Adolf Hitler, too, was inspired by Malthus. “The productivity of the soil can only be increased within defined limits and up to a certain point,” he wrote in Mein Kampf. But, in contrast to Malthus, Hitler believed that those limits could be overcome through invasion of foreign territories. “Strong and direct connections can be drawn between [Malthus’s] work,” historian Mayhew concludes, “and some of the most abhorrent moments in twentieth-century history.”56
