Hitler rose to power in the chaos of the onerous reparations imposed on Germany and the stock market collapse of 1929. The capitalist market system was discredited; the National Socialists proposed a “left-Socialist” alternative of strong central authority to put the collective good ahead of greedy materialistic self-interest.

The name of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party was no misnomer. To understand Hitler’s popularity you have to understand the socialist aspect of National Socialism. The Nazi’s were to the right only of Stalin and they hated the communists, the capitalists, the Jews, the Christian church and above all the system. They maintained popular support through a system of plunder and a generous welfare state.

The great lie of the 20th century is that Hitler was a creature of the right; leftist academics and historians have been scrubbing the progressive roots of Nazism since the horrors of the Holocaust were proved after the war. The truth is Hitler was more of a leftist than a nationalist or a racist. He was not only a socialist in his own day but would be considered a good progressive today.