Karl Haushofer in the German Geopolitical School: Geopolitician of Nazism or Unappreciated Geopolitical Thinker – An Overview

. After the Second World War, the works of the famous German general, geographer and geopolitical thinker Karl Haushofer were forbidden. Himself, driven to despair, had committed suicide with the hope to be forgotten and lost in history. Haushofer’s major ideas, in particular, his idea of “living space” or “Lebensraum”, which inspired Adolf Hitler and Herman Hess, were regarded as theoretical background for Nazi ideology and Hitler’s aggressive politics in Europe, and Haushofer himself was seen as one of the main ideologists of German fascism. Meanwhile, while having a deeper look into Haushofer’s ideas it can be observed that he has never been a proponent of war. On the contrary, his theory was designed in way, which he thought would bring a long-lasting peace in Europe. His “continental block” theory was aimed on creating a Eurasian block between Germany and Soviet Union against Power of the Sea countries, which he believed were the source of unrest and strife. This paper is aimed to discuss the main concepts and ideas of Karl Haushofer within the German geopolitical school and to understand was he a geopolitician of Nazism or undeservedly forgotten geopolitical thinker and how actual his ideas are nowadays