Adolf Hitler and the Nazi: Right-wing or left-wing?

Many consider Nazism to be a form of Fascism, implemented for Adolf Hitler’s own ideals, including elements of both the right and the left. However, leftists often label the “fascist” as the right, or even see Hitler and the Nazi Party as a far-right group.

Of course it’s not.

Looking at the German economy under Hitler, it was clearly a command economy, regulated in preparation for historic expansion; and the reason why Hitler wanted to promote the development of the private sector was only for one purpose, which was to produce weapons for war.

To counter the argument that Adolf Hitler was a rightist, I will begin this article with arguments that answer two big questions:

1. After coming to power during the Great Depression, what did the Nazi Party do to deal with the economic problems facing Germany?

2. When World War II broke out, how did the Nazi Party manage the German economy, especially in the face of a major economic rival like the United States?

The policy of the Nazi Party in the early days

In fact, Nazism did not have an overarching economic system of thought. The policies of Hitler and the Nazis were really simply doing what they thought was necessary for the economy. Germany under Hitler did not have a clear economic policy, because this was the time when Hitler wanted to increase his influence, avoiding favoring a certain faction. All Hitler did was hit the German national pride.

However, the 25-point program (25-point Program) in the German Labor Party platform, as stated earlier by Hitler himself, is a rare “evidence” that Hitler was a socialist, especially a socialist. point 13 is extremely leftist with the desire to nationalize monopolistic corporations — 13. We demand the nationalization of all (previous) associated industries (trusts) .

Besides, Nazi Party is an abbreviation of National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi), Germans now refer to the period when Hitler took power as Zeit des Nationalsozialismus (National Socialist period). meaning) or Nationalsozialistische Gewaltherrschaft (National Socialist autocracy). The word Socialist in the name says it all, but I still don’t understand why the left always thinks the Nazi Party is a far-right party?

When he became Chancellor of Germany, Hitler realized that if nationalized, state-owned enterprises would not be able to produce large quantities of weapons, so he needed help from the bourgeoisie to invest and produce equipment. military equipment on a large scale. Therefore, Hitler turned his back on social ideals and carried out a bloody purge in 1934 of his opponents, including Gregor Strasser, a leftist with anti-social, anti-reformist writings. Capitalism, anti-Westernization.

Great Depression

In 1929, when the Great Depression broke out and spread around the world, Germany was one of the countries most affected.

After World War I, the German economy was in ruins like buildings bombed during the war. They have to rely on American loans and investments to grapple with their economies. However, when the Great Recession hit and those investments were withdrawn, the German economy, already in decline, collapsed for a second time.

Germany now: exports fall, industry stagnates, businesses go bankrupt, unemployment rises, even agriculture fails.

The Nazi Party took power and ran the German economy

The recession of the early 1930s was a good opportunity for the Nazis to seize support from the masses. Although the world economy is slowly recovering, the fall in birth rates as a result of the war has made the labor market scarce. At this point, the Nazi Party knew that something had to be done.

On March 17, 1933, Hitler fired Hans Luther, a right-wing man credited with stabilizing the German Mark during the 1921–1924 hyperinflation era, to appoint Hjalmar Schacht to the position of Central Bank governor. Germany (Reichsbank). Hjalmar Schacht was not a member of the Nazi party, but was a staunch Hitler supporter. Schacht plans to boost government spending to stimulate demand in the economy, while using a variety of deficit management methods.

After the recession, most German banks fell into disrepair. The Nazi government decided to regulate the financial markets on its own through investment and lending packages, and at the same time lowering interest rates. In addition, farmers and small businesses are supported by the government to return to production development and improve productivity and profits. That is also why the Nazi Party received so much support from the countryside and the middle class.

The three key investment areas of the Nazi government at that time were construction, transportation, and armament. Of course, they all serve one purpose only: to prepare for war.

The Reich Labor Service (RAD) was founded to address youth unemployment, but in reality RAD was the cradle for the spread of Nazi ideology and was militarized during World War II. The result was that state investment tripled from 1933 to 1936, reducing unemployment by two-thirds (Nazis were committed to work regardless of ability for the job or even the job didn’t require extra work. people), and the German economy started to get better. But, progress thanks to the “economic wizard” Hjalmar Schacht’s coercive measures is only positive in the short term.

Unemployment decreased, but people’s purchasing power did not increase due to low income. Schacht’s witch seems to “run out of magic” when the trade deficit continues to take place, imports are still higher than exports, while inflation is always lurking to explode at any time.

