tried to start moving people first. So he would do whatever it would take to remove these people from his countries. ALso according to the textbook Modern World History Germany, more specifically Hitler, started invading neighboring countries because of a lack of space for his people. This was called lebensraum which translates literally to living space.
Germany was not overpopulated. Plain and simple. The populace was starting to enjoy the benefits of the Nazi's economic policies, with unemployment falling to a record low, and prosperity returning. And yes, the history texts all state this
but an important caveat to note is that the Nazi party promulgated such a belief, yet this does not give it the status of truth.
Much of Hitler's own version of Lebensraum was overtly racial propaganda. Lebensraum's original theorists did not envision Lebensraum as a solution of overpopulation, but simply as a program of expansion. Ratzel, Lebensraum's original proponent theorized that in order to remain healthy, species must continually expand the amount of space they occupy, for migration is a natural feature of all species, an expression of their need for living space. In other words, an excuse for
continuous expansion when combined with Hitler's Aryan vision.
Dr. Friedrich Burgdoerfer, director of the Reich's Statistical Office, asserted at the Berlin world population conference in solemnly objective tones, that by the year 1960 Slavs would make up over half the European population, while the proportion of Germans would shrink to one-fourth. He illustrated his speech with charts which were later reprinted in numerous Nazi propaganda documents. Was Lebensraum therefore a policy to target overpopulation, or was it a ghoulish policy of racial superiority? Lebensraum was for Hitler the belief in a German manifest destiny, and ranged from a desire to retake what was taken in the Treaty of Versailles to plans of ruling the world, with the cover up myth of overpopulation.
In fact, towards the war years, Hitler's Germany came close to achieving autarky then it ever had. It's unemployment dropped from over 6 million to 1.6 million.
And I know what Lebensraum is. I would venture to say that I'm the most well-read about Hitler in this entire community, having spent much of my youth mired in Nazi-related history books and research.
Also I realize now that the Holocaust was a bad example but, regardless there would be massive overcrowding after the loss of the coasts that there woud be a streak of murders over places to grow food.
The world has enough arable land to feed our current population and even more; we're just not using it right.
