Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof, “On the Many Fathers of World War 2”

Re our post Lipton Matthews, The Forgotten Sin: America’s Treatment of Germans: see PFP156 | Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof, “On the Many Fathers of World War 2” (PFS 2016), also PFP160 | Rindermann, Daniels, Schultze-Rhonhof, Stone: “Discussion—Q&A” (PFS 2016). Summary of PFS156 below; full transcript at the podcast.

See also his book, Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof, 1939 – Der Krieg, der viele Väter hatte: Der lange Anlauf zum Zweiten Weltkrieg [“1939 – The War That Had Many Fathers”], 12th rev. and expanded ed. (Reinbek: Olzog, an imprint of Lau Verlag & Handel KG, 2026)

He is a retired Major General of the Bundeswehr and has published several editions of this book, with the most recent being an expanded 12th edition published in 2026.

The book argues that responsibility for the outbreak of the Second World War should not be attributed solely to Germany and Adolf Hitler. Schultze-Rhonhof contends that the diplomatic and political actions of several states—including Poland, Britain, France, the Soviet Union, Italy, and the United States—contributed to the circumstances leading to war in 1939. He bases his argument on diplomatic documents, memoirs, and government records from multiple countries.

Summary (Grok)

Lecture Overview 0:19

The speaker thanks the host and introduces his book 1939: The War That Had Many Fathers. As a young general staff officer he researched pre-World War II armament planning and discovered facts about preparations and intentions of American, British, Polish and French politicians to wage war against Germany.

Core Thesis on War Guilt 2:05

War guilt includes causing, triggering, and committing the war. Post-World War Two discussion focused only on Germany triggering the war. The causes from the prior 20 years by other nations are ignored in historiography and education. This makes Germany’s triggering appear as sole responsibility.

Versailles Principles and Ethnic Issues 4:46

International law after World War One emphasized inviolability of territories while using self-determination selectively. Vanquished nations lost more than foreign language areas. Nearly 15 million German speakers were handed to foreign states against their will, creating ethnic disorder and future conflict potential.

Warnings from Statesmen 7:38

Lloyd George, Marshal Foch, and William Bullitt warned that Versailles decisions would cause another war within 20 years.

British Role 9:29

Britain contributed by creating the Polish Corridor and Danzig issues to maintain conflict. Churchill and Hoover recognized the problems. Britain failed to resolve them and later gave Poland a guarantee that encouraged breaking off talks with Germany. Chamberlain used double dealing while Britain declared war on 3 September 1939.

French Actions 16:24

France undermined German security through disarmament violations, blocking negotiations, military incursions, and superior alliances. France torpedoed German-Polish Danzig talks and encouraged Poland toward war. France declared war on Germany knowing it could not save Poland.

Polish Policies 21:13

Poland received German territories including majority German areas. It repeatedly challenged Danzig’s Free State status and threatened war over customs issues. Poland closed rail routes in the Corridor threatening East Prussia’s economy and mistreated national minorities.

Soviet and American Involvement 27:43

The Soviet Union played an indirect role via the Hitler-Stalin Pact to recover territories from Poland. The United States intervened in World War One to protect loans, tolerated harsh Versailles terms, blocked mitigation efforts, and needled Britain and France toward war with Germany.

Overall Conclusion 34:08

All great powers share responsibility and should examine their roles self-critically. The speaker recommends his book for detailed sources.

***

Related

• Hoppe on Germany, East and West, Russia/Ukraine, and US-NATO (PFS 2022)
• Hoppe, “Coming of Age with Murray,” in Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment
• PFP290 | Hoppe: Considerations and Reflections of a Veteran Reactionary Libertarian (AERC 2025); Considerations and Reflections of a Veteran Reactionary Libertarian (AERC 2025): “The next war then Germany again lost or the German allies lost the Second World War, and there the peace imposed on them was even more vindictive. There were just huge territories taken away from Germany; there was about more than 10 million refugees; enormous compensation had to be paid. The Americans for instance stole all the patents that German industries had, and the most interesting thing was that this time social engineering was used in order to re-educate the German population.”
• Hoppe, “On War, Democratic Peace, and Reeducation: The “German Experience” in Reactionary Perspective,” (possibly) forthcoming in a book based on the Mises Institute’s Revisionist History of War Conference (May 15, 2025—May 17, 2025), based on idem, “On War, Democratic Peace, and Reeducation: The ‘German Experience’ in Reactionary Perspective,” 2025 Annual Meeting, Property and Freedom Society, Bodrum, Turkey (Sep. 20, 2025), available at Stephan Kinsella, “PFP307 | Hans-Hermann Hoppe: Democratic Peace and Re-Education: The German Experience (PFS 2025),” Property and Freedom Podcast (Jan. 19, 2026). See also  Sebastian Wang, “Hans-Hermann Hoppe on Democratic Peace and Re-Education – PFS Bodrum 2025,” Libertarian Alliance [UK] Blog (Sep. 20, 2025)
• Hoppe, “Growing to Understand Contemporary Germany—and Weep: Part I: Germany: East and West, Reunification, and the US” [Transcript at “Growing to Understand Contemporary Germany and Weep – Part I,” LewRockwell.com (Oct. 15, 2022)]
• “Growing to Understand Contemporary Germany—and Weep: Part II: US-NATO, Germany, Russia, and the Ukraine” [Transcript at “Growing to Understand Contemporary Germany and Weep – Part II,” LewRockwell.com (Oct. 17, 2022)]
• PFP251 | Van Dun, Hoppe, Dürr, Discussion, Q&A (PFS 2022)