Nazism
The word Nazi began as a derogatory nickname for a backward farmer or peasant in Bavaria. It was a hypocorism, or pet name, derived from the German male name Ignaz. In the 1920s, opponents of the National Socialist German Workers' Party shortened their party's acronym NSDAP to Nazi. This usage aimed to associate the political group with the clumsy and awkward image of a yokel. The first time members of the party used the term themselves appeared in 1926 within a publication by Joseph Goebbels titled The Nazi-Sozi. Even then, they used the compound form rather than the single word alone. After the Nazis seized power in 1933, exiles popularized the term outside Germany before it returned after World War II. The regime itself avoided using the label while in control, preferring to call themselves National Socialists. A compendium of Hitler's private conversations from 1941 to 1944 contains no instance of the word Nazi. Hermann Göring never used the term in his public speeches. Melita Maschmann wrote about her experience in a book published in 1963 without referring to herself as a Nazi. In 1933, 581 members of the party answered interview questions by Professor Theodore Abel and did not use the self-designation.
Scholars classify Nazism as far-right politics based on its emphasis on domination by superior people over inferior elements. Adolf Hitler denied that the ideology was strictly left or right, instead calling it syncretic. He claimed the movement combined useful elements from both political camps into a new whole. In Mein Kampf, Hitler attacked politicians on both sides for their perceived cowardice and failure to protect national interests. During a speech in July 1922, he stated that the people would eventually turn to either Bolshevism or a ruthless Right-wing party. By 1929, Hitler simplified socialism to mean having food and pleasures available to the masses. Business leaders supported the Nazis after 1929 because they promised to eliminate organized labor and leftist parties. The Great Depression drove industrialists toward the party as a bulwark against communism. Steel and coal producers, insurance firms, and chemical companies provided significant funding before and after 1933. Large segments of the Sturmabteilung remained committed to socialist policies and expected a second revolution after seizing power. Ernst Röhm pushed for the absorption of the German Army into his paramilitary organization. Hitler purged Röhm and other radical members during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934. This action secured support from conservative President Paul von Hindenburg and the regular army.
Johann Gottlieb Fichte delivered speeches to the German Nation in 1808 while Berlin was occupied by French forces. He called for a national revolution and armed his students to fight against the occupiers. His ideas emphasized the need for the German nation to free itself through collective action. Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl wrote Land and People between 1857 and 1863 to tie the organic Volk to its native landscape. Geographers Friedrich Ratzel and Karl Haushofer borrowed concepts from Riehl's work to argue that each state required specific living space. Oswald Spengler introduced the Blut und Boden philosophy which linked farmers to their soil. The Nazis awarded the Riehl Prize starting in 1935 to applicants who were of Aryan blood and opposed Marxism. Georg Ritter von Schönerer advocated radical German nationalism, antisemitism, and anti-Slavic sentiment in Austria. Hitler adopted the Heil greeting and Führer title from Schönerer's followers. Karl Lueger served as mayor of Vienna during Hitler's youth there and used rabble-rousing oratory to appeal to the masses. The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt used the swastika symbol on their helmets and trucks before the Nazi Party adopted it. Arthur Moeller van den Bruck proposed a new state he called the Third Reich to unite all classes under authoritarian rule.
Arthur de Gobineau argued that racial intermixing destroyed the purity of the Aryan race reserved for Germanic people. Houston Stewart Chamberlain published The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century in 1899 to promote monarchical conservatism while denouncing democracy. Madison Grant wrote The Passing of the Great Race in 1916 to advocate Nordicism and eugenics programs. Hitler described Grant's book as his Bible after reading it. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion appeared in 1912 as an antisemitic forgery created by the Russian secret service Okhrana. Alfred Rosenberg introduced this text to Hitler who believed it was authentic. The Nazis implemented the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring in 1933 to mandate compulsory sterilization. An estimated 360,000 people were sterilized between 1933 and 1939 due to conditions like schizophrenia or epilepsy. Hans F. K. Günther published Rassenkunde des deutschen Volkes in 1922 to divide European peoples into five distinct races. He claimed Jews belonged to a mixed race primarily of Near Eastern and Oriental types. The pamphlet Der Untermensch printed four million copies in 1942 to depict Slavic and Jewish inhabitants as primitive. Action T4 became the name given to the euthanasia program after World War II ended.
