Ideologists of the German Naziism

A few men’s reflections played the key role in creating the German Naziism and had tragical impact on interwar Europe and the World War II. Naziism developed as a result of the democracy crisis caused by a difficult social and economic situation after World War I. At that time, almost all European countries ran away from democracy, for instance Russia turned to communism, Italy to fascism and Germany to Naziism.

After the lost war, Germany suffered not only economically but also morally. War veterans returned to the country, mainly wounded and incapable to work. The Treaty of Versailles seemed hurting to them, laying the blame on them for the outbreak of World War I.

National Socialism also called Naziism or Hitlerism is an anti-Semitic, racist, and anti-communist ideology. It is a particularly extreme variety of fascism, which became a national ideology in Germany in the years 1933-1945. Nazis claimed that Aryan race, as the only one, deserves the leading role in the world and the dominance over other races. Naziism was inspired by other ideologies, mainly by fascism. The ideology was also based on a criticism of other systems and on Martin Heidegger and Fryderyk Nietzsche’s philosophy.

The German Nazi Party was the NSDAP. Its predecessor the DAP had a little bit gentler program than the NSDAP and was established in 1919 mainly by railwaymen. The DAP program referred above all to nationalist views. After a short time, Hitler became its member. The party converted into the NSDAP, and Hitler became its leader.
Under Totalitarianism, the authority was being led into every field of the private and social life. According to totalitarian rule, there is only one appropriate national ideology which is consistent and monopolistic. It creates social and economic political life. Everyone should comply with its assumptions and blindly believe in its propaganda, the program and the validity. Everyone should believe that it will be the only ruling worldwide ideology. It is tied up with leading the strong-arm government. Therefore, only the ruling party has a monopoly to information and limits on the freedom of speech and the press. The main goal is to control the news, information about ruling class, as well as to create the new reality according to propaganda program.
Following Totalitarianism, it is essential to form the mass party to achieve the goals. It is very important to instill principles of the ruling ideology in children. Everyone should also live in the constant conviction about the approaching threat and believe that only the national ideology can oppose it. Naziism is therefore strongly connected with the nationalism. They both need the enemy in the shape of another nationality. The enemy is perceived as undesirable, bad and often justifying the need of the militarization and forming hit squads.
The principles of the totalitarian ideology adopted easily in Germany, therefore Nazi parties started developing there.

