The word fascism is used to describe any

form of dictatorial, right wing, antiCommunist form of government. Nazi

Germany became a fascist country under
Hitler and the Nazi Party from 1933 to
1945. Here you can read about the Nazis
rise to power in the context of the Great
Depression.
The Great Depression, more than any
other factor, helped Hitler and
the National-Sozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiter Partei (Nazi for short) to come
to power. Desperate Germans turned to
the Party that offered them solutions
and action, and they gained popular
support.
After the First World War, a man called
Adolf Hitler had joined this extremist
right wing group and because of his
organisational and public speaking
skills, he soon became their leader. He
set up armed groups of supporters who
wore brown shirts, known as the Storm
Troopers (in German they are called the
S.A. which is short for Sturm Abteilung).
The S.A. organised massive parades,

dressed in uniforms and carried flags

with the Nazi symbol, the Swastika, on
it.
The S.A. had no problem with using
violence, and often beat up those who
disagreed with them. S.A. members
pledged 'to always be ready to stake life
and limb in the struggle for the aims of
the Nazi Party and to give absolute
military obedience to my leaders'.
Hitler's road to power was longer than
Mussolini's. In 1923 he attempted a
'coup d'etat' or 'putsch' that failed. He
was imprisoned for five years, during
which time he dictated his famous book,
'Mein Kampf' (My Struggle). Here is one
of the ideas in his book, which shows
how much he hated the Weimar
democracy:
"So the war had all been in vain. In vain
all the sacrifices. In vain the death of
two million soldiers. Had they died for
this, so that the wretched criminals of
the Weimar Republic could lay hands on
the Fatherland (Germany)."

After Hitler had completed his prison

sentence, the Great Depression provided
him with an opportunity to challenge the
inefficient Weimar Government. As
Germany's economy plunged, the
population grew increasingly supportive
of Hitler who promised strong leadership
and economic solutions.
Hitler was a brilliant speaker and in the
words of a young man who attended a
Nazi Rally in 1932:
"He was holding the masses and me
with them, under a hypnotic spell by the
sheer force of his own conviction...I
forgot everything but the man; then
glancing around, I saw that his
magnetism was holding these thousands
as one." - J. Noakes and G. Pridham
from Documents on Nazism 1919-1945,
Jonathan Cape, 1974
Like Mussolini, Hitler promoted
nationalism and militarism through
propaganda, indoctrination, uniforms,
flags, emblems and a salute, demanding
absolute obedience. At public rallies
Hitler condemned the Weimar Republic,

Communism and especially the Jews,

suggesting they were responsible for the
crisis in Germany.
Nazi propaganda used fear, exaggeration
and lies to get people to support them.
They used emotive propaganda to
mobilise popular support, and Hitler
inspired the German people with his
belief in his fate and destiny as their
saviour. Here is an example of one of
Hitler's propaganda speeches:
"The streets of our country are in
turmoil. The universities are filled with
students who are rebelling and rioting.
Communists are seeking to destroy our
country. Russia is threatening us with
her might, and the Republic is in danger.
Yes - danger from within and without.
We need law and order! Without it our
nation cannot survive." - Adolf Hitler,
1932.
Hitler realised that he would only gain
power through democratic methods and
that he and his party would have to be
publicly elected to government.

In the 1932 election the Nazis won 37%

of the votes, and Hitler was appointed as
Chancellor in a coalition government in
1933. When a fire broke out in the
Reichstag (Parliament) Buildings, the
Nazis blamed the Communist Party.
Hitler prevented the Communists from
taking their seats in parliament, and
with the support of smaller parties, was
able to pass the Enabling Act, which
gave him the power to rule by decree.
He became a dictator, crushed all
opposition and established a totalitarian
one party state. The law now stated
that: 'The sole political party existing in
Germany is the Nazi Party.'
The German economy stabilised to such
an extent that unemployment was
virtually wiped out. This boosted mass
support for him despite totalitarian rule,
extreme racism and the cost to German
freedom.
The government intervened in the
economy. It spent money on constructing
public works (like autobahns or
motorways). It began preparing for war,

this meant building up a strong defence

force and the manufacturing of weapons.
The unemployed workers found work in
the armaments industry, and
conscription made unemployed workers
belong. Women were encouraged to stay
at home and care for their families.
Rich industrialists, who had supported
the Nazis, were happy with totalitarian
rule as they were rewarded with
government contracts. They were also
happy with the banning of trade unions
and the ban on strikes.
Hitler succeeded in controlling political,
economic and cultural institutions and so
all spheres of public and private life. The
Nazis called Germany the 'Third Reich'
(Third Empire) and Hitler was known as
'Der Fuhrer' (The Leader). No opposition
was allowed and trade unions were
banned. The Church, which was weaker
in Germany than in Italy, lost its place.
Hitler's secret police, called the SS
(short for Schutztaffeln), terrorised
people into obedience.

The army usually swears an oath of

loyalty to the country it serves, and not
to a party or a person. Hitler made the
Germany army swear an oath of loyalty
to him:
'I swear before God to give my
unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler,
Fuhrer of the Reich and of the German
people, and I pledge my word as a brave
soldier to observe this oath always, even
at the peril of my life.'
Anti-Semitic: Discrimination against
Jews.
Several anti-Semitic policies were put in
place. Jewish professionals such as
doctors, lawyers, state officials,
musicians, artists and lecturers were
forbidden to continue their careers.
Universities, schools, restaurants and
other public services and places refused
entry to Jews. Hitler believed that
Germans were a 'herrenvolk' or 'master
race'. He believed that Germans were a
'superior race' called Aryans. He said the
lowest form of humanity were the Jews.
Nazi posters, banners and badges

carried the message: 'He who buys from

a Jew is a traitor to his people'.
Hitler wanted to expand Germany's
frontiers through conquest to create
more 'lebensraum' or living space for the
German people. He hated the Treaty of
Versailles and wanted to take back the
land Germany had lost. His aggressive
foreign policy eventually led to the
outbreak of the Second World War in
1939.
Anti-Semitic ruthlessness culminated
during the Second World War, when
millions of Jews were killed in the gas
chambers of Hitler's 'death' or
concentration camps, in a process
referred to by the Nazis as The Final
Solution. This Genocide remains one of
the worst crimes against humanity in
history and is referred to as the
Holocaust.
The Second World War ended in disaster
for Germany. In 1945, British, French and
Russian troops invaded Germany from
the east and west. As the Russians
marched into Berlin, Hitler committed

suicide in his underground bunker a few

blocks away from the advancing troops.
Nazism: Nazism was the German fascist
movement led by the NationalSozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei,
Nazi Party, under Adolf Hitler. The Nazi's
were not only extremely anti-communist,
but also very anti-Semitic. Their symbol
was the Swastika, an ancient cross with
the arms bent at right angles in the
middle found in ancient China, Egypt and
India. It was also used by Native
Americans as well as early Christians.
The Nazi's adopted this cross when they
mistakenly thought it was an Aryan
symbol.