Nazism is a political ideology that was once very popular in Germany under the rule of Adolf Hitler. It was a system of governance that believed in the superiority of the German race while trying to get rid of the Jews from the population. The reason why people confuse between Nazism and socialism is because of the fact that the official name of the Nazi party of Germany contained the word Socialist. However, Hitler was of the opinion that communists presented distorted view of socialism. There are as such many differences between socialism and Nazism that will be highlighted in this article.
Key Takeaways
- Socialism is a social and economic theory whereas Nazism is a political ideology.
- Socialism talks about common ownership of assets and means of production to help achieve the goal of a classless society, whereas Nazism does not object to private property and believes in the superiority of the German race.
- Nazism advocates extreme nationalism whereas socialism does not talk about boundaries.
Nazism
Nazism is an ideology that is credited to Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party before WW II and through events running up to it. The word Nazi comes from the pronouncement of the first two syllables of the word national in German language. The actual name of the party was the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Hitler believed socialism of the communist states a distorted version of socialism and considered himself to be a socialist. However, the ideology of the party was one of the far right wing political party as it believed in the superiority of the German race (called Aryans) and tried to exterminate Jews from among the population. Nazi party cleverly coined the phrase Third Reich and combined elements of socialism of the left and fascism of the right to come up with a unique political ideology.
Nazism advocated nationalism and a totalitarian government with a racist society dominated by German race. Historians believe that the inclusion of the word socialist in the name of the party was a misnomer and only a gimmick to attract popular votes to continue rule over the region.
Socialism
Socialism is a social and economic theory propounded by Karl Marx that believes in ownership of the assets and means of production by the state. This method of common ownership was devised as a means to achieve a classless society in which everyone was equal. The practice of socialism is varied, and there are many models of socialism within different political systems ranging from communism to democracy, and even right wing Nazism. It is the distribution of production according to the contribution that is the chief characteristic of socialism. Right from the time of Karl Marx and till today, socialism has been construed as an economic theory that favors the working classes and criticizes industrialization and entrepreneurship. Thus, socialism has always been in direct opposition to capitalism.
What is the difference between Nazism and Socialism?
- Socialism is a social and economic theory whereas Nazism is a political ideology.
- Socialism talks about common ownership of assets and means of production to help achieve the goal of a classless society, whereas Nazism does not object to private property and believes in the superiority of the German race.
- Nazis believed themselves to be socialists of a different variety rather than socialists as envisaged by Karl Marx.
- Nazism advocates extreme nationalism whereas socialism does not talk about boundaries.
- Hitler did not like the fact that Karl Marx, the developer of Socialism, was of Jewish descent as he was in favor of extermination of all Jews.
