Imperialism Centerpiece of Mazowek's Research

In his new book Hitler’s Empire: Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe, Columbia Professor Mark Mazower takes an untraditional approach in looking at the Nazi regime.

One idea he brings to light—so important that he makes it the title—is the idea of Nazi rule being akin to the rule of an empire. “The Nazis are not viewed as a chapter in the history of empire,” explained Professor Mazower. “An empire is defined as something Europeans did to other people. But Hitler was an imperialist. He thought that everyone else chose the wrong spot.” Throughout time, empires’ regimes have gotten more and more violent but also shorter-lived. Just because the Nazis ruled for only 12 years does not disqualify Nazi Germany as an empire, according to Mazower.

Perhaps it was the same reasons that allowed the Nazis to rise to power so quickly that caused them to suffered an equally rapid downfall. In Hitler’s Empire, Mazower discusses the power struggles and destabilization that occurred within the Nazi party. “It is important to get into the mindset of the perpetrators as well as the victims,” said Professor Mazower. He noted that the S.S. needs to viewed as intellectually elite and not just crazy, as many people profess it to be.

The Nazis had political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and racial scientists that were used as consultants. An interesting problem arose between them and the high-ranking Nazi officials, though, when it came to the question of what it meant to occupy a country. “They couldn’t agree what race was,” said Professor Mazower. “Germans are a people, not a race. So they narrowed it down to being about religion, Germans versus Jews.” But where did that leave everyone else? What would they do with the Polish people who had intermarried with Germans and spoke German? It was an impossible task for the Nazis to handle.

Another issue that came about was the rule of law. “The Nazis were the makers of a new legal system. But Hitler’s word was law,” pointed out Professor Mazower. How could a cohesive system be created when anything that came out of Hitler’s mouth was law?

Raised and educated in England, Professor Mazower came to Columbia four years ago after teaching at the University of London. Although he was not originally interested in history as a student, he turned to it because he “found history to be a useful way about problems of the present,” he said. “It was also a good way to get to travel a lot.”
Hitler’s Empire relates to the present day as well—the war in Iraq is a military occupation as was Nazi rule. In fact, as Professor Mazower said: “The actual fighting was over rather quickly. The occupation by Hitler was what was such a long time.”

Professor Mazower specializes in Ancient Greek history and spent a year living in Greece while writing his thesis. Now, he and his wife go there at least once a year. He decided to write his latest book on Europe under the Nazis and how they tried to rule because Greece is such a small country and he wanted to make sure people would be interested in the topic of his book. “I like to teach things on a big scale,” he explained.

Professor Mazower will be appearing at Book Culture on 112th and Broadway tonight at 7 p.m. with Istvan Deak, a lecturer at Columbia University who specializes in the history of Central and East Central Europe. Professor Mazower will be reading from Hitler’s Empire and taking questions from the audience.