NATIONAL SOCIALISM

also called Nazism, or Naziism, German Nationalsozialismus, or Nazismus, totalitarian movement led by Adolf Hitler as head of the Nazi Party (q.v.) in Germany. In its intense nationalism, mass appeal, and dictatorial rule, National Socialism shared many elements with Italian Fascism. Nazism, however, was far more extreme both in its ideas and in its practice. It was home-grown in Germany and shaped by the unique personality of Hitler. National Socialism had its peculiarly German roots. Some can be traced to the Prussian tradition as it developed under Frederick William I, Frederick the Great, and Otto von Bismarck. This tradition had always regarded the militant spirit and the discipline of the Prussian Army as the model for all individual and civic life. To it was added the tradition of political romanticism, with its sharp hostility to rationalism and to the principles underlying the French Revolution, with its emphasis on instinct and the past, and with its proclamation of the rights of the exceptional individual over all universal law and rules. These two traditions were later reinforced by the 19th-century adoration of science and of the laws of nature, which seemed to operate independently of all concepts of good and evil. Further reinforcements came from such 19th-century intellectual figures as the Comte de Gobineau, Richard Wagner, and Houston Stewart Chamberlain. These men greatly influenced early National Socialism with their claims of the racial and cultural superiority of the Nordic (Germanic) peoples over all other Europeans and all other races. In addition to these currents in the German tradition, it should be pointed out that the formation of Hitler's own intellectual viewpoint was influenced during his youth by specific Austrian movements that professed various political sentiments, notably those of pan-Germanic expansionism and anti-Semitism. Much in Hitler's ferocious nationalism, his contempt of the Slavs, and his hatred of the Jews can be explained by his bitter experiences as an unsuccessful artist living a threadbare existence on the streets of Vienna, the capital of the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire. But this intellectual preparation would in no way have been sufficient for the growth of National Socialism in Germany if that nation's defeat in World War I, with its ensuing disillusionment, pauperization, and frustration, especially in the lower middle classes, had not paved the way for Hitler's propaganda. The Treaty of Versailles (1919), the formal settlement of World War I drafted without German participation, alienated many Germans by the harsh monetary and territorial reparations it imposed on their nation. Resentment of the peace treaty gave Hitler a starting point. Because Germany agreed to cease hostilities and did not unconditionally surrender in the Armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, there was a widespread feeling, particularly in military circles, that Germany's defeat had been engineered by diplomats at the Versailles meetings. From the beginning, Hitler's propaganda of revenge for this traitorous act and his call for rearmament appealed to the military circles, which regarded the peace only as a temporary setback in Germany's expansionist program. The ruinous inflation of the German currency in 1923 wiped out the savings of many middle-class households and led to further public alienation and dissatisfaction. Hitler added to pan-Germanic aspirations the almost mystical fanaticism of a faith in the mission of the German race and the fervour of a social revolutionary gospel. This gospel was most fully expressed in Hitler's personal testament Mein Kampf (192527), in which he outlined both his practical aims and his theories of race and propaganda. Hitler found a powerful ally in the widespread fear of Bolshevism (Communism), which he exploited, first in Germany and then on a worldwide scale, posing as the bulwark against Bolshevism. Thus, he secured the support of many conservative elements that misunderstood the totalitarian character of his movement. Hitler's most important individual contribution to the theory and practice of National Socialism was his deep understanding of mass psychology and mass propaganda in the contemporary world. He stressed the fact that all propaganda must hold its intellectual level at the capacity of the least intelligent of those at whom it is directed, and that its content of truth does not count compared with the only valid criterion, that of success. According to Hitler: It is part of a great leader's genius to make even widely separated adversaries appear as if they belonged to but one category, because among weakly and undecided characters the recognition of various enemies all too easily marks the beginning of doubt of one's own rightness. Hitler found this common denominator in the Jews, whom he identified with both Bolshevism and a kind of cosmic evil. The Jews were to be discriminated against not according to their religion but according to their race. National Socialism declared the Jews, whatever their educational and social development, to be forever fundamentally different from and inimical to Germans. National Socialism attempted to reconcile conservative, nationalist ideology with socially radical doctrine. In so doing, it became a profoundly revolutionary movement, mostly in a negative sense. It rejected rationalism, liberalism and democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and all movements of international cooperation and peace. It stressed instead instinct, the subordination of the individual to the state, and the necessity of blind and unswerving obedience to leaders appointed from above. It also stressed the inequality of men and races and the right of the strong to rule the weak. It sought to purge or suppress competing political, religious, and social institutions and advanced an ethic of hardness and ferocity; it partly destroyed class distinctions by drawing into the movement misfits and failures from all social classes.