How the USA Inspired the Nazis – From Manifest Destiny to Lebensraum

This video explores the ideological and practical connections between the United States’ settler colonialism and Nazi Germany’s plans for territorial expansion and colonization in Eastern Europe. It begins by imagining a hypothetical Nazi empire enduring for centuries after winning World War II, then draws a parallel between this scenario and the historical development of the United States as a settler colonial state. The video argues that Nazi plans for Eastern Europe were heavily inspired by the American model of settler colonialism, especially the ideology of Manifest Destiny and the treatment of Native Americans.

The narrative traces the evolution of American settler colonialism from British colonization in North America through the 18th and 19th centuries, emphasizing how racial categorization and white supremacy justified the systematic dispossession, forced assimilation, removal, and extermination of Native American populations. Founding figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are highlighted for their roles in shaping policies that led to the near-eradication of indigenous peoples and the establishment of a vast white settler empire across the continent.

The video then details how German colonialists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries studied and admired American colonial practices, incorporating these ideas into their own colonial ambitions in Africa and later into Nazi ideology. Friedrich Ratzel, a German geographer, is identified as a key figure who developed the concept of Lebensraum (“living space”), drawing directly on American expansionist ideology and Darwinian biology to justify conquest and colonization.

Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders adopted and radicalized these ideas, envisioning Eastern Europe as a “wild east” to be conquered, cleansed of its Slavic and Jewish populations, and settled by Germans in a manner analogous to American westward expansion. Nazi policies toward indigenous populations in Eastern Europe mirrored American settler colonial practices, including forced removals, reservations, enslavement, and cultural assimilation, but were far more radicalized and genocidal.

The video highlights key differences between American and Nazi settler colonialism, such as Nazi conspiratorial anti-Semitism and the vastly higher population densities in Eastern Europe, which complicated Nazi plans and led to the industrialized genocide known as the Holocaust. It argues that Nazi genocides were not historical anomalies but rather a radical evolution of settler colonial logic and practice.

Ultimately, the video calls for a deeper understanding of Nazism as part of a broader continuum of settler colonialism, particularly emphasizing the legacy and ongoing consequences of settler colonialism in countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia. It stresses the importance of acknowledging this history honestly to address its present-day impacts and work toward decolonization and reconciliation.