Socialism in National Socialism
While the Nazi Party was always dominated by the charisma of Adolf Hitler, until he gained complete dominance after 1934, there were multiple interpretations of the socialism part of the political philosophy of National Socialism. Nyomarkay suggests that while ideology is the basis of authority in Marxist movements, charisma was always the Nazi basis of leadership.[1] In other words, Nazi ideology was what Hitler believed.
If socialism, broadly, involves ownership of production, Hitler allowed a variety of socialist ideas to coexists, until they came into conflict with his political strategy. He always emphasized that Naziism was a political, not economic revolution. Nyomarkay divides the evolution into four overlapping time periods:
- Before mass movement (1919-1925)
- Rise of the Nazis (1925-1930)
- Rise of the Sturmabteilung (SA) (1926-1934)
- Consolidation (1934-1945)
Before mass movement
Under its founder, Anton Drexler, the German Workers party was more a discussion group than a political party. Its economic theorist, Gottfried Feder spoke about anticapitalism, which interested Hitler in his first visit on 12 September 1919. Hitler accepted membership, and soon was in charge of recruitment and propaganda. [2] The main appeal was volkisch nationalism.
A 24 February 1920 meeting spoke more of what the party opposed than what it supported: it was antisemitic, anticapitalist, antiparliamentary, and, above all, opposed to the Treaty of Versailles.