Nazism: Encyclopedia II - Nazism - Key elements of the Nazi ideology

Nazism - Key elements of the Nazi ideology

• National Socialist Program
• Racism
  • Especially anti-Semitism, which eventually culminated in the Holocaust.
  • The creation of a Herrenrasse (or Herrenvolk) (Master Race = by the Lebensborn (Fountain of Life; A department in the Third Reich))
  • Anti-Slavism
  • Belief in the superiority of the White, Germanic, Aryan or Nordic races.
• Anti-Marxism, Anti-Communism, Anti-Bolshevism
• The rejection of democracy, with as a consequence the ending the existence of political parties, labour unions, and free press.
• Führerprinzip (Leader Principle) Belief in the leader (Responsibility up the ranks, and authority down the ranks.)
• Strong show of local culture.
• Social Darwinism
• Eugenics; sometimes included sterilization and euthanasia
• Religious freedom (Point #24 in the 25 point plan) [1]
• Environmental protection
• Rejection of the modern art movement and an embrace of classical art
• Defense of Blood and Soil (German: "Blut und Boden" - represented by the red and black colors in the Nazi flag)
• "Lebensraumpolitik", "Lebensraum im Osten" (The creation of more living space for Germans in the east)
• Related to Fascism

Nazism - Nazism and romanticism

According to Bertrand Russell, Nazism comes from a different tradition from that of either liberalism or Marxism. Thus, to understand values of Nazism, it is necessary to explore this connection, without trivializing the movement as it was in its peak years in the 1930s and dismissing it as little more than racism.

Many historians say that the anti-Semitic element, which did not exist in the sister fascism movements in Italy and Spain, was adopted by Hitler to gain popularity for the movement, as anti-Semitic prejudice was very common among the masses in the German Empire at that time. Likewise, anti-Semitism fit very well with the Dolchstosslegende (betrayal myth) which blamed "non-German" Germans for the loss of WW I. Historians universally accept that Nazism's mass acceptance depended upon nationalistic and anti-immigrant (i.e. anti-Semitic) appeals, and a patriotic flattery toward the wounded collective pride of defeated WW I veterans. Others have focused on anti-Semitism (rather than the general anti-immigration) claiming it to have been central to Hitler's Weltanschauung, or world view.

Many see strong connections to the values of Nazism and the irrationalist tradition of the romantic movement of the early 19th century. Strength, passion, frank declarations of feelings, and deep devotion to family and community were valued by the Nazis though first expressed by many Romantic artists, musicians, and writers. German romanticism in particular expressed these values. For instance, Hitler identified closely with the music of Richard Wagner (a noted anti-Semite, author of Das Judenthum in der Musik, and idol to the young Hitler). Wagner's most important operas, the Ring cycle, express Aryanist ideals, contain what some people interpret as anti-Semitic caricatures.

The idealisation of tradition, folklore, classical thought, the leadership of Frederick the Great, their rejection of the liberalism of the Weimar Republic and the decision to call the German state the Third Reich (which hearkens back to the medieval First Reich and the pre-Weimar Second Reich) has led many to regard the Nazis as reactionary.

Nazism - Nazi mysticism

Nazi mysticism is a term used to describe a philosophical undercurrent of Nazism which denotes the combination of Nazism with occultism, esotericism, cryptohistory, and/or the paranormal. The esoteric Thule Society and Germanenorden were secret societies which while only a small part of the Völkisch movement, led into the Nazi party.^[1]

Dietrich Eckart, a member of Thule actually coached Hitler on his public speaking skills, and while Hitler has not been shown to have been a member of Thule, he recieved support from the group. Hitler later dedicated Mein Kampf to Eckart.

Heinrich Himmler showed a strong interest in such matters, although as Steigmann–Gall points out, Hitler and many of his key associates attended Christian services.

Nazi mysticism, however, plays a major role in some forms of contemporary Nazism, with a mythology including such ideas as interdimensional vril-powered UFO's, hyperborean supermen, and a nazi moon base, along with the more widely known tale of Hitler having escaped to the Antartic.

Nazism - Ideological competition

Nazism and Communism emerged as two serious contenders for power in Germany after the First World War, particularly as the Weimar Republic became increasingly unstable.

