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Nazism, Left or Right
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I’ve always seen Nazism referred to as an extremist right-wing group and I’ve always seen it that way as well, however I realize that not everyone agrees.
By name, I guess it would seem to be a left-wing group, but Nazism was the corruption of Socialist beliefs so the name does not carry much weight.
Then there are those names that some like to dish out, like “Femi-Nazi,” which would seem to pair the group with the left because feminists are considered left-wing, but when I see that, I see an oxymoron.
As was practiced by Hitler, what do you think, is Nazism left-wing or right-wing?
By name, I guess it would seem to be a left-wing group, but Nazism was the corruption of Socialist beliefs so the name does not carry much weight.
Then there are those names that some like to dish out, like “Femi-Nazi,” which would seem to pair the group with the left because feminists are considered left-wing, but when I see that, I see an oxymoron.
As was practiced by Hitler, what do you think, is Nazism left-wing or right-wing?
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The name is confusing because the group was very young when Hitler joined it (he was I think the 80th member or so) and was more about finding any way to alleviate the Depression and harsh life of the Weimar Republic than politics. Of course, they still kept the name after Hitler took control, even though it was misleading.
They Nazi party set up an extremely efficient and popular welfare service, however at the same time thye slaughtered anyone who was different from them...
Actually something like the 155th, but as they started counting their members at 100 instead of one this was just yet another technique to create the image of a more successful party in its fledgeling years. In fact Hitler joined the German Workers' Party after being sent to spy on them by the army, but when he saw that the party could be used as a vehicle to push his own ideas,
(and the racist views he had picked up while living in Vienna) he joined.
On the 5 February 1920, after Hitler had risen to lead the group he renamed it the National Socialist German Workers Party, the Nazi Party had been born
He certainly did not intend to be socialist, however. Very early on he had set up the Sturmabteilung (SA or Brownshirts) to act as the NSDAP's private army. These were descended from the Freikorps, but by 1934 had begun to exhibit left-wing tendencies, particularly amongst the higher ranking members, such as the leader, Ernst Rohm; they were looking for the "socialist" in National Socialist.
Rohm wanted the SA to merge with the German Army, with himself as a General. The Army opposed this, and Hitler was faced with a dilemma. He did not want to lose the army's support, but also knew that the SA, if in revolt, was perhaps the one organisation left that could internally overthrow him. Concerned by the left-wing tendencies in the SA, he decided to act to obliterate them and carried out a massacre which has since became known as "the Night of the Long Knives" on 29 June 1934. 1000 SA officers were pulled out of bead and shot. Victims included Ernst Rohm and his closest supporters, such as von Schlencher, von Kahr and Gregor Strasser. The left-wing element of the NSDAP had been obliterated; Hitler was making it clear that his was a firmly right-wing party.
The ideology had socialist elements in that it claimed to protect the interests of the workers as well as the interests of the bosses. Hence the setting up off a national health service and attempts to end all unemployment by providing public works such as the building of the autobans in Germany.
It also banned strikes and restricted workers rights to please the bosses. Racial ideology was strongest in Germany but not so strong in the other Fascist countries of Italy and Spain. In Italy for example many Jews had been enthusiastic members of the Fascist Party until the 1930s when Italian fascists adopted anti-semitism inline with Hilters Germany.
The raical ideology of Hitlers Nazi party was taken to extremes and used to justify German expansion to the German people when infact German expansion was really in the interests of big business to gain control of new markets that were needed. The Jews were used mainly as scapegoats for Germany's economic problems as well. With the Nazis claiming that the Jews were at the centre of a world wide conspiracy that controlled both capitalism and communism and were intent on world domination. With the infamous Protocols of The Elders of Zion being used as evidence of a world wide Jewish conspiracy.
I think the real reason why they want to push the Nazi party to the left is that they don’t want the association of Hitler’s regime with “the wholesome side” of politics, however this does raise an interesting question.
Those social programs are labeled as left-wing material, however to me, the Nazis are still right-wing, but how many right-wing tendencies must a party have to be called right-wing or vice versa?
I think the fact that they wanted to exterminate entire races is enough evidence for me!
On the social side the poles are conservatives and liberals as "right" and "left" respectively.
On the economic side the poles are capitalist and socialist as the "right" and "left".
Clearly one could be a socialist and a conservative so wouldn't fit in as "right" or "left"......
I might come back to this later if I can be bothered because I am presently studying Czechoslovakia and how both the Nazi's and then the Communists were able to infiltrate.