Were the Nazis Socialists?
“Hitler allied himself with leaders of German conservative and nationalist movements, and in January 1933 German President Paul von Hindenburg appointed him chancellor. Hitler’s Third Reich had been born, and it was entirely fascist in character. Within two months Hitler achieved full dictatorial power through the Enabling Act. In April 1933 communists, socialists, democrats, and Jews were purged from the German civil service, and trade unions were outlawed the following month. That July Hitler banned all political parties other than his own, and prominent members of the German Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party were arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps. Lest there be any remaining questions about the political character of the Nazi revolution, Hitler ordered the murder of Gregor Strasser, an act that was carried out on June 30, 1934, during the Night of the Long Knives. Any remaining traces of socialist thought in the Nazi Party had been extinguished.”
Bizarre fight breaks out in House over whether socialists are Nazis
““A ‘big lie’ is a political propaganda technique made famous by Germany’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party,” Brooks said in his floor speech Monday. Brooks quoted from Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” about the use of the “big lie” tactic to dominate political struggles, and the Alabama Republican claimed that’s what Democrats did to Trump over the Russia allegations.
“For more than two years, Socialist Democrats and their fake news media allies, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, Washington Post, and countless others … have perpetrated the biggest political lie, con, scam and fraud in American history,” Brooks declared.
Brooks also said — incorrectly — that Hitler was a socialist. “The author was Socialist Adolph Hitler in his book, ‘Mein Kampf,’” the Alabama Republican claimed.
Of course, this isn’t true. The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, was fascist, not socialist — the opposite end of the political universe from socialists. But that hasn’t stopped other Republicans from jumping in as well.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/26/congress-socialist-nazi-debate-1237472
HISTORIAN TAKES TO TWITTER TO CORRECT THE RECORD
Primary Sources (Historians use these)
Tue 21 Mar 1933
Communists to be interned in Dachau
“If the safety and order of the State were to be guaranteed, measures were inevitable, and they would be carried out without any petty consideration. This is the first clear statement hitherto made regarding concentration camps. The extent of the terror may be measured from the size of this Bavarian camp which – one may gather – will be only one of many. The Munich police president’s statement leaves no more doubt whatever that the Socialists and Republicans will be given exactly the same sort of “civic education” as the Communists.
It is widely held that the drive against the Socialists will reach its height after the adjournment of the Reichstag next week.”
Mon 1 Jan 1934
Dachau concentration camp
“The number of prisoners (according to the September list) is 2,200-2,400. Of these about fifty are intellectuals, a few are members of the middle class, without any political affiliations, fifty or sixty are Nazis, about sixty are Jews, about five hundred are Socialists, two are army officers (Catholics and members of the Bavarian People’s party), there are several beggars and ordinary criminals, fifteen are non-German subjects, and the remainder are Communists. The overwhelming majority belong to the working class.“
Adolf Hitler was not a socialist
“A Republican representative described Adolf Hitler as a socialist and compared Democrats to Nazis. Sadly, Rep. Brooks is far from alone in his opinions.”
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/27/18283879/nazism-socialism-hitler-gop-brooks-gohmert
The Nazis were not socialists
Kevin Kruse of Princeton does a great job of debunking Dinesh D’Souza bogus ‘history’ tweet!
HOW TO BEAT DEMAGOGUES ONLINE: KNOW YOUR HISTORY!
Kevin Kruse Takes to Twitter to School Dinesh D’Souza in American History
Auschwitz Memorial corrects Dinesh!
Hitler Was a Democrat: Dinesh D’Souza Takes Holocaust Analogies to Their Most Foul, Illiterate Place Yet
Who was Mo Brooks History Teacher at Grissom High School?
https://brooks.house.gov/about-me
Nazi Germany was NOT Socialist!
Was Adolf Hitler a Socialist?
“The Truth: Hitler hated socialism and communism and worked to destroy these ideologies. Nazism, confused as it was, was based on race, and fundamentally different from class-focused socialism.”
https://www.thoughtco.com/was-adolf-hitler-a-socialist-1221367
No, the Nazis were not socialists: A Christmas ode inspired by Twitter
Socialism is the 2020 @GOP Mantra because “Wall!” and “Repeal and Replace” and “Drain the Swamp” and “Coal Miners Back to Work” and “Put her in jail” and “Term Limits” and “Balanced Budget” won’t work in 2020.
Socialism is when it helps you or me – when it helps Farmers or Big Oil it is a bailout or subsidy. The current Trade War is a great example of what used to be my GOP forgetting Adam Smith and the invisible hand because since Citizens United v FEC there is a visible hand – donors.
