re: Dan Carlin Hardcore History Addendum - History on Fire

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I agree with everything else you said, though I think Hitler was more anti-socialist than anti-capitalist.

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I would loosely agree. Anti-Marxism was a fundamental, immutable characteristic of Nazism as it was seen as an existential enemy to the concept of the nation-state. In this respect, Nazism and Western Civilization in general were in agreement. The anti-capitalist sentiments hinged on anti-Semitism (in many respects), anti-materialism (philosophically), and a belief that capitalist states were plutocratic and exploitative of the working classes. You can see some overlapping themes at work. Capitalism was also viewed to be an empowerment of international interests and a force that externally influenced the national affairs of sovereign states (in this case, Germany obviously). There were more traditional geopolitical forces and grievances at work in this time period that clearly created tremendous tension and animus between National Socialist Germany and the Western states that were perhaps less ideologically tinged than the differences with the Communist USSR (Hitler was an Anglophile, for example, and exulted the British Empire privately as racial and spiritual kin to the Germans; natural allies if only the "Jewish international financiers" could be subdued). But the Nazis absolutely had great reservations and ideological contempt for capitalist forces and dogmatic economic theories on economic liberty above the collective interests of the national body, interests determined by the political leadership i.e. the state. Thus there is very little comparison with political factions on the economic right in liberal democracies who champion dogmatic ideas on economic liberty and restrictions on state authority. It should be recognized that the Communists viewed the Fascists, Nazis, and other Western powers as similar enemies of socialist revolutionary aims.

The traditional right wing in Germany allied with the Nazis in 1933, with great reservation, because while they viewed them as a much better alternative to the Communists, they had reservations themselves as to the economic and social nature of the movement. Hitler and his party were very ambiguous in a number of ways, sometimes contradictory even, making it hard to pin down their ideological positions. What's essential to understand is that Hitler did not derive his worldview from any philosophical text regarding economic theories or ideas on human liberty. All political ideology had to be subservient to the fundamental worldview that the state existed primarily to serve for the preservation of a unique ethnic/racial civilization. Any theoretical debates on internal policy were secondary and must exist within the confines of this paradigm.

People can not wrap their heads around the Nazis simultaneously being Nationalist, Socialist, Fascist, Racist, Genocidal, Anti-globalist, Central- planning, weirdly Nanny State,etc. A Brownshirt who wants guaranteed jobs for all “ good Germans”, wants to confiscate all your inherited wealth, seize unfavored or Jewish companies, hated International Capitalism and yet were genocidal Racist Nationalists who were hell bent on destroying Soviet Communism and yet aligned with lifelong Socialist “ intellectual “ Benito Mussolini.

That’s just kind of the beginning of unraveling Nazism.