The Ideology of the Nazi Party

Germany – Nazi Germany, 1933-45

In this course, Professor Neil Gregor (University of Southampton) explores several aspects of Nazi Germany, 1933-45. In the first module, we think about the ideology of the Nazi Party, before turning in the second module to consider Hitler’s rise to power. In the third module, we think about the nature of the Nazi government, before moving on in the fourth module to consider Nazi foreign policy in the period 1933-41. In the fifth module, we think about German opposition to the Nazi regime, while in the sixth module we consider the role of terror in overcoming this opposition. In the seventh module, we think about the extent to which ordinary Germans supported Hitler and the Nazi regime, before turning in the eighth module to consider the role of treatment of women in Nazi Germany. In the ninth module, we think about Nazi education and culture and its importance in promoting Nazi ideology, before turning in the tenth module to the Holocaust.

The Ideology of the Nazi Party

In this module, we think about the ideology of the Nazi Party, focusing in particular on: (i) the growth in the 19th century of the ideologies of nationalism, militarism, and colonialism – a reservoir of thoughts and ideas from which the Nazis can draw; (ii) the emergence of a new form of anti-Semitism based on Jewishness as a biological or racial identity as opposed to a religious one; (iii) the concept of the body politic, where enemies are imagined as a kind of ‘disease’ weakening it from within; (iv) Adolf Hitler’s understanding of why Germany lost the First World War, and what Germany should do to avoid losing the next European war.