Joyce Ngo 8717 Nazi essay Block 2

[30]
‘The “Fuhrer Principle” was the most important principle in Nazism.’ How far
do you agree
Fuhrerprincip refers to the underlying principle that determines the political structure
of Nazi - Hitler as the absolute leader or dictator whose words define law. It was
most frequently associated with the Hitler myth (heightened by Goebbels’ skilful
propaganda), which sees Hitler as the all-powerful, all-knowing leader who
possesses superhuman qualities and messianic status, thus deserving absolute
power. As a political philosophy, the fixed definition on Nazism was absent. Unlike
communism, which can be referred to Karl Marx, or Christianity, which can be
referred to the Bible, Nazism as an ideology was defined by close observation of the
policies of Nazi regime, Hitler’s Mein Kampf, as well as the party’s 25 point
programme. Although Fuhrerprinzip was the fundamental belief that decide the
political structure of Nazi regime, the essence of Nazism includes other principles
such as nationalism, racism and anti-communism. These ideas were synthesised
into the preaching of a coherent vision of national greatness - Volksgemeinschaft
(Folks’ community).

Fuhrerprinzip ultimately refers to an adoration for Hitler, and was an important belief
that result in the complex political structure of Nazi regime, in which, as Ian Kershaw
argued, Hitler acted as the key activator and visionary, while the plenipotentiaries
and followers worked and competed to fulfill Hitler’s personal belief. Eventually,
Hitler’s world views became actual policies, despite its radicalisation. Examples of
such include the Nuremberg laws 1935, which was drawn up overnight after an
impromptu, anti-semistic speech was made by Hitler. The Night of the Broken Glass
1938 was also a result of a casual, verbal agreement from Hitler to Goebbels’
suggestion. In the Nazi regime, because of the ‘Fuhrer Principle’ there was a notable
lack of institutional restrictions on the cumulative radicalisation as people firmly
believed that Hitler had the perfect solution (most evident in public’s acceptance for
the extra-judicial killings in the Night of the Long Knives 1934). Furthermore, when
close observation was given to the lives of people in Nazi regime, the adoration for
Hitler was also apparent. “Heil Hitler” became a formal greeting among people,
similar to how Christians greeted each other with ‘Jesus loves you’, suggesting the
extent to which Nazism was closely associated with Hitler much like how Jesus was
closely associated with Christianity. A good weather was also known as “fuhrer
weather”, again suggest a belief that the fuhrer was plainly good in Nazi believers’
eyes. Therefore, evidence and examples have shown that Fuhrer Principle was a
significant feature of Nazism and the Nazi regime - both in the government structure
and daily lives of believer citizens.
However, it was important to note that besides Fuhrer Principle, other important
ideas such as anti-communism and racism also define Nazism. Being the extreme
right wing group, Nazism was staunchly anti-communism and such belief was most
evident in the early policies of Nazi (the banning of KPD, trade unions and setting up
Dachau as the first concentration camps to contain arrested communists). In
addition, the Aryan mythology (which sees Aryan race as superior) and anti-semitism
(demonisation of Jews, labelling them as the vermin of societies) were important
principles in Nazism. Combining these principles, Volksgemeinschaft - creating an
indivisible community with nationalistic and Aryan-German-romantic notions became
the most important aim in Nazi’s social policies. These principles were evident in
events such as the Book Burning events (rejecting Marxism and other Jewish
philosophers’ ideas), the alteration of education syllabus to promote racial science,
eugenics and the stab-in-the-back myth and others.

Nevertheless, it could be argued that these ideas was supported by Hitler, hence
they were arguably merely an extension of Fuhrerprinzip - because people adore
Hitler, Hitler’s worldviews on anti communism, anti-semitism and advocacy for
Volksgemeinschaft were also embedded in Nazism teachings. Therefore, overall,
Fuhrerprinzip was indeed the most important element of Nazism as the other
defining elements of Nazism was built upon the most important foundation - an
adoration for Hitler as the Fuhrer, thus the acceptance and support for his world
views.