Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany was the [totalitarian] regime that governed Germany, the countries and regions annexed by Germany and the countries occupied by Germany during World War II, between January 30, 1933, when Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, and May 8, 1945, when Germany surrendered to Allied troops led by the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union.

One of the central aspects of Nazi Germany was its racist ideology, especially its virulent [anti-Semitism], based on the concept that the German, or Aryan, race was superior to all others and that the presence of Jews and some other groups, such as the Sinti and Romani Gypsies, polluted and threatened German society. This is despite the contributions made to all aspects of German society by members of these groups, in particular German Jews. In their efforts to “purify” German society, the Nazis also persecuted thousands of people based on their sexuality or physical and mental disability, in addition to the murder of an estimated six million European Jews.

Nazism

Nazism was a nationalist, imperialist and warmongering ideological movement .

Along the lines of fascism, which developed in Italy, Nazism was under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, between the years 1933 to 1945.

The symbol of Nazism was the red flag with a swastika cross .

This movement consisted of a mixture of dogmas and prejudices regarding the alleged superiority of the Aryan race. The Germans believed themselves to be superior to other groups, especially Jews.

Nazism was not a completely new movement in German society. Other movements shared its extreme nationalism, its racism in the attempt to create a militaristic and reactionary society.

Anti-Semitic groups (aversion to Jews) had existed in Germany and Austria since the 19th century.

In addition, many totalitarian regimes developed in the period called “between wars”, that is, between the first (1914-1918) and the second world war (1939-1945).

Fascism and Nazism

Although they are totalitarian political regimes of similar inspirations and often used as synonyms, fascism and Nazism represent differences. These are movements that occurred at different times.

Fascism was an ideological movement before Nazism. It emerged in Italy in the so-called interwar period (1919-1939) being implemented by Benito Mussolini, which lasted from 1919 to 1943.

In turn, Nazism was a totalitarian ideological movement developed in Germany by Adolf Hitler during World War II (1939-1945).

Origin of Nazism

In 1919, in Munich, Hitler joined a small group called the “German Labor Party”, founded by a railway mechanic.

His program spoke of the well-being of the population, equality before the State, the annulment of peace treaties and the exclusion of Jews from the community.

In 1920, Hitler, with his oratory capacity at the service of the group, is already the main figure of the party. This contributed to the name change to “National Socialist German Workers’ Party” – Nazi (shortened from the German term Nationalsozialist ).

Captain Ernest Roehm incorporated a paramilitary organization into the party, the SA (Assault Sections), in charge of disrupting opponents’ meetings.

The party program denounced Jews, Marxists and foreigners, promised work and an end to war reparations. In 1921, at the age of 33, Hitler became head of the party, which had only 3,000 members.

In 1923, the Nazis, led by Hitler, failed in the attempted coup in Munich. Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison. He served eight months, which he used to write the first part of the book ” Mein Kampf ” (My Struggle).

Inspired by fascism and Bolshevism, Hitler reorganized his party. He endowed it with regional administrative and hierarchical structures, a newspaper and paramilitary groups: in addition to the SA, he created the SS (Security Brigades), the elite force.

In addition, he organized the Hitler Youth and supported unions and associations of jurists, doctors, teachers, employees and other professionals.

characteristics of Nazism

The Labor Party program (1920) and Hitler’s texts synthesized his ideological proposal of the Nazi regime:

• Totalitarianism – The individual would belong to the State and could not be liberal or parliamentary, as he should not be fragmented according to particular interests. Like Fascism, Nazism was anti-parliamentary, anti-liberal, and anti-democratic. There should have been only one boss, the Führer. These principles could be summarized in: one people (Volk), one empire (Reich), one leader (Führer).
• Racism – According to this ideology, the Germans belonged to a superior race, the Aryan race, which, without mixing with other races, should rule the world. The Jews were considered their main enemies. The fight against other ideologies, such as Marxism, liberalism, Freemasonry and the Catholic Church, was fundamental.
• Anti-Marxism and Anti-Capitalism – For Hitler, Marxism was a product of Jewish thought, since Marx was Jewish and proposed class struggle; capitalism would only exacerbate inequalities, both attacked the unity of the State.
• Nationalism – For Nazism, the humiliations that arose with the Treaty of Versailles should be destroyed. Greater Germany was to be built, which constituted the grouping of the Germanic communities of Europe, such as Austria, the Sudetenland and Danzig.

Nazism in Power

With the crisis of 1929, discontent took hold in Germany. The unemployed middle class, and the bourgeoisie, fearful of the growth of the “German Communist Party”, swelled the ranks of the “Nazi Party”.

In 1932, capitalist companies started to give him financial support. That same year, several Nazi candidates won the elections.

In 1933, the support of the haute bourgeoisie led President Hindenburg to invite Hitler to occupy the position of chancellor. The Nazis came to power, which gave them more strength to fight leftist parties.

In 1934, President Hindenburg died, and Parliament gave powers to Hitler, who went on to accumulate the positions of chancellor and president.

The bloody Nazi dictatorship was then installed in Germany, supported by the SS, the AS and the Gestapo (political police of the dictatorship).

With the onset of the Third Reich, Hitler supplied the federalist state. The flag of the Nazi Party, with the swastika, became that of Germany.

The Führer began to apply the Nazi program and party members filled all administrative positions. Thus began, the escalation of dictatorship and terror.

Second World War

The Nazi regime, which was in force in Germany between 1933 and 1945, took place during the Second World War .

The Second World War represented a major conflict between several countries that were facing a major economic, political and social crisis. This crisis acquired great proportions after the First World War (1914-1918).

The countries involved in the Second World War constituted two large groups:

• the Allies, made up of England, France, the United States and the Soviet Union;
• the Axis, made up of Germany, Italy and Japan.

All countries involved had imperialist pretensions and, therefore, fought for power and the conquest of territories.

With the rise of Hitler and the Nazi regime in Germany, the main objective was to unite the Germanic peoples. In that sense, exterminating Jews, Marxists, socialists, gypsies, etc.

Thus, in order to conquer territories and become a great world power, the second world war begins when Hitler’s army invades Poland on September 1, 1939. This territory belonged to them before the first world war.

Nazism and World War II ended in 1945, the year Hitler died. That same year, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and three days after Nagasaki, respectively on August 6 and 9, 1945.

holocaust

The Holocaust represented the mass extermination that took place during the Nazi regime in Germany, which killed about six million Jews in concentration camps.

The concentration camps represented the places where people who for Hitler were considered an “inferior race” were exterminated.

This horror committed against these minority groups and especially Jews, only ended in 1945, with the end of the Second World War.

Learn about the life of Anne Frank , one of the victims of the holocaust.

Neo-Nazism

Neo -Nazism represents a contemporary movement inspired by the Nazi ideology of Adolf Hitler.

Neo-Nazi groups began to emerge in the 1970s and are scattered in different parts of the world, and it is possible to find them today through groups on the internet.

This movement is based on the radical doctrines of intolerance and violence under the ideal of superiority of the “pure Aryan race”.

In this way, neo-Nazis tend to be racist and xenophobic with minority groups, whether blacks, immigrants, homosexuals, Jews, among others.

It is important to highlight that the apology for Nazism is not allowed in several countries of the world and is therefore considered a criminal practice.