Lebensraum

The title of this article evokes memories of the beginning of World War II and reveals one method dictators use to increase their power. In China’s case, Xi Jinping’s Anschluss of Hong Kong in June 2020 fits nicely with the way Hitler began his initial European expansion strategy, called Lebensraum (living space). In Zweites Buch, Hitler said that to dominate the world, Germany must expand its borders and areas it controls. The first way to start achieving Lebensraum would be through Anschluss — the unification of Austria and Germany. Further, he envisioned an expansion that would include Poland, Czechoslovakia, the rest of Europe and Russia.