Hossbach Memorandum
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The Hossbach Memorandum was the summary of the minutes of a meeting on November 5 1937 between Adolf Hitler and his military leadership, laying out his plans to precipitate an aggressive war that would eventually be known as World War II in Europe. The memorandum was named for the keeper of the minutes of the meeting, Hitler's military adjutant, Colonel Count Friedrich Hossbach.
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Intentionalist and Structuralist Arguments
The Memorandum is often used by intentionalist historians to prove that Hitler had planned the Second World War, and the consequences that followed. However structuralist historians would argue that the lack of action by Britain and France against Hitler's occupation of the Rhineland (March 1936) had allowed him to exploit the opportunity, and therefore leading to the Hossbach Memorandum and plans for war.
The Hossbach memorandum has limited credibility as the minutes were drawn up five days after the event by Hossbach; not a secretary. Along with this Hitler did not review the minutes of the meeting, instead saying he was too busy to read it; this information is from AJP Taylor.
Taylor goes further on to say that the manuscript used in the Nuremburg Trials appeared to be a shortened version of the original, as it had passed through the US army prior to arriving at the trial. Taylor does draw attention to one thing that the memorandum can be used to prove; “Goering, Raeder and Neurath had sat by and approved of Hitler’s aggressive plans” but this does not necessarily mean that Hitler laid down his plans for the domination of Europe, but Hitler did make mention of the wish for increased armaments. Taylor also claims the future wars described in the memorandum are unlike that which occurred in 1939 and that it is most likely a piece of internal politics.
References
AJP Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, 2d ed. (Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1965), pp. 266-68, 278-93