Nazism , known officially in German as National Socialism (German: Na tionalso zi alismus ), is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.
Nazism is often considered by scholars to be a form of fascism. While it incorporated elements from both left and right-wing politics, the Nazis formed most of their alliances on the right. The Nazis were one of several historical groups that used the term National Socialism to describe themselves, and in the 1920s they became the largest such group. The Nazi Party presented its program in the 25 point National Socialist Program in 1920. Among the key elements of Nazism were anti-parliamentarism, Pan-Germanism, racism, collectivism, eugenics, antisemitism, anti-communism, totalitarianism and opposition to economic liberalism and political liberalism.
In the 1930s, Nazism was not a monolithic movement, but rather a (mainly German) combination of various ideologies and philosophies which centered around nationalism, anti-communism, traditionalism and the importance of the ethnostate. Groups such as Strasserism and Black Front were part of the early Nazi movement. Their motivations were triggered over anger about the Treaty of Versailles, and what they considered to have been a Jewish/communist conspiracy to humiliate Germany at the end of the World War I. Germany's post-war ills were critical to the formation of the ideology and its criticisms of the post-war Weimar Republic. The Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933.
In response to the instability created by the Great Depression, the Nazis sought a Third Way managed economy that was neither capitalism nor communism. Nazi rule effectively ended on May 7, 1945, V-E Day, when the Nazis unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Powers, who took over Germany's administration until Germany could form its own democratic government.
Terminology
The term Nazi is derived from the first two syllables of Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, the official German language name of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (commonly known in English as the Nazi Party). Party members rarely referred to themselves as Nazis , and instead used the official term, Nationalsozialisten (National Socialists). The word mirrors the term Sozi , a common and slightly derogatory term for members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ( Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands ). When Adolf Hitler took power, the use of the term Nazi almost disappeared from Germany, although it was still used by opponents in Austria.
History
National Socialist philosophy came together during a time of crisis in Germany; the nation had lost World War I in 1918, and had also been forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, a devastating capitulation, and was in the midst of a period of great economic depression and instability. The Dolchstosslegende (or “stab in the back”), described by the National Socialists, featured a claim that the war effort was sabotaged internally, in large part by Germany’s Jews. The National Socialists suggested that a lack of patriotism had led to Germany’s defeat (for one, the front line was not on German soil at the time of the armistice). In politics, criticism was directed at the Social Democrats and the Weimar government ( Deutsches Reich 1919–1933), which the National Socialists accused of selling out the country. The concept of Dolchstosslegende led many to look at Jews and other so-called “non-Germans” living in Germany as having extra-national loyalties, thereby raising antisemitic sentiments and the Judenfrage (German for “Jewish Question”), at a time when the Völkisch movement and a desire to create a Greater Germany were strong.
On January 5, 1919, the party that eventually became the Nazi Party was founded under the name German Workers' Party (DAP) by Anton Drexler, along with six other members. German intelligence authorities sent Hitler, a corporal at the time, to investigate the German Workers’ Party. As a result, party members invited him to join after he impressed them with the speaking ability he displayed while arguing with party members. Hitler joined the party in September 1919, and he became the propaganda boss. The party was renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party on February 24, 1920, against Hitler’s choice of Social Revolutionary Party. Hitler ousted Drexler and became the party leader on July 29, 1921.
Although Adolf Hitler had joined the Nazi Party in September 1919, and published Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”) in 1925 and 1926, the seminal ideas of National Socialism had their roots in groups and individuals of decades past. These include the Völkisch movement and its religious-occult counterpart, Ariosophy. Among the various Ariosophic lodge-like groups, only the Thule Society is related to the origins of the Nazi party.
The term Nazism refers to the ideology of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party and its worldview which permeated German society (and to some degree European and American society) during the party’s years as the German government (1933 to 1945). Free elections in 1932 under Germany’s Weimar Republic made the NSDAP the largest parliamentary faction; no similar party in any country at that time had achieved comparable electoral success. Hitler’s January 30, 1933 appointment as Chancellor of Germany and his subsequent consolidation of dictatorial power marked the beginning of Nazi Germany. During its first year in power, the NSDAP announced the Tausendjähriges Reich (“Thousand Years’ Empire”) or Drittes Reich (“Third Reich”), a putative successor to the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire).