The Reich Food Estate, which was set up to coordinate agricultural products and production towards self-sufficiency, was a huge failure, and even in 1939 there was still a shortage of food, making farmers increasingly displeased. believe.

Social welfare became a place of forced charity, with guns ready to be pointed at people to force them to “donate” to it, thereby enabling the Nazi government to use all the tax money on the cause. armed reconstruction.

New plan: “economic dictatorship”

As the world witnessed positive changes in the German economy, many people began to praise Schacht and see him as an “economic wizard”. However, the state of the economy inside Germany is even worse than it was in Weimar’s time.

Schacht wanted to concentrate all his efforts in society on building a giant war machine. In 1934, Schacht began to take full control of German finance, implementing a New Plan to solve existing economic problems: control the balance of trade by regulating what was imported and not imported into Germany, and at the same time focused on developing heavy industry and military. The German people at this time had to live under Hitler’s dictatorial rule both economically and politically.

During this time, Germany signed many trade agreements with the countries of the Balkan peninsula to increase foreign currency reserves, and make these economies dependent on Germany.

In 1936, implementing a four-year plan

Schacht knew that at the current rate of arms, Germany’s balance of payments would soon be in crisis, so he decided to increase the production of consumer goods for export. Many people agree with this approach, but the powerful elites in the government want to return to the original goal of armed. One of them, none other than Hitler, was calling for the German economy to be ready for war in the next four years.

Hitler could not wait to see the day Germany expanded, ignoring calls from businesses to stop the arms race. To fulfill that ambition, Goering was appointed minister in charge of a four-year plan that focused on promoting an arms race and establishing a fully autonomous economy. Manufacturing is now regulated by the government, three key areas are boosted development, imports are controlled, and substitutes are designated for production. The German economy is now more tightly controlled than ever.

But here’s the thing: Goering was the commander-in-chief of the air force, not an economist, and it was Goering’s economic ignorance that led the “economic wizard” Schacht to resign. Although inflation did not rise to alarming levels, economic goals (such as oil and military) could not be achieved. The main raw materials for production were in short supply, the people were starving, piracy was rampant, the policy of an arms race and economic autonomy failed to work, and Hitler seemed to bet it all on the game. Dai Duc.

Germany failed in World War II, but the German economy failed just before the start of the war. Goering pulled the whole German economic ship off the cliff, and the only thing that was seen growing was Goering’s “arrogance index”. The planned and tightly controlled economy has reduced people’s incomes, increased hours of work, widespread bribery, factories filled with Gestapo agents, and reduced economic efficiency.

Economic failure in war

Hitler wanted war to expand his territory, and the German economy was reformed just to serve that ambition. However, even if Germany captured Poland, the German economy at that time was not really ready for war. Germany was still very weak, and needed a few more years to build before it could confront the Soviet Union.

Germany easily captured Poland because Britain and France turned a blind eye. The Nazi cavalry commander Siegfried Westphal once said that if the French attacked in September 1939 on the German front, “they could only hold out for a week or two”. Strategists at the time had subjectively believed that Hitler would start the war years from now, that Hitler would protect the economy from economic war until Germany was truly ready. But they were wrong. In 1939, Hitler concentrated all social resources on his war machine.

However, the German military is not stronger. Production of major weapons (such as tanks) remains stagnant due to management failures, industrial inefficiencies, and production shortages. All because Hitler tried to regulate the centralized economy, causing many areas to overlap, and production became a place to compete for power.

Bridge next to the bourgeoisie when the US entered the war

In 1941, the US entered the war with the most advanced equipment and huge production resources from all over the world. At this time, Germany is still struggling with its production. Hitler appointed Albert Speer, the architect he most admired, to the post of Minister of Armaments and Arms. Speer was free to do whatever was necessary to get the German economy ready for all-out war. Speer decided to “untie” the industrial capitalists so that they could freely produce, but still set up a Central Planning Board to manage, avoiding the capitalists from moving away from Hitler’s goals.

As a result, the supply of equipment and weapons skyrocketed despite the Allies’ continuous bombardment and intense bombing. However, modern economists argue that even if Hitler had implemented this policy from the start, German production would have been incomparable to that of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.

In 1945, Germany was defeated but to be more precise, German manufacturing was defeated by Allied manufacturing.

It was the economic story of Nazi Germany — the story of the frenzied spending plans of Hitler and the Nazis. The story of a Socialist-style planned economy that leftists (including leftists in Germany at the time) called “the far right”.

So is Capitalism or Socialism what gave birth to the dictator Hitler? You must have the answer.

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