‖ lebensraum
(ˈleːbənzraʊm)
Also L-.
[G., f. genit. of leben life + raum space.]
Territory which the Germans believed was needed for their natural development (now Hist.). Also transf.
| 1905 Mind XIV. 266 A universal activity..forms an all-comprehending Lebensraum in which the manifold may meet and enter into relation. 1935 [see life-space s.v. life n. 16 a]. 1939 O. Lancaster Homes Sweet Homes 46 These treasures were joined on..overcrowded ledges by a new wave of invaders..and..the problem of lebensraum had become acute. 1939 A. Salter Dual Policy 25 Lebensraum, or a place in the sun, is the historic claim and ambition of Germany, as ‘encirclement’ is her historic anxiety. 1939 War Illustr. 9 Dec. 393/1 Moravia and Bohemia had been overrun by the Nazi armies and declared German Protectorates—part of the German people's ‘lebensraum’. 1940 [see appeasement 4]. 1951 S. van Valkenburg in G. Taylor Geogr. in 20th Cent. iv. 109 Kurt Vohwinkel (..1939)..distinguishes three kinds of German Lebensraum. The first kind is the real area occupied solidly by Germans; the second the area where besides Germans there are other people but the German cultural influence prevails; and the third is the one in which Germans are outnumbered by others but still because of their racial and cultural superiority have a right to dominate. 1957 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 881/2 Hitler was convinced that..Germany..needed Russian territory for Lebensraum. 1959 Listener 25 June 1119/1 People, both white and black, either intent on gain or simply seeking lebensraum and resolved not to share it. 1960 Guardian 14 Mar. 6/6 Music, manuscripts, and her little daughter's toys compete amiably for lebensraum. 1960 Times 30 May 13/6 Lebensraum for the Japanese. 1972 W. A. Pantin Oxf. Life iv. 49 The problem of Lebensraum for the developing natural sciences..was already beginning to appear in the early-nineteenth-century minutes of the Hebdomadal Council. |