Post-1933 developments
During the night of February 27, 1933, the Reichstag fire provided Hitler with a convenient excuse for suppressing his opponents. The following day, he persuaded President Paul von Hindenburg to sign an emergency decree suspending civil liberties and stripping the power of the federal German states. Opponents were imprisoned first in improvised camps ( wilde Lager ) and later in an organized system of Nazi concentration camps. On March 23, the Reichstag passed an “Enabling Law” which granted Hitler dictatorial powers. Unions were abolished and political parties, other than the National Socialists, forbidden.
Having dealt with his political enemies, Hitler moved against his rivals in the party, principally those allied with Ernst Röhm, leader of the Sturmabteilung (known as SA or “brownshirts”) and Gregor Strasser, leader of the Nazi left wing. Between June 30 and July 2, 1934, these were purged in the so-called Night of the Long Knives. With this, Hitler assured the support of the powerful Reichswehr. After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg on August 2, there was no one left who could present an effective challenge to Nazi power.
The Nazi Party had been anti-Semitic from the beginning, and shortly after seizing power had attempted a boycott against the Jews (see Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses). Official measures against the Jews had been limited by the reluctance of President Hindenburg, but the Nuremberg Laws, proclaimed by Hitler at the 1935 Nazi rally in Nuremberg, provided a legal basis for systematic persecution. Visible signs of anti-Semitism were removed during the 1936 Summer Olympics, but replaced shortly thereafter.
Foreign reaction
During the mid to late 1930s the British and French governments generally held a stance of appeasement for the Nazi regime and its breaching of Treaty of Versailles through rearmament. Though some figures in Britain and France they had begun to criticize this and Germany's embrace of totalitarianism and in Britain especially, Nazi Germany’s policies towards the Jews. Important reasons behind this appeasement included the erroneous assumption that Hitler had no desire to precipitate another world war, even though in Mein Kampf he had outlined the party’s program in detail, overtly and explicitly committing himself to another European-wide war. Later, when the rebirth of the German military could no longer be ignored, appeasement continued through the concern that neither Britain nor France was yet ready to fight an all-out war against Germany.
The latter line of argument, that the West was not ready for war with Germany, was, as Churchill pointed out, unsatisfactory, as the appeasement program in fact worsened the problem; for example by removing Czechoslovakia’s resources from the anti-Nazi side, and adding them to the Nazi side. As Churchill said of appeasement:
You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war. If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds are against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves.In 1936, Nazi Germany and Japan entered into the Anti-Comintern Pact, aimed directly at countering Soviet foreign policy. This alliance later became the basis for the Tripartite Pact with Italy, the foundation of the Axis Powers. The three nations united i
Finger Lakes Region job search and jobs posting. Find a high quality ...
It's free and easy to use FingerLakesHelpWanted.com to find Finger Lakes Region tech jobs, sales jobs, computer jobs... any job! Employers: Post your ad easily and quickly.
craigslist: finger lakes classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals ...
craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, personals, services, local community, and events
Finger Companies jobs - washingtonpost.com
Finger Companies jobs from washingtonpost.com. Search all Finger Companies jobs to find the best career for you.
Steve Jobs, serial finger-flipper? | NetworkWorld.com Community
This new poster of Jobs flipping off early iPhone adopters - "Thanks for your $upport" - is obviously a fake inspired by Apple's early price-cut gambit.
Orthopedic Surgery Job, Finger Lakes Region, NY
Become an employee of a physician-owned P.C. associated with a multi-institutional health system that provides a full range of acute and long term care health services
Jobs Middle Finger (pic) - AppleInsider
Jobs Middle Finger (pic) General Discussion ... Did anybody else notice "this" when steve was being asked about apples past ventures into servers... from the Xserve presentation...
Jobs's finger not on the button - MacUser
Steve Jobs hates buttons. Loathes them with a furor usually reserved for Microsoft and people who talk at the theater. Nowhere is that personality trait more evident than in the ...
[JOB]: bsd-finger
Hi, bsd-finger package has a PATH_MAX issue. Nick, that's yours if you want it ;) Should be easy going. Thanks, Marcus
Jobs Middle Finger (pic) [Archive] - AppleInsider
[Archive] Jobs Middle Finger (pic) General Discussion ... Did anybody else notice "this" when steve was being asked about apples past ventures into servers... from the Xserve ...
Finger Lakes Films jobs - Entertainment Job listings
The security of your personal information is of paramount importance to us: For this reason, we hire outside companies to test our security on a daily basis.