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Science & Tech
Indy100 Staff
Jun 13, 2020
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There's few portions of history that are more mythologised and destorted than the second world war.
And one of the most common misconceptions, which seems to rear its head often, is the idea that the far-right German Nazi party were socialists.
'Nazi' is their short name. But the full name for the 'Nazi' party was the "National Socialist German Workers' Party" ("Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" in German).
The fact that the far-right party contained 'socialist' in the name was a rebranding gambit to draw workers away from communism and into populist nationalism.
Despite this, the populist nationalists that support the likes of Donald Trump, regularly take the opportunity to remind modern day liberal or left-leaning critics of white-supremacists and neo-nazis that 'Socialism' was included in the Nazi party name.
But if you're looking to shut down this suggestion when it next comes up, look no further than this epic Twitter exchange.
Nazis were socialist. https://t.co/WTmYzfxlKi— Ian Miles Cheong (@Ian Miles Cheong) 1502944884
Mike Stuchbery, a teacher and writer whose passion is history, sought to correct the misconception.
This is quite a long explanation and it's a little foulmouthed. You've been warned.
Ok, dickhead, I did this politely to someone else earlier, but now I'm going to rinse you. Prepare. https://t.co/HcgpKHY3Cq— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502995614
Yeah, the Nazis called themselves the 'National Socialists', and they even nicked some (incredibly benign) socialist policies...— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502995770
It is, however, a total misnomer, it's like the World Series, or Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or 'ethics in gaming journalism'.— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502995897
The Nazis were fascists. Indisputably. They drew their ideology from Italy's fascists, who arose in reaction to the Left.— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502996143
The Italian Right, @stillgray, still mired in 19th century thought, could not tackle the explosion in left-wing organization.— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502996232
@stillgray Mussolini gives us the first fascist platform - national/racial superiority, rearmament & expansion, and… https://t.co/hGPeVRaRJO— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502996322
@stillgray The Italian Fascists appropriated, wholesale, Roman imagery, such as the 'fasces', to evoke renewed nati… https://t.co/J6IeTjh2br— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502996518
@stillgray The Italian Fascists sought, @stillgray, to expand & reclaim historically Italian lands (mirroring a lar… https://t.co/gE1NglUdDm— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502996832
@stillgray After nicking some socialist economic policies (public works & spending), fascist government formed corp… https://t.co/ewsOXW2EkP— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502997032
@stillgray Hitler & his Deutcher Arbeiter Partei mates see this and decide that they need to steal support from act… https://t.co/lfZerzCSVz— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502997238
@stillgray ...so the DAP rebadge themselves as the NSDAP... Socialism still being a relatively new ideology. It's l… https://t.co/HOwNRUetWR— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502997380
@stillgray Otherwise, they were fascist - 1. Saw themselves as racially/nationally superior, 2. Wanted rearmament &… https://t.co/3uOrjDtatc— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502997555
@stillgray 1. Do I really need to go into their views on race & their feelings towards the Jews? https://t.co/gpSd44gojm— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502997669
@stillgray 2. Do I really need to go into their designs on a 'Greater German Reich'? https://t.co/4w7K1T2nJy— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502997926
@stillgray 3. The Germans used socialist economic policies, before retreating to a corporate cartel base. Companies… https://t.co/2ksZDzVqgQ— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502998065
@stillgray The actual socialists who emerged after Marx wanted three things - 1. Removal of classes. 2. World soci… https://t.co/1cfPiwRHrl— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502998325
@stillgray There was a huge gap between rich & poor in Tsarist Russia. The Bolsheviks sought to eliminate this divi… https://t.co/oX4Zbk0jW5— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502998454
@stillgray After they succeeded, the Bolsheviks wanted to take the Revolution worldwide. Heard of 'Comintern'? No r… https://t.co/Cx3p7huKkz— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502999009
@stillgray 3. As for redistribution of capital, do I really need to explain the difference between collectivisation… https://t.co/1xEoYEPpx4— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502999148
@stillgray So, you see, @stillgray there's a big fucking difference between fascism and socialism, in that they're… https://t.co/7HcABb5jCh— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502999432
@stillgray So, if you're peddling this 'munuhmunuh NAZIS ARE SOCIALISTS' bullshit you're either massively dense or an evil prick.— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷) 1502999516
Mic drop.
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