Nazism
| Part of a series on |
|
Nazism (/ˈnɑːtsiɪzəm, ˈnæt-/ ⓘNA(H)T-see-iz-əm), formally named National Socialism (NS; German: Nationalsozialismus, German: [natsi̯oˈnaːlzotsi̯aˌlɪsmʊs] ⓘ), is the far-right totalitarian ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany.[1][2][3] During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequently called Hitler Fascism and Hitlerism. The term "neo-Nazism" is applied to other far-right groups with similar ideology, which formed after World War II.
Nazism is a form of fascism,[4][5][6][7] with disdain for liberal democracy and the parliamentary system. Its beliefs include support for dictatorship,[3] fervent antisemitism, anti-communism, anti-Slavism,[8] anti-Romani sentiment, scientific racism, white supremacy, Nordicism, social Darwinism, homophobia, ableism, and eugenics. The ultranationalism of the Nazis originated in pan-Germanism and the ethno-nationalist Völkisch movement, which had been prominent within German ultranationalism since the late 19th century. Nazism was influenced by the Freikorps paramilitary groups that emerged after Germany's defeat in World War I, from which came the party's "cult of violence".[9] It subscribed to pseudo-scientific theories of a racial hierarchy,[10] identifying ethnic Germans as part of what the Nazis regarded as a Nordic Aryan master race.[11] Nazism sought to overcome social divisions and create a homogeneous German society based on racial purity. The Nazis aimed to unite all Germans living in historically German territory, gain lands for expansion under the doctrine of Lebensraum, and exclude those deemed either Community Aliens or "inferior" races (Untermenschen).
The term "National Socialism" arose from attempts to create a nationalist redefinition of socialism, as an alternative to Marxist international socialism and free-market capitalism. Nazism rejected Marxist concepts of class conflict and universal equality, opposed cosmopolitan internationalism, and sought to convince the social classes in German society to subordinate their interests to the "common good". The Nazi Party's precursor, the pan-German nationalist and antisemitic German Workers' Party, was founded in 1919. In the 1920s, the party was renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party to appeal to left-wing workers,[12] a renaming that Hitler initially opposed.[13] The National Socialist Program was adopted in 1920 and called for a united Greater Germany that would deny citizenship to Jews, while supporting land reform and the nationalisation of some industries. In Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), Hitler outlined the antisemitism and anti-communism at the heart of his philosophy, and his disdain for representative democracy, over which he proposed the Führerprinzip (leader principle).[14] Hitler's objectives involved eastward expansion of German territories, colonization of Eastern Europe, and promotion of an alliance with Britain and Italy, against the Soviet Union.
The Nazi Party won the greatest share of the vote in both Reichstag elections of 1932, making it the largest party in the legislature, albeit short of a majority. Because other parties were unable or unwilling to form a coalition government, Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January 1933 by President Paul von Hindenburg, with the support of conservative nationalists who believed they could control Hitler. With the use of emergency presidential decrees and a change in the Weimar Constitution which allowed the Cabinet to rule by direct decree, the Nazis established a one-party state and began the Gleichschaltung (process of Nazification). The Sturmabteilung (SA) and the Schutzstaffel (SS) functioned as the paramilitary organisations of the party. Hitler purged the party's more radical factions in the 1934 Night of the Long Knives. After Hindenburg's death in August 1934, Hitler became head of both state and government, as Führer und Reichskanzler. Hitler was now the dictator of Nazi Germany, under which Jews, political opponents and other "undesirable" elements were marginalised, imprisoned or murdered. During World War II, millions – including two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe – were exterminated in a genocide known as the Holocaust. Following Germany's defeat and discovery of the full extent of the Holocaust, Nazi ideology became universally disgraced. It is widely regarded as evil, with only a few fringe racist groups, usually referred to as neo-Nazis, describing themselves as followers of National Socialism. Use of Nazi symbols is outlawed in many European countries, including Germany and Austria.
- ^ 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. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Nazism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. 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" Archived 5 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Nationalities Papers. 45 (2): 206–221.
- ^ Kiernan, Ben; Lower, Wendy; Naimark, Norman; Straus, 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. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 358, 359. doi:10.1017/9781108767118. ISBN 978-1-108-48707-8.
- ^ Evans 2003, p. 229.
- ^ Ramin Skibba (20 May 2019). "The Disturbing Resilience of Scientific Racism". Smithsonian.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Baum2006_156was 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.