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Was Hitler a leftist?


No.

Per a series of interviews in the 1920s and 1930s, Adolf Hitler set the framework for his National Socialist agenda by pointing out that Nazism is not leftist or liberal in any sense of the phrase:

"When I take charge of Germany, I shall end tribute abroad and Bolshevism at home."

Adolf Hitler drained his cup as if it contained not tea, but the lifeblood of Bolshevism.

"Bolshevism," the chief of the Brown Shirts, the Fascists of Germany, continued, gazing at me balefully, "is our greatest menace. Kill Bolshevism in Germany and you restore 70 million people to power. France owes her strength not to her armies but to the forces of Bolshevism and dissension in our midst.

The above taken from a Guardian article, citing a George Sylvester Viereck interview in 1923 (republished by Liberty magazine in 1932, shows Hitler's eagerness to eradicate Bolshevism in Germany...Bolshevism, of course, being the Russian Communist-style government adopted after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

In this same interview, Hitler continues:

"Socialism," he retorted, putting down his cup of tea, pugnaciously, "is the science of dealing with the common weal. Communism is not Socialism. Marxism is not Socialism. The Marxians have stolen the term and confused its meaning. I shall take Socialism away from the Socialists.

"Socialism is an ancient Aryan, Germanic institution. Our German ancestors held certain lands in common. They cultivated the idea of the common weal. Marxism has no right to disguise itself as socialism. Socialism, unlike Marxism, does not repudiate private property. Unlike Marxism, it involves no negation of personality, and unlike Marxism, it is patriotic.

"We might have called ourselves the Liberal Party. We chose to call ourselves the National Socialists. We are not internationalists. Our socialism is national. We demand the fulfilment of the just claims of the productive classes by the state on the basis of race solidarity. To us state and race are one."

Nazism is a far-right movement linking state and race, full-stop.


"We want a greater Germany uniting all German tribes. But our salvation can start in the smallest corner. Even if we had only 10 acres of land and were determined to defend them with our lives, the 10 acres would become the focus of regeneration. Our workers have two souls: one is German, the other is Marxian. We must arouse the German soul. We must uproot the canker of Marxism. Marxism and Germanism are antitheses.

"In my scheme of the German state, there will be no room for the alien, no use for the wastrel, for the usurer or speculator, or anyone incapable of productive work."


Why do the words of Adolf Hitler sound so much like a modern day Donald Trump?


Works cited: 

“Great Interviews of the 20th Century: Adolf Hitler Interviewed by George Sylvester Viereck.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 Sept. 2007, www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/sep/17/greatinterviews1.

Linder, Doug. “1923 Interview with Adolf Hitler.” Famous Trials, famous-trials.com/hitler/2529-1923-interview-with-adolf-hitler. Accessed 9 June 2024.

 

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