German National Socialism This paper will examin

This paper will examine the history of German National Socialism through the end of the Second World War. The first part of the paper will briefly review the origins of national socialism in Germany prior to the election of Adolf Hitler as chancellor in 1933. The second part of the paper will discuss the integration of national socialist theory and ideals into the Nazi state, particularly examining the role of Hitler as Fuhrer and the effect of national socialism on the lives of Germans. The third part of the paper will discuss the fate of national socialism in Germany during the Second World War.

The philosophy of German national socialism originated during the 18th Century as various German philosophers reacted negatively to the liberal western thought during the Age of enlightenment. The earliest critics of liberal thought and proponents of German nationalism and "thought" began expounding on "Germanity" and the unique German culture just before the beginning of the 19th Century. Becoming known as part of the Romanticism movement, these thinkers rejected the idea of the primacy of the individual which had become the philosophical centerpiece of the Age of Enlightenment; instead, they extolled the virtues of the Middle Ages. The ideas of nation and culture were inextricably intertwined, according to them, and a nation was defined by its culture, rather than solely by its politico-juridical nature. This became the basis for the ideas of G

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had more to do with his personality and charisma than any contributions he made to national socialist thought. Indeed, there is no documentary evidence which would suggest that Hitler was well-studied in German romanticism or volkish thought; while he had a passing familiarity with 19th Century advocates of volkish philosophy, most of his ideas seem to have been drawn from popular sentiment between 1910 and 1920. Prior to his involvement in the movement, volkish thought tended to emphasize a rather communal leadership, similar to Marxist socialism. Hitler, on the other hand, provided the movement with a single charismatic leader. A loner by nature, he viewed himself as different from everyone else; he was going to be the savior of Germany. Consequently, he adapted the national socialist message so that it would appeal to the masses of Germany. While promising a revolution, he did not destroy the economic system of Germany; instead, he included the capitalist barons in the German revolution, despite the traditional volkish condemnation of liberal economic thought. Thus, there was no broad-based opposition to the National Socialist revolution in the early 1930s and Nazi policies found widespread support. The villains at wh

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