National Socialism, Nazism

Historical Context Essay

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National Socialism was the ideology (or

weltanschauung

) and the movement (

Bewegung

) upon which Adolf Hitler built his regime, the so-called Third Reich, between 1933 and 1945. Its primary characteristics were anti-Bolshevism, intense antisemitism, and virulent nationalist-chauvinism, plus an unoriginal fusion of other ideas and beliefs prevalent in nineteenth and twentieth century Western civilization in general, and Germany in particular. One can seriously question whether such an eclectic conglomerate, lacking in coherence, can be appropriately labelled an ideology. Nevertheless, it was precisely its amorphous nature that enabled so many to embrace those aspects which seemed to promise solutions to the problems that preoccupied them, as well as fulfilment of their dreams. Some haveā€¦

2935 words

Citation: Browder, George C.. "National Socialism, Nazism". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 February 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1417, accessed 28 March 2024.]

1417 National Socialism, Nazism 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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