Political current that emerged in Germany in the late 1910s and early 1920s, the Nazism it was one of the main expressions of European fascism during the interwar period. Having as main leadership the former corporal of the German army in World War I, adolf hitler, Nazism built a totalitarian state in Germany in the 1930s, which was the main reason for the outbreak of World War II.
O Nazism, as one of the expressions of fascism, was also characterized by the nationalism, which placed the interests of the nation as paramount; fur militarism, rooting in military action the solution to the country's economic and social problems, especially the guarantee of the stability of the social order; fur authoritarianism, restricting political participation and centering power on the figure of a leader; fur anti-communism, pointing out the communists as responsible for social problems; and by idealism and romanticism, encouraging irrationality as a means of adhering to political proposals for solving national problems.
The Nazi party originated from the German Combat League for the Destruction of Juro Slavery, formed in 1917. In 1920, Hitler had already approached this organization, which changed its name to the German National Socialist Workers Party (NASPD). The initials of the term national socialism in the German language originated the term nazi, adopted by the party.
After the end of World War I, the Weimar Republic had formed in Germany, characterized mainly by a deep crisis. economic and social, arising mainly from the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which imposed heavy war indemnities to the Germany. Seeking to resolve this crisis in its own way, there was a first attempt by the Nazis to seize state power in 1923, in Munich. The action was a failure, resulting in the arrest of its members. In prision, adolf hitler wrote the book Mein Kampf (My Life), published in 1925, which contained the main ideals of Nazism.
Among his statements, Hitler also pointed to liberal democracy as one of the factors responsible for the German socioeconomic crisis. The seizure of state power would be justified in order to build a new society, more cohesive and in harmony between social classes. The way to take power would be through the organization of military groups, militias and the army. Nazism, like other fascisms, intended to use the revolt against the socioeconomic situation to maintain the capitalist order. Nazi anti-communism indicated that the objective was not the formation of a society constituted by an egalitarianism, but a rigidly hierarchical and united capitalist society. This perspective explained the fact that the Nazis managed to garner political and financial support from numerous industrialists and other German capitalists to realize their power project.
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Nazism, on the other hand, stood out from other fascisms for its racist character. Claiming that there is a superior race, formed by the so-called Aryans, constituted by peoples from northern Europe and identified in the Germanic peoples, Hitler pointed out the need to exclude from society Jews, considered responsible for German problems and communism, as well as homosexuals and gypsies. In relation to the peoples of Eastern Europe, mainly the Slavs, Hitler intended to turn them into slaves because they were considered under-men.
The enslavement of the Slavs was still affirmed by the policy of the living space, which consisted in the expansion of German territories to Eastern Europe, and was what motivated the beginning of World War II. But first we need to know a little more about the rise of Nazism.
After leaving jail, Hitler and the other members of the party started to organize confrontation militias from the street, mainly against the communists, called SA, the Nazi assault troops, led by Ernst Röhm. In addition to the SA, the Nazis also formed the Gestapo, the political police, and the SS, Hitler's protective force, which was used to to eliminate even the party's internal opponents, organized mainly in the SA, in an event known as the Noite dos Longos Daggers. Its main leader was Heinrich Himmler.
The political strength of the Nazis began to grow mainly in the late 1920s, contributing to the economic crisis of 1929. Pointing out measures to defend the national economy as a way out of the crisis, the Nazis won a majority of seats in parliament in the 1932 elections, starting the Nazi rise in the power. In the same year, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany. The Reichstag, the German parliament, was set on fire by the Nazis and served as an argument for Hitler to gradually eliminate political opposition. In 1933, Hitler announced the creation of the Third Reich. In August 1934, he adopted the title of Führer.
For the rise to power and the maintenance of a totalitarian state, the Nazis used an extensive propaganda machine, commanded by Joseph Goebbels, which consisted in the use of theatre, cinema, radio, theater and literature to spread ideology Nazi.
The total power of the Nazis opened the way for the militarization of society, for the development of the military industry and other economic branches. Ghettos and concentration camps were created to isolate Jews, both in Germany and in the territories conquered after the beginning of territorial expansion in 1939. The Nazi action resulted in the extermination of millions of people, notably in the Jewish holocaust and in the war actions in Eastern Europe.
By Me. Tales Pinto
