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Why were the Nazis called the National SOCIALIST party?

How on earth were the Nazis 'socialists' or did that mean something different back then to what it does now? Didn't they hate the Communists, and isn't communism basically a stronger form of socialism?

Cos they were.

Hitler actually liked the idea of communism; however, at the same time he thought it was some kind of Jewish plan for world domination. He was kinda ****ed up that way. He could have got a job at the BBC or Guardian.

Anyway, they were called socialist because they were socialists. They were also nationalists, so at least they had something going for them.

Reply 3

Oswy

15

Original post by chloeee!

How on earth were the Nazis 'socialists' or did that mean something different back then to what it does now? Didn't they hate the Communists, and isn't communism basically a stronger form of socialism?

They weren't 'socialists' in the sense that the term is widely understood. The Nazis were actually strongly opposed by the socialists and communists in Germany and these were the first groups to be rounded up, imprisoned and murdered by the Nazis when they got into power. The Nazi use of 'socialism' was actually a perverse reversal in which the people were to be subordinated to the will of the state, not the state subordinated to the will of the people. I suspect that the Nazis primarily used the term because in the period after WWI socialism was a widespread and popular political movement, especially when the Great Depression kicked in and capitalism was recognised as having some big problems in generating economic and social crisis. As socialism was widely recognised as the political idea most obviously in opposition to capitalism it would have been a useful term to take up, even if you were, like Hitler and his band of followers, ultra-conservative, imperialistic, deeply racist and reactionary; the very opposite of what socialism was, and is, about.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4

Prince Rhyus

15

Original post by chloeee!

How on earth were the Nazis 'socialists' or did that mean something different back then to what it does now? Didn't they hate the Communists, and isn't communism basically a stronger form of socialism?

The word "Nazi" is actually an abreviation of "Nationalsozialistische" Deutscher Arbeiterpartei - National Socialist German Workers Party.

Popular appeal

To appeal to a wider portion of the electorate.
There is transcript of a conversation between Hitler and Strasser in which they discuss the socialist ideals of the party. Hitler's definition of Socialism is fairly loose, mainly because Socialism in generally internationalist, whilst Hitler only really believes in sharing the wealth between those who belong to his nation, and that all other weak nations and races should left (or helped) to die out i.e Social Darwinism.
By calling himself a socialist Hitler appealed to the workers of Germany, but his particular brand of Socialism was little more than applied Nationalism.

Edit: just got negged for this... and I thought I had been so helpful :frown:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 7

99maggiemoo

Original post by chloeee!

How on earth were the Nazis 'socialists' or did that mean something different back then to what it does now? Didn't they hate the Communists, and isn't communism basically a stronger form of socialism?

Because 'Evil Scum Party' was already taken.

:smile:

Edit: Really? I was negged for saying the Nazis were bad? :|

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 8

Broderss

3

People liked socialism so why not call yourself socialist if that's going to get you power?

Reply 9

Joker370

11

They tried to appeal to everyone in Germany - in their view they were nationalist as they were supporting Germany's interests, and socialist because the people would benefit.

Reply 10

Low Profile

1

Tool of indoctrination, try to gather a popular circulation of the political party.

Reply 11

Nayred

12

Original post by TheGrandmaster

To appeal to a wider portion of the electorate.
There is transcript of a conversation between Hitler and Strasser in which they discuss the socialist ideals of the party. Hitler's definition of Socialism is fairly loose, mainly because Socialism in generally internationalist, whilst Hitler only really believes in sharing the wealth between those who belong to his nation, and that all other weak nations and races should left (or helped) to die out i.e Social Darwinism.
By calling himself a socialist Hitler appealed to the workers of Germany, but his particular brand of Socialism was little more than applied Nationalism.

Edit: just got negged for this... and I thought I had been so helpful :frown:

Exactly. 'National Socialism' was used relatively by Hitler to appeal to the masses. It was a very general term that allowed Hitler to modify its definition at different times to meet the electorate's needs and gain popular support. Moreover, the term 'National Socialism' gives a sense of commune and that everybody should work side-by-side to achieve a greater Germany.

Reply 12

Filoux

In short, it was an attempt to Germans en masse.

Reply 13

tillytots

19

It's like why do north Korea call themselves the 'democratic republic of north korea' just makes them look nice really, when they aren't.

Reply 14

terza021

It is because Hitler did not invent anything for his party. He took Red color from the communist, he took his Swastika from Hindu people, so it is natural to take his party name from other parties, one that suits him best in order to deceive German people that he is savior and not the trouble of Germans.

Reply 15

OMGWTFBBQ

17

Because they were socialists and nationalists.

The name is kind of a give-away, really.

Reply 16

RyanT

15

Original post by OMGWTFBBQ

Because they were socialists and nationalists.

The name is kind of a give-away, really.

+1

People claiming he wasn't a socialist are missing the point - he was a national socialist. The adjective is extremely important for understanding that he was still a socialist; what do you think the whole idea of lebensraum revolved around?

Socialism isn't just a minimum wage.

The "socialism" we see today is a very narrow spectrum of all socialist ideologies; one of which is national socialism. To be honest, if he hadn't of gassed the jews his legacy would of been very different today.

Reply 17

abbii

11

he was a socialist, he believed in the ideologies of socialism, however socialism only works if everyone accepts it and believes that everyone is equal and has the same rights, in any society there will be different types of people with different ideas (not that any person is lesser than another only different) and so socialism does not work, therefore hitler tried to rectify this by making everyone the same by eliminating anyone who was different, this is obviously not a socialist act but it was (in some sense) a step towards socialism by making the people uniform in as many ways as possible, many of the policies for 'real' germans were in fact socialist

Reply 18

Einheri

18

Original post by terza021

he took his Swastika from Hindu people.

This is a common misconception. Actually, the swastika is an almost universal symbol in human cultures. It appears on Viking runestones, Gothic weapons, Anglo-Saxon art, et cetera. I'm guessing this is where he took them from, I can't imagine he had any great respect for Hindu symbolism.

Example below: 9th Century Danish Runestone