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Nazism (/ˈnɑːtsɪzəm, ˈnæt-/ NA(H)T-siz-əm; also Naziism /-si.ɪzəm/),[1] the common name in English for National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus, German: [natsi̯oˈnaːlzotsi̯aˌlɪsmʊs] ⓘ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany.[2][3][4] During Hitler's rise to power in 1930s Europe, it was frequently referred to as Hitlerism (German: Hitlerfaschismus). The later related term "neo-Nazism" is applied to other far-right groups with similar ideas which formed after the Second World War when the Nazi regime collapsed.
Nazism is a form of fascism,[5][6][7][8] with disdain for liberal democracy and the parliamentary system. It incorporates a dictatorship,[4] fervent antisemitism, anti-communism, anti-Slavism,[9] scientific racism, white supremacy, Nordicism, social Darwinism and the use of eugenics into its creed. Its extreme nationalism originated in pan-Germanism and the ethno-nationalist Völkisch movement which had been a prominent aspect of German ultranationalism since the late 19th century. Nazism was strongly influenced by the Freikorps paramilitary groups that emerged after Germany's defeat in World War I, from which came the party's underlying "cult of violence".[10] It subscribed to pseudo-scientific theories of a racial hierarchy,[11] identifying ethnic Germans as part of what the Nazis regarded as an Aryan or Nordic master race.[12] Nazism sought to overcome social divisions and create a homogeneous German society based on racial purity which represented a people's community (Volksgemeinschaft). The Nazis aimed to unite all Germans living in historically German territory, as well as gain additional lands for German expansion under the doctrine of Lebensraum and exclude those whom they deemed either Community Aliens or "inferior" races (Untermenschen).
The term "National Socialism" arose out of attempts to create a nationalist redefinition of socialism, as an alternative to both Marxist international socialism and free-market capitalism. Nazism rejected the Marxist concepts of class conflict and universal equality, opposed cosmopolitan internationalism, and sought to convince all parts of the new German society to subordinate their personal interests to the "common good", accepting political interests as the main priority of economic organisation,[13] which tended to match the general outlook of collectivism or communitarianism rather than economic socialism. The Nazi Party's precursor, the pan-German nationalist and antisemitic German Workers' Party (DAP), was founded on 5 January 1919. By the early 1920s, the party was renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party in order to appeal to left-wing workers,[14] a renaming that Hitler initially objected to.[15] The National Socialist Program, or "25 Points", was adopted in 1920 and called for a united Greater Germany that would deny citizenship to Jews or those of Jewish descent, while also supporting land reform and the nationalisation of some industries. In Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), published in 1925–1926, Hitler outlined the antisemitism and anti-communism at the heart of his political philosophy as well as his disdain for representative democracy, over which he proposed the Führerprinzip (leader principle), and his belief in Germany's right to territorial expansion through lebensraum.[16] Hitler's objectives involved the eastward expansion of German territories, German colonization of Eastern Europe, and the promotion of an alliance with Britain and Italy against Russia.
The Nazi Party won the greatest share of the popular vote in the two Reichstag general elections of 1932, making them the largest party in the legislature by far, albeit still short of an outright majority (37.3% on 31 July 1932 and 33.1% on 6 November 1932). Because none of the parties were willing or able to put together a coalition government, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933 by President Paul von Hindenburg through the support and connivance of traditional conservative nationalists who believed that they could control him and his party. With the use of emergency presidential decrees by Hindenburg and a change in the Weimar Constitution which allowed the Cabinet to rule by direct decree, bypassing both Hindenburg and the Reichstag, the Nazis soon established a one-party state and began the Gleichschaltung.
The Sturmabteilung (SA) and the Schutzstaffel (SS) functioned as the paramilitary organisations of the Nazi Party. Using the SS for the task, Hitler purged the party's more socially and economically radical factions in the mid-1934 Night of the Long Knives, including the leadership of the SA. After the death of President Hindenburg on 2 August 1934, political power was concentrated in Hitler's hands and he became Germany's head of state as well as the head of the government, with the title of Führer und Reichskanzler, meaning "leader and Chancellor of Germany" (see also here). From that point, Hitler was effectively the dictator of Nazi Germany – also known as the Third Reich – under which Jews, political opponents and other "undesirable" elements were marginalised, imprisoned or murdered. During World War II, many millions of people – including around two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe – were eventually exterminated in a genocide which became known as the Holocaust. Following Germany's defeat in World War II and the discovery of the full extent of the Holocaust, Nazi ideology became universally disgraced. It is widely regarded as immoral and evil, with only a few fringe racist groups, usually referred to as neo-Nazis, describing themselves as followers of National Socialism. The use of Nazi symbols is outlawed in many European countries, including Germany and Austria.
- ^ "Naziism". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Fritzsche_Eatwell_Griffinwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "The political parties in the Weimar Republic" (PDF). Bundestag.
- ^ a b "Nazism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
Nazism attempted to reconcile conservative, nationalist ideology with a socially radical doctrine.
- ^ Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2010) [1996] Hitler and Nazi Germany: A History New York: Routledge. p. 1 ISBN 978-0-13-192469-7 Quote: "Nazism was only one, although the most important, of a number of similar-looking fascist movements in Europe between World War I and World War II."
- ^ Orlow, Dietrick (2009) The Lure of Fascism in Western Europe: German Nazis, Dutch and French Fascists, 1933–1939 London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 6–9. ISBN 978-0-230-60865-8.
- ^ Eley, Geoff (2013) Nazism as Fascism: Violence, Ideology, and the Ground of Consent in Germany 1930–1945. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-81263-4
- ^ Kailitz, Steffen and Umland, Andreas (2017). "Why Fascists Took Over the Reichstag but Have Not captured the Kremlin: A Comparison of Weimar Germany and Post-Soviet Russia". Nationalities Papers. 45 (2): 206–221.
- ^ Kiernan, Lower, Naimark, Straus, Ben, Wendy, Norman, Scott (2023). "15: The Nazis and the Slavs – Poles and Soviet Prisoners of War". In Kiernan, Ben; Lower, Wendy; Naimark, Norman; Straus, Scott (eds.). The Cambridge World History of Genocide. Vol. 3: Genocide in the Contemporary Era, 1914–2020. University Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 358, 359. doi:10.1017/9781108767118. ISBN 978-1-108-48707-8.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Evans 2003, p. 229.
- ^ Ramin Skibba (20 May 2019). "The Disturbing Resilience of Scientific Racism". Smithsonian.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Baum2006_156was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Kobrak2004was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Mitcham, Samuel W. (1996). Why Hitler?: The Genesis of the Nazi Reich. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-275-95485-7
- ^ Konrad Heiden, "Les débuts du national-socialisme", Revue d'Allemagne, VII, No. 71 (Sept. 15, 1933), p. 821.
- ^ Kershaw 1999, pp. 243–244, 248–249.