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Suppose the young Adolf Hitler had decided to go to Vienna, instead of Paris as he did in OTL. (Yes, this may seem far-fetched, given that Paris was obviously more important as an artistic center. But let's give as a POD that Hitler is too lazy to learn French.) As we know, Hitler became bitterly anti-French as a result of his experiences in Paris, and above all the lack of French respect for his artistic abilities. In *Mein Kampf* he wrote:

"France is, and remains by far, the most terrible enemy. This people, which is constantly becoming more Negrofied, constitutes...a grim danger for the existence of the European white race...For Germany...the French danger means an obligation to subordinate all considerations of sentiment, and to reach out the hand to those who, threatened as much as we are, will not tolerate...France's drive toward dominion."

It is hard for me to imagine a Hitler who had not lived in Paris writing such things. (The "Negrofied" business is no doubt the result of some unpleasant experiences with some Senegalese living in the city.)

Is it even possible that without his Paris experiences Hitler would never have become anti-Semitic? France was after all the country of the Dreyfus affair, and young Hitler was an avid reader of the Paris anti-Semitic gutter press. Furthermore, it is likely that French chauvinism played a role in Paris' failure to recognize Hitler's artistic talents, and that his work would have won more respect in Vienna, perhaps leading him never to go into politics in the first place.

Any thoughts?
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