Haushofer, Karl

(1869-1946)

   geographer and political scientist; ex-pounded the geopolitical theory of Lebensraum that helped inspire Hitler's* expansionist policies. Born in Munich to an economics professor, he joined the army in 1887, attended the Bavarian War Academy, and then became an in-structor of military history at the academy in 1903. In 1908 he was sent to Japan as military attache. Stefan Zweig, who met and became friends with him on a riverboat voyage, provided insight into his character: He and his wife had familiarized themselves with the Japanese language and even its literature. He exemplified the fact that every science, even the military, when pursued pro-foundly, must necessarily push beyond its own limits and impinge on all the other sciences" (Zweig). Haushofer returned to Munich in 1910 with a pul-monary disorder that confined him for a year to a sanatorium. By World War I he was able to assume several commands, including service in Poland,* on the Somme, in the Vosges, and in the Carpathians. Embittered by Germany's defeat, he retired with the rank of major-general.

   While convalescing, Haushofer had taken a doctorate with a thesis treating strategic politics and Japan's position in the Far East. In 1919 he wrote his Habilitation at Munich, where he was awarded an honorary professorship. His principal publications, Japan und die Japaner (Japan and the Japanese, 1923) and Geopolitik des pazifischen Ozeans (Geopolitics of the Pacific Ocean, 1925), remain standard studies of their subjects. But it is his role as founder of a geopolitical institute that is most significant. Haushofer was among the first Germans to frame a plan for reestablishing the country's position. While he was teaching at Munich, he began a journal that accentuated Germany's need for Lebensraum (although the term had been coined much earlier by Friedrich Ratzel, Haushofer's use of it was pivotal). His closest student, Rudolf Hess,* introduced him to Hitler. The NSDAP leader then appropriated some of his ideas and, whether by Haushofer's intention or not, used them to justify the Nazis' geopolitical policy. Haushofer's active support of Germans in border areas and foreign countries led to appointment as President of both the German Academy (1934-1937) and the League for Germans in Foreign Countries (1938-1941).

   Haushofer's wife had Jewish ancestry, and his son, Albrecht, joined the re-sistance. In 1944, after Albrecht's arrest (he was executed in April 1945), the family was sent to Dachau. In response to the tragic impact of his life, Haushofer and his wife committed suicide in 1946.

   REFERENCES:Dorpalen, World of General Haushofer; NDB, vol. 8; Norton, "Karl Haus-hofer"; Zweig, World of Yesterday.