Nazi Ideology

What is volksgemeinschaft?

• The idea of a nation where common good is put before personal advancement.

• A community where the individual was de-personalised.

• A community based on race not class.

• Everyone has a shared genetic inheritance and you had to be born into the nation.

• Based on racial meritocracy (advancement based on individual ability rather than privilege).

• The most loyal people would rise to lead.

• The Fuhrer’s leadership is validated by an emotional bond instead of democratic process.

What is Social Darwinism?

• A natural struggle for existence between people and races.

• The idea of survival of the fittest.

What is eugenics?

• A branch of science which justifies the view that the purity of races can be preserved through selective breeding.

• Advocated action against those considered genetically unfit, mentally or physically disabled and those practising ‘unnatural’ practises such as homosexuality.

What did the Nazis oppose?

• Anti-modern (valued traditional German values)

• Anti-communist

• Anti-democratic

What is ‘blood and soil’?

Promoted an intimate and mystical relationship between the blood of the German people and the soil of the German Fatherland.

What is the ‘cult of motherhood’?

The woman’s main role in life was as a wife and mother; the Honour Cross of German Motherhood was awarded to women for birthing four or more children,