Socialism was a popular idea in Italy and Germany and all of Europe in that period. Hitler and the Nazis used the word demogogically to gain followers. Hitler was not just not a socialist, he was violently anti-socialists and anti-communists, whom were among the first imprisoned when the Nazis maximized repression in Germany. The main Nazi war effort was to destroy the Soviet Union, but its anti-communism caused it to arrrogantly underestimate communist led industrialization and organization.
Charles Brown
>>> Marta Russell <ap888 at lafn.org> 02/13 12:04 PM >>>
Alex LoCascio wrote:
> I I don't know how many times I've heard cretinous
> history teachers say "Remember, Hitler was a member of the National
> *Socialist* party..." I'm looking for something to refute the lazy,
> facile claim that Hitler was a socialist, once and for all.
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
Alex,
If my memory serves me, I think Hitler said it himself in Mein Kampf - something to the effect of "we [National Socialist Party or Nazi Party] stand for private enterprise."
Marta Russell