Adolf Hitler was born in 1889. He was a leader of the Third Reich, fought during World War I, after that he was a member of German Workers Party which he converted into National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). He was imprisoned in 1923 after unsuccessful attempt of coup in Munich. In prison he wrote “Mein Kampf” which includes his political ideas and which became an interpretation of the National Socialism. "Mein Kampf" was a basic and compulsory book for all Nazis. From 1933 to his death in 1945 he was chancellor of German.
His main goal was to build mighty and race – clear German nation. In order to achieve it, it was necessary to conquer the “living space” in the eastern Europe. His political idea was in fact a conglomerate of few theories: socialdarwinism, nihilism, immoralism, volkism, antiliberalism, antidemocratism. State based on racist and solidary idea of German nationality community: “One People, one Reich, one Leader”. The headman (der Führer) controls everything – liquidation of federal system. There was no parliamentary system – no other parties than NSDAP, no significance of Reichstag, but there was the institution of plebiscite. Each aspect of power was controlled by the party.
Every Jew was the enemy of Nazis and therefore doomed to defeat. The anti-Semitic politics found its grounds in the law. “Reich Citizenship Law” and “Nuremberg Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor” from 1935 established the hierarchy of races and exempted Jews, the gypsy and black people. Jews were the biggest enemy – they were guilty of defeat in 1918 and economical crisis. Hitler reduced their rights, since 1941 came up with the program of “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” – Holocaust, Jewish: Shoah.
Joseph Goebbels, two years older than Hitler, was the next ideologist of the German Naziism. In 1924 he became a member of the NSDAP. Four years later, he directed propaganda of the party. After the NSDAP’s takeover of power, he became a minister of the propaganda and the public Enlightenment. During World War II, Hitler appointed him as Commissioner of the German Reich for Total Mobilisation (“Total War”). Hewanted the fights to continue regardless of carried victims. This fanatical Nazi implemented a 60-hour workweek. He propagated the personality cult, spread anti-Semitic, racist and nationalist views. Goebbels put the party magazine "der Angriff", which appeared until 1933.The magazine predominantly delivered anti-Semitic, racist and nationalist views. At first, it appeared once a month, but in the final phase, the newspaper occurred twice a day for propaganda purposes.
Joseph Goebbels was one of the most significant Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany. He effectively falsified reality, demonized “the enemy”, made new heroes such as Hitler who was considered the father of the German family. Thanks to Goebbels, in 1932 the NSDAP gained 37% of all votes cast and became the largest party in the Reich. Moreover, Joseph Goebbels was an organizer of mass meetings, marches, parades, sport events. Effectively, he cared for sustaining the personality cult. For propaganda purposes, the Reich used the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. The access to the culture was limited by the censorship. There were organized exhibitions and festivals of the so-called "Degenerate Art" in order to present inferiorities.
Goebbels’ propaganda is also called folk propaganda which is understood by every recipient, even by an uneducated man because it is based on simple solutions. Goebbels described the enemy as anti-national, false and whipping up the war atmosphere. However, the Reich was shown as anti-corruption country, caring for the citizens, peacefully inclined. The German nation was powerful, brave, and confident about the victory. Goebbels saw an unrivalled opportunity for the success, therefore he decided to move in for the kill. He was a very clever politician who was able to convince the soldiers to fight the enemy even in critical and unfavourable situations.
Goebbels declared the will to start "Total War". He promulgated it in such a way that Germans shouted they want “Total war”. People who deserted were doomed to the capital punishment. Goebbels made Germans defend Berlin fanatically. Until the end of the war, people had waited for a mythical "Wunderwaffe", a “wonder- weapon” which was supposed to turn fates of the war to the victory of Germans. His words became famous. There are many Goebbels’ well-known quotes, for instance: “The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it”, “If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth”, “Propaganda should be popular, not intellectually pleasing. It is not the task of propaganda to discover intellectual truths”, among others.
Alfred Rosenberg, the next ideologist of the German Naziism, was born in 1893. He was one of the most trusted co-workers of Hitler. He was a chief ideologist of the racism and the anti-Semitism He based on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. His idea was Jewish danger, which includes capitalism, communism, pacifism, liberalism and freemasonry. He said a Jew was a greedy, lazy, artful and cruel person and was danger for a Nordic race which shows the best features of human being and would rule the world some day.
He is thought to be the author of the Lebensraum theory, the extreme anti-Semitism, and one of the most influential Nazi figure. He was a member of the former Thule Society, which fought Jews’ clandestine conspiracy. He preached strong anti-Semitic and nationalist views. As the first, he believed in the superiority of the Aryan race, and wanted the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles. He was one of the DAP founders, as well as the Commissar for Supervision of Intellectual and Ideological Education of the NSDAP.
In the book "The Myth of the Twentieth Century", Rosenberg believes in the primacy and ideality of the Nordic race. He holds a view that Nordic race is the only one which has an honor, aestheticism, courage, mysticism and power. On the other hand, according to Rosenberg, Jews were greedy, shrewd, and lazy creatures, jeopardizing the Nordic race. He claimed that Germans had the most in common with Nordic race, therefore only they can "creatively shape" reality. Alfred Rosenberg held a view that the Nordic race is stretched all over Europe and every single place where Nordic people live should be merged into one large Germany.
He referred to some ideas of H.S. Chemberlain – idealisation of Teutonic race (embracing Celts, some of Slavs and, mainly Germanic people) that fight with other races in order to rule the world, especially with Jews – destructive in action, but skilled and influential (he saw some positive features in Jewish people, so couldn’t have been ideologist of the Third Reich)
Next representatives of Naziism are Gregor and Otto Strasser. They were born at the end of the 19th century. In 1920,they joined the NSDAP. Gregor and Otto propagated and spread ideologies of the German Naziism. However, they wanted to acquire workers and the unemployed above all, therefore they represented socialism stream based on revolutionary and left-wing views. However, it stood in opposition to Hitler. He needed money owned by aristocracy and bourgeoisie, butStrassers planned the revolution against the rich. It became the main reason of conflict between Strassers and Hitler and a split in the NSDAP. Thanks to the Gregor’sorganizational abilities, the South faction of the NSDAP grew to the national rank of the mass party. Together with Otto, he published the weekly programme“Der NationaleSozialist”, among othersin the opposition to Hitler’s views.Otto was expelled by Hitler from the party in 1930, because of his views, but then he formed the “Black Front” composed of former Nazis. Otto was not an anti-Semite. He wanted to cooperate with Jews. He chaired the Free German Movement, whichfocussed on the activity against Hitler and Naziism. To the end of his life, Otto propagated Neo-Nazism.

State was total and omnipresent. Activity of state was linked to the whole society’s activity. Particular role of party and its leader. Other parties were banned as a harmful. The leader was an incarnation of state and nation. Children were indoctrinated from their earliest years, even an official model of family was set up. Authorities created many organizations for citizens of different age (membership was obligatory). Law was replaced by the authority and will of the leader, state’s interest and rules being benefit to the nation. In fact – by terror and force. Executive authority took over the competence of creating law (a lot of regulations) – for example in 12 years Reichstag set up only 9 acts. Analogies were used – especially in penal law. Completely new legal thought without ideas of liberalism, formalism and human rights. Law was created by those who keep the power and it was changed with situation – breaking such rules of legal positivism like predictability or confidence of law. Hitler said lawyers couldn’t have understood his ideas.
In times of crisis, “weak” people can be easily manipulated. They are influenced by propaganda slogans. Such people blindly believe in ideals and beliefs heard from the lectern. The number of people who are under propaganda delusion becomes higher and higher. Those people need leaders who create high ideals. Undoubtedly, such persons were listed in my essay. They were chief ideologists of German Naziism who contributed to the defeat of many innocent lives. The ideology based on ill assumptions could bring nothing else than adverse effects. It all begun from knocking out windows from Jewish shops and putting nationalist posters up. Then, Germany incorporated Austria. There were Munich Arrangements and the Wannsee Conferences. The Germans established the ghettos and extermination camps where millions of innocent people died. The hope is that future generations can analyze and learn the history not to commit such mistakes in the future.