National Socialism, a political movement that emerged in Germany after World War I. The more popular form of the name, Nazism, is a contraction of the German word. The Nazi party was founded in 1920 and led almost from the outset by Adolph Hitler. In 1933 the party gained control of the German state and established a dictatorship, embarking on a program of domestic reconstruction and foreign conquest that culminated in World War II. With Germany's defeat in 1945, National Socialism collapsed.
While its destructive impact on Germany and Europe was profound, the historical significance of National Socialism is still far from clear. Nazism has been viewed as a specific product of German history; as a type of modern totalitarianism comparable to Soviet communism; and as a form of fascism similar to Mussolini’s. Some consider it to have been a counterrevolutionary, ultraconservative movement. To others, National Socialism was revolution in a new guise.
The intersection and mutual reinforcement of two social crises in Europe in the early 20th century contributed to the rise of both fascism and National Socialism. On the one hand, there was a crisis in industrial capitalism as it advanced from an earlier, liberal phase to one marked by technocracy and regulation. The transition involved an often painful restructuring of social groups, especially of the bourgeoisie. On the other hand, countries like Germany and Italy, in which modernization had been delayed, were still struggling with problems created by the conversion from pre modern to modern societies. The interplay of these two crises accounted for both the ambivalence and the peculiar appeal of fascism in general and Nazism in particular.
Germany's defeat in World War I and the subsequent outbreak of revolutionary activity in various parts of the country greatly intensified the effects of these crises. The nation's.....
