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Within the Nazi Party, the faction associated with what could be closer to anti-capitalist beliefs was the SA, a paramilitary wing led by Ernst Röhm. The SA had a complicated relationship with the rest of the party, giving both Röhm himself and local SA leaders significant autonomy. Different local leaders would even promote different political ideas in their units, resulting in Hitler purging Röhm and other radical members of the SA in 1934, during the Night of the Long Knives. Another figure of the Nazy Party sometimes seen as more economically left-wing was Joseph Goebbels, because of initial disagreements he may have hold against the main current of the Party regarding its economic beliefs. However, while first closer to the Strasserist wing, as he rose in prominence within the movement, Goebbles abandoned his former more socialist-ish ideas and completely aligned himself on Hitler’s thought. During power struggles taking place inside of the Party, as Goebbels and the Strasserists tried to turn Hitler against the right wing. In vain, but Hitler tempered, leaving an open door: in a speech on February 28, he essentially attacked “Marxism”. Goebbels knows that this is the chance to be seized, he prepares his betrayal: at the beginning of March, Strasser is seriously injured by communists during a meeting; this is an opportunity for Goebbels to meet the right wing. On March 12, he was invited to the lands of one of the supporters of the latter (in Franconia at Streicher's), then on March 21, in Nuremberg, he met Streicher and reconciled with Luid. On March 27, Goebbels made his self-criticism, writing an editorial with the evocative title: “There is something wrong with me!” That's the end of the "Strasserian" Goebbels; henceforth he is entirely Hitlerian. This betrayal does not prevent Goebbels from always having admired Hitler. He then puts his errors on the back of his bad advisers, in particular Hermann Esser, the head of propaganda for the NSDAP.
===[[File:Bism.png]] Orgin of Nazis' "Socialism" [[File:Utsoc.png]]===
There were many socialisms. Among French socialists of 19th century there were many ideas how future society should look.
Representative of the first socialist party which got serious political influence in 19th century was German democratic socialists, they refused violent revolution as a mean to achieve socialist society and got a lot of votes in election to the Imperial German Parliament. It deeply concerned people in power, beside attempts to repress socialist party, Otto von Bismarck implemented core ideas of the modern welfare state, and rules how to regulate German industrial branch and trading.
Bismarck’s innovations got the name “State Socialism” or “Monarcho-Socialism”. Once Iron Chancellor told his British admirer William Harbutt Dawson: “My idea was to bribe the working classes, or shall I say, to win them over, to regard the state as a social institution existing for their sake and interested in their welfare,”. And, according to Dawson, German Empire found a middle ground between individualism which allowed the state to do nothing, and radical socialism which allowed the state to do everything.
In the eastern Europe, Marxian socialists in Russian Empire accepted only violent revolution as a mean to achieve socialist society, it divided socialist movement which last most part of the 20th century. However they agreed that private property should be abolished and planned economy implemented.
Does any of those socialisms have any connection with National Socialism? Some may say no, because National Socialism doesn’t seek ideal of universal equality. However, Nazis had utopian vision of the future: pure German race, they rejected idea of old Prussian aristocracy and class hierarchy. All “real” Germans were equal, and they had equal rights to get education and to get a good job to contribute to the common good of the German nation.
This Nazis’ egalitarianism was only limited to “real” Germans, which had common racial properties, which defined their ideological alignment, Jewish people were classified as enemies, it doesn’t deny the fact that Nazis’ goal was social equality for those who was inside of the group. It was nothing more but variant of Marxian idea that the world is divided on two hostile social classes, “capitalists” is inevitable enemy of the “workers”. Just like in USSR, enemy and their children was stripped of all rights, and had to be reeducated to serve the goal of “Building socialism”.
No matter how you look on this idea today, it was supported by the majority of Nazis’ government and German people. Because it focuses on race distinction instead of class this version of socialism was called “national” instead of “international”.
Nazis’ call to unite part of the humanity which had specific racial properties instead of all workers means that Nazis never had enough followers to take over the world.
Was national socialism not only anti-capitalist but also “socialist”? We can only find it by analyzing text of that time. In 1936 German teacher and philosopher Friedrich Alfred Beck wrote:” National Socialism restored the nation from its vulgar, modern shadows... By the people we mean a whole living being, a racially homogeneous and united general assembly, a common court, a mission and common tasks... Education, from the point of view of race and people, - it is the creation of a form of life in which racial unity will be brought up precisely through the unity of people ...”
“Socialism is the direction of personal life through dependence on the community, consciousness of the community, feeling for the community, and action in the community; nationalism is the elevation of individual life to a unique (microcosmic) expression of the community in the unity of the personality”.
Life of the individual is entangled with society, race and nation defined which society individual should serve. National Socialism classifies people not by classes but by races. It makes you you, it gives your life meaning in the Nazis’ point of view.
