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LEBENSRAUM
L E B E N S R A U M , O R L I V I N G S PA C E , W A S A P O L I C Y O F T H E
NAZIS DURING WWII TO CONQUER TERRITORY IN EUROPE
FOR GERMAN USE.
T H E F I R S T M E N T I O N O F L E B E N S R A U M A C T U A L LY D AT E S
B A C K T O 1 9 0 1 . A G E O G R A P H E R N A M E D F R I E D R I C H R AT Z E L
B E G A N L O O K I N G AT T H E W AY S T H AT P L A N T S , A N I M A L S ,
A N D M A N A D A P T E D T O A N D C O M P E T E D F O R L I V I N G S PA C E .
I N 1 9 0 1 , R AT Z E L F I R S T U S E D T H E T E R M ' L E B E N S R A U M ' A N D
DEFINED IT AS THE EXACT GEOGRAPHICAL AREA NEED TO
S U P P O R T A L I V I N G S P E C I E S AT I T S C U R R E N T P O P U L AT I O N
SIZE AND MODE OF EXISTENCE.
Hitler
Thus,
I N D E E D , A N I M P O R TA N T R E A S O N F O R H I S D E C I S I O N T O
I N VA D E T H E S O V I E T U N I O N I N J U N E 1 9 4 1 WA S H I S D E S I R E
T O A C Q U I R E T H E L E B E N S R A U M T H AT H E H A D B E E N S E E K I N G
FOR GERMANY SINCE 1925.
HE ENVISAGED SETTLING GERMANS AS A MASTER RACE IN
WESTERN RUSSIA, WHILE DEPORTING MOST OF THE
R U S S I A N S T O S I B E R I A A N D U S I N G T H E R E M A I N D E R A S S L AV E
LABOUR.
PLANNED OR UNPLANNED?
The geopolitician Karl Haushofer (left) provided the Nazis with the rationalisations
(intellectual, academic, scientific) for Lebensraum, transmitted to Chancellor Adolf
Hitler, by way of Rudolf Hess (right), who was Haushofer's student.
PLANNED UNPLANNED