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Was Nazism An Ideology? Essay, Research Paper

Nazism, ideological

or not? This is a very important question when looking into the rise of Hitler

and how he used his so-called ?ideologies? to win over the support of the

German people. The dictionary definition of the word ?Ideology? is ?Ideas that

form the basis of a political or economic theory?, from this we should be able

to weigh the evidence to see if the Nazis ideas about political and economic

system form an ideology. The Nazis did not fit the criteria for being ideological;

they were contradictory and hypocritical. The Nazis coagulated the ideas and

theories of philosophers, musicians and scientists and produced them in a way

that appealed to the masses this is what made the Nazi party believable and supportable.

Hitler presented to the masses a bombardment of political and ideological ideas,

which seemed to take into account every individual and personal opinion of the

average and indeed middle class German. The nationalistic component to Nazism

appealed to every German, the fact that they were superior and stronger than

other nations appealed to the masses and the apparent coherent way in which

Hitler presented these ideas made it more believable than ridiculous. Firstly it is necessary to

look at what Hitler and indeed the NSDAP wanted for Germany. In a programme,

which the German Workers? Party published on 24th February 1920 it

states the beliefs and ideas of the party, it was co-written by Hitler along

with Anton Drexler, the leader of the party at that time. Reading through this

document it is clear that the 25 point ?demands? of the party were very

contradictory. For example point 2 states that ?We demand equality of right for

the German People in its dealings with other nations, and the abolition of the

Peace Treaties of Versailles and St Germain.? This would indirectly appeal to

German Generals as the down sizing of the army caused the dwindling power and

server job losses in Germany. The Generals would be able to reassert themselves

into the military positions that they once held and take advantage of the independent

states that once belonged to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. In point 22 however

it says ?We demand the abolition of the professional army and its replacement

by a peoples army.? Obviously this is alienating the Generals, as the original

autocratic and militant regime of the army would be abolished for a new ?peoples?

army, which is very socialistic and partly communistic. From this we can see

that Hitler was very contradictory, it is evident that Hitler wanted to whip up

the support of the people but not just certain people he wanted the whole

support of the nation, to do this he had to be hypocritical and contradictory. In

Hitler?s book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), 1925 he states that ?Politics is the

art of using men?s weaknesses for one?s ends.? This clearly shows Hitler?s

intentions on how to get the support of the German people, by appealing to

every single German regardless of social standing. From the 25-point programme

I have picked out the four predominant beliefs of the party they are racism,

socialism, nationalism and anti-democracy I will go onto see how these became

the ?ideologies? of the Nazi party. Hitler?s National Socialists

believed heavily in the ?November Criminals? and ?Stab in the Back? theories.

Hitler used this against the government as propaganda to whip up support for

his own party. He believed that the weimar republic had humiliated Germany and

had put shame on the German people. Hitler?s ideas were built on

his concept of race. He believed that humanity consisted of a graduated

hierarchy of races and that life was no more than ?the survival of the fittest?.

He argued that Social Darwinism necessitated a struggle between races, just as

animals fought for food and territory in the wild. Furthermore, he considered

it vital to maintain racial purity, so that the blood of the weak would not

undermine the strong. It was a crude philosophy, which appears even more

simplistic when Hitler?s analysis of the races is considered. The Herrenvolk

(master race) was the Aryan race, made up of peoples of Northern Europe and

epitomised by the Germans. It was the task of the Aryan to remain pure and to

subjugate the inferior races.? At the

lower end of his racial pyramid Hitler placed the Negroes, the Slavs, the

Gypsies and, the particular focus of his hatred, the Jews.? Hitler?s anti-Semitism was violent and irrational.

?The Jew became the universal scapegoat

for the nazis, responsible for all the problems of Germany past and

present.? Hitler saw the Jewish

community as a kind of cancer within the German body politic ? a disease that

had to be treated, as the following extract from Mein Kampf illustrates:? ?The adulteration of the

blood and racial deterioration conditioned thereby are the only causes that

account for the decline of ancient civilisations: for it is never by war that

nations are ruined, but by the loss of their powers of resistance, which are

exclusively a characteristic of pure racial blood. ? A number of points in the

1920 programme demanded socialist reforms, and for a long time there existed a

faction within the party which emphasised the anti-capitalist aspect of

Nazism.? Hitler accepted these points in

the early years because he recognised their

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