What became the Nazi movement arose out of resistance to the Bolshevik-inspired insurgencies that occurred in Germany in the aftermath of the First World War. The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused a great deal of excitement and interest in the Leninist version of Marxism and caused many socialists to adopt revolutionary principles. The 1918-1919 Munich Soviet and the 1919 Spartacist uprising in Berlin were both manifestations of this. The Freikorps, a loosely organised paramilitary group (essentially a militia of former World War I soldiers) was used to crush both these uprisings and many leaders of the Freikorps, including Ernst Röhm, later became leaders in the Nazi party.

Capitalists and conservatives in Germany feared that a takeover by the Communists was inevitable and did not trust the democratic parties of the Weimar Republic to be able to resist a communist revolution. Increasing numbers of capitalists began looking to the nationalist movements as a bulwark against Bolshevism. After Mussolini's fascists took power in Italy in 1922, fascism presented itself as a realistic option for opposing "Communism", particularly given Mussolini's success in crushing the Communist and anarchist movements which had destabilised Italy with a wave of strikes and factory occupations after the First World War. Fascist parties formed in numerous European countries.

Many historians, such as Ian Kershaw and Joachim Fest, argue that Hitler's Nazis were one of numerous nationalist and increasingly fascistic groups that existed in Germany and contended for leadership of the anti-Communist movement and, eventually, of the German state. Further, they assert that fascism and its German variant, National Socialism, became the successful challengers to Communism because they were able to both appeal to the establishment as a bulwark against Bolshevism and appeal to the working class base, particularly the growing underclass of unemployed and unemployable and growingly impoverished middle class elements who were becoming declassed (the lumpenproletariat). The Nazis' use of pro-labor rhetoric appealed to those disaffected with capitalism by promoting the limiting of profits, the abolishing of rents and the increasing of social benefits (only for Germans of course) while simultaneously presenting a political and economic model that divested "Soviet socialism" of elements which were dangerous to capitalism, such as the concept of class struggle, "the dictatorship of the proletariat" or worker control of the means of production.

Nazism - Support of anti-Communists for Fascism and Nazism

Various right-wing politicians and political parties in Europe welcomed the rise of fascism and the Nazis out of an intense aversion towards Communism. According to them, Hitler was the savior of Western civilization and of capitalism against Bolshevism. During the later 1930s and 1940s, the Nazis were supported by the Falange movement in Spain, and by political and military figures who would form the government of Vichy France. A Legion of French Volunteers against Bolshevism (LVF) and other anti-Soviet fighting formations were formed.

The British Conservative party and the right-wing parties in France appeased the Nazi regime in the mid- and late-1930s, even though they had begun to criticise its totalitarianism. However Britain under both Conservative and Labour had appeased pre-Nazi Germany as well. Left-wing contemporary commentators suggested that these parties did in fact support the Nazis. Important reasons behind this appeasement included, first, the erroneous assumption that Hitler had no desire to precipitate another world war, and second, when the rebirth of the German military could no longer be ignored, a well-founded concern that neither Britain nor France was yet ready to fight an all-out war against Germany.

In 1936, Nazi Germany and Japan entered into the Anti-Comintern Pact, aimed directly at countering Soviet foreign policy. This later became the basis for the Tripartite Pact with Italy, the foundation of the Axis Powers. The three nations were united in their rabid opposition to Communism, as well as their militaristic, racist regimes, but they failed to coordinate their military efforts.

Nazism - Nazism and Persians

Hitler admired the Persian Empire as a shining example of expansionist Germanic genius. Racialist theories had been developed in Persia (Later Iran) and elsewhere during the 19th century to justify Aryan imperial power. Racism and Aryanism arose from these developments. Especially important was the idea that Aryans had in ancient times extended into India and created Indian culture (see Aryan invasion theory). Such Racist imperialist theories justified the idea that some races were innately superior, born to rule, while others were parasitic or inferior "savages". These concepts were taken to an ultimately genocidal conclusion by the Nazis.

In his early years Hitler also greatly admired the United States of America. In Mein Kampf, he praised the United States for its race-based anti-immigration laws and for the subordination of the "inferior" black population. According to Hitler, America was a successful nation because it kept itself "pure" of "lesser races". However, as war approached, his view of the United States became more negative and he believed that Germany would have an easy victory over the United States precisely because the United States, in his later estimation, had become a mongrel nation, calling it "half Judaised, half Negrified".

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Key elements of the Nazi ideology", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki