Nazism was a dictatorship policy that ruled Germany between 1933 and 1945, a period that was also known as Third reich, led by adolf hitler.
The political ideology of Nazism emerged after World War I (1914 - 1918), with Germany economically destroyed and humiliated for having lost the war. In this scenario, a feeling of revolt arises among the Germans, who blamed the government for the country's situation and demanded drastic changes.
The Creation of the Nazi Party
In 1919 the Nazi Party, abbreviation for National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, in German), which was beginning to spread anti-Semitic ideals among German society.
The Nazi Party claimed that the blame for all the problems of the crisis facing Germany lay with Jewish immigrants, communists and the liberals, who caused disorder and "stole" opportunities from "pure Germans", who according to the Nazis belonged to a "race higher"; one Aryan race.
Adolf Hitler was born in 1889, in Austria, and had participated in the First World War. After the Great War and with the German defeat, Hitler was part of a group of former middle-class fighters who planned an ideology to rekindle Germany's politics and economy, as well as restore the dignity of the nation.
Learn more about First World War.
And in 1923, already under the "soul" of the Nazi Party, Hitler led an attempt to overthrow the state, only to be arrested and convicted. In prison, he wrote the book "My fight" (Mein Kampf, in German), work that would become the "bible of Nazism".
With the great economic crisis of 1929 (which began with the crash of the New York Stock Exchange), the Germany found itself in despair and the deep disgust with the living conditions of the population became intensified. These feelings helped to strengthen the Nazi Party and its ideals.
Under strong social pressure, German President Hinderburg was forced to grant the post of chancellor for Hitler, considered the second most important post of power in Germany at that time, just below the president.
adolf hitler, under the command of the Nazi Party, finally managed to come to power in Germany in 1933, after the death of President Von Hindenburg, proclaiming himself Fuhrer ("leader" in German) and establishing the call Third Reich ("Third Kingdom").
With the height of Nazism in command of the German nation, in 1939 the Second World War began, much more terrible and bloodthirsty than the First.
Hitler created three main forces of power to carry out his goals: the Assault Sections (SA), at Security Sections (S.S) or Schutzstaffel(in German) and the gestapo (German secret police).
A lot of people don't know, but one of the main figures who helped the growth of Nazism was a filmmaker and minister of Nazi propaganda Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels controlled all the media in Germany, created alienating advertising campaigns that promised a "better world" for the Germans, based on the idea of the supremacy of the Aryan race as the dominator of all the others.
Nazism came to an end with the end of World War II and the defeat of Germany by the Allied countries. With information about the imminent defeat, Adolf Hilter committed suicide in his hiding place.
Characteristics of Nazism
Nazism was marked by its anti-Semitic ideals, that is, prejudice and hostility against the Jewish people. The Nazis also persecuted, tortured and killed communists, blacks, homosexuals and other people who were not framed within the characteristics of the so-called "Aryan race", the superior German race defended by the Party Nazi.
Among the main characteristics of the Nazi regime is anti-parliamentaryism, pan-Germanism (an ideal that was intended to unify all Germanic peoples located in Central Europe), racism (prejudice and disgust for different ethnic races) and totalitarianism.
However, the main objective of the Nazi Party was to build a great nation consolidated under one "one true race", the race which, according to the Nazis, was considered the purest in Europe and intellectually and physically superior to all others: the race Aryan.
The tactic adopted by Nazism to fulfill all its objectives was called "Final Solution" or "Final Solution to the Jewish Question", that is, to eliminate all Jewish peoples who occupied German territories.
Under orders from Adolf Hitler, the Holocaust, a process of genocide of the Jewish population and other ethnic groups that were not considered "worthy" to populate the German territories. It is estimated that more than six million Jews died during the Holocaust in Concentration and Forced Labor Camps.
know more about totalitarianism.
Swastika Cross
The swastika cross is one of the symbols most used by Nazism, representing "luck", "prosperity" and "success" among the Nazis. However, currently, this symbol has a totally negative connotation, being even prohibited to be replicated or encouraged in public places.
However, many people no longer know the symbol that has become one of the "most hated in the world", because of the its connection with the Nazi Party, has existed for many years and under a totally harmless and kindness.
Before being adopted as a symbol of Nazism, the Swastika cross was a lucky charm, representing prosperity and success.
It is noteworthy that, etymologically, the word "swastika" in Sanskrit means "happiness", "luck" and "pleasure".
Learn more about the meaning of Swastika.
Nazism in Brazil
Nazi concepts arrived in Brazil even before the beginning of World War II, through the political propaganda that the Third Reich was doing it on Brazilian soil in an attempt to reach the more than 100,000 German immigrants who lived in communities in the south and southeast of the parents.
According to historians, there were approximately 1 million descendants of Germans in Brazil (German-Brazilians), but the vast majority did not join the Nazi movement.
However, even so, Brazil was considered the foreign country (outside Europe) with the largest number of Nazi supporters, according to some researchers.
After the end of World War II and the defeat of the Nazis, many German convicts took refuge in Brazilian lands, in colonies.
Among the refugees was the notorious physician Josef Mengele, known as "Angel of Death" and responsible for horrific medical experiments on thousands of Jewish and Gypsy prisoners. Mengele drowned in Bertioga, in the interior of São Paulo, without being recognized by anyone.
neo-nazism
Neo-Nazism is an ideology that seeks inspiration and rescues the ideals and concepts of Nazism.
Etymologically, "neo-Nazism" means "New Nazism" (neo = new), but the ideology does not bring anything new. The neo-Nazis' main objective is to defend the existence of a pure Aryan race; the white and Nordic race.
Jews, blacks, homosexuals, Indians and people of other ethnicities are the targets of neo-Nazis.
Currently, there are subcategories of neo-Nazi groups that propagate the same racism and hate speech as the Nazis, such as the Ku Klux Klan (group that chases and kills blacks), the skinheads and the stormfront.
See too:
- Fascism
- SS
- Holocaust
- 6 Books on Racism that Everyone Should Read
