Mains Practice Questions

Approach:

• Discuss the rise of National Socialism in Germany
• Enumerate various socialist promises made by it
• Elaborate nefarious goals of the Nazi Party
• Conclude by inter-linking all the above

Introduction

National Socialism started as a political movement in Germany in 1919, and soon became popularly known as the Nazi party. In the aftermath of World War-I, the German economy was reeling under severe crisis, hyperinflation was endemic and there was an additional burden of paying war reparations under the Treaty of Versailles. In such circumstances, the Nazi Party offered what seemed to be an attractive alternative.

Body

In their 25-points program released in 1920, National Socialists promised prosperity, full employment, nationalization, redistribution of wealth, national education program etc. which were socialist in nature.

However, their broader agenda was
to make Germany a great nation again and restore national pride, which can be understood as following:

• National Socialism was a way of life dedicated to the rebirth of the nation and all classes in society must be united into a ‘national community’.
• Great emphasis was laid on the efficient organization of all aspects of the lives of the masses under the central government in order to achieve greatness, with violence and terror if necessary.
• The state was supreme; the interests of the individual always came second to the interests of the state, that is, a totalitarian state in which propaganda had a vital role to play.
• Since it was likely that greatness could only be achieved by war, the entire state must be organized on a military footing.
• The ‘Race theory’ was vitally important. Mankind was divided into two groups– Aryans and non-Aryans. The non-Aryans were inferior and they were to be excluded from ‘national community’.

Without the economic crisis, and the promise of nationalization and redistribution of wealth, it is doubtful whether National Socialists would have had much chance of attaining power. It was the widespread unemployment and social misery, together with the fear of communism, that gained the Nazis mass support.

Conclusion

They exploited this support for their ulterior motives-perpetrating the worst crimes of human history in the form of Holocaust following the expansionist policy Lebensraum and subjugation of minorities and individual rights- all of which culminated into another World War.