Hitler stated in Mein Kampf that living space would be acquired in Eastern Europe especially Russia. The German Nazi Party supported claims to Austria Alsace-Lorraine the Sudetenland and the Polish Corridor. A key policy involved acquiring territory based on the belief that Germany faced overpopulation within existing borders. In 1921 Hitler commended the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which gave large territories held by Russia to German control. By late 1922 he shifted support toward an alliance with Britain to destroy Russia instead. Adam Tooze explains that Hitler believed Lebensraum was vital for securing American-style consumer affluence for Germans. The Allied blockade during World War I caused chronic malnutrition that killed about 600,000 people in Germany and Austria. Economic crises meant most Germans had memories of acute hunger from the interwar period. Over 9 million Germans worked in agriculture in the early 1930s representing a third of the workforce. Half the population lived in towns or villages with fewer than 20,000 residents. Rudolf Hess relayed to Walter Hewel that world peace could only exist when one racially superior power attained supremacy.
The Nuremberg Laws introduced race laws in 1935 to prevent sexual relations between Aryans and Jews. These laws later extended to Romani people Negroes and their offspring who were described as having alien blood. Defilement law became punishable under the category of Rassenschande or race defilement after the war began. The Nazis sought to exterminate Jews Romani Slavs and the physically and mentally disabled to maintain Aryan purity. Homosexuals blacks Jehovah's Witnesses and political opponents faced exclusionary treatment rather than immediate extermination. One ambition at the start of the war was to enslave Slavs from Central and Eastern Europe for living space. The Generalplan Ost envisaged the deportation and enslavement of Poles Czechs Ukrainians Belarusians and Russians. Millions including two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population were exterminated during World War II in an event known as the Holocaust. After Germany's defeat Nazi ideology became widely regarded as evil by the global community. Only a few fringe racist groups called neo-Nazis describe themselves as followers today. Use of Nazi symbols remains illegal in many European countries including Germany and Austria.
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Common questions
What is the origin of the word Nazi?
The word Nazi began as a derogatory nickname for a backward farmer or peasant in Bavaria. It was derived from the German male name Ignaz and shortened from the party acronym NSDAP by opponents in the 1920s to associate the group with a clumsy image.
When did members of the National Socialist German Workers Party start using the term Nazi themselves?
The first time members used the term appeared in 1926 within a publication by Joseph Goebbels titled The Nazi-Sozi. Even then they used the compound form rather than the single word alone, and the regime itself avoided using the label while in control after seizing power in 1933.
How do scholars classify Nazism politically and what were its core ideological components?
Scholars classify Nazism as far-right politics based on its emphasis on domination by superior people over inferior elements. Adolf Hitler claimed the movement combined useful elements from both political camps into a new whole called syncretic while business leaders supported the Nazis after 1929 because they promised to eliminate organized labor and leftist parties.
Which historical figures influenced the development of Nazi ideology before 1933?
Johann Gottlieb Fichte delivered speeches to the German Nation in 1808 calling for national revolution while Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl wrote Land and People between 1857 and 1863 to tie the Volk to its native landscape. Georg Ritter von Schönerer advocated radical German nationalism and antisemitism in Austria and Arthur Moeller van den Bruck proposed a new state he called the Third Reich to unite all classes under authoritarian rule.
What racial theories did the Nazis implement during their rule from 1933 to 1945?
The Nazis implemented the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring in 1933 to mandate compulsory sterilization and an estimated 360,000 people were sterilized between 1933 and 1939 due to conditions like schizophrenia or epilepsy. Hans F. K. Günther published Rassenkunde des deutschen Volkes in 1922 to divide European peoples into five distinct races and claimed Jews belonged to a mixed race primarily of Near Eastern and Oriental types.
How many people were exterminated during World War II as part of Nazi policy and what was the scope of Generalplan Ost?
Millions including two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population were exterminated during World War II in an event known as the Holocaust. The Generalplan Ost envisaged the deportation and enslavement of Poles Czechs Ukrainians Belarusians and Russians to acquire living space in Eastern Europe especially Russia.