But what about Nazis’ economics? Gustav Stolper was an editor of economics journal, which explained economics from classical liberal perspective, in Germany, later he run away to US, in his “German economics” he explained socialist aspects of Nazis’ ideology and policy:
“National Socialist party from the start were anti-capitalist party. It compete with Marxism… National Socialism allured masses. First side was moral principle, second – financial system, third – question of property. Moral principle was “society above self interest”. Financial promise was “break chains of credit slavery”. Industrial program was “nationalize all trusts”.
“By accepting the principle of “community over self-interest,” National Socialism simply emphasizes its antagonism to the spirit of a competitive society, supposedly represented by democratic capitalism... For the Nazis, this principle also means the complete submission of the individual to the requirements of the state. In this sense, National Socialism is undoubtedly a socialist system…”
“The nationalization of large-scale industry was never undertaken after the Nazis came to power. This was by no means a "betrayal" of their program, as some of their opponents claimed. The socialization of the entire German production mechanism, both agricultural and industrial, was achieved by means other than expropriation, to a much greater extent and on an immeasurably more comprehensive scale than the authors of the 1920 party program could possibly have imagined. In fact, not only large trusts were subjected to state control in Germany, but all types of economic activity, leaving only the right of private property”.
Gunter Reimann in “The vampire economy” wrote, that most part of the means of production was never nationalized, they, however were collectivized in the complex net of Nazis’ economic plan, price and salary control, production quota and rules, and strict limits on actions and decisions. Each German entrepreneur knew, his behavior was controlled in the big plan of national socialist regime.
Not much of a difference with state factory managers in Soviet Union under Stalin, German owners of private company had a high degree of freedom in managing a company, which on paper were their property. Nazis’ planning authorities directed how much company should produce, which company should supply it with resources, salary rate and working conditions, they controlled access to investment funds, all import and export.
Other author Götz Haydar Aly wrote about welfare system in “Racist-Totalitarian state of universal wellbeing”.
Aly points out that ideology and praxis of Nazis’ regime were in fact deeply socialist. Inside of Germany people of “pure aryan blood” had ideal of egalitarian social order, in which all Germans were freed from traditional class barriers and had an opportunity to reach any level of success by serving the fatherland. Policy of welfare state started by Bismarck in German Empire, was viewed by Nazis only as the beginning to guaranteed high quality of life for all “real” Germans, which will be maintained by paternalistic national socialist state.
The only problem was with German state being unable to fulfill their promises by the time of 1933. For Germans to have this materialistic heaven on Earth, someone should have give work force and resources to allocate.
Aly says, that before the second world war German “rich class” was enforced to pay their “fair share” for wellbeing of German nation. Taxes for the “rich” were proportionally bigger than for others. During war, government set additional payment for overtime to keep loyalty of masses – by taking money from German capitalists. During that time German industry worked by 4 years plan from 1936 until the end in 1945.
Only during the war, machine of allocation by robbery started to work. Every county occupied by German army had to contribute in the interests of German people.
In Germany as well as in the whole Europe main “enemy” of Nazis’ were Jewish people. In 1941-1942 when Britain started to bomb German cities, elimination of Jews was accelerated, thousands of Germans lost their houses and their property was destroyed. Local government got permission from Berlin to confiscate Jewish houses with all interior to give them to racially pure Germans in need.
In each occupied country Nazis did the same (only Belgium and Denmark sabotaged this program). Nazis first nationalized Jewish property and later gave it away to people they deemed worthy among German or other people.
As estimated by Aly, robbery of resources in occupied states allowed most of German people to have more comfort than civil population of Great Britain.
Invasion to Soviet Union in 1941 fed most of Nazis’ robbery, in the East Hitler had plans to kill most of the population and leave only 20 millions Russian peasants to work in die from starvation in order to supply Lebensraum. Moscow and Leningrad would be destroyed and their population extinct.
Majority of German families continued to live in luxury even under bombardment of Allies, in 5 years Nazis took from various nations of Europe goods worth 2 trillion of dollars. Indeed it have nothing to do with socialism, however it isn’t the main part of ideology. Foundation of socialism is an idea that individual is very little or nothing. It should look on himself as a part of broader “common good”, working on it, no matter what are his own interests.
In the name of the “people” those who have political power, no matter how they took it, establish in the name of the “people” hierarchy of social and collective goals, to achieve which they will utilize program of state planning, interventions and allocation of goods.
Individual choice and action by consumers and entrepreneurs are reduced to nothing with the help of central planning by government.
===Other===
Nazism detests [[File:Marxlen.png]] Commies, who are conveniently branded “political dissidents”. Nazism also has issues with [[File:Roma.png]] Gypsies, [[File: Illum.png]] freemasons, [[File: Libtard.png]] liberals, and [[File: Awaj.png]] anarchists.
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