Nazism

National Socialism or Nazism (a contraction of the German Nationalsozialismus), refers to the political philosophy of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP for short) which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945 under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Germany during this period is also referred to as Nazi Germany. Adherents of Nazism are called Nazis.

National Socialism combines several elements in order to justify a totalitarian political agenda. These include:

Ethnic nationalism, including the notion of Germans' status as the Herrenvolk ("master race")
Racism, including Anti-Semitism
Anti-communism
Anti-clericalism
The leader principle (Führerprinzip), a key element of fascist ideology in which the ruler is deemed to embody the political movement and the nation.

The most prominent Nazi was Adolf Hitler, who ruled Germany from 30 January 1933 until his suicide on 30 April 1945, led Germany into World War II, and oversaw the murder of over 20 million people, and who is held responsible for the Holocaust. Under Hitler, ethnic nationalism and racism were joined together through an ideology of militarism to serve his goals.

After the war, many prominent Nazis were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials.

The Nazi symbol is the clockwise swastika.

Nazism and Religion

The relationship between Nazism and Christianity can only be described as complex -- and controversial, since most modern writers wish to disassociate their own views from Nazism as much as possible. Hitler and other Nazi leaders clearly made use of Christian symbolism and emotion in propagandizing the overwhelmingly Christian German public, but it remains a matter of controversy whether Hitler believed himself a Christian. Some Christian writers have sought to typify Hitler as an atheist or occultist -- even a Satanist -- whereas non-Christian writers have emphasized Nazism's outward use of Christian doctrine, regardless of what its inner-party mythology may have been.

The Nazi Party's relations with the Catholic Church are yet more fraught. Many Catholic priests and leaders vociferously opposed Nazism on the grounds of its incompatibility with Christian morals. As with many political opponents, many of these priests were sentenced in the concentration camps for their opposition. Nevertheless, the Church hierarchy represented by Pope Pius XII remained largely silent on the issue, and allegations of the Pope's complicity are today commonplace.

Nazism and Fascism

Nazism is often (but incorrectly) used interchangeably with Fascism. While Nazism employed stylistic elements of Fascism, such as the Roman-style stiff-arm salute, the only serious similarities between the two were dictatorship and territorial irredentism. For example, Benito Mussolini, the founder of fascism, did not embrace anti-Semitism until seduced by his alliance with Hitler, whereas Nazism had been explicitly racialist from its inception. Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, often termed a fascist by his largely Communist opposition, could perhaps be described as a reactionary Catholic monarchist who adopted little of fascism but the salute.

Toward the end of the 20th century, Neo-Nazi movements have arisen in a number of countries, including the United States of America and several European nations. Neo-Nazism can include any group or organization that exhibits an ideological link to Nazism. It is frequently associated with the skinhead youth subculture. Some fringe political parties, such as the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party, have also adopted Nazi ideas.

See also: History of Germany, doublespeak (for a discussion of the semantic implications of words such as Nazi).