To What Extent Was National Socialism Fascist?

To What Extent Was National Socialism Fascist?

  • Submitted By: av506
  • Date Submitted: 02/04/2010 6:14 AM
  • Category: History Other
  • Words: 3404
  • Page: 14
  • Views: 451

National Socialism is a complex historical concept, which amalgamates elements of nationalism, socialism and particularly fascism. However it cannot be treated as a notion or a term as there are hardly any definitions that would fully characterize its aspects. No one has a precise explanation but many associations have been attributed with this controversial ideology, such as concentration camps, dictatorship, genocide and war. Nevertheless, many historians have tried to analyze the persistent success of the regime and deep-rooted admirations of it from the German people at that time. The question is why this new view of the world was accepted by the Germans. Was it the originality, the innovative ideas or an illusion of social harmony that attracted them?
When talking about fascist regimes in Europe, it is important to understand that the anti-democratic, anti-communist and extremely charismatic aspects of it prevailed not only in German National Socialism, but also in Mussolini’s Fascist Italy. It is therefore vital to explore the similarities and differences of both regimes in order to examine the extent to which one of them, National Socialism, resembled strong fascist aspects of its philosophy. National Socialism is both enigmatic and simple at its core. What is certain, though, is that it is closely linked to fascism in the way it approaches political and social issues. This essay is aimed at exploring the level of contamination of National Socialism by fascism.
It is believed that Hitler modelled much of his ideology on the principles and the style of Mussolini’s rule. Indeed, if closely looked at, both regimes have elements such as aggressive nationalism, hostility to democracy, support for charismatic leadership and authoritarian values in common. Moreover, the whole idea of fascism can be based on these principles, as Mussolini himself had described fascism as ‘the repudiation of the doctrine of Pacifism’ . This suggests that the concept of...

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