Faced with this existential threat, Hitler was in no mood for compromise. Backed by Goering and the army, Hitler evaded the efforts of the British, French and Americans to lure him into a negotiated settlement, in which economic concessions would be traded against a moderation of Germany’s rearmament. In private, from the summer of 1936 onwards Hitler was frank. Having consolidated his regime and begun the process of rearmament, he now wanted Germany prepared for war. Hitler had not wavered from his central idea. Though he had yet to clarify the concrete steps, he was determined to realize his
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